Car Insurance Master Thread

[hocker]

The adjustors who come out for the claim were not born yesterday. They do investigate and will not pay if they don't have to or if there was fraud.

-1. I got a payout for an accident while I was driving with a suspended license! IME the adjusters don't do any research other than the basic accident info and the damage value.

Please don't quote this post as I will be deleting it within 24 hours.

[yuneeq]

I heard from someone that I get a discount on insurance when I turn 24. Does it happen automatically or do I need to call? And if I need to call, can I call before my birthday to receive it?

[moko]

-1

was it a large one (as stated above)

if s/t big happens they'll investigate and bam- u got a $50,000 bill oh and some fraud charges

[hocker]

was it a large one (as stated above)

The payout was $10k+

[henche]

So I always insured my car only to the statutory minimum, reasoning that I have no money to be sued for anyway.

But pretty soon, I'm going to have a real job, and work in a real office, and have a real blackberry, and a real salary, and a fake secretary. So maybe I should actually have insurance that will protect me in case I'm sued.

How much liability insurance do people usually carry?

[SGF]

So I always insured my car only to the statutory minimum, reasoning that I have no money to be sued for anyway.

But pretty soon, I'm going to have a real job, and work in a real office, and have a real blackberry, and a real salary, and a fake secretary. So maybe I should actually have insurance that will protect me in case I'm sued.

How much liability insurance do people usually carry?

Avg. Is bet. $300K/$1M
Maybe add a poll

[myb821]

Avg. Is bet. $300K/$1M
Maybe add a poll

Really 1m?

[henche]

Really 1m?

Well see, that's the thing. If I would be involved in a MVA with casualties, I could very conceivably be sued for 1m or more. A wrongful death is quite a lot of damages.

And suppose you occasionally text while driving, which is negligence per se and also pretty reckless IMO. You could be looking at some serious liability.

[YSP]

having a suspended license isn't reason for denying a claim. if the policy is in force they can only deny a claim if there was fraud. having a house in Detroit may help you get a license there but that doesn't mean they won't ask questions in case there is a claim but you may have to bend the truth on some of their questions and that's where you may get busted.

I've seen big claims denied so the guy could save money on his monthly premium. Not worth it in the end.

[YSP]

I heard from someone that I get a discount on insurance when I turn 24. Does it happen automatically or do I need to call? And if I need to call, can I call before my birthday to receive it?

It won't happen by you calling in. usually it affects your premium by the first renewal after jan 1

[YSP]

So I always insured my car only to the statutory minimum, reasoning that I have no money to be sued for anyway.

But pretty soon, I'm going to have a real job, and work in a real office, and have a real blackberry, and a real salary, and a fake secretary. So maybe I should actually have insurance that will protect me in case I'm sued.

How much liability insurance do people usually carry?

having no assets used to be good cheshbon but now they will garnish wages for the next 'x' amount of years until they recover the total amount your sued for. Yoiu should have at least 100/300 on your auto liability. If you're nervous then get an Umbrella which gives you another $1 million of coverage above although you will have to bump up your underlying limits to 300/300 but the umbrella is usually just a couple hundred bucks a year and will also cover your house/apt.

[skyguy918]

having no assets used to be good cheshbon but now they will garnish wages for the next 'x' amount of years until they recover the total amount your sued for. Yoiu should have at least 100/300 on your auto liability. If you're nervous then get an Umbrella which gives you another $1 million of coverage above although you will have to bump up your underlying limits to 300/300 but the umbrella is usually just a couple hundred bucks a year and will also cover your house/apt.

+1 about getting umbrella coverage, especially if you also have a home or renter policy. But I'm pretty sure my father has an umbrella policy on top of 100/300 coverage. Are you sure about the underlying needing to be at least 300/300? Maybe it varies by insurer?

[YSP]

every carrier requires it. Could be an oversight on their end

[henche]

Ok, so I increased to 300/300, and 100 for property damage.
my new 6 month premium is  $287.08

[YSP]

Nice. Not a whole lot.

[henche]

OTOH, it just increases the likelihood of being sued. :-(

[CountValentine]

Maybe it varies by insurer?

No maybe about it, it does.

[skyguy918]

No maybe about it, it does.

+1

every carrier requires it. Could be an oversight on their end

A quick internet search shows that this is not true. Every carrier has a minimum requirement, but your specific example of requiring 300/300 auto liability is not at all universal.

[YSP]

If you make the effective date today now that April 30 has passed the rate should be lower. The tickets only count for 36 months to the day.

[Thingywingy]

I think they will use existing quote. Because its so recent they won't recalculate my rate. It costs them money to pull up my record.