# Auto insurance: do I really need full-coverage?



## spiralout (Jul 13, 2005)

Lately, I've been thinking that I should change my insurance policy from full-coverage to liability.  I'm on my parents insurance, but I'm still paying $200/month, and it's really taking a huge chunk out of my paycheck.  I've been driving for 5 1/2 years and have NEVER gotten in an accident and have only gotten 1 speeding ticket, so I'm not a high-risk driver, and I don't see why I should be paying so much for insurance if I'm not even using it.  Any thoughts?


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## Alison (Jul 13, 2005)

I think it all depends on what would happen if your car gets wrecked. Unfortunately even if you get hit by another driver it's possible that they won't be insured and you'll end up having to pay for it. Right now we have two of our cars fully insured and one liability only (we're going to be selling it). The deciding factor for us was what would happen if the car was totaled or required a lot of repair, could we afford it?


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## spiralout (Jul 13, 2005)

Yeah, I'm not sure how much car repair would be, but I've probably already spent well over $5000 more than I would have with just liability.  I'm sure I'd have to get in a pretty bad wreck to have to pay that much for repair.  That's half what I paid for my car.


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## Big Mike (Jul 13, 2005)

That's about it...could you afford to fix it, if you did ding it up?  or would it be worth it?

If you are driving a nice vehicle that would cost a lot to fix (if in an accident) or if it's in good condition and could still be sold for a good price...then collision insurance might be a good idea.  Think of it as protecting your investment.  If you are making payments on it...the insurance is either required or a really good idea.

Typically, I have not had fire/theft/collision on my cars...as they were mostly pieces of junk.  When I was younger, I was paying $300 a month (liability only) for insurance on a car that was only worth $300.  That really sucked.

Do you have your own car?  or do you drive your parent's car?  If you have your own, I suggest that you shop around for a better deal.  I finally outgrew the bad marks on my driving record and got insurance with a group policy through my professional affiliation...now my insurance is rather reasonable.  Although that doesn't stop me from thinking the whole insurance industry is just a big scam.  :roll:


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## spiralout (Jul 13, 2005)

I own a '99 Ford Taurus that I bought used for $9000.  I probably should shop around, but that's one of those things I never really got around to... although I'm probably going to check that out tomorrow.  This policy is really eating a hole in my pocket.  And I agree, insurance is a scam, and they can get away with it because auto repair is an even bigger scam.


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## graigdavis (Jul 13, 2005)

I was paying $180 a month with one company.  I switched to Progressive and got the same coverage for $350 for 6 months ($60 a month).


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## photogoddess (Jul 13, 2005)

I think you're paying WAY too much and need to price shop a bit. My 16 year old son is on my policy, drives a restored 1971 Pontiac Firebird with full coverage (100/300/50) and uninsured coverage for less than $90 a month. Although it is an older car, it is technically a sports car. I'm thinking that I got off light with his insurance costs.


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## Big Mike (Jul 13, 2005)

photogoddess said:
			
		

> My 16 year old son drives a restored 1971 Pontiac Firebird



Will you be my Mother?


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## photogoddess (Jul 13, 2005)

Big Mike said:
			
		

> Will you be my Mother?



Hahahahaha - I don't think I could afford another child that wanted expensive cars (toys) to drive. 

My 15 year old son has a 1964 Nova that is getting restored now and my 13 year old daughter has a 1967 Pontiac Firebird convertible getting ready for her to drive when she turns 16. Maybe my kids are a little _too_ spoiled. :roll:

Spiralout - good luck on your price shopping. I'd stick with the full coverage though. 

Just for BigMike, here's a pic of the 71 Firebird.


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## Andrea K (Jul 13, 2005)

im 16 and im paying roughly 2100 a year on my mom's policy. it was about 2400 but because of a driver's ed discount and good student discount it went down a bit. ('95 bmw 530i)


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## Big Mike (Jul 13, 2005)

That's a beauty.

I've always though that a teenager's first car should be a junker.  That way they learn to appreciate & take care of their cars.  (especially important up here, where a stalled car can mean freezing to death).  Also, I think it's better to learn to drive with a junker, especially with the icy roads in winter.  I've seen so many 16 year olds smash up their brand new cars.

Of course, I never had the chance to own a car like those ones, when I was a teenager...


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## Aoide (Jul 13, 2005)

$200 a month sounds really expensive.  I'm paying about $70 a month.  

The biggest thing as ever one has said is can you afford to fix the car if something happened to it.  Accidents happen whether you are a good driver or not.  Consider where you are living, how far you have to drive to school, how much do you drive around the city?  Once school starts do you stay on campus or do you drive around a lot.  All things to think about. But I think you are best served in shopping around and getting some new insurance.

As a personal side note, I was so thankful for my insurance after Tropical Storm Allison.  It paid for all of my car repairs which were $1600.  That's not a lot compared to other people losing their cars and their homes, but there is no way I would have been able to pay it.  So in that instance I was glad for the full insurance.


