Over the last 20 years; InsureDirect.com has processed 10’s of thousands of auto insurance claims.  During that time, I’m confident we have been put in a position of paying a claim due to a car accident caused by a manufactures defect.  Something as small as a Break-Light Fuse Recall could cause an insureds new car being rear-ended because the driver of the claimants car could not see the Break-Lights of our insureds vehicle.  This is an expense which we should not be responsible and should be defrayed be the auto maker whom caused the defect. Sadly; these situations create more than just financial hardship of auto repair for the driver or car insurance company. If you are a victim of an auto accident because of a manufactures defect, you may experience an increase in your auto insurance rates.

For almost 15 years, over 360 million cars were recalled due to safety-related issues or flaws being revealed. It’s a huge figure that it must be taken into consideration by every car owners or to any single person whom is planning to buy one.

Knowing whether a car you own is on the list or not; it is important  to be observant to save money and unnecessary agony. If the car you wish to buy is on the list, it is still important to be sure the car manufacturer will held responsible for all costs incurred during the recall.

Sometimes because of the pressures placed on every car manufacturer, new automobiles are being released too early and yet are constantly recalled more and more often. Recently, General Motors a leading car manufacturer based in Detroit Michigan, had recalled 1.5 million trucks because the windshield fluid heater’s high risk of catching fire. A similar story was  what happened at Toyota where they had to recall over 8 million cars due to some mechanical problems.

Many wonder what the effect of  being recalled does to one’s car insurance since insurance companies do not appreciate customers who are driving faulty or defective cars. But driving a car that is on the recall list isn’t enough for insurance companies to elevate your auto insurance premium costs. According to the Insurance Information Institute, factors affecting your  car insurance rates are your driving history, location of your garaging address, mileage, new cost of car being insured, damage repair costs, and safety ratings of car. As you can see, being recalled is not on the list; thus being on the recalled list doesn’t influence car insurance rates.

Nevertheless, car owners must still be extremely cautious when driving a car that is on a car manufacturers recall list and hasn’t   modified yet. Understand, your car insurance company will not be liable for any accidents caused by car parts that haven’t been modified by the car manufacturer.

In order to know whether your car or a new car you’re eyeballing is on a recall list, go online and check websites listing recalls or preferably the website of your car’s manufacturer. In addition, there is also a large and detailed database on the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration’s Website where you can search for your cars model and year.

-Mike