Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 16
  1. #1
    ChefGirl is offline Platinum level (1000+ posts)
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    .
    Posts
    1,242

    Default Auto Insurance Coverage Question

    Okay, just bought a 08 Odysseey. Now, the insurance agent just called me to tell me that our insuance liability coverage from uninsured motorist was only $25K which is less than the purchase price of our new vehicle. That now that we have 3 kids, our totaly medical coverage was only $50K. She thinks that we should up the liability coverage, which obviously will increase our premium.

    What does everyone have on their auto coverage?

    Thanks.
    Chefgirl
    Mommy to 3 WILD and SWEET kids

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    .
    Posts
    3,962

    Default

    Those are really low. Think not only about your own vehicle, but about what everyone around you is driving. If you're in an accident the amount of physical damage as well as medical claims can add up quickly. I just researched changing our insurance (currently miffed with our agent).

    If I'm remembering correctly ours was 100k/300k. Depending on how many other assets you have, I'd look into an umbrella policy also.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    NY.
    Posts
    4,808

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by belovedgandp
    If I'm remembering correctly ours was 100k/300k. Depending on how many other assets you have, I'd look into an umbrella policy also.
    ITA with both of these ideas.

  4. #4
    Emmas Mom is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Arizona
    Posts
    2,437

    Default

    Uninsured motorist coverage covers injury to yourself & your passengers if someone uninsured hits you. Damage to your insured vehicle is covered under your collision coverage & you only pay your deductible & your insurance would cover the rest of the cost of your vehicle...whatever the value is. If someone unisured hit you, your deductible would be waived through your CDW (collision deductible waiver), so make sure you have that on your policy....it is NOT expensive to have that. Liability coverage is for another party if YOU hit THEM & are at fault in an accident. If you have assets & your liability coverage is only $25K then I would definitely raise your limits to 50/100 or 100/300 if you can swing it. It does get more expensive but could protect your assets in the long run.

    I'm a claims analyst for an auto insurance company & have been doing this for more than 11 years so I understand a little about insurance. Hopefully it made sense!
    ~Kristine
    ~My two angels: Blue-eyed beauty 8/03, Blondie 1/06
    ~Breast Cancer SURVIVOR
    EARLY DETECTION SAVES LIVES....DO YOUR SELF EXAMS LADIES!!!

  5. #5
    BillK's Avatar
    BillK is offline Emerald level (3000+ posts)
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Western Pennsylvania
    Posts
    3,371

    Default

    It also depends on what state you're in.

    The laws vary greatly from state to state - for example here in PA - Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist coverage is only for Bodily Injury claims to you or your family if hit by an uninsured or underinsured motorist. The physical damage coverage for your vehicle must come from the Collision coverage and you must pay your deductible. There is no collision deductible waiver in PA. Some states will cover your vehicle damage under your Un/Underinsured coverage - and as the PP said - some will allow a collision deductible waiver for those instances - PA does not.

    As others have said - you've been pretty poorly advised if you aren't carrying at least $100,000 per occurrence/$300,000 aggregate limits for your Bodily Injury Liability (damage you cause to others) and at LEAST $50,000 for Property Damage Liability (damage to someone elses property - being a vehicle, their yard, their house etc. - and you probably should have $100k nowadays really). Same goes for your Un/Underinsured limits - should have $100k/$300k.

    A Personal Umbrella policy is also something to consider - that can add an additional $1,000,000 layer of liability over and above your underlying (Home/Auto) for a nominal price (as low as $160/year here in PA with some of my companies).

    I've been doing this for almost 20 years now and the biggest, ugliest, nastiest claims I've seen paid have been Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist bodily injury claims (where one of my clients gets creamed by an uninsured motorist and sustains major injuries). I think it's criminal that PA allows you to reject those coverages entirely if you want to.
    Last edited by BillK; 03-25-2008 at 11:12 PM.
    ~Bill

  6. #6
    Emmas Mom is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Arizona
    Posts
    2,437

    Default

    Dang Bill, remind me never to move to PA! I'm a west coaster & so there's where my area of expertise lies. Now why did I have the impression you're a computer tech person?? I'll not even get into underinsured motorist coverages, you can explain that.

    I should have clarified it definitely does vary from state to state. I'm sad to hear there are states that don't offer a CDW though. It's such a small thing for a carrier, though I've been disappointed by the two companies I've worked for also. Definitely a "not so fun" business.
    ~Kristine
    ~My two angels: Blue-eyed beauty 8/03, Blondie 1/06
    ~Breast Cancer SURVIVOR
    EARLY DETECTION SAVES LIVES....DO YOUR SELF EXAMS LADIES!!!

