New Car-Liability Insurance only- Would You?
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edyvw
$50 site donor 2025
In CO max coverage or close to it.
Snow, if not snow it is sand on the road from treating roads that can damage windshields. If not snow and sand it is increasing traffic and an absolute flood of people moving here, and if not them then tourists renting biggest, meanest SUV forgetting slippery roads and downhills do not mix with heavy vehicles. If not that it is hail which is more common here from May to September than rain.
Snow, if not snow it is sand on the road from treating roads that can damage windshields. If not snow and sand it is increasing traffic and an absolute flood of people moving here, and if not them then tourists renting biggest, meanest SUV forgetting slippery roads and downhills do not mix with heavy vehicles. If not that it is hail which is more common here from May to September than rain.
No and neither do I have the Stupiditude to have liability only on a new vehicle.
Only on Every new car I’ve ever owned
If you live in a situation that you rarely have opportunities for severe your fault accidents do it.
The repairs I’ve had to do this far have been less expensive than my deductible.
If however the odds aren’t in your favor pay for full, the sad part with full coverage is you many times have to fight for them not to scrap a 2 year + old car providing below replacement value
It’s also worth noting 25% of car insurance policies were canceled last year, so lots of folks going one step beyond just liability
JHZR2
Staff member
Depends upon the value of the car. For an econobox bought cash? I know my risks and risk exposure… and can afford to self insure. I know right now all the years of collision and comprehensive have amounted to a losing proposition for me.
For a more expensive vehicle? Maybe not.
For a more expensive vehicle? Maybe not.
No
I have only liability insurance on my Focus as I don't think the insurance company would give me much money anyways if it was wrote off. I believe collision and comprehensive even with a $500 deductible was 6-7% of the price I paid for it. On our Outback we still have new replacement cost coverage which doesn't add much cost.
I could see with an older HD pickup not insuring it even when close to new, as its harder to really total it to make it unrepairable if you don't mind a frame straightening, or slapping on another box, or even a cab. A unit body family vehicle is a different thing where its easy to make it less safe in a minor accident.
I could see with an older HD pickup not insuring it even when close to new, as its harder to really total it to make it unrepairable if you don't mind a frame straightening, or slapping on another box, or even a cab. A unit body family vehicle is a different thing where its easy to make it less safe in a minor accident.
JTK
$100 Site Donor 2025
Collision and comprehensive make up about half of my total premiums. I haven't filed a claim in 20yrs. It would be a roll of the dice for me to try to save that ~$100/mo. For any bumper or fender dings over the years that I've had fixed, I don't involve insurance.
Winning the insurance lottery happens but far less often than loosing it.
Cities and bus companies rarely carry any insurance and no, self insuring is literally just a bank account, if that doesn’t tell you the financial side of insurance I don’t know what could.
Private Insurance is never a financial gain overall and is no different than gambling, most people pay far more on the insurance than they ever get back and the cost of repairs is much higher with insurance, the house always wins.
From a purely financial standpoint while it was still legal the odds were always best to be completely uninsured, especially if you have low income and no assets .
Next closest is liability, now days in most areas liability is the closest to uninsured you can legally get but like a casino it depends on where you live.
Also the more expensive the car the higher your car insurance the more savings there should be.
If you have already had minor fender benders, your car is worth more than you can risk and you live in a high risk area it’s likely not worth the hassle of being liability only.
For me my deductible is a grand, with insurance the most minor damage is $3k
But the same damage on my own is not the $1000.
You good at self repairs?
Can you afford to loose your car?
Are you feeling lucky punk?
The theory is you maintain an equal moat of insurance around you. If you can easily afford a $70,000 loss, then why not? You'd have a $70,000 deductible on your house(s), cottage and yacht as well.
But somehow this doesn't sound like the typical 'Bob' correspondent. We should ask Warren Buffet or Bill Gates. They might have only liability insurance on their vehicles.
An oil company I worked for bought an airplane and decided not to carry accident insurance ("we're a big company, we can afford the loss, etc"). And their pilot promptly put the plane into the bush at the end of a primitive runway for a total write off. So did they say, "we can afford the loss, just buy another airplane"? Nope. That was the end of the corporate airplane. Seems even an oil company (and a 'major' at that) is stressed by a big loss.
