Tag Archives: adequate coverage

How Honda Wheelchair Van Insurance Really Works

If your ever in a accident in your wheelchair van and have insurance questions or need your to have repairs made contact the experts at the Mobility Center in Bridgewater, MA with your questions 508-697-6006

2012 Honda Odyssey  CB024644 Front Left Side View

We all know that we need to carry insurance on our Honda wheelchair vans. We understand that it’s a legal requirement and we recognize the value of being properly insured in case of an accident. Most of us are not insurance experts, though. In fact, some aspects of vehicle insurance confuse many of us. Let’s look at how wheelchair van insurance really works.

What Are You Buying?
When you insure your Odyssey or Element, what are you actually buying? “Insurance” actually consists of many different elements. Your policy may or may not have provisions covering all of them. They include:

  • Bodily Injury Liability: This covers you if your Honda hurts or kills someone in an accident.
  • Comprehensive: This covers damage to your Honda from non-accident sources like weather and vandalism.
  • Property Damage Liability: This is legally required everywhere. It’s the portion of your insurance that covers damage to the other party’s vehicle after an accident.
  • Collision: This covers damage to your Honda if it’s involved in an accident.
  • Medical Payment: This provides coverage for you and/or your passengers for medical expenses related to an accident.
  • Uninsured Motorist: If someone who doesn’t have insurance injures you, this will cover you.

The limits of your coverage and your deductibles for each element of your policy will vary based upon what you’ve purchased from your insurance company.

What Determines Your Rates?
How do insurance companies decide how much to charge you for that coverage? They look at a variety of factors.

Your actual vehicle is an important part of the puzzle. The value of your Odyssey or Element will have an impact on the price of your policy, because the cost of covering replacement and repair vary based upon the vehicle.

There’s more to it than that, though. Insurance companies also look at the vehicle type to help determine how likely you will be to utilize your insurance coverage. That’s why it’s cheaper to insure an Odyssey than an Element–minivans tend to have fewer significant claims than do small SUVs.

You can also expect the modifications you’ve made to your Honda wheelchair van to influence policy pricing. You may be an excellent driver, but the fact that modified vehicles tend to be involved in a relatively high number of claims is reason enough for insurance companies to increase premiums on wheelchair vans, in most cases.

You are part of the pricing equation, too. Your personal driving record, age, gender and any license restrictions you may have will influence the price of insurance. Non-driving related factors such as home ownership, credit rating, and where you live will also influence pricing. Insurance companies look at multiple variables to determine your probable level of risk.

Finally, the policy limits and coverage you select will influence your insurance pricing. If you’re only purchasing the minimum requirement of liability insurance in an effort to “stay legal,” you’ll spend a lot less than you would for full coverage with all available protections.

Purchasing insurance is always a process of balancing the best possible coverage with affordability. The levels of coverage you need and the amount you can spend will, obviously, vary based on a series of individual factors. The most important thing to remember is to be certain you have adequate coverage to meet both the legal requirements and your personal needs.

You’ll also want to consider insuring your mobility aids, vehicle modifications and equipment. Most vehicle policies will cover your Odyssey or Element, but they won’t cover your lift or ramp. They’ll replace your bumper if you get in an accident, but they won’t necessarily pay to fix your low-effort steering system if it’s damaged.

Insuring a Honda wheelchair van isn’t really a complicated procedure. When you understand the different kinds of coverage and how rates are set, the process is even easier to understand.

How Ford Wheelchair Van Insurance Really Works

If you’re ever in a accident in your wheelchair van and have insurance questions or need your to have repairs made contact the experts at the Mobility Center in Bridgewater, MA with your questions 508-697-6006

2013 Ford Tuscany Wheelchair Van

Buying insurance can be a complicated process. For those of us who haven’t spent a great deal of time thinking about insurance and how it works, purchasing insurance for a wheelchair van can be rather intimidating. So here is a little information about the way Ford wheelchair van insurance really works.

Information about Coverage
Your Ford wheelchair van insurance is made up of individual elements. When one talks about vehicle insurance, they’re actually referring to a combination of different forms of insurance with different purposes.

For example, you can buy liability insurance. That will pay for any damage you might cause if you have an accident. Liability insurance is a legal requirement. Bodily injury liability coverage will defray the medical expenses of anyone who may be injured by your vehicle in an accident.

Due to the high number of people who fail to meet their state-mandated legal obligations, many Ford wheelchair van drivers purchase uninsured or underinsured motorist insurance. This feature of a policy will protect you in the event that another driver collides with you and doesn’t have adequate coverage.

There is insurance designed to cover all of our own medical expenses if you’re in an accident and most new vehicle buyers purchase comprehensive policies that cover damage caused by vandalism, weather, and virtually any other mishap. If you are still making payments on a financed vehicle, the lender will generally require proof of comprehensive coverage as a term of the loan.

Those are only a few of the different forms of coverage that may be involved in covering your Ford. Different policies have different benefits and various insurance companies offer variations on the same theme. You may be interested in hearing about some of the other forms of protection they offer when insuring your wheelchair van.

Information of Rate Determinations
Now that we’ve discussed what you’re buying, we can explore why it costs so much! Most of us find insurance rather expensive and many wonder why different people may be subject to wildly different rates. There are a number of factors at play.

The most significant factor in setting insurance rates is the driver. Insurance companies evaluate data and look at multiple variables to determine how likely you are to be in an accident or to file a claim.

That’s why a 45-year old with a perfect driving record pays less for the same coverage than an 18-year old who’s already collected numerous. Your age is just one example of the many demographic variables influencing your rates. Your driving history is another.

Unfortunately, that means you’ll pay more than most people when you insure your Ford wheelchair van. Even if you are a fantastic driver, the overall statistics do indicate that drivers with disabilities are more likely to be involved in claims and accidents. US federal law prohibits insurance companies from discrimination based on disability, but they can consider those statistics when determining rates.

Your Ford wheelchair van will also influence how much you pay for your insurance. Again, the insurance companies base their rates on all available data and they have a very good idea of how much different vehicle types cost to repair and how likely they are to be involved in a claim. That’s why a sports car will cost more to insure than a dull four-door sedan.

It’s also another reason while you will be paying more than the average for your wheelchair van insurance. Wheelchair vans tend to cost a great deal to repair and data does indicate that they are more likely than many vehicle types to be involved in insurance claims. Additionally, wheelchair van owners need to be certain that their special equipment and modifications are insured. That drives up the price of their policies even more.

Insurance can be complicated and you need to be considerate when making decisions. Having at least a basic understanding of coverage types and the factors influencing the price of insurance should help.