Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 451, Buying Car Insurance.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 451.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Our website is eslpod.com.
This is called Buying Car Insurance.
It's a dialogue between Jackie and an agent, someone who sells insurance for cars.
In it, we'll use a lot of common vocabulary in talking about cars and car insurance.
Let's get started.
Hello, Crash It Insurance.
Hi, I wanted to get a quote for car insurance.
Sure, I can help you with that.
I assume you want liability insurance, but what other coverage would you like to get?
Hmm, I'm not sure.
This is my first car.
In that case, let me make a few suggestions.
You'll definitely want collision insurance.
It pays to fix your car if you hit another car or run into something.
You'll also want comprehensive insurance.
It pays for damage to your car.
How's it different from collision insurance?
Well, it pays for damage to your car that's not a result of an accident, like in the case of theft, weather damage or vandalism.
Okay, I want that too.
You'll want property damage insurance to pay for damage you cause to someone else's property.
On top of that, you'll want uninsured motorist insurance in case the other driver doesn't have insurance or doesn't have enough insurance to pay for the damage to your car.
I guess I'll take that, too.
And I don't think you can do without medical payments insurance.
It pays for your medical bills and those of your passengers in case of an accident.
Should I get you a quote for all of this coverage?
Why don't you hold off on that?
I'm not sure how I'm going to pay for all that and buy gas, too.
This is a telephone conversation between a car insurance agent a person who sells car insurance and Jackie.
The agent answers the phone, hello, Crash It Insurance.
Jackie says, hi, I wanted to get a quote for car insurance.
A quote is an estimate quote. an approximate cost of something.
How much something will cost me.
So if you take your car to a mechanic to get it fixed, you may ask for an estimate, a quote on how much the repairs will be.
Or if you are having someone come to your house and paint the walls, you you would first ask for a quote.
How much money will it be?
It's an estimate of the cost of something.
Quote has a couple of different meanings in English however, so take a look at the learning guide for a complete explanation.
Jackie says she wants a quote for car insurance.
Insurance is basically an arrangement where you give money to a company and if you have an accident or a problem, the company will pay for the repair of that accident or that problem, depending on what it is.
So the agent says, sure, I can help you with that.
I can give you a quote.
He says, I assume you want liability insurance.
I assume means I believe that something is true.
I am going to believe that it is true unless you tell me it isn't.
In the United States there are a couple of different kinds of car insurance and usually you are required to have certain kinds of insurance.
It depends on the state where you live.
Liability insurance is one kind of insurance.
Liability comes from the word liable, which means to be responsible for something.
There are two basic kinds of liability insurance.
One kind is to cover you, to pay for any problems you cause to somebody's health or to a person's body.
This is sometimes called bodily liability.
If, for example, you broke someone's legs or even killed them, liability insurance would pay them some money or, if they're dead, of course, their relatives.
That's one kind of liability insurance, bodily injury it's sometimes called.
The other kind is if you damage someone else's car or someone else's property, and That's called property damage insurance.
It's a different kind of liability insurance.
The agent says, what other coverage would you like to get?
Coverage are the things that the insurance policy will pay for, will protect you against.
So here in California, for example in Southern California, we have a lot of earthquakes where the ground moves suddenly.
You can buy special earthquake insurance for your house.
You can also buy fire insurance for your house.
Each kind of insurance is different.
The same is true for a car.
There are different kinds of insurance.
The things that the insurance protects is called the coverage.
Well, Jackie says she's not sure.
This is her first car.
The agent says, in that case, in that situation, let me make a few suggestions.
He says you definitely want collision insurance.
Collision means two things hit each other.
Two cars, for example, run into each other.
That would be a collision.
Collision insurance is money that the insurance company will give you if your car is damaged.
That is, it doesn't pay for the other person's car, it pays for your car.
Most states do not require that you have collision insurance, but it's often a good idea.
The agent explains that collision insurance pays to fix your car if you hit another car or run into something.
To run into means to hit something else, especially when you are driving.
Generally, that is not a good idea.
Jackie says, okay, sure, I want that.
Then the agent says, you'll also want comprehensive insurance.
It pays for damage to your car.
Damage is physical harm that comes to something.
