The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: Cressida on September 14, 2014, 11:58:46 AM
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Hi all - So I'm reviewing our insurance (should have done this months ago) and it's obvious that we need to raise our deductibles and remove some coverage. Here are the details:
2001 Impreza, $500 collision, $100 comp
2006 Jetta, $500 collision, $100 comp
House, $500
I KNOW, I KNOW, this is disgraceful. I'm not so much looking for advice as to what the deductibles should be (I'm inclined to put them as high as is allowed, and remove both coverages from the Impreza because it's an old beater). What I really need is ammunition to convince DH that we don't need this coverage. If we had a loss, I'm sure his plan would be to file a claim if the loss was above the (current) deductible, because that's what insurance is for. I, on the other hand, would rather suck it up as much as possible, because insurance companies will jack up your rates if you file a claim.
So what are the best arguments you would use to convince him? Unfortunately, I haven't yet called the insurance company, so I don't have a quote for the exact amount we would save.
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You are right; you need quotes for your various options. Also find out the blue book value of your cars; carrying collision coverage on them isn't worth it. The insurance company will only reimburse the value of the car, not a new one. Eliminate your car collision coverage & save what you would have spent as self-insurance if you don't already have an emergency fund.
In my opinion, you never want to file a house claim for $500; $5,000 is more like it.
To help convince him, what claims have you filed in the past? Probably very few to none. That's money you could have kept all these years.