Interesting reading comments. I agree in general mustachians are against insurance.
My car was totaled a month ago (someone drove through my parked car). I had state minimum liability only insurance... Luckily, there was a police report on my windshield with the persons insurance info.
Due to having their insurance; they paid $8800 for my car (They believed my 2013 Hyundai Elantra was worth $7500, and then threw some money for fees & taxes), and ~$500 for uber/lyft/hertz receipts.
If it was a hit and run situation, I'd sell my totaled car for $1k for scrap metal/parts, ride my bike to avoid the uber/lyft/hertz... & lose out on the $8800 check for my car (I think I could have sold my car via private party for $7k, so their insurance overpaid me a bit after fighting back and forth).
$184 increase annually for $2500 deductible (both collision and comprehensive)... $4500 savings after paying the $2500 deductible... divided by $184 = 27 years. Probably less with compounding...
$478 increase annually for $200 deductible. (both collision and comp)... $6800 savings after paying the $200 deductible... divided by $478 = 14 years?
Online says average person is involved in a crash every 17.8 years...
Increasing bodily injury liability from $25k/$65k/$15k to $100k/$300k/$50k costs an extra $50 a year. This is probably worth the piece of mind...
Bah I don't know! I'm a risk taker so saving the $50 + $478 to take the risk is fine with me. Am I crazy? Probably. Is someone "stupid" by having full coverage? Probably not. I think as long as you shop for a good deal you should be fine.
FYI: I'm using Geico. $181.26 per 6 months getting state minimum on a 2015 Chevy Volt (paid $12k). Networth is $270k which is why I lean towards "self insuring".
Edit:
http://www.rmiia.org/auto/traffic_safety/Cost_of_crashes.asp"In 2013, the average auto liability claim for property damage was $3,231; the average auto liability claim for bodily injury was $15,443 (ISO, a Verisk Analytics company)."
^^ This makes me feel better about having minimum liability. State minimum is $25k per person, and $15k for property damage. Even adjusting inflation from 2013 numbers to today, I'd still be covered for the average claim.
... I would be in trouble if I drove through a building with a trunk full of napalm.
"In 2013, the average collision claim was $3,144; the average comprehensive claim was $1,621 (ISO, a Verisk Analytics company)."
This makes me believe that collision/comprehensive is only worth it with a low deductible plan. With a $2500 deductible plan, I may as well reject collision insurance and simply pay the extra $644 when I get into that average crash.
Overall insurance is a tool to smooth out cash flow.... At a cost. I will accept the future ~$5k expense but save $478 a year. I'm betting on myself to not crash as often as the average person does. even if I do crash just as often, I've saving the cost of insurance by paying it all out of hand.
If I am that unique person who crashes every year, or more frequently than average.... Well then, fuck. I should have had insurance. For me, It's worth taking the risk, although I see after researching that having more insurance isn't as crazy as I originally thought.