A: When your driver’s license is suspended in Texas, here are certain consequences in the form of higher car insurance requirements which you must hold for two years after the date of your license’s first suspension. This special requirement is called the Houston SR22 form, and it must be filed by your car insurance company with the Texas DPS if you want to have your driver’s license’s workability returned to you.

Houston SR22 car insurance is costly, and although you don’t have to have more coverage than usual, you are required to keep paying on it and will be caught immediately if you fail to continue being insured. If you don’t pay your car insurance premium, your coverage will be canceled and your driver’s license resuspended along with it.

As for the required minimum car insurance for your Houston SR22 policy, you will have to follow Texas insurance laws which require you to have a total of seventy five thousand dollars in coverage, which breaks down to forty thousand bodily injury liability per accident, with twenty thousand allotted per person, and fifteen thousand dollars of property damage coverage.

A: It will depend, in the end, on what you do with your car as to whether or not you should get a Houston commercial auto insurance policy. Many people who are self employed use their vehicle for business reasons, but they also use it to go to the movies or go on vacation, among other things.

If you use your car for both business reasons and for personal reasons, then a commercial auto insurance policy is not really necessary. While you may prefer to have a commercial policy for the extra protection, since you have dual purposes for your car it may only bring you a price increase.

It’s most recommendable for you to get a  commercial auto insurance policy if you do a lot of driving for your business. For example, if you transport clients, are a taxi driver, a delivery person, and so on. It would also be good for you to get a commercial policy if you go on a lot of business trips in your car. Sometimes, if you are using your car for business and get into an accident, your car insurance company won’t cover the damages because that purpose wasn’t disclosed.

This is my first time to buy car insurance? How much should I be expecting? Please help.

Morgan

Houston, TX

When it is your first time purchasing car insurance you need to educate yourself with requirements in Houston Texas and the the types of coverage you need.

Rating factors such as the amount of time you have been licensed will likely affect your car insurance quotes. For instance, normally a person that is an inexperienced driver and is purchasing car insurance for the first time will pay more than a long time experienced licensed driver that has been under other people’s insurance policies and is now purchasing their own car insurance policy.

Generally though, the average annual cost, according to the Insurance Information Institute for car insurance premiums nationwide in 2007 was estimated at $847 per insurance policy. Thus a new, inexperienced driver like you may expect to pay about twice the average. Good thing is that there is no limit to the number of free quotes you can get.

My grandson was riding his dirt bike on a public road and received a violation for no insurance in Houston. Can we even obtain insurance on a dirt bike? Will the coverage we have on our current cars meet the insurance requirement?

Taylor

Houston, TX

You can contact your car insurance agent in Houston to check if your current vehicle insurance policy will cover the dirt bike and therefore can be used in court as proof of insurance but it is unlikely that it will cover the bike.

Your car insurance policy usually covers only the cars listed, not any type of car not listed such as a dirt bike, motorcycle, etc. You would need a separate policy for these motor vehicles to be covered. If your car insurance does not cover the dirt bike then you could not take this insurance policy into court as proof of insurance. The court is looking to see that if your grandson had damaged anyone or anything while driving the dirt bike on public roads that there was insurance at least state minimum liability insurance in place that would have covered the accident.

You or your grandson will need to call the court listed on his violation to find out what the penalties are for driving his dirt bike on public roads and without insurance. You may see if buying insurance for the bike now would help his case in any way.

This car insurance agent called up my home number offering some pretty unbelievably cheap car insurance Houston rates. I expressed interest, but I suspect it’s a scam. What do I do?

Jackson

Houston, TX

Indeed, the agent from that particular company offering cheap car insurance Houston rates is, indeed, suspicious. But don’t call the police just yet. Here are some ways to protect yourself and verify if the agent is legit or not:

• Don’t give information – don’t give out bank accounts or credit card numbers over the phone or on the internet, whether you think the agent’s suspicious or not, not until everything checks out with the agent.

• Check with the Texas Department of Insurance – if a company’s licensed with the TDI, it’s a safe bet that they’re legit. Do not ever, ever sign up with an insurance company that’s not licensed in the TDI. Also, be very careful when it comes to the exact name of a company: “Insurance Company X, Inc.” is a different corporate entity than “Insurance Company X.”

• Check with the insurance company – even if the company is licensed with the TDI, the ‘agent’ that’s calling you may be bogus. Get the full name of the agent, get the contact details of the company from the TDI and give them a call or send them an e-mail.

True, it’s not good to pass up on a good deal, but it’s even worse to fall prey to fraudulent insurance or scams. These three steps by themselves won’t do much apparent good, but they’re the baby steps for you to protect yourself from harm. Use them well.

I recently got a speeding ticket in Chicago but I live in Houston Texas. Will this affect my car insurance rate in Texas?

Frank

Houston Texas

Texas and Illinois are both members of the Drivers License Compact, that means your speeding violation in Chicago will be reported back to your home state in Texas.

The Texas Department of Public Safety states that they will place out of state violations on your Texas driving record.

According to the Texas Department of Insurance, car insurance rates offered in TX needs to be reasonable, adequate, not excessive to the risks for which they apply, and not unfairly discriminatory. Texas car insurance carriers set their own rating system and then file them with TDI to check.

