Auto Insurance deductibles on collision and comprehensive?

[John105]

No collision, no comp here, "self insured" I suppose, but my "nice" car is a '13 GM economy car so not worth much.

OP, basically comes down to if you would rather pay the premium or pay the deductible. The odds typically says put the money in your pocket and save it for the deductible if you have a claim....which makes sense until you decrease your coverage and then suddenly have a claim.

You’re like my parents always were—practical. They’d get a brand new Camry and liability only. I’ve got 3 cars than many would consider not very great cars (‘06, ‘07, ‘11), all full coverage $500 collision/ $100 comp and never a claim since 2010. Prior to 2010 not ever. All that money wasted.

As I pointed out my 2007 BMW was about $680/yr in 12/06. It’s a little more than that today in 2023. Yet wholesale went from about $40k+ to $6k+.

Remember insurance will collect the premium when we overinsure. They will never pay out more than something is worth. We often forget that.

 

[Deamos]

Hello

I was reviewing my insurance for my vehicle and noticed the following for a 6 month pay period

Cost for Collision $266 ($500 deductible)

Cost for Comprehensive $35 ($500 deductible)

Does it make sense to lower the deductible for the Comprehensive and pay a little more?

This depends on your own situation.

Would a surprise $500 bill cause you any financial hardship?

I fairly recently decided to lower my deductible to $250 because, yes, due to present life circumstances, a $500 bill would be difficult to contend with. $250 for the next couple of years would be less disruptive. But I AM paying noticeably more for my car insurance (among all the other factors these days) because at $250, you're also more likely to file a claim.

So really, the question is, does it make sense FOR YOU?

 

[supton]

How does one "self insure?"

IMO it depends on the item. On a car, most states require insurance, so it’d be just liability, not comprehensive. If I have a wreck of my own fault, I’m out the cost. On most other things, no insurance at all, same result, if it’s my fault I’m out the money.

 

[John105]

IMO it depends on the item. On a car, most states require insurance, so it’d be just liability, not comprehensive. If I have a wreck of my own fault, I’m out the cost. On most other things, no insurance at all, same result, if it’s my fault I’m out the money.

I guess in the true meaning it’s like my employer who spreads risk across a fleet.

If I go to rent a car, there is no option for a CDW. They even want us to use for personal travel this way.

Normally self insure is not just 1-2 cars. But we know what everyone means…just get liability and forgo the collision and comp.

Employers usually self insure on health too, but they hire insurance to administer and stop loss…

 

[nomas]

I read the other day that in one State , can't remember which one , you can drive without Liability insurance by registering with the DMV and paying a $500 fee .

 

[grampi]

I read the other day that in one State , can't remember which one , you can drive without Liability insurance by registering with the DMV and paying a $500 fee .

Apparently you can drive in any state with no insurance...

 

[99Saturn]

How does one "self insure?"

In line with what other posters have said, I was referring to comp and collision. Basically was saying if I have an issue it's my problem.

For our fleet, for one, the cars are a pretty low payout ('06 Cobalt and a '13 Cruze). But also (and I don't mean to sound high and mighty) replacement cost is not an issue, the Cobalt can be had for a few thousand and the Cruze likely in the $5K to $10K range, bigger issue would be finding a comparable car since we bought the most bare bones 2013 possible, so I roll the dice and will just pay out of pocket if something goes wrong.

I carried comp for a long time when I was younger, really for glass, as the premiums start to creep I asked my insurance agent how much a windshield was to compare to my premium. My agent basically said the without/with glass spread in premium for comp was roughly equal to the consumer cost of a windshield spread over 10 years. At the time they also said if you drop glass coverage and then have an issue, call us up and we can give you a coupon to help with the cost. Basically did the math and dropped it, figured I would put the cash in my pocket and see how it worked out and have taken that philosophy since when I was comfortable with covering the replacement cost out of pocket.

Liability I have 250/500, because I would want that level of coverage but State Farm also requires 250/500 (at least in NY) for our umbrella.

 

[wlk]

I have $250 Comp/Coll deductible on all my vehicles. $500 deductible on the house.
I would check with your ins company as it may surprise you how cheap it actually is. Collision on ave is only $13 more per vehicle than not having it for our cars, to me it is definitely worth it.

 

[Nukeman7]

I read the other day that in one State , can't remember which one , you can drive without Liability insurance by registering with the DMV and paying a $500 fee .

New Hampshire and Virginia

 

[99Saturn]

You’re like my parents always were—practical. They’d get a brand new Camry and liability only. I’ve got 3 cars than many would consider not very great cars (‘06, ‘07, ‘11), all full coverage $500 collision/ $100 comp and never a claim since 2010. Prior to 2010 not ever. All that money wasted.

As I pointed out my 2007 BMW was about $680/yr in 12/06. It’s a little more than that today in 2023. Yet wholesale went from about $40k+ to $6k+.

Remember insurance will collect the premium when we overinsure. They will never pay out more than something is worth. We often forget that.

To be transparent, I was "forced" (I mean that sarcastically since it was our decision to finance) to get comp and collision when we bought the Cruze since I wanted to finance it. Not really sure (assuming we buy new the next go around) if we don't finance if I would be willing to roll the dice on $20K - $25K driving off the lot. I don't want to think about it, because I'm a cheapskate and don't want to think about spending $20K to $25K.