Considering Dropping Collision Coverage

Lots of good advice here, but in your case I just can't get past the premium. While you don't disclose the actual amount, you mentioned saving 80-something per month. That tells me your premium is astronomical. I was stationed in AZ for three years, so I'm familiar with the expensive insurance (and registration for that matter). I'd get rid of the car, as insurance premiums are obviously a huge chunk of overall operating expense. No way, no how I'd pay such ridiculous money to drive a certain vehicle. If you like the luxury/sport experience, consider a used Lexus and carry liability only coverage.

If we were talking about a desirable and appreciating classic car, that's another argument. In this case we're not.
 
You are in for a treat. NJM operates as a mutual insurance company. You can think of them as a nonprofit. I’ve had them since 1985 for car insurance and every year, sometimes twice a year, they send me a dividend check which they categorize in the accompanying letter as a rebate to customers for savings they have accumulated by operating efficiently and only insuring good drivers.

When they started they only insured drivers with perfect driving records, no tickets, no points, no insurance claims with their previous carrier and you had to wait, I believe three years, as a newly licensed driver before they insured you. They made an exception to the new driver rule for kids of parents who had policies with NJM for three years. Back then, they were also quick to not renew you if you showed yourself to be a high risk because of tickets or made lots of claims.

In terms of customer service and claims they are rated A+ by the BBB. They pay out quickly and fairly and don’t nickel and dime you. I had a Jeep Grand Cherokee legally parked on my street in front of my house and someone ran into the back of it and totaled it. They paid out within the week. I was also rear ended in my Audi at a stop sign, yea I fully stop at them and don’t roll through and they paid out to me directly and they dealt with recovering the claim from the other driver who was ticketed and responsible for the damage. You will get a name and direct phone number of a NJM employee based in NJ to deal with if you ever have a claim. I have no experience with medical claims through NJM and I hope I never do.

For years you had to work for a company that was a dues paying member of the NJ manufacturing council - this was a trade group of what it says, manufacturing companies based in NJ, to qualify to apply to NJM. As manufacturing dwindled in NJ they needed to broaden their potential customer base and became a common market insurance company but they initially kept their strict “who we cover” standards.

Their strictly “only good drivers” policy and low rates caught the attention of the jealous public and the they got embroiled in a law suite and the state won, requiring them to loosen up their auto policy holders standards. As I understand it, they complied to this ruling by forming a separate insurance group under the NJM insurance name for drivers with just Okay records. They are still strict. My daughter, who was covered for 10 years under my policy when she lived at home (no tickets, accidents) moved out and bought a 2024 VW Taos and figured getting NJM insurance a no brainer. Nope, as a new car owner she had to get insurance with another company and demonstrate 6 month of good driving and no claims before NJM will accept her insurance application.

I’m still in the original group since since 1976 I’ve had no tickets or accidents on my driving records. I recall getting a letter saying that they closed the group I’m in to new policy holders a few years ago to protect us from receiving a reduced dividend payout because of the addition of higher risk drivers to the insurance pool.

I’ve had them for my home and vacation cabin and umbrella coverage for the last few years, there is no dividend payout for those policies but they do give a great discount if you have auto insurance and homeowners from them.
Thanks for all the info, that's great to know. Once I made the switch and mentioned it to some of my friends, it turns out to be quite popular. A number of people I know have NJM and everyone is very pleased. As it turned out, within just a few days of signing up with NJM, I received my first dividend check for $29.00! I don't think they had even received my premium payment at that point and they were already sending me money! All L/M ever gave me was those stupid Emu commercials.
 
I recall getting a letter saying that they closed the group I’m in to new policy holders a few years ago to protect us from receiving a reduced dividend payout because of the addition of higher risk drivers to the insurance pool.

That's actually great they're sticking to their guns. The big two formerly exclusive companies - USAA and GEICO - did the opposite and are now almost totally non-competitive due to letting almost anyone with a pulse join in.
 
The actor James Woods just lost his home to wildfire in CA. A few weeks prior, the insurance companies dropped fire coverage en masse for that area. 20 years of insane premiums just to be dropped at the start of fire season. The idea that your coverage will cover you is no longer true in many cases.

I have Allstate for my home in addition to my cars. Due to the way they've treated me, I'd expect them to drop me at the start of hurricane season. Not only have they raised the premium into the insane range, but both the windstorm and theft/loss deductible has been raised to 20% of the home's value. Or nearly $200K.
 
Whether you keep it or not is purely a personal decision that you have to resolve as you look at your personal situation, in addition to crunching the numbers.
In my case, I carry full coverage on everything, due to being able to access very reasonable premiums.
Even on my 22 year old pickup, I carry full coverage.
It is not a situation that I couldn't afford to replace the vehicle if need be.
It is just a matter of if you can insure a vehicle full coverage for $89/year, why not?
List time I looked, dropping collision on that vehicle would save me a whole $16./year.
So, I keep it.
 
