Protect Against Collisions and More If you drive a car in the United States, liability insurance must cover it. This type of policy pays for medical and property damage resulting from a vehicular accident. You can also purchase comprehensive and collision insurance to cover other costs. These additional coverages help protect the value of your car should it be damaged. If you are calculating how much it will cost to buy a car, you need to take into consideration the cost of insurance as well. In this article, we’ll review the basics of car insurance and the best auto insurance companies in America, including costs, pros and cons. This is a brief introduction to automobile coverage. Liability Coverage When an accident occurs, liability insurance covers you, household members and authorized drivers for the costs associated with property damage and bodily injury. It covers the cost to repair or replace property damage that you caused. [youmaylike] You are also covered if you cause the bodily harm or death to someone else while you are driving the car. This includes medical expenses, loss of income and specified legal defense costs. Collision Insurance If you are involved in a collision, this type of insurance will help pay for repairing or replacing your vehicle. If the collision is your fault, the coverage may extend to other damaged vehicles involved in the accident. States do not mandate that you buy collision insurance, but your lender or car dealer will if you finance or lease the car. Policies offer a range of deductibles, which is how much you’ll have to pay for repairs before the insurance kicks in. Larger deductibles lower the policy premiums but expose you to more out-of-pocket expenses if a collision occurs. Comprehensive Insurance Comprehensive insurance covers damage to your car that occurs for reasons other than a collision, including theft, fire, vandalism, weather and natural disasters. This coverage is often required if you finance your automobile. You can add riders to this insurance to provide coverage of additional costs, including auto towing, glass repair, daily rental while your car is in the shop and emergency roadside service. As with collision insurance, you can set the deductible on your comprehensive insurance policy to cut your premium costs. Gap Insurance If your car is severely damaged in an accident or other incident, you might find that your comprehensive and collision damage won’t provide enough coverage to pay off the amount you owe on the vehicle. Many policies pay only the fair market value of a totaled car, which might be only 80% of the amount you owe. You can buy additional insurance to plug this gap and ensure you can pay off the car loan in full if the vehicle is destroyed or stolen. Normally, car leases require you to buy gap insurance. If you pay cash or pay off your loan, you can save money by avoiding or dropping gap insurance when no longer needed. Top Five Auto Insurers These five insurers all offer full coverage policies and many additional services. Amica Amica is a superstar among car insurers, winning accolades from Consumer Reports and J.D. Powers. It’s known for handling the claims process smoothly. The average annual cost for full coverage: is $1,360. Pros You can have your car repaired at any body shop, without restrictions. Offers a premium package which, for an additional cost, provides full glass coverage, rental coverage, good driving rewards and identity fraud monitoring. Superior financial stability rating from A.M. Best. Cons Missing some discounts, such as military, low-mileage and prepay discounts. Must speak on the phone to get a quote. Sparse website when it comes to customer education. State Farm State Farm is the country’s largest multi-line insurance company. It excels in customer service and regularly garners high marks from customers. The average annual cost for full coverage: is $1,337. Pros Superior financial stability rating from A.M. Best. Excellent online quote tool, getting customers a quote in as little as five minutes. Easy claim handling and top service from its more than 18,000 agents and its easy-to-use mobile app. Cons Doesn’t offer coverage for new car replacements or uninsured motorists. Missing prepayment and automatic payment discounts. The Hartford While only 11th in size, The Hartford is big when it comes to policy options. It offers rates based on your actual driving as well as full replacement of new cars when destroyed shortly after purchase. Average annual cost for full coverage: N/A. Pros Solid benefits, including superior roadside assistance and towing programs. High marks from customers for their purchase experiences. One of the few insurers with mechanical breakdown coverage for out-of-warranty repairs. Cons Mediocre service interaction according to J.D. Power surveys. Sparse online learning materials. Geico Geico is the second-largest U.S. car insurer. It is a favorite among tech-savvy geeks who appreciate the insurer’s mobile app and excellent online service. The average annual cost for full coverage: is $1,627. Pros Geico offers plenty of ways to save, such as multi-vehicle, driving history and vehicle safety equipment discounts. Special savings for active and retired military members and federal employees. Full-featured mobile app for getting quotes, buying insurance, managing your policy, submitting claims, summoning roadside assistance and making payments. Cons Human help may be in short supply, as just about everything is handled online. No gap insurance is offered. USAA No insurer matches USAA for service to military members. Unfortunately, it's only available to active service members, their families and retired veterans. Average annual cost for full coverage: $896. Pros Superior financial stability rating from A.M. Best. Top-ranked purchase experience score from J.D. Power. Cons Missing gap coverage. Doesn’t offer interior vehicle coverage or new car replacement coverage. Limited availability. The Right One for You Competition in the insurance industry helps drive down prices and prompts insurers to offer money-saving features. For example, your carrier might reward you for a safe driving record and for having a long-term relationship with the insurer. The right insurer for you is highly rated for service, offers the exact coverage you want and does so at an unbeatable price. You should always gather multiple quotes before selecting an insurer, and make sure you get credit for all applicable discounts.
