Author Topic: Insurance Costs  (Read 9119 times)

SpicyUnagi10

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Insurance Costs
« on: June 19, 2014, 01:47:50 PM »
I spent quite a bit time last year trying to get better insurance quotes/right coverages for my stuff. Here's what I have now:

Car #1 08' Hyundai Elantra
250K/500K Bodily Injury/$100K Property Damage
250K/500K Uninsured Motor Vehicle
No Comp
No Collision
Medical Payments $2,000/person
Total Premium $606.84/yr

Car #2 12' Chrysler 200
(This car is still under a loan, and is my one un-mustachian thing that I own)
250K/500K Bodily Injury/$100K Property Damage
250K/500K Uninsured Motor Vehicle
Comp $500 deductible
Collision $1,000 deductible
Medical Payments $2,000/person
Total Premium $807.74/yr

Condo Insurance
(Condo is worth roughly $131,000, I am not responsible for the exterior of the building. I am responsible for all the interior, including HVAC, and water heater)
$500 Deductible
Building Prop $45,300
Personal Prop $100,600
Loss of Use - Actual Loss Sustained
Loss Assessment $1000
Personal Liability $100,000
Damage to Property of others $500
Medical Payments to others $1000
Total Premium $244.00/yr

Umbrella Policy
(All previous insurance costs above are the minimums required for this policy)
$1MM Coverage
$337.00/yr

Term Life
$250,000/20 yr
$23.50/mo = $282/yr

Total per yr = $2277.58

I am 24, and my wife is 23. I have not been able to get quotes lower than the above (except for only life from a separate carrier), even with 3rd party independent reps that work with subsidiaries of the big insurance carriers.

My questions:

Is it worth having the Umbrella policy at our age? It currently means that my other coverages (auto especially) have to be higher to meet the insurers minimums for the policy.

Even with owning a used car, the insurance on it is still quite high, compared to my newer Chrysler. If I traded in for an older model car, and paid in full, it doesn't seem like a huge difference. (Of course I would rather keep $200/yr in my own pocket.)

Do I have enough coverage for my condo? Our personal property doesn't exceed the $100,000 coverage, even with having to buy a new HVAC, water heater, and appliances. The only extravagant building material in our unit was granite kitchen countertops that were installed by the previous owner before the market crash in '08. If I had to replace those, they would come from boneyard pieces from one of the retailers that carries it, seeing as though the ones that are currently installed came from the same place it looks like.

Does this amount of insurance/year at that $ value seem normal? Or am I getting taken for a ride?

Thanks all.

arebelspy

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Re: Insurance Costs
« Reply #1 on: June 19, 2014, 01:51:28 PM »
Is it worth having the Umbrella policy at our age? It currently means that my other coverages (auto especially) have to be

Well to find out if it's worth it, you have to answer: Why do you have the umbrella?

I have one because I own multiple rentals, but what is the reason you got one?
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
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SpicyUnagi10

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Re: Insurance Costs
« Reply #2 on: June 19, 2014, 02:17:58 PM »
Is it worth having the Umbrella policy at our age? It currently means that my other coverages (auto especially) have to be

Well to find out if it's worth it, you have to answer: Why do you have the umbrella?

I have one because I own multiple rentals, but what is the reason you got one?

The only reason I have one is for catastrophic injuries/losses sustained due to us being negligent/something happening out of our control. For example, my wife or I cause an auto accident, and paralyze someone, or cause huge medical bills in the event someone gets injured on our property. I live in a larger city in the Midwest, where there is lots of traffic. My wife and I are very safe drivers, and have never had any traffic violations. We don't have any rentals or other sources of side income that need to be insured.

I guess what I am really getting at is what some of the other folks here have for car coverages and home/condo policies, and umbrella policy or not, and what they are paying in my age bracket, if there are any.

lackofstache

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Re: Insurance Costs
« Reply #3 on: June 19, 2014, 02:49:57 PM »
I'm older, have older cars, but have comp & collision & pay $504/yr.for two cars w/ GEICO. New cars cost more whether there is comp & collision or not. I don't carry an umbrella as I don't yet have the assets or risk fir it to be worth it to me, but risk is an individual thing.  The umbrella is probably costing you ~$400/yr for premium & premium on increased liability, so it's a fair amount to pay long term. I keep my auto liability at 100/300/100, which seems reasonable to me. My liability on my Homeowners is $300K as well.

SpicyUnagi10

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Re: Insurance Costs
« Reply #4 on: June 24, 2014, 03:30:00 PM »
I'm older, have older cars, but have comp & collision & pay $504/yr.for two cars w/ GEICO. New cars cost more whether there is comp & collision or not. I don't carry an umbrella as I don't yet have the assets or risk fir it to be worth it to me, but risk is an individual thing.  The umbrella is probably costing you ~$400/yr for premium & premium on increased liability, so it's a fair amount to pay long term. I keep my auto liability at 100/300/100, which seems reasonable to me. My liability on my Homeowners is $300K as well.

So how do most insurers determine when a car is deemed old? How many years from the current generation does it have to be in most cases?

Thanks for your input.

GGNoob

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Re: Insurance Costs
« Reply #5 on: June 24, 2014, 03:46:55 PM »
Car Ins:
My wife and I (I'm 27, she's 25) recently switched to Esurance for our cars. We are not very Mustachian and have two 2013 cars with full coverage $100k/$300k with $250 deductibles and $5k medical payments. Our premium is about $450 every 6 months for BOTH cars.