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You are in for a treat. NJM operates as a mutual insurance company. You can think of them as a nonprofit. I’ve had them since 1985 for car insurance and every year, sometimes twice a year, they send me a dividend check which they categorize in the accompanying letter as a rebate to customers for savings they have accumulated by operating efficiently and only insuring good drivers.

When they started they only insured drivers with perfect driving records, no tickets, no points, no insurance claims with their previous carrier and you had to wait, I believe three years, as a newly licensed driver before they insured you. They made an exception to the new driver rule for kids of parents who had policies with NJM for three years. Back then, they were also quick to not renew you if you showed yourself to be a high risk because of tickets or made lots of claims.

In terms of customer service and claims they are rated A+ by the BBB. They pay out quickly and fairly and don’t nickel and dime you. I had a Jeep Grand Cherokee legally parked on my street in front of my house and someone ran into the back of it and totaled it. They paid out within the week. I was also rear ended in my Audi at a stop sign, yea I fully stop at them and don’t roll through and they paid out to me directly and they dealt with recovering the claim from the other driver who was ticketed and responsible for the damage. You will get a name and direct phone number of a NJM employee based in NJ to deal with if you ever have a claim. I have no experience with medical claims through NJM and I hope I never do.

For years you had to work for a company that was a dues paying member of the NJ manufacturing council - this was a trade group of what it says, manufacturing companies based in NJ, to qualify to apply to NJM. As manufacturing dwindled in NJ they needed to broaden their potential customer base and became a common market insurance company but they initially kept their strict “who we cover” standards.

Their strictly “only good drivers” policy and low rates caught the attention of the jealous public and the they got embroiled in a law suit and the state won, requiring them to loosen up their auto policy holders standards. As I understand it, they complied to this ruling by forming a separate insurance group under the NJM insurance name for drivers with just Okay records. They are still strict. My daughter, who was covered for 10 years under my policy when she lived at home (no tickets, accidents) moved out and bought a 2024 VW Taos and figured getting NJM insurance a no brainer. Nope, as a new car owner she had to get insurance with another company and demonstrate 6 month of good driving and no claims before NJM will accept her insurance application.

I’m still in the original group since since 1976 I’ve had no tickets or accidents on my driving records. I recall getting a letter saying that they closed the group I’m in to new policy holders a few years ago to protect us from receiving a reduced dividend payout because of the addition of higher risk drivers to the insurance pool.

I’ve had them for my home and vacation cabin and umbrella coverage for the last few years, there is no dividend payout for those policies but they do give a great discount if you have auto insurance and homeowners from them.

Good to know.
They started offering here a couple of years ago.
I'll give them a look if I need to make a move.
 
Don't drop it unless you got enough $ readily available to just get a new car. There are many uninsured and illegals driving around
It taps into uninsured coverage which is really cheap not collision. NH does not require insurance and we got hit by one and no deductible it was fixed.
 
Insurance is to cover a loss that you can't comfortably cover (or cover at all) yourself. Going without insurance is for the wealthy.

An oil company I worked for briefly decided to self insure their brand new twin engine airplane. Then promptly put it into the bush at the end of a short runway. So having decided to self ensure, were they now comfortable spending large to replace it? Nope, they decided they didn't really need an airplane after all. Seems being a major oil company isn't wealthy enough.
 
Glass coverage may not be a good idea. Getting an entire windshield replaced by SafeLite without insurance
is only about $220 including parts and labor. Fixing small pebble glass damage is only about $40.
So you might not need insurance for this low priced glass concern.
Here in the desert, there’s gravel everywhere, which means rocks being thrown up from other cars on the freeway. We go through lots of windshields. Last Spring I g
Lots of good advice here, but in your case I just can't get past the premium. While you don't disclose the actual amount, you mentioned saving 80-something per month. That tells me your premium is astronomical. I was stationed in AZ for three years, so I'm familiar with the expensive insurance (and registration for that matter). I'd get rid of the car, as insurance premiums are obviously a huge chunk of overall operating expense. No way, no how I'd pay such ridiculous money to drive a certain vehicle. If you like the luxury/sport experience, consider a used Lexus and carry liability only coverage.

If we were talking about a desirable and appreciating classic car, that's another argument. In this case we're not.
It’s absolutely astronomical. $217 a month just for the Genesis. I’ve got a spotless driving record.
 
