Christmas-Car Insurance=A Christmas Vacation That Would Make Chevy Chase Cringe
We all flinched, moaned and sympathized with Chevy Chase when “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” came out. Nobody likes the idea of psychotic relatives coming by and ruining their perfect Christmas, but let’s face it. It could have been a whole lot worse! He could, for example, have gone on vacation only to find out his car insurance had been cancelled!
Not exactly the Christmas you’d be hoping for either, is it? Unless you happen to work in the insurance industry, car insurance isn’t usually the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Christmas. That’s too bad though. Not knowing what’s going on with your insurance can lead to some nasty surprises when you’re out on the highways!
There are three things you have to know when it comes to Christmas and car insurance.
1) Is your state part of a no-fault or tort system? This is going to be extremely relevant if you find yourself in the middle of bumper to bumper traffic that looks like something out of “Death Race”! Peace and goodwill aside, people drive like maniacs during the holidays. If you can walk away with your car and your dignity intact you’re already three steps ahead of the game.
Since there’s a better than average chance you’re going to find yourself trapped in a fender bender this Christmas, it pays to know not only what your coverage includes in your own state but also what’s covered when you travel. That way you’re never taken by surprise when you’re 700 miles away and find yourself filing car insurance claims on the first day of Christmas!
2) Does your car insurance travel past U.S. borders? While some areas of Canada and Mexico will accept American car insurance, most won’t. Since sitting around in a Tijuana jail cell makes for a great story but an unpleasant holiday experience (and a gastric nightmare), do yourself a favor and make sure you pick up a local policy ahead of time. There are multiple companies in the U.S. that have their fingers in all matters abroad, and they can put you in touch with all the right people to make your Christmas vacation flow as smoothly as possible.
3) Car insurance companies have almost nothing to do with items stolen out of your luggage when you’re traveling, even if they were in the car when someone walked by and decided to liberate them from the tyranny of ownership! Normally your homeowners insurance would be the one to pick up the slack here, but travelers find themselves wading into a grey area because suitcases and purses are in and out of the car and it can be almost impossible to tell when, where and how they were cleaned out.
If you’re traveling with enough “stuff” that you’re actually worried about the long term effects of being ripped off you might want to consider picking up a holiday insurance policy to complement your car insurance. Not only does holiday insurance pick up where car insurance leaves off when it comes to protecting you, it will also help absorb the costs if you have to cancel your reservations (you don’t usually get that money back), your flight’s delayed or you miss it completely and you have to book a room overnight/eat out/buy another plane ticket.
It’s a worthwhile investment that will go a long way toward giving you the holiday celebration the Griswold family Christmas was meant to be.
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