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## photogoddess (Jul 13, 2005)

State Farm gives a good student discount as well. Since we have several cars, we also get a "multi car" discount. On top of that, they had my son come down, watch a video and take a test in their office that gave us an even better discount. Truthfully, I was absolutely shocked that his insurance wasn't a lot higher. I think a little shopping around will find Spiralout some better rates. 

I always said that my kids would start out in junker bugs but it didn't end up that way. This kid really does appreciate his car to the degree that he's out there wiping it down anytime a bird craps on it. "Don't you know what bird crap does to paint MOM!"


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## molested_cow (Jul 13, 2005)

It depends on where you live. I live in Detroit and insurance is insanely high.


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## fadingaway1986 (Jul 13, 2005)

My car cost $6990. (However its on a loan, so it will end up costing about $1000 more than than with interest).

Before I got my licence, my insurance was under my mum's name. However, when I got my licence, to be fully insured, the price went up by about $900. We thought this was rediculous. I think the price ended up at about $1400 a year. Then if anything happened, my excess (deductible) was about $1200. 

So if I crashed my car in the first year, that was $2600 I would have had to pay. Thats more than a third of the cost of my car! 

So we took the insurance down to what they call "Third Party, fire and theft". This means, if I hit someone else, it will pay for their repairs. And also fire and theft, which are self explanatory. Also, if I have an accident that wasn't my fault, and I was able to get some info on the other driver (like licence plate, name, etc.), the insurance would pay up to $5000 (i think) to fix my car.

This insurance cost me $400 for the year. However the excess is still $1200. But there is nothing I can do about that, because it is my age that is making it so high.


My parents told me that I should be saving up some money, incase I do have an accident that is my fault.   Luckily for me, my dad maintains my car - so minor things he would be able to fix, but my uncles work with cars, and drive rally cars and are good at repairs (I think they do panel work too)... So that should help a bit with the costs.


Hope this helps you.


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## Meysha (Jul 13, 2005)

Hey alecia, why don't you put the car back under your mum's name and just have you as an extra driver. Say that your mum drives it 51% of the time and you 49% of the time. That's what we did with my car. It brought the premiums down a fair bit but the excess was still at $1000 if I bunged up the car. 

Spiralout, don't take into account what you've already spent on insurance. That doesn't matter. You should just think about what you are _going_ to pay on insurance vs your ability to pay for the repairs to your car and maybe someone elses car. I dunno the laws in the US about insurance but here in Oz you have to have at least some insurance to protect other drivers. 

And it's not just if your car is wrecked... do you have other insurance that covers you if you're hurt in an accident?


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## fadingaway1986 (Jul 13, 2005)

We did look into that. However, my mum doesn't drive the car at all. So therefore, if I did have an accident and the insurance company found out that Mum wasn't driving it at all, it would void the insurance, and I would be in big trouble then.   Also, the car is in my name. And it has to be in my name, because the loan is in my name.     So they told us there wasn't really a way of doing it. 

At the moment, I only really use my car to drive to work. Which is only about 6 mins drive. So not too much danger there. But next year I will be going to TAFE, which will be 40 mins drive, so I'll have to be really careful...


And about the insurance incase you get hurt, thats why we have CTP in Australia, thats compulsory third party - apparently that is incase you hurt someone.


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## Xmetal (Jul 13, 2005)

Meysha said:
			
		

> I dunno the laws in the US about insurance but here in Oz you have to have at least some insurance to protect other drivers.



Indeed.

Here in Aussieland it's illegal to drive a car without Compulsory Third Party Insurance - does such a thing exist in the US?

A Guy I know got caught driving his car with no CTP or Rego - $900 for each offence.


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## spiralout (Jul 13, 2005)

Aoide said:
			
		

> $200 a month sounds really expensive.  I'm paying about $70 a month.
> 
> The biggest thing as ever one has said is can you afford to fix the car if something happened to it.  Accidents happen whether you are a good driver or not.  Consider where you are living, how far you have to drive to school, how much do you drive around the city?  Once school starts do you stay on campus or do you drive around a lot.  All things to think about. But I think you are best served in shopping around and getting some new insurance.
> 
> As a personal side note, I was so thankful for my insurance after Tropical Storm Allison.  It paid for all of my car repairs which were $1600.  That's not a lot compared to other people losing their cars and their homes, but there is no way I would have been able to pay it.  So in that instance I was glad for the full insurance.



Man, $70/month!  I need to shop around BADLY.  My parents used to have Progressive, but they dropped us after getting in two wrecks (neither of them were our fault).  They said we have a habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  What BS.

Anyway, once school starts I really don't do too terribly much driving, unless I start going on a lot more photo excursions (which I may).  How did you guys find your current insurer?  Did you call everyone?  I think I heard that Progressive will give you the rates of other insurance companies, but that doesn't sound like they would be absolutely truthful... perhaps I just don't trust the insurance industry. *shrugs*


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## Aoide (Jul 13, 2005)

I searched online and got some quotes.  I used to have All State, but they raised the rates outrageously here in Texas.  I certainly can't complain about they way they handled TS Allison (they did great by me), but I couldn't afford their new rates. I would call around get some quotes and choose who you feel comfortable with.

