The Insurance Term of the Week
To help you build your insurance vocabulary and be a more informed insurance consumer

Comparative Fault (Sometimes referred to as comparative negligence):
Comparative fault is a method of attributing fault to each driver where both contributed to the cause of the accident.

In states that use pure comparative fault like Arizona, if an injured person is partially at fault for causing his own injuries, his damages are reduced by the percentage of his fault. Say Britt from our staff was injured in an accident and he was determined to be 80% at fault. If his injuries amounted to $10,000.00 Britt would be entitled to only recover $2,000.00 for his injuries.

(Example: Driving 55 miles per hour in a 45 mile per hour zone. Someone runs red light and hits you. You are partially negligent. If you were driving the correct speed limit could you have been more likely to avoid the accident?)

Larry's Tip of the Week:
From Edmunds.com:
Statistics albeit, teen age drivers are not very good. According to the insurance institute for highway safety, 16 year olds get into accidents almost six times more often than drivers between the age of 30 -59.

Not all car insurance companies are as expensive to insure the teen driver and some discounts are available to help you cut costs.

Nine suggestions to help you lower premiums and keep your teenagers license free of violations:

1. Help your teen learn the laws and follow them to the letter. Make safe driving a family project. Know the laws and insist that your sons and daughters follow them.

2. Set a good example. Do you break the speed limit and tail gate? Do you yell at other drivers when you're behind the wheel. How can you expect your children to act differently. Start watching your own driving habits and it will be easier to convince your teenager to be a safe driver.

3. Put your teenager on your policy. Rather than setting up an independent policy for your teenager, put them on your policy as an additional driver. This way the discounts applied on your policy will be passed on to them.

4. Have an incentive for your teenager to get good grades. Find out how much you would save if your teen gets a good grade point average and pass some of the savings on to them. Usually having a 3.0 grade point average will reduce the car insurance premium by 10%. Figure out exactly what the savings would be and make an incentive for your teenager. This accomplishes two things. It gets them a reward for academic performance and it motivates them to continue to get good grades. Also saves a lot of money on the insurance premium.

5. Have your teen take a driver education course. Discounts are available to teens who take the approved driving classes. Call your insurance company to find out which schools are approved.

6. Stay away from sports cars. Giving your teenager a safe car to drive with the latest safety equipment will save you money on the insurance. May also save some temptation on fast driving.

7. Get your teens support. Ask them to help cut costs. Show them the cost of the car insurance and how this fits into the family budget. Get them to take some ownership in this. You'll probably score some points treating them as adults.

8. Take traffic schools to beat tickets.

9. Ride with your teenager. What's happened with your teenagers driving since you last rode with them. If you see them doing something that breaks the rules or seems unsafe you can point this out to them. If they are doing a good job driving, praise them for their efforts.

Following the above suggestions can help you get through the teenage years safely. And, without paying an arm and a leg for car insurance. It takes cooperation and understanding from both sides of the generation gap.