Opinions about collision/comprehensive auto coverage.
George
thinking about the comprehensive/collision coverage. The older car has
liability coverage only. KBB shows that the newer car has a retail value
of $9,580 and of the 30 or so listings on autotrader that seems to be an
accurate average asking price.
The cars aren't financed so there is no insurance obligation except the
state's required liability insurance. The comprehensive/collision for
the newer car is $501/year with a $500 deductible for collision and a
$100 deductible for comprehensive.
I interested in opinions about keeping or dropping the
comprehensive/collision coverage.
hchi...@hotmail.com
wrote:
I'd keep comp, dump collision and drive defensively. AAMOF, our total
policy is now close to $500/yr. Time to shop insurance.
Chloe
news:Sp6dnRcpVbXX2mfa...@comcast.com...
There's probably a third option, which is to increase the deductible.
Really, only you know how much risk your use of your car places you in. For
example, do you drive long distances in heavy, fast-moving traffic? Is the
car often parked somewhere you could fall victim to collision, theft or
vandalism? And only you know how much of a financial problem it would be if
you had extensive damage or loss which you had to pay for yourself--in other
words, an accident which was your fault, or an accident in which the other
driver was at fault but had no insurance, or a theft.
As a *very* rough estimate, you might figure that your car, wrecked beyond
repair and deemed a total loss, would still have a value of 20%, or about
$1,900. So you'd have to come up with the difference if you wanted to
replace it with something of the same value.
If you decide to drop the coverage, you may want to consider putting an
amount equal to the premium into a earmarked savings, to help cover repairs
if you need them.
Rod Speed
I went for a higher deductable and get it for $103 per year on a higher value newer car.
Craig
"Rod Speed" wrote...
What I go by is something I read somewhere in the recent past:
I will drop collision and comprehensive coverage when their combined annual
cost exceeds 10% of the current value of the vehicle. I have dropped C/C for
my '96 Explorer but still have it on my '01 Focus. If you're looking at a
$501 fee for a $9850 car, I'd keep it for now but maybe look into possible
savings on a higher-than-$100 comp. deductible.
Craig
Rod Speed
Trouble is that its just some number plucked out of someone's arse.
I gave up on any collision and comprehensive coverage with the previous
car that I kept for 35+ years, decades ago. Changed to a new car and
didnt like the idea of some uninsured fool wiping the new car out and me
not being able to get the money out of him, we have a lot of pickers around
here and many of them are illegals, so no chance of getting any money out
of them, let alone the cost of the new car which mostly do end up writeoffs
in any significant accident with the crumple zones etc that new cars have.
That 10% essentially converts to a risk of one accident in 10 years which
is nothing like what I got with the previous car which was just one accident
in 35+ years, just a minor dent to one corner of the car, someone else's fault.
Bought that car new too, I keep them for decades and the current one should
be the last one I need unless someone wipes it out.
George
That is what I am thinking. I already drive defensively. The only thing
I need to find out is what happens if I am driving someone else's
valuable vehicle and there is an accident. I used to frequently rent
cars and my collision covered the rental but have no need to do that now.
I have shopped a number of times and haven't received a better price.
George
risk tolerance.
I have always used self insurance for other property (except the house)
and never buy extended warranties or other types of insurance and am
contemplating the same for the car.
George
the deductibles because I also think they are too low but I just never
considered that for a long time.
Anthony Matonak
> hchi...@hotmail.com wrote:
...
>> I'd keep comp, dump collision and drive defensively. AAMOF, our total
>> policy is now close to $500/yr. Time to shop insurance.
>
> That is what I am thinking. I already drive defensively. The only thing
> I need to find out is what happens if I am driving someone else's
> valuable vehicle and there is an accident. I used to frequently rent
> cars and my collision covered the rental but have no need to do that now.
I'm no lawyer, but I believe the insurance is on the vehicle and not
the driver. As long as you make sure that someone else's valuable
vehicle has insurance then you should be OK.
You have to be careful when you don't buy into the rental insurance.
I've heard of people who got stuck with $500 in "damages" consisting
of old nicks and dings they didn't notice when doing the walk around.
Anthony
sarge137
<anthony...@nothing.like.socal.rr.com> wrote:
> George wrote:
> > hchick...@hotmail.com wrote:
> ...
> >> I'd keep comp, dump collision and drive defensively. AAMOF, our total
> >> policy is now close to $500/yr. Time to shop insurance.