  7. #7
    BillK's Avatar
    BillK is offline Emerald level (3000+ posts)
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Western Pennsylvania
    Posts
    3,371

    Default

    Hah! Nope - I'm just a closet computer geek.

    My wife constantly tells me that I missed my calling and I should have gone into the computer field though - and most of the time I feel the same way.

    And I agree this business stinks on ice. I will never, ever, ever encourage either of our boys to have anything whatsoever to do with the insurance industry.
    ~Bill

  8. #8
    Emmas Mom is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Arizona
    Posts
    2,437

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by BillK
    And I agree this business stinks on ice. I will never, ever, ever encourage either of our boys to have anything whatsoever to do with the insurance industry.
    Amen! Brilliant way to put it. There was a time when my husband was looking for a career change & was asking me about the industry. I think he was shocked at how adamant I was that he NOT even consider it.

    Sorry to the OP for kind of taking this on a tangent to rant about working in this industry!
    ~Kristine
    ~My two angels: Blue-eyed beauty 8/03, Blondie 1/06
    ~Breast Cancer SURVIVOR
    EARLY DETECTION SAVES LIVES....DO YOUR SELF EXAMS LADIES!!!

  9. #9
    ChefGirl is offline Platinum level (1000+ posts)
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    .
    Posts
    1,242

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by BillK
    It also depends on what state you're in.

    The laws vary greatly from state to state - for example here in PA - Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist coverage is only for Bodily Injury claims to you or your family if hit by an uninsured or underinsured motorist. The physical damage coverage for your vehicle must come from the Collision coverage and you must pay your deductible. There is no collision deductible waiver in PA. Some states will cover your vehicle damage under your Un/Underinsured coverage - and as the PP said - some will allow a collision deductible waiver for those instances - PA does not.

    As others have said - you've been pretty poorly advised if you aren't carrying at least $100,000 per occurrence/$300,000 aggregate limits for your Bodily Injury Liability (damage you cause to others) and at LEAST $50,000 for Property Damage Liability (damage to someone elses property - being a vehicle, their yard, their house etc. - and you probably should have $100k nowadays really). Same goes for your Un/Underinsured limits - should have $100k/$300k.

    A Personal Umbrella policy is also something to consider - that can add an additional $1,000,000 layer of liability over and above your underlying (Home/Auto) for a nominal price (as low as $160/year here in PA with some of my companies).

    I've been doing this for almost 20 years now and the biggest, ugliest, nastiest claims I've seen paid have been Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist bodily injury claims (where one of my clients gets creamed by an uninsured motorist and sustains major injuries). I think it's criminal that PA allows you to reject those coverages entirely if you want to.
    Thanks for everyone's input. To be honest, I haven't looked at our policy lately. I just told the agent today to add our new Ody and she mentioned it to me.

    Now, we already have the $100/$300/$100 for Liability, I will raise our Uninsured coverage to the $100/$300/$100 as well. I do see that we have a $750 Collision deductible and $750 for Non-Collision deductible. Is that standard? Is it too high or too low.

    Bill and Kristine, Explain to me what a personal umberlla poicy is? We are in Texas by the way.

    I appreciate everyone's advice. Thank you so much.
    Last edited by ChefGirl; 03-25-2008 at 11:47 PM.
    Chefgirl
    Mommy to 3 WILD and SWEET kids

  10. #10
    Emmas Mom is offline Sapphire level (2000+ posts)
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Arizona
    Posts
    2,437

    Default

    Basically an umbrella policy will kick in when you've exhausted your liability limits. They are usually pretty inexpensive (as Bill mentioned) & I think $1 million is pretty standard, though it can go much higher.

    ETA: you're deductibles are "ok"....you should make sure you have that money available though should you ever be in an accident (knock on wood). I'd check & see how much more it would add to your premium to lower your deductibles. Your non collision (sometimes called comprehensive) is probably not a whole lot more if you lower it to say $500. That's the coverage for something like a vandalism or if a baseball/golfball hits your windshield (basically everything other than getting hit by or hitting another vehicle). Since it's not used as often as collision coverage, there's usually not a huge difference in premiums to lower your deductible.
    Last edited by Emmas Mom; 03-26-2008 at 12:05 AM.
    ~Kristine
    ~My two angels: Blue-eyed beauty 8/03, Blondie 1/06
    ~Breast Cancer SURVIVOR
    EARLY DETECTION SAVES LIVES....DO YOUR SELF EXAMS LADIES!!!

Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •