Car insurance in different states: what's the catch?

Just like choosing car insurance services among different companies with their own set of rules and methods of price determination, insuring your vehicle can strongly differ between states even close ones. And depending on where your car is registered you may face a whole different set of coverage types, amounts and respectively car insurance rates than you would expect. That's why it is very important to learn your state minimum requirements before shopping for car insurance policy.

The first thing that varies significantly from one state to another is the minimum amount of bodily injury and property damage coverage your policy should carry. The best source to learn your state minimum required amount of coverage is your local federal insurance agency representation. You may also find impressive difference in paperwork required for insuring or registering your car. For example, in some states you can easily register your car having only your driver's license, while in others you should provide car insurance policy in order to get your vehicle approved. So make sure you know all the requirements before even starting to look for auto insurance quotes.

Different states have also different risks to your vehicle, so having appropriate type and amount of coverage is important. For example it would be wise to have earthquake and fire coverage if you live in California, and not so wise to carry additional flood coverage while driving the roads of Arizona. Living in different population areas also counts, as you are more likely to face the risk of theft in an urban area, while in rural parts of the state it would be almost pointless having increase amount of respective coverage.