Insurance coverage

[90Notch]

Newer cars (and high end older cars/classics) and cars that still have a lien holder generally have full coverage insurance.

When do you make the decision to change your coverage to just liability only? Also, what coverage do you have? The minimum where I live is 15,000/30,000 and goes up from there.

 

[Barkleymut]

I always go with the recommendation of my LOCAL independant insurance agent. If you don't have one FIND ONE.

 

[wallyuwl]

I've always had full covereage, even when I had a vehicle that was only worth about $3k. I've always had at least 100/300, and currently have 250/500.

 

[sciphi]

I'm heavy into liability insurance, lighter on other coverages. Accidents are lots of money, and hitting a $40k pickup or tractor is pretty likely around me. The minimum coverages in NY is inadequate for covering an accident with a pricey vehicle these days. Not to mention medical expenses for 5 people in that minivan....

 

[sasilverbullet]

Lots of factors here - where you live, how much you drive, how much money you have in the bank, who's your insurer.

I used to sell insurance many moons ago. Personally, If the car's value is under 7K, and you have 7K in the bank to cover it, I would just have liability and comprehensive. Especially with older cars - the insurance company will want to total it out even with a little damage. So you're kinda screwed there. If you have the money in the bank, and the car is totaled, you can do what you want with it and either way you're going to have to replace it with something - say goodbye to the 7K in the savings account.

If you pay $80 a month for collision, and the car is worth 5K, you're going to pay 5K in a little over 5 years of having the insurance.

I'd go with no collision if you have the money in the bank and are a good driver.

sciphi - collision is not comprehensive and liability. Those things you mentioned are covered in either liability or comp. Collision is ONLY paying to have YOUR car fixed.

 

[daves87rs]

Judging by all the nuts I see around here, I think all cars are going to have full coverage again.


That said, it's very tough to do since MI has the highest car insurance rates in the US...

 

[tdpark]

i have an umbrella policy with home and auto for extra liablity in case of accidents. The discount for getting the umbrella essentially made it free.

I tend to agree that once your car is worth 5k or less then you probably want to drop collission.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Comprehensive: pay to repair your car if it is damaged by a storm, flood, falling objects, fire ... In general, damages to your car not by accident(s).

Collision: pay to repair your car if you're at fault in an accident, got hit by uninsured, hit and run, you hit an unmovable object ...

 

[meangreen01]

Once the car's value falls below $5000 I drop full coverage. I just figure at that point the additional cost to have full coverage isn't worth it. It's a risk I take that if I wreck I'll have to eat replacing it.

As far as liability, it all depends on your situation. State minimums around here aren't much, but if it's all one can afford it's wayyyy better then having nothing. Unfortunately, there's a lot of drivers that have no insurance and shouldn't be on the road IMO.

Got a lot of assets that need to be protected? Get a lot of liability coverage. I'm moderately insured. Some feel the need to over insure. My BIL insures his $1000 beaters with full coverage.

I insure to CYA and assets at a risk level and cost I'm comfortable with. From one perspective or another, it's all a risk no matter what you do.

 

[ron917]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Comprehensive: pay to repair your car if it is damaged by a storm, flood, falling objects, fire ... In general, damages to your car not by accident(s).



Comprehensive also covers theft, vandalism, glass damage from rocks etc, and damage from animal hits like deer.

I keep comprehensive on all of my cars except the cheapest beaters. It's not expensive, and I have made many claims over the years for broken windshields, stolen stereos, and a deer hit that totaled the car.

I normally drop collision when the vehicle is worth less than $5,000. The biggest consideration with dropping collision is a hit by an uninsured driver or a hit-and-run. That is something that is clearly not your fault, but you end up paying for it anyway.

 

[CivicFan]

A good insurance agent is worth his/her weight in gold.

As long as we do not need insurance, it seems like a waste of money. But the moment we get in trouble, the value of good coverage becomes apparent.

If the OP wants to go with liability only, the best route is to determine the amount that can be put at risk, something like $2,000 to $5,000 that if lost, will not be a very big financial burden. If the car is worth less than that then going liability only would fit in the risk management scheme.

 

[Ramblin Fever]

All 4 of ours are fully insured, I don't care that 2 of them are right at 15yrs old as both of them are in immaculant shape, and it only averages about $15-20 difference each month from full coverage to liability only...so we insure them fully.

