Author Topic: Ham  (Read 5055 times)

Mr. Tummy Mustache

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 11
Ham
« on: January 23, 2014, 03:24:40 PM »
.
« Last Edit: February 04, 2016, 02:40:43 PM by Exit »

FIence!

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 123
Re: Auto Insurance
« Reply #1 on: January 23, 2014, 03:46:15 PM »
The comprehensive covers your car if, say, a tree branch or shopping cart hits it. The collision covers your car in an accident. I think you could scrap those two given the age/value of your car. I cut both of those on my car once it got older. Given the age of your car, I would *not* scrap the roadside assistance.

What state do you live in? Depending on the state, everything else might be mandatory to an extent...

Spork

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 5742
    • Spork In The Eye
Re: Auto Insurance
« Reply #2 on: January 23, 2014, 05:23:13 PM »

My mantra is: if you need comprehensive/collision, then you can't afford the car.

You should have a car you can afford to pay cash for without blinking.  You should also be able to pay cash to replace it with a similar car without blinking.

I am guessing you have the right car, but the wrong insurance.

We don't have comprehensive/collision on any of ours.  (We also don't have towing/roadside assistance.)  I've had to be towed now 5 times in a driving career that is about 35 years long.  I also tend to have "too many cars" and old cars.  The last tow was about $80, and was fairly recently.  I presume that means the cost of towing over 35 years is about $400 in today's dollars (or $11.42 a year).  I'm okay with that.

dragoncar

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 9922
  • Registered member
Re: Auto Insurance
« Reply #3 on: January 23, 2014, 05:42:41 PM »
That sucks how they get you twice on underinsured and uninsured. 

I would probably just do liability and underinsured/uninsured.

FIence!

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 123
Re: Auto Insurance
« Reply #4 on: January 23, 2014, 05:53:54 PM »
For me, the value in roadside assistance has historically been the convenience of being able to call a single 800 number I always have on hand and have someone immediately dispatched wherever I am. If you don't go out of town ever, that would be of less value. And now that phone data is reaching farther and wider, a lot of people can look up a local tow truck. But if you're in an unfamiliar area without data coverage, I still think it's nice to be able to just call your insurance 800 number of AAA or something. If your goal is to cover the expense of the tow, then yeah, it's pretty much an installment plan. Like dental insurance.

Kaminoge

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 348
  • Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Re: Auto Insurance
« Reply #5 on: January 24, 2014, 09:13:09 AM »
Just go with whatever is legally required.

When I bought my current car (first time I've had one in over a decade) the insurance person couldn't believe I would do that. I tried to explain the statistics to her but I don't think I was getting through.

Greg

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1448
  • Location: Olympia, WA, USA
Re: Auto Insurance
« Reply #6 on: January 24, 2014, 09:21:10 AM »
You may want to drop the collision and comprehensive but raise your liability limits if they are at the minimum.  It only takes one bad rear-end accident or some other type of accident to exceed your coverage if they're the minimums.  Considering the potential repair costs to a new Mercedes or the medical costs of even a simple neck sprain, this can be a huge liability.

nawhite

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1081
  • Location: Golden, CO
    • The Reckless Choice
Re: Auto Insurance
« Reply #7 on: January 24, 2014, 10:10:42 AM »
Personally I ditched the Rental Car line and (more controversially) the Medical Payments but some states mandate Medical Payments.

First the Rental Car. If your car was put out of commission by someone else (often they don't pay for rental cars if you are at fault) is there really no one you know who would let you borrow a car for a week? Or, a car rental costs about $30/day after taxes and fees near me. 80% of that is $22. So if you think you will need a rental car for 1 day every 3 years, this may make sense. I have cars I can borrow from friends/family or just take the hit and pay for my own Car rental. Its not that big a deal to me if it happens.

The Medical Payments is designed to cover your own Health insurance deductible if you hit someone. It only applies when you are at fault and hurt yourself. If someone else was at fault, their insurance would cover everything. What are your health insurance deductibles? You don't need more medical payments coverage than your health insurance deductible. Maybe you do have $10,000 in health insurance deductibles? Personally I have an HSA and an emergency fund to cover that expense. YMMV.

dragoncar

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 9922
  • Registered member
Re: Auto Insurance
« Reply #8 on: January 24, 2014, 10:32:38 AM »
Just go with whatever is legally required.

When I bought my current car (first time I've had one in over a decade) the insurance person couldn't believe I would do that. I tried to explain the statistics to her but I don't think I was getting through.

As Greg points out, mustachians with assets will likely want to up their liability coverage from the minimum.  This obviously depends on how much you have saved and your income.  From another thread on liability limits, it looks like a lot of people carry "the minimum required by my umbrella insurer"

nawhite

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1081
  • Location: Golden, CO
    • The Reckless Choice
Re: Auto Insurance
« Reply #9 on: January 24, 2014, 11:35:18 AM »
As Greg points out, mustachians with assets will likely want to up their liability coverage from the minimum.  This obviously depends on how much you have saved and your income.  From another thread on liability limits, it looks like a lot of people carry "the minimum required by my umbrella insurer"

Haha, that is exactly how much I carry! My umbrella insurer requires 300/300 so that's what I have. Its nice having that extra $1M in coverage for next to nothing (I pay like $140/year for the umbrella). ALL of the other optional things I've removed from my car insurance. I have an emergency fund for those other things.

BlueMR2

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2313
Re: Auto Insurance
« Reply #10 on: January 30, 2014, 09:55:22 AM »
My mantra is: if you need comprehensive/collision, then you can't afford the car.

That's really expensive for comprehensive.  Ours is only a couple $ a year, so we keep it.

We also keep collision on 1 vehicle (out of 4) to give us coverage when driving other people's (sometimes very expensive) cars.  Without having collision on that 1 vehicle we would not be covered in that case.  Same applies for loaners and rentals too, except that rentals you could always buy the rental places insurance instead (or you may have credit card insurance coverage on the rental).