Frequently Asked Questions

You can qualify for a number of discounts on your auto insurance, but the most important thing to consider with the cost is the total price of the insurance. A company may try to woo you with promises of this discount or that. It doesn’t matter how many discounts your auto insurance company says they are applying to your policy; if you can find another one cheaper without discounts... well... that would be an easy decision. The names of the discounts vary from one company to another, but here is a list of some of the most popular ones and what they mean.

Listing roommates on auto policies

This has always been one of the toughest things in the auto insurance business for people to understand, both agents and customers alike. You have a car. It’s yours. You paid for it. You share a home or apartment with a couple of other people. Everyone has their milk in the fridge, cereal in the cupboard, and a toothbrush in the bathroom. About the only thing you might share with your roommates is the toilet paper. Impossible that each of you is going to carry his or her own roll around for each restroom visit.

When a driver is convicted of a Driving Under the Influence of alcohol or drugs or a Failure to Operate a Vehicle Without Insurance violation, the court will refer the case to the Oregon DMV that will then mark the driver’s file with a requirement to provide proof of Financial Responsibility. The method by which a driver can satisfy this obligation in Oregon is by submitting an original SR22 certificate.

This question comes up a lot when a client buys a new car from either a dealer or a private party. What happens when the buyer doesn’t trade in the old car but wants to take their chances of selling it themselves?

Buying a new car

Your active Oregon auto insurance policy will cover your newly purchased vehicle automatically for the same coverage as any automobile currently on the policy. If at least one car has full coverage, then the new car that you just acquired will also have full coverage. Liability-only policies will offer just liability. If you want full coverage on the new car, let your agent know. It is not automatically covered under comprehensive and collision coverages.