Driving in ice and snow can be very hazardous. Each year, thousands of insurance claims are filed for drivers who have skidded into other cars or stationary objects while driving in icy conditions.

Here are a few tips to help you navigate the roads safely when winter weather comes to town.

1) Don’t go out. It seems simple enough to say, but many people do not realize just how important it is to stay in when the roads are hazardous.

If you simply have to get to the store for that quart of milk, you might want to think about better planning—lay in supplies of food and do your errands in batches while the weather is good.

If you are going to be driving no matter what, get snow tires. Check your state’s laws about studded tires or chains; some states do not allow them between certain periods. Have your snow tires put on early in the season; make sure they are well-maintained and checked periodically.

2) Decrease your speed. Most accidents on icy roads can be contributed to driving too fast for conditions. This does not mean the posted speed limit; it means driving at a speed which allows you time to correct for possible hazards. You will need at least three times the stopping distance on ice as on dry pavement, so slow down and give yourself plenty of time to negotiate corners and intersections.

When you are driving in ice, you should also brake gently. You should not ever slam on brakes while on ice; this is a recipe for disaster. Instead, slowly brake in increments, giving yourself time to stop safely. Stop well before a stop sign or traffic light; better to be a few feet back than in the middle of an intersection.

3) Use your lights. Even in broad daylight, your lights will help you stay visible to other motorists. Use your windshield wipers to keep your screen free of snow and debris. De-ice your windshield before you begin driving by starting the car, letting it run for a few minutes, and scraping the ice from your windshield.

You should also use lower gears. Many cars and trucks come equipped with four-wheel drive. This has actually increased the problem with driving in snow, because many four-wheel drive owners mistakenly believe they can navigate roads with four wheels they would not tackle with two. Instead of relying on four-wheel drive, engage your low gear to keep traction.

4) Be careful on bridges. Bridges often form icy patches well before the regular roadbed, so use extreme caution when crossing them, even if the temperature is above freezing.

5) Know how to handle a skid. If you begin to skid, take your foot off the accelerator, and steer “into” the skid. What this means is that you turn your front wheels in the direction you want to go, opposite what the rear wheels are doing. If you have front-wheel drive, do not steer but put the vehicle in neutral while you regain traction.

6) Keep sand or litter in your trunk. Not only will this help weight your vehicle down, giving you more traction, but it is very useful if you get stuck. Do not spin your wheels if you are stuck—this only makes the problem worse. Instead, “rock” the vehicle gently by shifting from forward to reverse and back again.

Besides sand, you should also keep an emergency kit in your car. Road flares and a jack can be lifesavers in dangerous conditions. If you are stranded, do not leave your car unless help is within sight.

Instead, turn on your flashers, put out flares if needed, and call for help. Keep blankets and hard candy, as well as water, in your car at all times in case you are stuck for some time.

Experts currently estimate that almost 25 percent of drivers on the road are operating their vehicles without insurance. This is a huge problem for everyone, as accidents caused by uninsured motorists cost money not only in property damage and personal injury, but in higher insurance premiums for drivers who do insure their cars.

There are also costs to the taxpayers associated with prosecuting uninsured drivers, such as court fees and incarceration costs. Unfortunately, many people do not understand the situation or what happens when an uninsured driver is involved in an accident.

If you hit an uninsured motorist, you have several options. However, one of the options is not to “just forget it.” Most states have reporting requirements for accidents, especially if the damage is over a “threshold” amount which varies from state to state. If you fail to report an accident, you can be fined and penalized for this fact alone.

Further, if you have insurance and the accident is your fault, then your insurance must pay for the damages you caused. Failure to do so could be considered an illegal act, whether the other driver had insurance or not.

Reporting an accident to your insurance company will likely make your rates go up, but the alternative is to possibly have your coverage dropped or to face legal consequences.

However, if the other driver is uninsured, it is very possible that he or she will not want to report the accident because of possible penalties which might be assessed for driving without insurance. So, in reality, you may not find yourself having to pay much or any of the damage, especially if the accident was minor.

A word of caution is in order, however. There are several situations which might bring about negative consequences to you if you fail to report an accident. Between various state laws and possible scams, you are often better off reporting an accident immediately no matter what the consequences to either driver.

One such scenario is when you hit an “uninsured” driver who turns out to have insurance. If the other driver believes the accident to be his or her fault, the person could say that he or she has no insurance to try to keep you from filing a claim.

If the accident turns out to be that person’s fault, your insurance company will find out any relevant insurance information so you can make a claim.

