My friend is a Russian citizen and is here in Alaska on a student visa. She doesn’t hold a green card. She got a driver’s license in Alaska but drives an uninsured car. Could tell me
what are the car insurance laws and legal issues of not having a car insurance, particularly for a non-US citizen?

Amelie

Anchorage AK

The Mandatory Insurance and Financial Responsibility laws of Alaska would like to ensure that, in an accident where injury and damage to property could occur because of a vehicle collision, drivers and owners are financially responsible. The law would also like to remove from Alaska highways those drivers who are financially irresponsible. According to the Mandatory Insurance law, drivers and vehicle owners, whose vehicle is subject to registration, must have motor vehicle liability insurance, which meets the state’s minimum requirement, since the car is driven on the pubic property of the state of Alaska. This can be found on the Alaska Statute (AS) 28.22.101.

If your Russian-citizen friend fails to provide the proof of liability insurance, the Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles will have her license suspended. Her privilege to drive and obtain a driver’s license are also suspended. This period of suspension may range from 3 months to 1 year. Your friend’s vehicle may also be impounded if she fails to show a proof financial responsibility.

The US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) advises those who are non-US citizens and plans to come back to US to abide the state’s traffic laws and settle their tickets. Unless there is a warrant, law enforcing officers will not arrest them because of issues with the DMV of the state. However, there will be an intensive inspection on that person if the record is cleared.

Randy
Juneau AK

Searching for auto insurance that best suits your needs can be a very costly one if you end up getting insurance coverage that you dont really need. If this is your first time to purchase auto insurance in Alaska, there are some steps you can take to ensure that your not wasting time or money when trying to find one.

First of all, in getting auto insurance in Alaska, know that it is mandatory for you to get at least the minimum required liability coverage. In Alaska, the minimum liability limits are $50000 for Bodily Injury Liability for every injured person, $100000 for every accident and $25000 for the Property Damage Liability. Of course, if you want your insurance company to cover more than the minimum, you can always opt to set your limits to a higher amount./p

Take down some important notes about your driving profile and your cars profile. Check your driving record. Do you have a clean one or have you gotten quite a lot of tickets in the past? How old are you? How much are you willing to pay or are you capable of paying for insurance? How often will you be driving your car? Do you drive your car for long distances? Do a lot of crimes happen in your neighborhood? Is your car a new, expensive one or an old clunker that looks like its about to go anytime soon? What do you want the insurance company to pay for if there is ever any accident?

When you’ve finally gotten your answers to these questions, you can do some quick searching on the internet for the different types of coverage you can get. Some of these are Liability, Personal Injury Protection, Medical Coverage, Collision, Comprehensive, Uninsured Motorist and Under insured Motorist.

Knowing the coverage you need saves you from spending extra amounts on those that arent really applicable to your situation. There is no point in spending additional insurance for a car whose current value may be less than the amount youll be paying.

$50,000 for every person for Bodily Injury
$100,000 for every accident for Bodily Injury
$25,000 for every accident for Property Damage.
Meanwhile, according to Alaska Statute 28.22.019, whenever you operate your vehicle you must present a document providing proof that you have the required auto insurance coverage here. Also, if you get involved in an accident that resulted to other people or properties damage of more than $501, you will be required to show proof of auto insurance. Failure to do this could result to suspension of your driving privileges and to have your licenses reinstated you must provide proof of financial responsibility in the form of SR22.
On the other hand, if you are wondering on how you can save on your auto insurance in Alaska, you may want to check these discounts

Multiple Vehicle Discount: Majority of auto insurance carriers offer this kind of discount if you will be insuring more than one vehicle. According to statistics, families who have more than one vehicle insured under the same auto insurance provider have better than average claims experience
Drivers Education Program: Discounts offered for this are targeted mainly for younger and mature drivers. If you have enrolled in such course, you may get a discount from your auto insurance provider.

I was renewing my auto insurance policy in Anchorage Alaska AK the other day and my agent was convincing me to get gap insurance. He also tried to sell me this last year when I purchased my car. What’s his game?

Cole

Anchorage, AK

All good insurance agents in Anchorage Alaska AK will suggest this to you, Cole. But, what he failed to do was to explain to you the benefits of having gap insurance and particularly why he was trying to sell you this additional coverage. I am assuming, Cole, that you purchased your through an auto loan, and you are on your second year of payment, correct? If this is wrong just indulge me on this as it will be much easier for me to explain gap insurance with this scenario.

