Being an insurance customer for dummies, volume 1, appendix

Just a short little footnote, this time.

If your car is broken into and the vandals steal your stuff, be aware that that stuff is covered NOT by your car insurance, but by your homeowners/renters' policy. Because the loss of stuff will rarely exceed your homeowners' deductible, you will probably end up paying out of pocket anyway. If it DOES exceed your homeowners' deductible, be aware that your HO policy's premium-- what you pay for it-- will go UP by 30%+ for at least a year if your carrier pays one red cent of the loss. Bottom line: don't leave anything valuable in the car.

Better yet, if you regularly carry COV (Crap Of Value, for those not fluent in Linda-speak) in your vehicle, check with your insurance agent to see if an exception for said Crap can be added to your comprehensive auto insurance.

Also, I sort of "strategically forgot" to mention that your state laws will vary. For instance, in California, if you have a child seat in the auto and the car is subject to any kind of collision claim (be it a rock flying up from the road and puncturing a part of your air conditioning system, or anything), you MUST replace that child seat. I believe insurance helps cover that loss in California but I am not sure how the adjusters wrangle that one out. Anyway, be prepared for some peculiar addenda if you ever have an auto claim... they're meant to help, but, as many of my politically active friends suggest, too many nannies spoil the nursery.

And as Grampa pointed out in his note on the last installment:

ABS=Anti-lock Breaking System (a safety feature which should help insurance rates)
AWD=All-Wheel Drive (a safety feature which should also help insurance rates)