If you take water and you pour it onto your laptop as I did once that will damage your computer.
It will cause damage.
The word can be both a noun and a verb.
Jackie says, how is comprehensive insurance different from collision insurance?
The agent explains that comprehensive insurance pays for damage to your car that is not the result of an accident.
It is not because of an accident.
An accident is, in this case, the same as a collision or a crash when your car hits something else.
Comprehensive insurance pays for things in addition to accidents.
For example, in the case of theft.
In the case of something means if something happens. in a particular situation.
Theft is when someone steals something from you, steals your car in this case.
Comprehensive insurance will pay for your car if someone steals it.
Comprehensive insurance will also pay for weather damage if you have bad weather and that damages your car.
It will also pay if you are a victim of vandalism.
A victim is someone who is hurt by someone else or something.
Vandalism means someone tries to damage your property by throwing something on it or by doing something that would cause it to be harmed in some way.
They may, for example, paint on it or take a rock and throw it at it.
That would be an example of vandalism.
If you don't have comprehensive insurance and your car is vandalized or stolen, you won't get any money for it.
I discovered this when I had a car many years ago here in Los Angeles and it was stolen.
I later discovered that I did not have comprehensive insurance, and so I didn't get any money from the insurance company.
Jackie says, okay, I want that too.
The agent says you'll want property damage insurance to pay for damage you cause to someone else's property.
We already talked about liability insurance, which pays for damage you do to someone else or something else.
This is a type of liability insurance, property damage insurance.
The agent says on top of that, meaning in addition to that, you'll want uninsured motorist insurance in case the other driver doesn't have insurance or doesn't have enough insurance to pay for the damage to your car if they hit you and they are the ones who are responsible.
So uninsured means not insured, even though the law in most states requires that all drivers have insurance.
Sometimes people don't do that.
They don't buy the insurance.
And, of course, if the other person hits you and it's their fault, their insurance should pay for the damages done to your car.
But if they don't have any insurance, then you can use your own uninsured motorist insurance.
A motorist is just another name for a person who drives a car.
Jackie says, Of course, the insurance agent is trying to sell her as much insurance as possible.
The agent says, and I don't think you can do without medical payments insurance.
The expression can't do without means that you must have something.
Medical payments.
Insurance is money that is paid for your medical expenses and for the other people who may have been in your car if there is an accident and they are injured, if they break their leg or their arm, for example.
The agent says it pays for your medical bills and those of your passengers the other people in the car in case of an accident.
Should I get you a quote for all of this coverage?"
Jackie says, why don't you hold off on that?
To hold off on something is a phrasal verb meaning to wait to do something, to delay something.
So Jackie's saying, no, I don't want a quote right now.
Let's do that later.
I'm not sure how I'm going to pay for all of that. and buy gas, too.
She doesn't know if she'll have the money to pay for all of these different kinds of insurance.
As I said previously, in most states there's a minimum amount of insurance that you must have, but it doesn't necessarily mean all of these kinds of insurance.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Hello, Crash It Insurance.
Hi, I wanted to get a quote for car insurance.
Sure, I can help you with that.
I assume you want liability insurance, but what other coverage would you like to get?
Hmm, I'm not sure.
This is my first car.
In that case, let me make a few suggestions.
You'll definitely want collision insurance.
It pays to fix your car if you hit another car or run into something.
Okay, sure.
I want that.
You'll also want comprehensive insurance.
It pays for damage to your car.
How is it different from collision insurance?
Well, it pays for damage to your car that's not a result of an accident, like in the case of theft, weather damage or vandalism.
Okay, I want that too.
You'll want property damage insurance to pay for damage you caused to someone else's property.
On top of that, you'll want uninsured motorist insurance in case the other driver doesn't have insurance or doesn't have enough insurance to pay for the damage to your car.
Um, I guess I'll take that, too.
And I don't think you can do without medical payments insurance.
It pays for your medical bills and those of your passengers in case of an accident.
Should I get you a quote for all of this coverage?
Why don't you hold off on that?
I'm not sure how I'm going to pay for all that and buy gas, too.
You probably assumed that the script for this episode was written by Dr Lucy Say, and if you did, you are correct.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us next time on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2009 by the Center for Educational Development.
