If you are new to purchasing auto insurance or have been a covered driver for many years, there are often auto insurance questions that you need to have answered. If you have questions, there are several places you can look for answers.

Begin with your auto insurance policy. The policy is usually sent to you in a book form when you first sign up for auto insurance. You should place this book in a safe place for quick reference if you have questions. In addition, you should keep the papers that the insurance company may send periodically called riders. Auto insurance riders can modify your policy and change the things that the insurance company will or will not cover.

If you still do not find the answer to your auto insurance questions, then you may need to also contact your insurance agent. If you have a local agent, he or she may be only a phone call away. If you purchased your insurance online, you will need to find a contact number or e-mail for the customer service department. Many companies will also offer online chat for instant answers to your questions.

The best time to find the answers to your questions is before you purchase a policy.

For example, our family often rents a vehicle for our vacations. For a couple of years we had a policy that did not cover our rental vehicles. To purchase insurance through the rental car company, the cost was almost as much as the rental price of the car.

I called our agent and ask if it were possible to add a rider onto the policy that would cover the rental vehicle. She then made some phone calls and reported back to me that those riders were not available with my policy. About a month before the policy expired, I began checking around with other insurance companies and found a company that offered rental vehicle coverage with the regular price of the policy. By asking auto insurance questions, I found a policy that better met our family's needs. Had I ask those same questions before buying the first policy, I would have had an additional two hundred fifty dollars that could have been spent on vacation fun rather than paid to the car rental company for insurance.

By asking auto insurance questions, you can save money and be sure that you are purchasing a policy that will meet your insurance needs.