Here in the desert, there’s gravel everywhere, which means rocks being thrown up from other cars on the freeway. We go through lots of windshields. Last Spring I g

It’s absolutely astronomical. $217 a month just for the Genesis. I’ve got a spotless driving record.
I live in a secluded small town far away from any cities. I just have 300,000/300,000 liability coverage on my vehicles. No crime, and never saw a car accident there. It's a safe place to live.

I currently pay $450 a year for each vehicle in car insurance. So I think it depends where you live and statistically how many car accidents occur in that town/city.
 
I live in a secluded small town far away from any cities. I just have 300,000/300,000 liability coverage on my vehicles. No crime, and never saw a car accident there. It's a safe place to live.

I currently pay $450 a year for each vehicle in car insurance. So I think it depends where you live and statistically how many car accidents occur in that town/city.
Not sure what happened to my last reply. Meant to say last spring I got a $2,800 windshield through insurance.
 
Not sure what happened to my last reply. Meant to say last spring I got a $2,800 windshield through insurance.
Wow, that's expensive.

I always drive in the right lane with a lot of distance between me and the car ahead of me.
That reduces the chances of having my windshield dinged by some pebble or small rock that is run over by a car or truck ahead.

You might already be doing that but just wanted to suggest it as a possible strategy.
 
Not sure what happened to my last reply. Meant to say last spring I got a $2,800 windshield through insurance.

Wow, that's expensive.

I always drive in the right lane with a lot of distance between me and the car ahead of me.
That reduces the chances of having my windshield dinged by some pebble or small rock that is run over by a car or truck ahead.
$2800 for a replacement windshield is very common for a newer vehicle that has the accident avoidance safety features such as lane-departure, auto braking, dynamic cruise control, etc. Most of these safety systems rely on sophisticated optical detection technology which requires meticulous calibration every time the glass is replaced. My co-workers recently had windshields replaced by Safelite which cost them $2600 for a 2022 Subaru Forester and $4500 on a 2023 Toyota Highlander Limited.
 
$2800 for a replacement windshield is very common for a newer vehicle that has the accident avoidance safety features such as lane-departure, auto braking, dynamic cruise control, etc. Most of these safety systems rely on sophisticated optical detection technology which requires meticulous calibration every time the glass is replaced. My co-workers recently had windshields replaced by Safelite which cost them $2600 for a 2022 Subaru Forester and $4500 on a 2023 Toyota Highlander Limited.
So that is something I didn't realize. Thanks for that info.
The cost of windshield replacement should be a consideration if deciding to buy a new car.

I typically buy older cars with low mileage, so my windshield replacements at SafeLite without insurance is only $220.
 
I think you guys are right, I’ll keep the full coverage but raise my deductibles.

I already shopped around for insurance. Even went to an independent insurance agency and they couldn’t touch my rates.


Uninsured motorist only covers medical expenses, not property damage. I learned that last October when I was in a hit and run with my Jeep.
Does your state allow a UMPD option? AZ is an At Fault state, correct?

I think If you get a hit and run UM doesn't apply bc you didn't capture the offending party. If you did It would pay out.

I got screwed back in the 80's when a guy pulled out of a side road right in front of me in my 3 door Accord as I was on a State highway route. Cops were there running radar and witnessed the incident and reported I was forced off the road. They didnt catch the guy. I had to pay as an at-fault single car collision. Totaled the little tin can Honda - wrapped around a T pole.
 
Shop around. There is little benefit to having loyalty to insurance companies. I consider firing my insurance company every renewal.

Some might disagree, but I am saving more by not combining my homeowners w/ car insurance. What was normal in the past has changed.
Thats interesting about not combining...
 
I consider dropping the coverage every year- but it's like $200 vs potential damage (min repair budget would be $4k), there are a TON of animals around here, don't know if that is collision or something else.
 
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Thats interesting about not combining...
took me by surprise too, i've had separate policies (farmers and progressive) for 2 years now. I went through several quotes and hours of work with all the majors before simply renewing with both.
 
I was a loyal customer of Liberty Mutual for the past 15 years for both home and auto. When the most recent renewal came back in December for the auto portion, the annual premium for our three cars jumped from $6018.00 to $7100.00 which caught my attention.
My homeowners premium, which I just paid a few weeks prior, was $2200.00.
I called L/M to discuss this increase and they gave me a song and a dance and a couple of options to trim maybe $300.00 off the auto premium. I went online and got a quote from NJM insurance. They are highly rated but they are regional and only insure in five states, mine included. NJM's quote for both home and auto came in at $5000.00 LESS than L/M! I was able to get an umbrella policy too so I now have greater coverage and am saving $5000.00 per year. While tremendously thrilled, all I could think about was all the money I threw away by being blindly loyal to Liberty Mutual all those years. Never again....

The issue being is that all insurance companies have a "new customer rate sheet". Then upon renewal it goes up. A game they play.
 
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