Surely, this question is asked by any person who has a car and decides to insure it. The decision will depend on whether the car owner will be able to protect himself from unforeseen expenses and receive a refund in order to repair his car. A person encounters this problem especially acutely not when concluding an insurance contract, but only when a hateful accident occurs or his car disappears without a trace.
In previous issues of the magazine, we touched upon the issues of car insurance (CASCO) and civil liability of vehicle owners. In this article, we will touch on the main criteria for choosing an insurance company for these types of insurance.
So how do you find a company that is guaranteed to pay? In order to make the right decision, it is necessary, first of all, to get as much information as possible about this or that insurance company, as well as about the type of insurance that you choose. You can learn more about the insurance company from various sources. For example, various kinds of business directories, telephone information, Internet sites, billboards, videos and posters, as well as from people who have already insured in one or another insurance company. Being interested in any insurance company, you can form an idea about it and its activities as follows:
– having studied the official rating of insurance companies according to various indicators. The most important indicators are "Amount of collected premiums" and "Amount of insurance payments". By comparing these two indicators, one can judge how the company pays for its obligations. Being interested in the ratio of these indicators, one should not forget that the company makes payments for several types of insurance, so it is advisable to clarify the amount of collected payments and paid compensations specifically for transport insurance. This will give you a more accurate picture. In addition, it is worth paying attention to the size of the authorized fund of the insurer. This issue is especially relevant at the moment, since on November 7, 2003, amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On Insurance" came into force, which establish minimum requirements for the authorized fund of risk insurance companies in the amount of 500,000 euros. To date, the "charters" of about 180 insurers do not meet the requirements of 1996. And this can lead to the closure of many small companies. Although the registered authorized fund does not yet mean that this money is on the account of the insurance company as a guarantee fund, it can at least serve as confirmation that the company is striving for financial stability and can meet its obligations. The capacity of an insurance company is to a certain extent characterized by the amount of formed insurance reserves. If you see that insurance reserves are in the order of several tens of millions of hryvnias, this can to a certain extent guarantee that the company will pay compensation in case of any serious accident. Although, of course,
- Familiarize yourself with the activities of the insurance company. Be sure to ask what types of insurance the company deals with. Automobile insurance today (especially in large cities) is a very unprofitable type. An insurance company can compensate for this loss at the expense of other types, such as, for example, property insurance (offices, apartments, property complexes), cargo insurance, and others. Having looked at the ratio of various types of insurance in the portfolio of an insurer, you can approximately estimate for yourself how stable the activity of this company can be or, conversely, how risky it is in the market. In addition, the fact that the company is engaged in such types of insurance as aviation, medical, agricultural, financial risks, as this requires a certain professionalism, experience in insuring such risks and reputation in the market. How quickly and easily you can get such information from the company will, to a certain extent, characterize the transparency of the company's activities and its openness to potential customers. To understand how large a company operates, its organizational structure will help you. If the insurer is engaged in its development not only at the location, but also in other regions creates representative offices and branches, this indicates that the company pays considerable attention to market coverage, tries to be closer to each client and takes care that it would be convenient for you to purchase any insurance service; experience in insuring similar risks and reputation in the market. How quickly and easily you can get such information from the company will, to a certain extent, characterize the transparency of the company's activities and its openness to potential customers. To understand how large a company operates, its organizational structure will help you. If the insurer is engaged in its development not only at the location, but also in other regions creates representative offices and branches, this indicates that the company pays considerable attention to market coverage, tries to be closer to each client and takes care that it would be convenient for you to purchase any insurance service; experience in insuring similar risks and reputation in the market. How quickly and easily you can get such information from the company will, to a certain extent, characterize the transparency of the company's activities and its openness to potential customers. To understand how large a company operates, its organizational structure will help you. If the insurer is engaged in its development not only at the location, but also in other regions creates representative offices and branches, this indicates that the company pays considerable attention to market coverage, tries to be closer to each client and takes care that it would be convenient for you to purchase any insurance service; will to a certain extent characterize the transparency of the company's activities and its openness to potential customers. To understand how large a company operates, its organizational structure will help you. If the insurer is engaged in its development not only at the location, but also in other regions creates representative offices and branches, this indicates that the company pays considerable attention to market coverage, tries to be closer to each client and takes care that it would be convenient for you to purchase any insurance service; will to a certain extent characterize the transparency of the company's activities and its openness to potential customers. To understand how large a company operates, its organizational structure will help you. If the insurer is engaged in its development not only at the location, but also in other regions creates representative offices and branches, this indicates that the company pays considerable attention to market coverage, tries to be closer to each client and takes care that it would be convenient for you to purchase any insurance service;
- Paying attention to the company's reputation. The popularity of an insurance company, however, like any other, is formed due to several factors. This is the age of the company, and its activity in the market, and its reputation as reliable and professional, and, of course, its advertising policy. Don't underestimate advertising. A company that correctly and on a large scale places its advertising, firstly, has the funds to place such advertising (advertising in the media is now quite expensive), and secondly, it tries to be closer to its potential customers, to convey to them maximum information about itself, and, thirdly, it forms its image, which is quite important for any modern company. Remember which insurance company advertisements you have seen most often lately, what aroused your interest in this advertisement;
- receiving recommendations. I would like to note that it is not always worth relying on the opinions of other people, even if they are authoritative for you. But hearing about certain cases that have happened to other car owners is also useful. The main thing is to always try to find out why this or that company did not pay, why your neighbor is still suing the insurer, although he had an accident six months ago. In many cases, the reason for refusals is the usual inattention of the clients themselves, who do not always read and comply with the requirements of the signed contracts ...