Umbrella Policy:
Unless you have a net worth higher than your other insurance coverages, you probably don't need this. http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2013/11/05/when-do-need-umbrella-insurance/

Term Life:
If your insurance price is for both of you, that's good. But if its just for one of you, you can probably do better. My wife and I both just got a 20 year term life insurance policy ($250K) through Zander Insurance (www.zanderins.com). She pays $135 a year ($11.25/mo) and I pay $188 a year ($15.66/mo). I had a policy with USAA but found it worth switching to save about $8 a month, since I'll have this policy for 20 years.

hexdexorex

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Re: Insurance Costs
« Reply #6 on: June 24, 2014, 04:09:51 PM »
I am 30 shes 35...we live in the bay area...and we are on the same plan with 2 cars...

92 corolla
100K/300Bodily Injury/$100K Property Damage
100K/300K Uninsured Motor Vehicle
No Comp
No Collision
Medical Payments $10,000/person
$355 / year

99 corolla
100K/300Bodily Injury/$100K Property Damage
100K/300K Uninsured Motor Vehicle
250 Comp
500 ded Collision
Medical Payments $10,000/person
$374 / year

We have no other insurance
« Last Edit: June 24, 2014, 04:11:29 PM by hexdexorex »

SpicyUnagi10

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Re: Insurance Costs
« Reply #7 on: June 24, 2014, 06:23:49 PM »
Does anyone have a list of insurers to stay away from?

SpicyUnagi10

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Re: Insurance Costs
« Reply #8 on: June 25, 2014, 10:04:06 AM »
Anybody? I would appreciate some feedback.

arebelspy

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Re: Insurance Costs
« Reply #9 on: June 25, 2014, 10:16:53 AM »
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

neo von retorch

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Re: Insurance Costs
« Reply #10 on: June 25, 2014, 12:29:37 PM »
Does anyone have a list of insurers to stay away from?

I think this list about covers it.

Is that to say that you should avoid all insurance companies? ;)

arebelspy

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Re: Insurance Costs
« Reply #11 on: June 25, 2014, 12:41:35 PM »
Yeah, sorry, a little joke - they are a necessary evil at times.  :)
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.

SpicyUnagi10

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Re: Insurance Costs
« Reply #12 on: June 26, 2014, 09:26:23 AM »
Yes, I did get the joke.

Lastly,

Does anyone carry jewelry insurance? Most carriers exempt that from homeowners it seems.

This would be against just self insuring.

Thanks.
« Last Edit: June 26, 2014, 10:14:37 AM by SpicyUnagi10 »

MayDay

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Re: Insurance Costs
« Reply #13 on: June 26, 2014, 10:55:51 AM »
We carry an umbrella policy because for 100$ a year, it is worth the peace of mind that if something awful happened either in our house or years, or due to our driving, we are protected.  Maybe we are over-insured and should get rid of that. 

We carried jewelry insurance when first married.  Now I don't wear my engagement ring and wouldn't care if it got stolen so we dropped that ;). H won't go for selling the darn thing!

SpicyUnagi10

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Re: Insurance Costs
« Reply #14 on: June 26, 2014, 11:04:34 AM »
We carry an umbrella policy because for 100$ a year, it is worth the peace of mind that if something awful happened either in our house or years, or due to our driving, we are protected.  Maybe we are over-insured and should get rid of that. 

We carried jewelry insurance when first married.  Now I don't wear my engagement ring and wouldn't care if it got stolen so we dropped that ;). H won't go for selling the darn thing!

I finally got an insurer to quote me $152/yr for an umbrella policy, around $210 dollars less than the above. Now I would consider it regardless.

ivyhedge

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Re: Insurance Costs
« Reply #15 on: June 26, 2014, 11:18:47 AM »
@Unagi ... The umbrella mandates that cost for the condo? Ouch. That's very high relative to ours.


When I shot, I had a rider appended to our (then) apartment coverage for my camera equipment. I recall the representative remark that what I bought was essentially what was used for jewelry (including the heirloom provision). It was surprisingly reasonably priced considering how much kit I covered.

SpicyUnagi10

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Re: Insurance Costs
« Reply #16 on: June 26, 2014, 11:35:03 AM »
@Unagi ... The umbrella mandates that cost for the condo? Ouch. That's very high relative to ours.

When I shot, I had a rider appended to our (then) apartment coverage for my camera equipment. I recall the representative remark that what I bought was essentially what was used for jewelry (including the heirloom provision). It was surprisingly reasonably priced considering how much kit I covered.

I'm 24, and my wife is 23. So we still fall into the 18-24 crowd for insurance rates it seems.

Out of all the insurers I have talked to (roughly 16 with help from brokers) mandate that the minimum coverage on the condo has to be $100,000, $250,000, or $500,000 for liability for the umbrella (it varied substantially, but the insurance dollars per year were roughly the same). Other than that, the rest is up to me.

I've been quoted roughly $110 for $15,000 of jewelry coverage at the moment.

ivyhedge

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Re: Insurance Costs
« Reply #17 on: June 26, 2014, 02:04:44 PM »
@Unagi ... The jewelry rate isn't too much higher than what I had for a higher amount of coverage: likely pretty reasonable.

SpicyUnagi10

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Re: Insurance Costs
« Reply #18 on: June 27, 2014, 08:10:48 AM »
@Unagi ... The jewelry rate isn't too much higher than what I had for a higher amount of coverage: likely pretty reasonable.

Cool. Sounds good.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!