I am sure, Cole, that you are aware that automobiles depreciate far too quickly for our convenience. Although this is completely logical if you think about it. You’ve used the car and therefore it is not in its mint condition anymore – so it has depreciated, right, even as we speak it is depreciating. Just for example, it was stolen or totaled tomorrow (definitely hope not!), then as required by your auto insurance policy, your auto insurance in Anchorage Alaska AK will have to reimburse you or pay you. You might wander where they’d base their payments from. It will be based on what is called the “actual cash value” of the car, and this is the depreciated value of your car prior to the incident.

Given that you have purchased your car through a loan, you still have to pay the full remaining balance of your car, based on its original value when you first bought it – an amount far greater than the actual cash value, and therefore less than what your auto insurance company will pay you. The gap or difference, will be shouldered by you, if you don’t have gap insurance. You see the purpose of gap insurance now, Cole? I hope I have piqued your interest enough for you to look at some quotes from this page.

Will it result to a cheaper life insurance policy if I reduce my own level death benefit term policy than by decreasing mortgage term or credit life insurance policy? Should I split my insurance policies, or should I get only one to make it cheaper in Alaska?

Karl

Anchorage, AK

It’s a good thing you asked, Karl.

Definitely, yes reducing your level death benefit is a cheaper alternative for mortgage decreasing term or credit life insurance policy which are often expensive. You can buy a cheaper priced term level policy and reduce the coverage amount of your term policy on any policy anniversary and reduce your premiums according to the company’s guidelines. It can normally be done by using a policy change form. You may only decrease your coverage amount to the product’s minimum death benefit limit.

What is not a cheaper move for life insurance policy though is when you purchase more than one insurance policy from different companies in Alaska. If you do so, such as buying 2 smaller policies from 2 different companies, you will be paying 2 policy administration fees. Also, by doing this, you miss our on a volume discount that many companies offer for larger policy…similar to a quantity discount when you purchase a merchandise.

You might want to consider shopping for more cheaper options online by simply typing in your zip code on the space located on this page.

Will I save money if I include an Alaska young drivers car insurance in my policy? My wife and I just bought our son a car and he told us that including his name on our insurance policy will lower his premiums. Is this true?

John

Juneau, AK

Since your son is not included in your policy yet, I’m assuming that he’s a new driver who needs an Alaska young drivers car insurance. If he’s still living with you guys, you can include him in your policy. Although it would surely increase your car insurance premiums, it would be cheaper than your son gets a separate young drivers car insurance policy. But there are ways to make sure your premiums are optimized to have a low price. Just follow the tips below.

1. Make your son help pay for the car insurance premiums. Maybe he won’t be able to give much, but still, you’ll pay less than what you have to pay for

2. Tell your son to keep his driving record flawless. It will lessen your premiums in the long run.

3. Installing car safety devices such as airbags, an anti-lock braking system, shatter-proof windshield, and seatbelts can also lower you premium rates.

4. If your son is still in school, ask your current car insurance company if they offer good student car insurance discounts. If they do, tell your son to get those straight A’s to lessen your premiums.

5. Not satisfied with your current car insurance policy and company? Find a new car insurance policy by comparing quotes using car insurance comparison websites such as this blog. It’s fast, secure and free!

I am having some kinds of financial problems right now so I need to cut down on my expenses. I know I’m paying a lot for my Alaska auto insurance so I must cut down my insurance expenses too. How can I do it?

Leslie

Juneau, AK

I’m sorry to hear that Leslie. I’m hoping tomorrow’s gonna be a brighter day for all of us.

Going back to your question, here are some ways you can try to cut down your auto insurance premiums:

• Check online and get multiple auto insurance quotes. It’s time to do some shopping to possibly get lower insurance rates.
• Remove auto insurance coverages that you do not necessarily need. Like for example, if the automobile you are using has low value, you could save more if you opt to remove comprehensive and collision coverage on that automobile.
• Increase your deductibles.
• If you are a student, get good grades. This could give you better auto insurance rates.
• Take note of the other factors that affect auto insurance like:

* your location, the safer the better;

* type of car, use low risk car;

* car usage, the lesser the lower your auto insurance rates and;

* your age, if less than 25 years old you’ll probably get higher auto insurance rates.

For more information on how you can cut down your auto insurance rates, check with your insurance agent.