So, is only liability insurance a good idea on a new vehicle? Nope.
I did that once when I was on Cobra. Didn't pay the last month's premium. Wasn't really that wild because I figured if anything happened to me during the month, they allowed me to pay the premium retroactively. So I had full coverage as long as I didn't make any claims.
I don't have Comprehensive on the Tundra, but I probably should as I loan it out quite a bit.
My neighbor tried to save some money by dropping the Comprehensive on her nice Accord EX-L back in the early 2000's.
You guessed it; she rear ended someone and it was thousands to fix her car plus she had to rent a car while her Accord was in the shop.
Ya puts up yer money and ya takes yer chances...
I have Costco and with all the cars and only 2 drivers it ain't that bad. I do report my annual mileage.
My neighbor tried to save some money by dropping the Comprehensive on her nice Accord EX-L back in the early 2000's.
You guessed it; she rear ended someone and it was thousands to fix her car plus she had to rent a car while her Accord was in the shop.
Ya puts up yer money and ya takes yer chances...
I have Costco and with all the cars and only 2 drivers it ain't that bad. I do report my annual mileage.
It depends on their comfort level with risk and irritation.
I have known rich guys that were “self insured” all around and never carried insurance for things in their own sphere, business involving other people who could fail yes, on themselves nope,
these guys loved fighting and were trained in handling their own legal battles
A collision to them was just an opportunity to participate in a lawsuit and the 50% profit some insurance companies turn was just the opportunity cost.
Sadly self insurance is completely illegal for all but the most wealthy or corporate interests (I know because I tried)
I'm not saying I'm right, but what I did was / 2002 Ford Ranger
2005 - Cancelled Collision / insurance went down 29%
2011 - Cancelled Comprehensive / insurance went down 25%
2014 - I retired from job and drive half as many miles
2019 - Increased Liability to 250,000/500,000/100,000
2019 - Bought a 1,000,000 Umbrella Policy
If totaled in an accident, what would insurance pay for a 19 year old vehicle ?
I do take the Safe Driving Class every three years and
park in my garage at night
2005 - Cancelled Collision / insurance went down 29%
2011 - Cancelled Comprehensive / insurance went down 25%
2014 - I retired from job and drive half as many miles
2019 - Increased Liability to 250,000/500,000/100,000
2019 - Bought a 1,000,000 Umbrella Policy
If totaled in an accident, what would insurance pay for a 19 year old vehicle ?
I do take the Safe Driving Class every three years and
park in my garage at night
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I disagree on your math, but you do get many part of it right.
Typically the insurance pays out like 90-99% of its premium back to the claims, what you pay more or less depends on whether you are binned into the group that you are more profitable or less profitable. So in a way if you are lucky someone else in your group is compensating for your risk profile and if you are not lucky you are compensating for others in your group.
Why bus and cities self insure has to do with what is called "the law of large number". If you have 1 car you cannot average out to a predictable risk and reward profile, but if you have 1000 then things turn into a bell curve and is pretty predictable. This is also the reason why the casino always win even if once in a while they pay out jackpots, this is also why the only way to win in a casino is when the odd is at your favor, after a small or moderate win, you quit and never gamble again.
Main reason why insurance cost more also is the repair cost, insurance repair pays more because of overhead paperwork and people demand the "best" whereas people paying their own out of pocket settles for lower quality repairs (i.e. ebay bumper prepainted, touch up paint, rattle can, hammer on your own), or just decide not to repair.
Maybe in your state but in Nebraska you have to carry Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist even with Liability and it will cover a hit and run, I mean what's the difference if a guy hits me and doesn't have insurance or leaves the scene. Minimum is 25/50 but I know I went over this with my agent and he talked me into getting a lot higher, without looking I want to say 250/500/100 but would have to look to be sure.
I also carry full coverage on my 08 Lucerne, it's only $200 more every six months. With the price of used cars right now I think it's worth it.
I think that depends on the laws in the state. I think for our state at one point you could just post a 10k bond and skip insurance. But can't seem to find that anymore, maybe they got rid of it.
Every vehicle in my stable has full coverage. 1979, 2002, 2014 and 2016 year models.
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