YOUR WAYS AND MEANS OF MOVEMENT
As car-owners or car-users you have undoubtedly heard people complaining about the price of the car insurance. However, the truth is that the price depends on you, your car, what insurance coverage you purchase and your choice of insurance company.
Speaking of YOUR CAR, there are two types of insurances, which you may purchase. These are:
 Obligatory
This one protects you, as car-user or car-owner, when you deliberately or accidentally cause damage to pedestrians, drivers and passengers in damaged other cars, damages to buildings and other vehicles. It will protect you from all legal claims for material damage or personal damage. The popular name of this insurance is “Third Party Liability” or TPL in short.
Advice(!): Prior to driving make sure that:
 you have a valid TPL insurance for the car you intend to drive;
you have a valid “Annual Technical Test” for the car;
you do not drive if you have used alcohol or drugs.
Remember that your Guardian Angel may not have 500 HP under his wings!
Non obligatory
KASKO
This insurance protects YOUR CAR against damages such parking damages, fire, theft, self inflicted accidents, as well as damages deriving from road accidents with a third party. All expenses for refurbishing YOUR CAR will be covered from your insurance company, irrespective of the cause of the damage. All that is necessary is that you are a licensed driver of a technically sound vehicle.
A few types of coverage of YOUR CAR exist, which are described further down:
“Fire and Theft”
This provides cover as the name suggests. Bare in mind that in cases of self inflicted accidents or parking-lot accidents, your insurance company will not cover the damages. Also if you have caused an accident with another vehicle, your insurance company will decline payment of damages. This type of coverage protects you only against events caused by “Fire” and “Theft”.
Advice(!): In order to save money it is possible to combine this coverage with the obligatory TPL.
“Innocent Participant in Road Accidents”
This type of coverage protects YOUR CAR in the events when you have participated in an accident, the blame for which belongs to the other driver/s and the accident is registered by the respective authorities. In all other instances your insurance company does not have an obligation to pay for incurred damages. Bare in mind that this is also the cheapest type of insurance. Usually this coverage is used by owners of old vehicles with low value.
Advice(!): There are only but a few insurance companies in Bulgaria which offer this coverage and it is always combined with the obligatory TPL.
“Full Coverage”
Full coverage is undoubtedly the most expensive. Irrespective of this it is the most widely met type of vehicle insurance. The reason for this may be that the car-financing company requires such cover or that the owner is more secure with it.
In short, as the name suggests, the full coverage of YOUR CAR insures you against any sort of happening, including guilty conduct and parking-lot damage. Having this cover it is irrelevant who is to blame for the accident causing the damage. Something more – if the guilty driver causing the damage of your car does not have the obligatory TPL, you may turn to your insurance company to cover the damage.
Advice(!):
Do not leave the talon and keys in your car;
Check whether you have cover against deliberate fire in Bulgaria and abroad;
Check whether you have the right for “trusted” or “official” repair shops in the events of damage;
Check whether expenses for repatriation of the vehicle following accidents in Bulgaria and abroad are included;
Add “assistance for technical problems"
Bare in mind that upon total damage or theft of the vehicle you will not receive 100% of the value of YOUR CAR, but rather the actual price of the car at the date of the happening and in the event of total damage, the value of the preserved parts will be deducted.
If YOUR CAR is above 10 years old it is better not to use this coverage. Reasonable coverage for you has been described above. If however, YOUR CAR is older than 25 years, it is considered “classical”. As such, these types of vehicles need to be insured in a special way.
“Accidents to the Seats in a Vehicle”
This covers the caused by you damages to the passengers in YOUR CAR, while you are driving. Partially this coverage overlaps with the obligatory TPL, but it also includes damages to your relatives, incurred in YOUR CAR. This type of cover is obligatory only for vehicles of the public transport, such as buses, trains and taxies.
The insurance of YOUR CAR provides your peace of mind. Prevent part of the daily dose of unpleasant surprises. Be secure always and any time without surprises.
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