If the accident is your fault, your insurance company will need to know the other person’s coverage to see how much liability you are assessed; in no-fault states, for example, a person must cover his or her own damages up to a certain amount.

Another possible situation is when you are the victim of a scam. There are people who will set up an accident—for example, one gets behind you while driving fast, scaring you into speeding up, and the other gets in front of you and slams on brakes.

The “victim” of the accident will then try to make a claim against your insurance, or worse still, tell you that he or she is uninsured in order to get you to pay cash to avoid having the accident on your record.

In each of these scenarios, your best bet is to call the police. While you may be in for a rate hike, it is preferable to being taken advantage of or to putting yourself in a position where you have inadvertently broken the law.

If you have a recreational vehicle, or RV, it is important to maintain a separate insurance policy on this vehicle. Do not assume that your automobile or homeowner’s insurance will cover damage to your RV! In most cases, you need a separate RV policy to protect your investment.

RV insurance combines the best of both automobile and homeowner’s policies, covering items which would not be covered under either single policy.

Where can you find the cheapest RV policies which will still meet your coverage needs? Many companies specialize in RV insurance and offer a variety of perks for your RV travel needs.

Good Sam, the trusted name in RV parks, offers RV insurance at greatly discounted rates. Good Sam advertises that customers who switched from other companies saved an average of $345 per year on their RV insurance. While this type of discount will not apply to every customer, a quote will give you a quick impression of how much you can save on RV insurance with Good Sam.

Good Sam offers discounts for park membership, a paid-in-full policy, membership in the GMAC Homeowner’s Program, safe driver, safety features on your RV, and multi-vehicle discounts. Good Sam also gives you up to 53% off your RV insurance for the time it is in storage—an important consideration for the seasonal traveler.

Progressive is another company which offers great discounts for RV insurance. Progressive customers save with discounts on RV insurance for claims-free renewal of policy, original owner, paid in full policies and paid promptly policies, and being a responsible driver.

Progressive has many varieties of “specialty” insurance such as motorcycles and RVs, and is one of the larger companies insuring RVs across the nation.

USAA also specializes in good RV rates. You can get discounts to include a $0 deductible with a safe driving record and year-round coverage for a seasonal price. Unfortunately, while USAA has some of the best pricing structures in the industry, it is only available to military personnel and veterans and their families, meaning that some people will not be able to take advantage of these discounts.

GEICO also offers substantial discounts on motor home and RV insurance. If you have a commercial license, complete a defensive driver course, or insure more than one vehicle with GEICO, you may be eligible for better discounts on your RV insurance premiums.

Allstate offers an Allstate Motor Club in addition to its RV insurance policies. The Allstate Motor Club can give you a variety of services unrelated to insurance, such as roadside assistance and discounts at restaurants and other places while you travel. Allstate offers discounts for RV insurance similar to those it offers for automobiles, including safe driver discounts and loyalty discounts.

Some companies have subsidiaries which handle their RV insurance business. For example, Farmers’ subsidiary, Foremost Insurance, specializes in handling policies for motor homes, luxury coaches, and other forms of RVs. Backed by the larger Farmers Group, Foremost is able to keep prices reasonable and competitive with larger companies, while relieving Farmers from the necessity for an infrastructure for RV insurance coverage.

Some companies operate as independent agents to get you the best RV insurance prices. RV America Insurance is such a company. The company will assemble quotes from five of the lowest-priced RV insurers for you, and you can purchase directly through their website.

Shopping for discounts is obviously the way to save the most money on your RV insurance. By talking to several agents or an independent agent who can give you quotes from several companies, you can easily compare prices among several insurers to determine which is the best company for your RV needs.

You have taken the plunge and bought a new Honda Fit. Congratulations! You are going to enjoy this car which gets great gas mileage and comes with Honda’s reputation for excellence in construction. The low maintenance and great mileage you get will bring you years of enjoyment.

However, you may now be concerned about insuring your Honda Fit. Because it is a relatively new car, insurance rates are still being determined on many of the models. How do you know if your insurer is giving you a good price on your Honda Fit automobile insurance?

Overall, prices for the Honda Fit are going to be a little higher than for some other models. There is a very simple reason for this: the Honda fit is an unknown quantity. Because it is so new, insurance companies do not really know how much it will cost, in the long run, to repair and replace Honda Fit models which are damaged or totaled in accidents.