>
> > That is what I am thinking. I already drive defensively. The only thing
> > I need to find out is what happens if I am driving someone else's
> > valuable vehicle and there is an accident. I used to frequently rent
> > cars and my collision covered the rental but have no need to do that now.
>
> I'm no lawyer, but I believe the insurance is on the vehicle and not
> the driver. As long as you make sure that someone else's valuable
> vehicle has insurance then you should be OK.
Depends on the company and the policy. My policy covers me in any
vehicle I'm legally licensed to drive, within the the limits of my
coverages and deductibles, anywhere in the 50 states; and says so in
plain english in the policy. Not so in every case however, so one
needs to actually read the policy and not rely on what your agent, or
a CSR from your company tells you. If it's not there, you may not be
covered.
> You have to be careful when you don't buy into the rental insurance.
> I've heard of people who got stuck with $500 in "damages" consisting
> of old nicks and dings they didn't notice when doing the walk around.
Dead on. I've heard the same kind of stories. I only rent a car once
or twice a year, and never buy the company's insurance. But I do a
careful walk around, and don't move the car until any noticeable
dings, dents or scratches are noted on my rental agreement by a
company official. I always have a camera handy when I'm travelling
and photograph them as well.
Regards,
Sarge
SpammersDie
"George" <geo...@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
news:Sp6dnRcpVbXX2mfa...@comcast.com...
You left out a key piece of data - your financial ability to absorb a $9,580
loss.
If the car is stolen/wrecked tomorrow, could you afford to replace it
(possibly with a much cheaper used car) without seriously damaging your
financial stability?
If the car is stolen/wrecked tomorrow, could you afford to NOT replace it?
(i.e. could you get by with one car.)
If you can truthfully answer "yes" to one of these questions, drop the c/c.
larry
That was my first thought, what can you afford to loose?
Our threshold is $5000, blue book value. The coverage cost
vs payoff gets pretty bad at that value. But be sure to
keep under/un-insured coverage, until they start impounding
uui drivers here, it has and will pay well.
Put the saved comp portion in a good div. stock, good down
payment on your next used car ;-)
-larry
The Henchman
"larry" <f...@foobar.com> wrote in message
news:6YQKj.1307$h75...@newssvr27.news.prodigy.net...
> SpammersDie wrote:
>> "George" <geo...@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
>> news:Sp6dnRcpVbXX2mfa...@comcast.com...
> That was my first thought, what can you afford to loose? Our threshold is
> $5000, blue book value. The coverage cost vs payoff gets pretty bad at
> that value. But be sure to keep under/un-insured coverage, until they
> start impounding uui drivers here, it has and will pay well.
>
> Put the saved comp portion in a good div. stock, good down payment on your
> next used car ;-)
Both of you are correct!!! I can personally afford to afford $8500 to
replace a car tomorrow. I invest the savings from not paying c/c into low
cost low fee index funds. It took me a few years to save that $8500 but if
my car were stolen or a tree fell on it tomorrow or got rear-ended during my
commute, I can afford up to 8500 cash to "fix" things.
So the original poster needs to ask themselves can they afford to replace
their vechile and what would they do with the savings!!!!
h
"SpammersDie" <x...@xx.xx> wrote in message
news:tYPKj.156271$cQ1....@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
I don't know where you're located, but in New York, it doesn't matter
whether you have collision or not, if you're not the one at fault. If you
get rear-ended or broad-sided (other guy ran the light, etc.) then the
guilty party's insurance repairs or replaces your car, regardless of what
type of insurance you have. However, if you cause an accident and you don't
have collision on your own car, then insurance will not pay to replace it.
I've never had collision since I only buy old used cars and only drive about
3k miles a year. When I got rear-ended (I was stopped at a light) the other
guy's insurance had to pony up $4k to fix my car. That was funny, because
I'd only paid $3k for it a few months before, although the book value was
$5k. Whatever, it got fixed and I didn't even have to pay the deductible,
the other guy did.
clams_casino
>
>
> You have to be careful when you don't buy into the rental insurance.
> I've heard of people who got stuck with $500 in "damages" consisting
> of old nicks and dings they didn't notice when doing the walk around.
>
> Anthony
Doesn't the credit card insurance cover such?
sarge137
wrote:
Depends on the card. My card, which has no annual fee and a very low
interest rate offers no perks, other than a reasonable cost to use it.
Regards,
Sarge