Small Business Relief: Keep Your Business Afloat
Small businesses are under more financial stress than ever. Fortunately, there are many forms of small business relief available if you qualify. From the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) to various types of loans and grants, you have many options if you are a business owner in need of some financial assistance.
Who Qualifies for Small Business Relief?
If you have fewer than 500 employees or you run a private nonprofit or veteran organization, you are likely to qualify for some type of small business relief. If you have more than 500 employees, you may still qualify for small business relief through the SBA. You can learn more with the SBA Size Standards online tool. If your company is publicly traded, then you may not qualify for certain relief types according to the SBA Coronavirus fact-sheet. You could qualify if, "the current economic uncertainty makes the loan necessary to support your ongoing operations”.
Types of Small Business Relief
As a small business experiencing financial difficulties due to COVID-19 or another type of disaster, you have many options for relief. Large companies like Amazon and Google are offering various types of relief. Amazon has cash grants available for small businesses with fewer than 50 employees in the Seattle area. Google's $800 million coronavirus package includes $340 million in credits for Google Ads to help businesses promote themselves. Small businesses raising money through GoFundMe may be eligible for a matching grant if they raise $500 on their own.
The SBA offers two types of relief. If your business has been harmed due to the coronavirus or due to a declared disaster, you may be eligible for low-interest loans.
Coronavirus Relief for Small Businesses
The SBA has many options for small business loan resources to help mitigate debt and keep small businesses running while under the severe economic stress caused by sweeping shutdowns and illness due to coronavirus.
The Paycheck Protection Program provides small businesses with money to pay as much as eight weeks-worth of payroll. If you get a PPP loan and you meet the requirements for how your business uses the money, you could get 100% of your loan forgiven.
State-Sponsored Small Business Relief
Some states have small business relief programs to help citizens keep their businesses afloat during the pandemic. Michigan plans to provide $10 million in small business grants of up to $15,000 each. The Pure Michigan Small Business Relief Fund opens December 15, 2020.
Ohio businesses may be able to access part of the $125 million in funding from the state by applying for $10,000 grants. Small businesses located in Ohio could start applying in early November 2020.
In Pennsylvania, small business owners can apply to receive a state-sponsored grant of between $5,000 and $50,000. The COVID-19 Small Business Grants will be awarded to Pennsylvania businesses that have less than $1 million per year in annual revenue, pre-coronavirus.
Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL)
You can apply for a low-interest disaster loan to help your business recover from presidential and SBA agency declared disasters through the SBA. EIDL funds can be used for working capital, to pay rent, utilities and fixed debt payments, or to continue providing health care benefits to employees.
There are special EIDL loans available to help rebuild physical damage to your business property and assets, to cover operating expenses after a disaster, and to help eligible small businesses cover operating expenses while key employees are on active duty military leave.
How Can Small Businesses Apply for Relief?
You can apply for small business relief through the SBA by completing the COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan Application. The process has been streamlined and now requires business owners to provide self-certification to verify that they are eligible. The application should take about two hours to complete.
State-sponsored small business relief provides applicants with specific lists of the financial documentation they'll need. You can complete the application online by searching for your state's name and "small business relief".
Talk to Your Local Lender
Many types of small business relief are provided locally. Your local bank or credit union may be able to help you apply for federally-sponsored relief, like the Paycheck Protection Program, if Congress passes legislation to reinvigorate the program. You may have other options for small business relief through local lenders as well.
2020 was a stressful year for many small businesses. A series of natural disasters plus a global pandemic resulting in shutdowns across nearly every industry put many small businesses in harm's way. Now is a great time to research grants and loans that may be available to help you recover from shutdowns and rebuild your business.