Insurance companies do not like unknown risks; therefore, they will tend to err on the side of caution and charge slightly more for the Honda Fit than for similar models which have been in existence longer. Once data is obtained on the Honda Fit over the course of several years, the prices will likely stabilize.

This is not to say, however, that insurance costs for the Honda Fit should be wildly higher than for similar makes and models. Insurance companies can predict with a fair amount of accuracy what costs will be to repair or replace new models of cars; you might expect to see a 5% higher premium than that of a similar car for the first few years on the Honda Fit. Anything more than that is excessive and you should find another company for your insurance needs.

The Honda Fit has several things going for it in terms of insurance prices. First, it gets great mileage and is easy to maintain. While this does not directly affect the price of your insurance, it does have an indirect effect as many more people will be likely to buy such a car, and this will eventually help to lower insurance costs across the board.

Because it is compact, replacement parts and costs will be slightly less than for larger vehicles. Even the types of people who drive Honda Fits—upwardly-mobile, environmentally-conscious younger and older drivers—can have an impact on the overall cost of car insurance for a single owner.

The Honda Fit also has some disadvantages when it comes to insurance costs. Because of its small size, the chance of injury if involved in an accident with a larger vehicle is higher, resulting in higher premiums. Further, if you drive many more miles, which you are likely to do with good gas mileage, your premiums can jump as well.

However, overall average prices for Honda Fit insurance are basically in line with other cars of its size and construction. The average cost to ensure a Honda fit is $1,220 per year. Bear in mind that this figure is an average and may in no way be reflective of an actual quote. A 32-year-old female in Ohio may pay only $400 per year, while a 20-year-old male in California may pay $1,800.

It helps to compare averages against other vehicles, rather than take averages as an indication of what you will pay; for example, the Ford Focus average is $1,120 per year, or about $100 less per year than the Honda Fit.

This number is far more indicative of what you are likely to see than the premium quote itself; you can expect to pay about $10 more per month for insurance for a Honda Fit than for a Ford Focus.

Of course, your driving record, location, and other demographics will have the biggest impact on what you pay for insurance. Be sure to get multiple quotes to find the best rates for insuring your new Honda Fit.

Trying to find ways to lower your auto insurance premiums can become a full-time hobby. If you want to save money and get the best discounts, you may try tweaking your policy’s deductibles, limits, and coverage types. You may also decide to pay in advance and take advantage of good driver and good student discounts.

Some people even believe that by buying their car insurance at a certain time of the year, they will receive the best discounts.

There may be some slight truth to that last statement. Winter tends to bring ice, snow, and sleet to many parts of the country, and there are simply more accidents at this time of year. On the other hand, summer is a time when most people travel by car, so there are statistically more accidents during the summer on the major highways.

No matter which season you examine, the number of accidents involving your particular age group, location, and type of vehicle will have an impact on your premium prices.

It would seem, then, that spring or fall would be the best time to buy your insurance—and it could indeed save you some money on your premiums. However, you can take advantage of far greater savings by controlling some things in your life which will have a direct impact on your premium, rather than relying on uncontrollable factors such as how many accidents take place in a given period of the year.

First, your driving record is still one of the most important factors in figuring your insurance premium, and it is within your direct control. Keep speed down to avoid tickets, and drive defensively; by avoiding accidents, even small “fender benders,” you will keep your premiums at their lowest.

Another factor within your control is your credit score, a factor which is becoming ever more important than others in figuring your automobile insurance costs. While it may not seem fair to some people, the fact is that people with good credit scores tend to have superior driving records when compared to people with low credit scores.

This could be due to a variety of factors, including the fact that people with better credit tend to have better-maintained vehicles, which leads to less frequent mishaps. Whatever the cause, insurance companies have been quick to recognize and capitalize on the credit score factor when figuring premium costs, and few states have laws disallowing this practice.

If you buy automobile insurance in the spring or fall of the year, with high deductibles and low limits, and with a good credit score and good driving record, you are probably doing the best you can to lower your premiums. The difference, at this point, between buying in the spring or fall and buying in the winter or summer will probably be negligible, but it does not hurt to get quotes and make comparisons.

Many companies, such as GEICO, Allstate, State Farm, and Progressive, have online quote generators. You can try getting a quote in the winter, then another in the spring, and compare the two prices. It is likely there will be a slight difference, although whether the difference is seasonal, due to an anomalous shift in accident patterns, or due to the economic fluctuations of the industry will be impossible to say.

