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Questions About Auto Insurance & Accidents

5324 messages,  Last post on May 09, 2013 at 1:37 PM

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Messages Page 516 of 533

#5148 of 5324 Re: Picking a collision ins. deductible , vs "Limited collision" [euphonium] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Jan 16, 2013 (6:26 pm)

Replying to: euphonium (Jan 16, 2013 12:09 pm)
Be careful with that---if the uninsured or underinsured motorist hot-foots it, and you cannot identify the culprit, you're screwed.

#5149 of 5324 Coverage Question by 28firefighter

Jan 16, 2013 (7:42 pm)

Hi All,
  
So I recently went through the process of seriously researching coverage now that my wife and I are moving onto the same policy.
  
Her previous coverage was 500k CSL, my previous coverage was 250/500/100 - comprehensive, collision, and underinsured motorist deductibles were $500 for each of our policies and we had underinsured motorist coverage of $50,000 (each our cars are worth <$25k) and $35k PIP. We are each ticket free/accident free for 5 years. The quotes we got ranged widely and we ended up on settling with Travelers through our AAA agency - side note: Travelers came in $500/year cheaper than our next best quote from Safeco and saved us $200/yr on our renters insurance/umbrella. Here is my question: How do you know when you have enough coverage? Obviously more is better is the philosophy. At first I thought the cost differential would be huge, but here is how it broke down: 250/500/100 : $1274/year (for both cars, both drivers) 500/500/500: $1314/year (both cars, both drivers) We went with the 500/500/500 coverage because it seemed silly not to for such little cost differential, but I'm still curious if its totally overkill....

#5150 of 5324 28firefighter by marsha7

Jan 17, 2013 (9:44 am)

It depends on what you have to protect, and how much you want to inulate yourself from a possible judgment...if you own a nice house and many assets (you said you cars were worth under $25K), the more ins you have the "better" you are covered in the event you cause the wreck and seriously injure or kill the other person(s)...
 
Obviously, one can see the possibility of overkill, yet, if you caused a wreck and 2 or 3 people died, having 5 million may not be enough, yet we simply have to take chances.
 
My policy is a base of 100/300/100 with a million $$$ umbrella (the umbrella is $150 a year, so cost is not really a big issue)...
 
Then, you could go completely uninsured and be judgment-proof if you live in a tent and drive a car, but the responsible thing to do is to have at least 100K (IMO) which will cover 95% of most accidents...
 
Altho last year I had a case where it was a simple rear end collision, with the trunk ending up in the back seat...3 occupants in the struck car, which then rear-ended the car in front, so a total of 5 injured parties, 2 minor and 1 moderate and 2 serious...the liability olicy was 50/100...one guy did break his neck, so he got the first 50K (his neck surgery was $75K) and the others split the last 50K...my client had two injured lumbar discs, but since he was the last to settle, the liability policy only had $8,000 left for him...had the at-fault party had 100/300 it would have been better, and an umbrella policy would have been MUCH better...
 
Depends on your point of view who won...the at-fault party was not sued, since he was a 25 year old with no assets...so, you could say he got away with having a mediocre policy, but, if I was the one who caused those injuries, I would want to be sure they were adequately compensated...part of it is a moral issue, and some folks just want the state minimum of $25K liability...

#5151 of 5324 Re: Picking a collision ins. deductible , vs "Limited collision" [marsha7] by euphonium

Jan 17, 2013 (8:58 pm)

Replying to: marsha7 (Jan 16, 2013 5:00 pm)
Basic Liability is needed to have UMPD endorsed onto the policy.

#5152 of 5324 Re: Picking a collision ins. deductible , vs "Limited collision" [Mr_Shiftright] by euphonium

Jan 17, 2013 (9:01 pm)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Jan 16, 2013 6:26 pm)
Not really because in phantom driver and hit and run cases, the deductible is just more. Not being able to identify the culprit & you're screwed is a myth.

#5153 of 5324 Re: 28firefighter [marsha7] by 28firefighter

Jan 17, 2013 (9:04 pm)

Replying to: marsha7 (Jan 17, 2013 9:44 am)
So the cars that we have are not entirely reflective of our assets and makes me feel even better about the coverage we chose. We did also do a $1 million umbrella along with our renters insurance because it was basically free when factoring in the discount.
 
Thanks!

#5154 of 5324 South Florida by sandman_6472

Jan 18, 2013 (8:39 am)

We have 21st Century now and had Geico previously and we pay around $1700/yr for our two econo cars with upper average limits. Can anyone recommend some other companies to try? We're both in our late 50's and have taken the mature driving classes recently. State Farm and Allstate are always way high with their quotes...we are AARP members also. The wife puts maybe 15k/yr on hers but I only go maybe 1500 miles/yr if I'm lucky.
 
Any suggestions here?
 
The Sandman

#5155 of 5324 Re: Picking a collision ins. deductible , vs "Limited collision" [euphonium] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Jan 18, 2013 (9:48 am)

Replying to: euphonium (Jan 17, 2013 9:01 pm)
well if it's a myth then it's a myth that actually happened to me !
 
Actually, that's only partially correct. I didn't play fair.
 
You're screwed if you have UM but no collision / comp AND you can't identify the culprit.

#5156 of 5324 Re: South Florida [sandman_6472] by houdini1

Jan 18, 2013 (11:25 am)

Replying to: sandman_6472 (Jan 18, 2013 8:39 am)
You might try Farmers Ins. It would seem that you fit their profile, mature settled folks.

#5157 of 5324 Re: South Florida [houdini1] by sandman_6472

Jan 18, 2013 (1:11 pm)

Replying to: houdini1 (Jan 18, 2013 11:25 am)
Farmers bought out 21st Century from the information I received. I tried USAA since both my folks and my father-in-law were all military during World War 2 but they told me we can't join up. From their commercials on t v though, they make it sound like being in the military or a descendant of one is eligibility enough. Something doesn't make sense here. I wonder if anyone else in here knows about the requirements for USAA?
 
The Sandman

Messages Page 516 of 533

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