One other thing though.  I believe where we live in Houston affects our rates. And I'm not sure how your age will affect rates.  But call around and ask.  It is worth it.


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## itznfb (Nov 9, 2009)

Um... your car? Who gives a crap what happens to your car. That's only about 5% (random percentage i pulled from my butt) of the reason you have insurance. What if you hit someone and put them in the hospital for 3 months or kill someone. You'll wish you had full coverage then. Liability only covers a very limited amount of this before they come after your entire pay check.


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## PatrickHMS (Nov 9, 2009)

I believe that the liability part is all that is required by law for you to have,

If you own your car outright, with no loan, the rest (comp and collision) is up to you, your choice.

If there is a loan on the car (haven't read where you specified yes or no), I am sure that the loan requires that your car be fully insured to cover their interest.

Can you afford to lose the value of the car, and to replace it, if it were totaled in an accident and not insured?

Happy (and safe) driving!


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## skieur (Nov 9, 2009)

A few things to mention. In Canada there is an insurance hotline website that has shown that rates vary by several hundred dollars in Canada for the same car insurance with the same driving record and I assume it must be the same in the US as well. There may be a web site that covers several companies and can give you a rate several hundred dollars cheaper than at other companies. Since insurance is covered by the law in Canada and perhaps the US as well, there is little or no difference between one company and another.

The other issue which I was originally blind to, was that car insurance is not just a matter of covering a destroyed car or broken bones. Traumatic brain injury or "brain whiplash" due to a head-on collision without any external injuries can cost millions of dollars in hospital and rehab care and the prospect of the victim not being able to work for the rest of his or her life and these types of accidents are becoming more common as the roads get more congested. Latest successful car accident related law suit was in the 8 figure category.

Needless to say as the victim, future care for the rest of your life requires money. As the person responsible for the accident you would be sued for millions, because of the victim's needs and your life would be ruined in this situation if you did not have sufficient liability insurance.

skieur


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## clarinetJWD (Nov 10, 2009)

psssst...this thread is from 2005.  Spiralout hasn't even logged in in years!


I should know...we used to go shooting with each other


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## PatrickHMS (Nov 10, 2009)

clarinetJWD said:


> psssst...this thread is from 2005. Spiralout hasn't even logged in in years!
> 
> 
> I should know...we used to go shooting with each other


 
Yeah, I see that now! My bad! :mrgreen:

Some idiot with no posts resurrecting and old thread. Shows up for not reading the whole thread, which i usually do, or just ignore one this long.

He must be an Insurance salesman trying to drum up business...lol


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## chip (Nov 10, 2009)

A 10 year old Taurus in good condition is worth about $2000-$2500 today. I would definitely NOT buy collision or comprehensive coverages. I would buy the required by law liability coverage only. If your car got stolen of wrecked, it would be cheaper just to buy another used car.


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## PatrickHMS (Nov 10, 2009)

We are still not seeing this as a 4 year-old thread, responding to it as if it was recent...lol

...but I got suckered too...

How about a Mod locking this????


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## farmerj (Nov 11, 2009)

DEAD THREAD RESURRECTED

hope that helps


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## PatrickHMS (Nov 11, 2009)

Farmer - OP hasn't even posted anything at all since 07/06. His original post was about his auto insurance and an old junker he owned 4 years ago.

Wonder if he still needs to know, or even if he still has same vehicle. But yeah, maybe we can help him with this.

I know the difference between an old thread and a dead one. ITZNFB resurrected it for some stupid reason, and I fell for it too.


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## itznfb (Nov 11, 2009)

PatrickHMS said:


> Farmer - OP hasn't even posted anything at all since 07/06. His original post was about his auto insurance and an old junker he owned 4 years ago.
> 
> Wonder if he still needs to know, or even if he still has same vehicle. But yeah, maybe we can help him with this.
> 
> I know the difference between an old thread and a dead one. ITZNFB resurrected it for some stupid reason, and I fell for it too.



Don't blame me. The resurrected posts were deleted.


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## PatrickHMS (Nov 11, 2009)

itznfb said:


> PatrickHMS said:
> 
> 
> > Farmer - OP hasn't even posted anything at all since 07/06. His original post was about his auto insurance and an old junker he owned 4 years ago.
> ...


 
Not blaming anyone, and like I admitted, I fell for it too.

All these old what should be obsolete, useless threads maybe should be deleted, or at least locked.


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## itznfb (Nov 11, 2009)

PatrickHMS said:


> itznfb said:
> 
> 
> > PatrickHMS said:
> ...



They should be archived automatically unless they changed the archive settings in vbulletin.


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## farmerj (Nov 11, 2009)




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