Most importantly, get several quotes before you buy automobile insurance from anyone. Do not assume that the company you have always used is giving you the very best discounts; talk to your agent with other quotes in hand. Many times, agents have the power to reduce your premium to match other company’s offers; if they do not, you can always change your insurance to another company and save money.

The Ford Focus is a popular small vehicle due to its good fuel efficiency, often up to 35 mpg, its low sticker price, and its affordability to insure. Comfortable, stylish, and easy on the wallet, the Ford Focus has become a favorite for all age groups looking to save money on transportation.

What it will cost to insure a Ford Focus will depend on several factors. Age, driving record, and location are the most important demographic factors affecting your car insurance rate.

If you are a young male who has had a major accident in the last two years and lives in a large city, you will naturally pay more than an older, married female with a perfect driving history who lives in a small town.

Credit rating is also becoming an important factor in car insurance prices, as a high credit rating is statistically tied to more careful driving habits.

These things you may not have much control over; however, there are some ways you can save money on your insurance, the car you choose to drive is one of the most effective ways to lower your insurance costs.

In this regard, the Ford Focus shines. Insurers like the car because it speaks of economy and good financial sense; these qualities tend to translate into better driving records. Moreover, the Ford Focus is not very expensive to fix when compared to “luxury” sedans or SUVs, so even if you are involved in an accident, it will not cost the insurance company as much money to fix your car as if you had a more expensive model.

Ford Focus tends to hold its resale value, so insuring your car for full coverage is an important consideration. In many cases, cars lose value so quickly that once they are paid off, it is not worth it to keep full coverage on the vehicle. With a car which retains value, however, this may not be the case; be sure to assess the value of your Ford Focus before making a decision to drop any coverage.

The features on your Ford Focus will also determine how much you pay for insurance. You will pay far less for insurance if you have anti-theft devices, anti-lock brakes, air bags, and other safety features on your Ford Focus.

Many companies have great prices on Ford Focus auto insurance. For the average driver, the Ford Focus costs between $900 and $1,300 per year to insure. You can expect a drop of only about $20 per year for the first five years, however, so long-term costs of insurance are greater than immediate costs.

Of course, many factors can change this amount, but considering that the averages for many cars are much higher than this, it is a good indication that the Ford Focus is an insurance bargain. Insuring a Focus is not significantly higher than most other sedans, and you trade off the slight increase in price with an increase in value of your vehicle.

One thing working against the Focus on insurance costs is that the car itself depreciates so slowly. Your 2005 Focus is probably worth at least half of what you paid for it seven years ago. If you recently bought a Focus, it is probably worth at least 80% of the purchase price.

Insurance companies take this into account, knowing that they will have to pay out more on an older Focus than on some other cars. Consequently, you may pay more for your Focus insurance for the duration of your policy than you would for a car which depreciates more quickly. However, you will also gain a much greater payoff if your Ford Focus is wrecked, given the high retention in resale value.

If you work for the federal, state, or local government, there is a good chance that you can receive a discount on your auto insurance. Several companies offer discounts to government workers, even if they are not insuring vehicles used for work.

GEICO stands for Government Employees Insurance Company and was actually founded as a way for government employees to save on their car insurance. Today, GEICO is open to everyone, but still offers substantial discounts to government employees.

GEICO has a special program for federal employees which includes Federal Leave Record cards in downloadable format so that employees can get these forms on their computer or through a mobile app; a Federal Employees Appreciation Program, which holds events in various cities throughout the year; and the GEICO Federal and Military Scholarship program, which offers college scholarships to dependents of federal workers. Best of all, GEICO offers the “Eagle” discount, which can be up to 8%, depending on the state, for federal employees on their total car insurance bill.

There is also a federally-sponsored marketing discount available to companies which maintain an affiliation with GEICO, and whose members may not be eligible for the Eagle discount.

Travelers also offers discounts on automobile insurance to government employees. In partnership with Capitol Benefits of Gaithersburg, Maryland, Travelers offers discounts to employees in the Washington, DC, area. Although a specified discount rate is not available, the company will gladly run a quote and figure the discount based on driving record, location, age, and type of vehicle. Discounts are also available under the same program for boats, homes, renters, and umbrella policies.

If you live in the western United States and you are a civil servant, you might be interested in a quote from CSE, the Civil Service Employees group. This group offers savings on automobile insurance premiums to those who work for the state governments.

Civil employees can save from 5% to 10% on the cost of their car insurance with CSE. CSE also offers further discounts for select groups, such as firefighters and police officers. CSE has regular discounts, as well, such as good driver discounts and good student discounts. Civil employees can take advantage of several forms of discount when purchasing insurance with CSE.

