How Much Coverage Do You Think I Need?

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Aug 16, 2019
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How does one know if they need 50k/100k/50k (which is what I have now), 100k/300k/100k, or 250k/500k/100k liability coverage and uninsured motorist coverage?
It doesn't cost that much to add on better coverage.
I'm 69, don't drink, and I only drive about 4k miles a year in Upper East Tennessee.
The lady at Progressive told me she's not qualified to inform me on this.

The 100k in 100k/300k/100k is for someone else's vehicle if I hit them and they sue me for up to 100k.
Most cars on the road are worth much less than 100k, so it seems the 100k should be enough coverage for me.
 
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you should buy enough to cover your assets. the more you have the more coverage you buy. Attorneys will look at your assets and decide from there if you are thought at fault.
 
Most cars on the road are worth much less than 100k, so it seems the 100k should be enough coverage for me.
Wrecking someone's vehicle is the least of your worries. What if you ran into a school bus and there were a few fatalities, or caused a collision that left a young person paralyzed?

Accidents are unpredictable. Think about how bad it could be.
 
I have extreme prejudice about this question. My son was killed by a drunk driver and the coverage the driver had didn't cover the week of ICU care/ life flight etc much less compensate his wife and small daughters any meaningful amount. You'd be shocked what the law is today about what can and can't be seized.

Age, miles driven and no drinking don't mean you can never have an at-fault collision. Get as much as you can afford, if you cause injury or death you owe them.

We got a $1 million umbrella policy after our tragedy.
 
I have extreme prejudice about this question. My son was killed by a drunk driver and the coverage the driver had didn't cover the week of ICU care/ life flight etc much less compensate his wife and small daughters any meaningful amount. You'd be shocked what the law is today about what can and can't be seized.

Age, miles driven and no drinking don't mean you can never have an at-fault collision. Get as much as you can afford, if you cause injury or death you owe them.

We got a $1 million umbrella policy after our tragedy.

Sorry for your loss. The umbrella doesn’t cover you if you are hit by another driver with minimal coverage. The question the OP should ask is how much uninsured/underinsured bodily injury coverage does he need if someone hits him. You have to carry the equivalent in liability insurance to get the higher UMBI coverage. If you want $500k in UMBI then you need the same liability limits in most states. I carry $500k/$500k/$500k in liability plus an umbrella and my homeowners million in liability that carries over and have $500k in UMBI in the event someone hits me with low limits and injures/kills me or my family.

Edit- OP if you don’t have a lot of assets or a family that relies on your income I’d say $100/300/100 is a prudent amount of coverage and doesn’t cost much more than state minimums which are typically $25/50/25. I’ve never seen a judge go after someone personally that carried more than state minimum coverage that wasn’t doing something stupid and illegal at the time of the accident.

One more edit-some carriers do let you extend un/underinsured coverage to the umbrella amount but you typically have to carry the highest amount of liability coverage before that is an option.
 
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I carry $5 million liability coverage with an uninsured motorist extension. Insurance is to cover costs you couldn't afford yourself. Think big.
Why so much? I take it you own things worth $5M?
Would that be the value of your house and other possessions that they could try to take from you in the event of an accident if you're under insured?
 
Liability is insurance for injuries and ancillary stuff; not to repair car damages.
It's both.
If you have a 100/300/100 liability policy, it means you have a $100K claim limit on bodily injury on individual person, $300K claim limit on bodily injury for a total accident, and $100K claim limit on property damages. So if you cause a multi-car accident, $100K may or may not be enough to cover the damages.

 
After our experience about 12 years ago, we increased our uninsured motorist insurance to about 300K. Since the other driver had no insurance/assets, our situation resulted in us kind of suing our own insurance company in our no fault state. Kind of weird.

You might be surprised how many uninsured motorists there are, even though it is illegal. https://www.carinsurance.org/how-the-50-states-rank-on-uninsured-drivers_408/
 
Why so much? I take it you own things worth $5M?
Would that be the value of your house and other possessions that they could try to take from you in the event of an accident if you're under insured?
It probably doesn't cost that much more to go from a 1 or 2 million dollar policy to a 5 million dollar policy. If you search out there, it's not too common you get a 5 million dollar judgement against you. Basically once the 5 million is up, then they come after your personal assets.

Pardon my ignorance but the harder what company will fight?
The insurance company you bought insurance from?
The insurance company has a duty to defend you in court. I think the defense is "free", if they lose, the limit is your policy. If you have a 500k policy, they might spend more money on the lawyers to make sure they don't lose as opposed to 100-200k. At least that's the theory. Not really sure how that works. However if you're clearly at fault, they might just give up. I think there was that case in NH where the truck driver killed 7 people and should have had his license suspended and the insurance company just gave up the fight and basically said how do you want to split the 1 million max on the policy?
 
Something to be aware of is that some insurance companies alter their rate based on your current liability coverage.

If you have insurance with company A, and get a quote at company B, company B may quote higher based on you having lower than 100k/300k liability coverage with company A. I know for a fact Geico does this, but there are probably others. I guess the logic is that a driver that insures with state minimums is higher risk than someone with more coverage.

There must be a database showing coverages, because most new quotes I get will bring up my current insurer and coverages. This is a recent addition to quotes, within the last couple years.
 
But you can still get sued directly if the other party wants more money than what your insurance policy is able to provide, no?
You don't get sued twice. If you have a 600k judgement and you have 500k worth of coverage, the insurance company pays 500k and you're on the hook for the other 100k. Or if it looks like you're going to lose, maybe they just negotiate a settlement where they just take the 500k and you're not on the hook for anything. Or they negotiate an even lower settlement. Or if you only have 100k in coverage, the insurance company doesn't fight too hard and you get stuck with the 500k difference.
 
Why so much? I take it you own things worth $5M?
Would that be the value of your house and other possessions that they could try to take from you in the event of an accident if you're under insured?
I'm a (retired) physician. And it's easy to find out about that sort of thing nowadays.

My concern is that, knowing that I'm a (retired) physician, a sympathetic court might make a huge award.

And a $5 million award isn't out of the question either when you consider the loss of earnings and potential cost of a lifetime of care for a young person with, say, a spinal cord or brain injury - which are all quite possible in an auto crash. From my past career I know that actual lifetime costs can easily be in the millions.
 
As much as you can afford. I have 100/300/100 and I know it's not enough. Next time I renew I'll be upping the limits considerably.

I have a family member who was injured in an accident with someone that ended up being uninsured. However, luckily they were a rideshare driver on an active drive. They cover $1 million, which is about where the negotiations start. Didn't end up being that much but if they weren't on an active rideshare drive, my family member would have had to sue their own insurance company. Which the negotiations would have started at a max of $100k. Once medical bills and lawyers are paid, there's nothing left at all.

What if you got into an accident with someone that isn't insured, or has state minimum and you're unable to work? Your insurance picks up the tab, and you need the coverage to be able to do it.
 
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