The speeding violation you received in Chicago will be put on your Texas driving record thus your insurance carrier will see it the next time they check your Motor Vehicle Record. If you want to know if the speeding ticket will affect your Texas Car insurance rates you can speak with your car insurance agent about their rating system.

I am 40 and am on my way to purchasing a policy. I would like to know about term life insurance no exam deals. Could you tell me how to save on my term life insurance purchase?

Gregory

Houston Texas

A term life insurance no exam deal allows you to avail insurance without needing to present a medical certificate. The carrier will only do some research regarding your healthy history. They will be doing all the research so the only thing you have to do is answer a few questions during your application. Since the companies will have to retrieve your medical history, you must grant them access to your previous medical files. They will retrieve these records from hospitals and clinics where you have records in.

A term life insurance no exam deal provides you with a lot of convenience but it comes with a higher premium. However, you may find worth engaging in it since you will not be bothered anymore by having to acquire a medical certificate. You will no longer have to take a day off or skip a weekend trip to spend time in the clinic.

A term life insurance is less expensive compared to lifelong policies. Its coverage is temporary but you may choose to have it converted into a permanent policy when you already have enough money. Because you are yet to buy a term life insurance, decide now on how much coverage you really need. Never waste your money on paying for unnecessary coverage

For applicants 50 and above, it is best to buy lifetime insurance instead. However, since you are still below that age, a term insurance is suitable for you. If you do not have any major health problem yet, then now is the time to purchase insurance. Your premium increases with every medical or health problem that you have. Companies compute your premium according to your average age. That is, they will age you 41 even if your birthday is still five months away. If you can do these things, you can cut off significant costs on your term life insurance no exam deal.

I’m not asked to get SR22 insurance here in Houston and I don’t intend to be. But I’m just curious that if SR22 is costly, is it impossible for a driver to get affordable SR22 insurance rates?

Anthony

Houston, TX

As a driver in Houston, SR22 insurance is one type of document that you may not want to get. It is a form of certification from a car insurance company to a state’s DMV or Department of Motor Vehicles. Drivers who have been caught for traffic violations like DUI or reckless driving need to have SR22 insurance in order to get their driver’s licenses back. But SR22 insurance rates are very costly so if you are asked to get SR22 insurance, you should get it from a specialized SR22 insurance firm. It also helps to go online in shopping for cheap car insurance with SR22.

Car insurance companies regard those who have SR22 insurance as high risk drivers. Because they are high risk, drivers who have SR22 insurance are subjected to high car insurance premiums.

Another thing that is worth mentioning is that not all car insurance companies issue SR22 insurance. Car insurance companies which give SR22 insurance, however, are giving very expensive SR22 insurance rates. You can imagine the damage that SR22 insurance can have on a driver’s expenses.

But this is not to say that it is impossible to get affordable SR22 insurance because there are specialized SR22 insurance agencies that give low car insurance premiums on SR22 compared to general car insurance companies. Drivers who want to get affordable SR22 insurance rates should also present a good credit history. Creditworthiness is something that SR22 insurance companies look into when preparing SR22 insurance requests.

I’ve been shopping for car insurance in Houston and I can’t help but notice that most car insurance policies here are more expensive than anywhere in Texas. Is that safe to assume?

Tracy

Houston, TX

For the most part, car insurance in Houston is more expensive anywhere in Texas. The number of car accidents has risen in this part of Texas for the past several years, and this has led to many car insurers to jack up their prices to cover the rise of insured car accidents.

But the good news is that you can still get cheap car insurance in Houston despite the increase in the rates of car insurance policies. The key is to shop as hard as you can. You might not be spending enough time asking around and shopping for the best vehicle insurance policy. Go online and join Internet forums of car owners. Here you can pick up ideas and information on which car insurance company provides the cheapest Houston car insurance policies.

When applying for car insurance, make sure that your vehicle is secured. Install security devices in it such as alarm system, brake system, and immobilizers. You will maximize the chances of your car being rated as low risk, and consequently earning you a lower car insurance.

Is Houston a high traffic area? I want to know so that I could decide on my car insurance in Houston: whether to get collision or comprehensive, or both. I will be moving there soon.

Tamara

Houston, TX

Tamara, it really depends on where in Houston you would reside. Houston is a large city and has different demographic features within. What you might want to find out is where and when will you be using your car. For example, if you would live in a residential area and had to commute everyday using freeways, then it could give you clues on what type of additional coverage to get. Freeways, we know, have higher speed limits and high traffic densities at any given time of the day. You might want to get collision insurance to protect yourself, as well as personal injury protection, which is an option for Texas drivers. If you have reason to believe that your area in Houston has high auto theft rate and crime rate in general, by all means get comprehensive insurance, too. Check with a provider on this matter for all the coverage available to you in Houston.

Getting car insurance in Houston is really easy. When you first arrive to Houston, check with the Department of Motor Vehicles to register your car and to get a Texas license. The basic liability requirements are bodily injury and property damage liability of $20,000 per person per accident personal injury liability and maximum total of $40,000 and with property damage maximum of $15,000. By January 1, 2011 the coverage requirements will increase by almost half of what it is right now.