Discounts on premiums are not the only discounts available to government workers. The American Auto Assurance Company offers government employees and military personnel discounts on vehicle protection plans, as well. These plans cover you for many major repairs on your vehicle, not necessarily accident-related. These types of plans are not technically automobile insurance, but may still save you a great deal of money if you need major car repairs which were not caused by an accident; these types of repairs are not paid for by your regular automobile insurance.

Government workers are graded by their job type, and each grade seems to have a different level of cost for automobile insurance. This may be due to the types of cars driven, but a government employee will need to compare several companies to be sure he or she is getting the very best rates and discounts available.

Government employees should also think about how they are going to pay for their car insurance, as with some companies discounts hinge on this factor. Paying up front for a six-month premium will often give you the best discounts available, and some discounts may disappear if you do not pay your entire balance up front. Be sure to ask about this when you receive your quote; some companies advertise great discounts, but your final bill may be higher than you anticipated.

The Chevy Camaro has been one of the most popular sports cars of all time. Relatively affordable, sleek, stylish, and with plenty of perks, the Camaro has been in continuous production since 1966, making it one of the longest-running lines of the Chevrolet brand.

Traditionally, the Camaro runs a V-6 engine with 304 horsepower, although a V-8 426 horsepower model is available. Most models run between $20,000 and $30,000 sticker price, making this car a tad on the expensive side for a first-time car buyer. For aficionados, however, the Camaro is a cult classic and many are sold each year.

The Camaro has a couple of strikes against it when it comes to insurance prices. Because it is a sports car, insurance rates will be higher than those for sedans or family wagons. The Camaro is a popular car, which makes it easy to move and sell, and it may become a target for thieves if parked in the wrong neighborhoods.

However, your rates for car insurance on a Chevy Camaro are going to depend in large part on your own driving history, age, and location. Like any other car, a Camaro can be relatively inexpensive to insure if you are a 45-year-old married male with a good driving record living in the suburbs. On the other hand, if you are a 20-year-old single male living in an urban area, your rates are going to be much higher.

The age of your Camaro is also going to have a large impact on your insurance costs. A new model will be more expensive to insure, by and large, than an older model. If you have a true “classic car” and do not drive it often, you may be qualified to buy specialized classic car insurance, which will generally be much cheaper than traditional liability insurance, but also does not give you the same coverage.

Premiums for a new Camaro can run anywhere from $1,200 per year for a good driver to $2,500 per year. While these rates are highly variable depending on where you live and your driving record, expect to pay anywhere from $120 to $200 per month to ensure a new Camaro. Prices come down substantially once a Camaro is five or more years old.

Some companies to consider when you are looking for insurance for your Camaro are State Farm, Allstate, GEICO, and Progressive. These are the largest insurers in the country and can often give you the most competitive rates. Progressive offers an online quote engine which will give you comparison rates from their own company as well as several others.

You can also visit an independent insurance agent and get quotes from several companies. Independent agents represent a variety of companies and can often give you “competitive quotes,” meaning that they can compare not only the premium price but also the coverage offered by each company, giving you an “apples-to-apples” coverage matrix which will show you exactly how much coverage you are getting from each company. This is an important consideration when you are looking at coverage for a new car, as many companies will only ensure “book value” rather than what you owe on the car.

If you have an older, or classic, Camaro, consider Hagerty Classic Insurance. This company has been in business since 1983, insuring boats and classic cars, and offers specialized insurance policies which meet the particular needs of older car owners. This type of coverage is especially valuable if your Camaro is a “show car” or one which is on the road only under certain conditions. You can often get classic or collector car insurance at a much lower rate than traditional insurance, with better coverage.

You want your car to be in top condition, so you take care of it with routine maintenance: checking pressure in your tires, having your oil changed regularly, immediately servicing any problems.

This means your car will be far more reliable and will give you many years of good service. But what about your insurance premiums? You get a break on your price for being a good driver; what about for being a good car owner?

Unfortunately, insurance companies do not look directly at how well you maintain your vehicle. After all, it would be almost impossible for them to monitor this type of behavior with any efficiency.

In order to monitor how often you change your oil or have your car serviced, an insurance company would need a much larger infrastructure—resulting in higher prices for everyone.

For this reason, insurance companies tend to assume that you are taking care of your own investment, and do not check on your maintenance habits unless there is some direct reason for them to do so.