Our 96 chrysler t&c van is only $35/monthly, 97 rodeo is $40/monthly for full amount so I can't complain.

If either of them were to be totaled, I couldn't replace them for the quality of the condition they're still in.

We also have a boat and 5th wheel, which when on the road behind our 01 dodge diesel cummins could do some serious damage at 60mph, so we have the highest amounts allowed, plus an umbrella policy.

 

[Spyder7]

Liability only on mine, and I use the same 5k blue book value another mentioned in deciding between that and full coverage. My PL is for the minimal amount allowed by law here: $300,000. This may seem way too low for those in the more lawsuit happy, and generous civil courts, of the US, but its a reasonable sum here where fault may be shared, medical records are granted by subpoena (in cases involving injury) to defense lawyers who then have full access to them and can and do use them as fodder to mitigate damage claims, and where courts do not automatically award punitive damages, and when they do, the sums tend to be fairly low; and last but most importantly, where the lion's share of medical costs in any accident are de facto covered by the socialized health care system (what isn't covered there is usually picked up by a separate policy that most have through their workplace).

-Spyder

 

[SteveSRT8]

Please note that a liability lawyer once told me that the more you have the more likely you are to be sued!

Get your property damage up there, as cars you may hit are quite expensive. We once had a van driver pass out at the wheel and plow through a house! No one was hurt but the damage was nearly at our limit for property damage.

 

[sasilverbullet]

SteveSRT8 wrote: "Please note that a liability lawyer once told me that the more you have the more likely you are to be sued!"

How true, how true...I was a party in a three person liability suit - since one of the others had nothing to his name, and the other had no insurance, they went after me because I HAD insurance. Thankfully no money out of my pocket, the insurance paid it all.

 

[Spyder7]

A friend of mine once related a story to me about how a lady ahead of him abruptly slammed on her brakes, causing him to stop with just inches to spare behind her; the car behind him wasn't so fortunate, and after hitting him, the force of the impact pushed his car into the rear of the one ahead.

Because of a quirk in how fault is deemed in rear end collisions here, he, along with the driver behind him, were both found to be at fault. His insurance company decided to take it to court rather than settle. There the judge discovered the lead driver who had caused the accident and who was the plaintiff (and because of our laws was a no fault party) had a history of remarkably similar past accidents and lawsuits. He tossed the case and his insurance company was able to avoid paying her a dime. His car was undamaged and he had no injuries, while the car that rear ended him covered that driver under his collision policy.

I wish I'd had the same kind of luck a few years ago when I had my own accident, but as I (nearly) totaled the car to avoid rear ending the car that swerved in front of me (which he did to avoid rear ending the car he was tailgating) while both continued on, I was left on the hook. As the car was covered under the collision policy, the insurance footed the near $10,000 figure for repairs and the rental while it was in the shop; my premiums got hiked though and will remain high for a few more years to come.

-Spyder

 

[sciphi]

Originally Posted By: sasilverbullet



sciphi - collision is not comprehensive and liability. Those things you mentioned are covered in either liability or comp. Collision is ONLY paying to have YOUR car fixed.


Can you please point out where I stated something about collision and comprehensive? Either I'm forgetting something, or you have me confused with somebody else.

There's lots of expensive stuff on the roads around me. I don't know how much the muddy farm equipment would cost to replace/repair, but I'm sure it's more than the $25k minimum liability coverage NY requires. Getting much better insurance coverage was cheap, so it was made a done deal.

Another thing that's funny is how widely rates vary for the same coverage. I cross-shopped companies recently, and the amount that prices varied for identical coverage was mind-boggling.

 

[sasilverbullet]

well, i had a few beers on me, so If I got you mixed up, sorry.

 

[sasilverbullet]

Or maybe I should be cited for "PWI" (posting while intoxicated)

 

[volvos_rock]

As much as you can afford!, In 96' my wife was hit head on by a drunk, given 5% chance of living when they pulled her out of the car, and of course totaled her new VW Golf. She got her life, the ability to walk (that cant be medically explained), a 96 Jeep Cherokee stripper and good parking spaces out of the deal and thats about it! The [censored] bag that hit her was drunk,high and dirt poor and she only had mediocre coverage at the time

. Had she had what we have now she would have been much better off

.