Am I Overinsured? Vehicle Insurance

[jeff2017]

I own an 11 year old, Acura TL that is worth $6K-$7K private party value per KBB. My car insurance seems to have stayed the same over the last 5 years as the car has declined in value and increased in mileage. I'm a 27-year-old male with no claims ever and no tickets in the last 3+ years and am paying $111 per month.

Planning to call around, but does that seem a bit steep? I have full coverage which seemed more important 5 years ago when I bought the car than today. Does it make sense to lower my coverage given the age of this vehicle? I think I'm overinsured...

[Phoenix_Fire]

It definitely sounds like you are overpaying.  I'm guessing that you have comprehensive and collision, possibly roadside.  You can get rid of all of those. 

I was on State Farm, paying close to what you are.  I switched to Geico, dropped the comprehensive and collision, kept pretty much everything else the same, and dropped down to $41 a month.

Start calling, emailing, or getting quotes online!

[jeff2017]

It definitely sounds like you are overpaying.  I'm guessing that you have comprehensive and collision, possibly roadside.  You can get rid of all of those. 

I was on State Farm, paying close to what you are.  I switched to Geico, dropped the comprehensive and collision, kept pretty much everything else the same, and dropped down to $41 a month.

Start calling, emailing, or getting quotes online!

Ding Ding Ding! We have a winner! Yes, that is exactly the case, I am with State Farm. I come from a line of overinsurers and after reading more on MMM, see the light that I need to break the mold.

[jeff2017]

I'll have to do some reading to get further educated, but what would be some MMM opinions on what is "too much" or conversely "too little" regarding car insurance. I live in a large Metro area and work in an area where there are very expensive vehicles (garages full of Mercedes and various other cars) so just to be safe, I did overinsure a bit 5 years back in case I somehow got in any accidents in this environment (thankfully have not).

[jeff2017]

Here is the exact data of what I am paying for... These figures were when the plan started in Dec 2015 for a total monthly cost of $91.60. At that time, I lived with a roommate that had a $1 Million umbrella and I also had renters insurance. Today, I have the same exact coverage as below, but have 1) moved addresses 2) do not live with the same roommate and 3) canceled my renters insurance. As a result, the same exact plan below now costs $111 per month. Here is the breakdown below (using the prior $91.60 per month rates, but my coverage today is the same).

Liability - Bodily Injury / Property Damage $250K/$500K/$100K ... 6 Month Premium = $230.04
Comprehensive Deductible $500 ... 6 Month Premium = $79.78
Collision Deductible $500 ... 6 Month Premium = $177.58
Emergency Road Service Included ... 6 Month Premium = $4.20
Car Rental and Travel Expenses - 80% of rental cost ($1,000 max) ... 6 Month Premium = $11.50
Uninsured Motor Vehicle $250K/$500K ... 6 Month Premium = $11.94
Underinsured Motor Vehicle $250K/$500K ... 6 Month Premium = $34.58
Total = $549.62 /6 = $91.60

I did make one call to Geico and they quoted the exact same coverage would be $99 per month and if I lowered the limits above to $50K-$100K (which the agent described as "twice the legal limit") it would lower the monthly cost by $10 to $89. Planning to call some others next week, but this is an interesting starting point.

Thoughts MMM community?

[lbmustache]

State minimums are generally way too low, so you definitely want to have #s higher.

Comprehensive can likely go, especially if you have the cash to buy a new (to you) car outright.

I think dropping collision (do collision and comprehensive have to be bought together?) is a bit more risky - I lower my premium by having a higher deductible, but it's also something you can do.

Little extras can go: roadside assistance, maybe medical coverage. My understanding of medical coverage is that it covers anything not covered by insurance, but my limit is so laughably low ("$2000") that I think it would cover a cut (not severed) finger than that's about it. I need to drop that myself.

[sailinlight]

As long as you have the cash to buy another car in case of a bad accident, I would drop collision. My thoughts are that if I crash my car due to my own fault, I deserve to have to buy my next one out of pocket. I keep comprehensive because it covers hitting an animal, which there are a lot of where I live. And don't ever drop Uninsured/Underinsured coverage! I would not feel comfortable having less than 300/100k limits on liability.

[Fomerly known as something]

I'll have to do some reading to get further educated, but what would be some MMM opinions on what is "too much" or conversely "too little" regarding car insurance. I live in a large Metro area and work in an area where there are very expensive vehicles (garages full of Mercedes and various other cars) so just to be safe, I did overinsure a bit 5 years back in case I somehow got in any accidents in this environment (thankfully have not).

What other people drive won't matter that much.  The "expensive" part of insurance is collision and comprehensive which repairs your car.  Having high Liability or an umbrella is something to consider with other people's car.  Dropping collision and comprehensive cut my insurance in half on my car.  I still carry high liability limits and uninsured drivers coverage so it's not completely cheap but it might as well be.

[JLee]

I'll have to do some reading to get further educated, but what would be some MMM opinions on what is "too much" or conversely "too little" regarding car insurance. I live in a large Metro area and work in an area where there are very expensive vehicles (garages full of Mercedes and various other cars) so just to be safe, I did overinsure a bit 5 years back in case I somehow got in any accidents in this environment (thankfully have not).

What other people drive won't matter that much.  The "expensive" part of insurance is collision and comprehensive which repairs your car.  Having high Liability or an umbrella is something to consider with other people's car.  Dropping collision and comprehensive cut my insurance in half on my car.  I still carry high liability limits and uninsured drivers coverage so it's not completely cheap but it might as well be.

Huh. Not for me..

Out of $455 for my 6mo policy, collision is $75 and comprehensive w/glass is $34.

[civil4life]

For your own comparision

I have Geico.  2013 Prius 34 yr. old female.  Large Metro Area

Bodily Injury Liability - $50k/$100k - $101.40
Property Damage Liability - $25k - $86.90
Personal Injury Protection - $2500 - $12.30 - Required by my state
Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury - $50k/$100k - $16.70
Uninsured Motorist Property Damage - $25k - $6.70
Comprehensive - $500 Deductible - $38.20
Collision - $500 Deductible - $158.70

Total for 6 months is $420.90 = $70.15
I am considering either dropping or raising the deductibles of my Comprehensive and Collision.  I can raise them up to $2500.

[jeff2017]

Thanks for the comments. I found a site called The Zebra that compares quotes with multiple carriers and it shows Liberty being the best price. Planning to call them this week to get further info on the quote, but seems like a very useful tool for those in the same boat.