However, maintaining your vehicle can have an indirect affect on your car insurance premium, because good maintenance means fewer accidents or problems—things auto insurance companies do look at.

For example, think about your tires. Many people neglect to routinely check the pressure and tread of their tires—with serious consequences.

If you do not check your tire pressure and tread, the chances of a flat or even a blowout increase significantly.

If you suffer a blowout and it causes an accident, your insurance company is definitely going to be interested in why the accident happened. You may find yourself with a higher premium simply because you neglected this routine maintenance.

Another indirect way maintenance affects your insurance rates is when your car is out of commission.

Even if you are having your car repaired, the insurance company still charges you the same premium, although you are not driving the car. If you have to have an engine or a transmission replaced due to poor maintenance habits, your car will be inoperable for some time; however, you will be paying your insurance premiums all the same.

This means you are paying for coverage on a car you cannot drive, and that is not good business.

If you have an accident or a breakdown resulting from poor maintenance, your insurance company will find this out, and it can affect how your payout is handled. If you deliberately neglect a vehicle, the insurance company can often refuse to pay your claim; this depends on the circumstances of the accident or problem.

For example, you may have heard stories of how someone left their keys in the car and the car running while they ran in somewhere “just for a minute.” When they came out, their car had been stolen, and the insurance company gave the person a hard time about paying for the car.

While this is not always true, and insurance companies rarely refuse to pay a claim at all, it means much more problem for the driver than if the car had been broken into.

This same logic applies with maintenance on your vehicle. If you fail to maintain your brakes, for example, letting them run down to the point that they barely function, and then you lose control of your car and hit someone, the insurance company is going to have some questions before paying out a claim.

It is even possible that they could refuse to pay the claim, based on the fact that you knew that your brakes were not working but drove anyway.

The best course is to maintain your car. You will have a better-running vehicle, you will have peace of mind, and your insurance company can safely insure you against true accidents.

If you miss a monthly, quarterly, or bi-annual payment on your car insurance, what happens to your policy? Are you covered during the time the policy was unpaid? If you make the payment quickly, is your coverage reinstated? These are all questions people ask from time to time, if they have missed a car insurance payment by accident or due to unforeseen circumstances.

The answers will depend on the state in which you live, but generally speaking you do not lose your car insurance the day you miss a payment. Most states have laws which require insurance companies to offer a minimum “grace period” for your payment to arrive. An average grace period is ten days, although your grace period may be longer or shorter. If your payment does not arrive by midnight on the due date, you are considered to be in the grace period on your policy.

Once you enter the grace period, if you make your payment, everything goes back to normal, just as if you had made your payment on time. Most states will not allow insurance companies to punish customers for being a day or two late on their payments; in fact, you may have even longer than the grace period to get your payment in, depending on your state.

After the grace period expires, many states send out a “delinquent notice.” This still does not mean that your insurance in cancelled; rather, it means that you have a deadline to get your payment in. Some companies and some states do not have delinquent periods following the grace period; be sure to check with your insurer to find out. Delinquent periods can be as long as thirty days, but may be as short as five. In any case, once the delinquent period ends, your coverage will most likely be cancelled. This leaves you liable for any injuries or damage caused while you are uninsured.

While being uninsured is a terrible worry, you also have other problems if your insurance coverage is cancelled. When you obtain a policy, you are not the only one bound by the terms of the agreement; the company is also “on the hook.” Even if you speed or have an accident, your company must continue to insure you for the full coverage period agreed upon. If your insurance is cancelled, however, the company is not obligated to take you back. If you have a spotty driving record, this can present a problem in finding other insurance at a reasonable rate.

Even if you have a clean record, your company does not have to take you back if you miss payments. If the company feels that they will always be chasing you to pay them, it is very possible they will refuse to reinstate your policy after a cancellation. This means that you will have to search for new coverage, and will lose any customer loyalty or long-term discounts you may have had with your old company.

If the company chooses to reinstate you, they can, in many states, insist on a more structured payment plan.
For example, if you miss a bi-annual payment, your company may insist on quarterly or monthly payments. In many cases, this causes you to lose discounts associated with a “paid in full” policy. You may end up paying more in processing and handling fees with monthly payments, as well.

It is always wise to make your payments on time whenever possible. Even if you can only pay half of the premium, the company will often give you thirty days to get the other half; many companies offer this service to their regular customers, and do not consider it to be a “non-payment.” Talk to your agent or your company to find out options if you are having trouble making your payments.