At what point to drop comp/collision insurance?

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Jeffs2006EvoIX
my judgement of you is you keep that car in immaculate condition.

So, you know the car is "worth" more than 5k. So do this, if the car means that much to you, that if it got hit and all, could you walk away and have no remorse? If you can just walk away, then dont get the insurance.

It may be worth more than $5K to me from an emotional perspective, but it is not worth more than $5K to an insurance company. So, even if I do have full coverage, and if the car is seriously damaged, they'll just give me $5K and total it, instead of paying for repairs that would have cost as much or more. And in that case, I'll lose the car, regardless how much it means to me personally.

 

[KD0AXS]

Originally Posted By: ThirdeYe
Originally Posted By: leeharvey418
Originally Posted By: rjundi
If you get in a collision with party fault instead of wasting your time trying to collect and deal. You pay your deductible, get rental, fix your vehicle and let them collect your deductible back.

Again, it's Michigan we're talking about, here. If you get hit by another driver and it's their fault, it doesn't matter. Your insurance is paying, anyway.


With plpd though, the claimants insurance company may still be able to subrogate from the at fault insured and cut you a check. Someone rear ended my girlfriend because they weren't paying attention, but her insurance company got the other company to pay her for the damages anyway.


You're assuming the at fault party has insurance. I think what the OP is getting at is that there are so many people in MI (particularly Detroit) driving around with no insurance that the responsible people who do have it end up paying ridiculous rates because they're covering the people who don't have insurance.

So, someone hits you and doesn't have insurance, either your insurance pays for the damage under your uninsured motorist coverage, or you pay for the repairs out of your own pocket.

 

[JTK]

If the car is not worth much and you don't need to keep collision coverage on it, I don't see the point in doing so. Would you really want to file an expensive collision claim and then pay for the insurance aftermath for years to come? No way IMO.

 

[Dufus2]

Any insurance company will nickel & dime you to death if you have a claim. Their appraised value will be trade-in or less; if the damage is half of the ACV, its likely to have it totaled even if the damage is minor.

I had a hit & run in my driveway and carry comp/collision because of the "What If" and its not like the insurance will pay a lot on a claim. But its like others said, who has $2,000 to replace a car if vandals burn it to the ground?

 

[SilverC6]

Don't drop comprehensive coverage.

I have a Chevy Lumina that I just carry liability on.

I thought I had comp too but my agent did me a "favor" and dropped it with the collision.

Well the little rock chip in the Lumina's windshield grew into some massive cracks after last winter.

That's when I found out the agent didn't change the policy as I had directed them.

I'd drop collision when you can be okay with walking away from the car when your wife/son/daughter/etc. totals it.

 

[BISCUT]

Very specific to your driver history, any group rates, and area, etc...

Where I am in NY I have about the lowest rates you can get. I also have to swith my insurance every 4 years or so to keep the same rating Ins. Co without higher premiums.

95 Camry w no coll cost me $350 a year!! Righteous!
150 is 1k
BMW is 1100
Armada 1100

Since the 150 is getting to 11yrs old I asked why so high? I was told because they tend to kill others in accidents and have a higher pay our rate).

And there are other matters as well, in suit happy NY I have an umbrella policy for 7 digits that makes me carry a higher level than state min allowed coverage on the cars.

If you notice the states with high numbers of unlicensed/undocumented (use whatever term you wish) usually have the highest SUM rates as well.....Isn't MI one of those states?

 

[99Saturn]

Originally Posted By: BISCUT
95 Camry w no coll cost me $350 a year!! Righteous!

Whoa - sounds like an excellent deal in this part of NY!

 

[OneEyeJack]

When you drop collision you might consider keeping comprehensive coverage (fire, theft, vandalism, glass breakage etc). Some of those covered expenses are just as much for an older vehicle as for a new one. It's at least worth considering and comprehensive coverage at least for my second car was very cheap.

 

[CT8]

I had an older that I thought about dropping the collision on and it was rear ended and I received with a bit of discussion from the insurance company $6,500.00 which was nice but the car would have lasted many more years. It is a gamble.

 

[tig1]

$400 compared to a $5000 car. Keep the insurance.

 

[Clevy]

Originally Posted By: tig1
$400 compared to a $5000 car. Keep the insurance.



No kidding.

On a 1000 dollar beater well I'm not worried about collision. My deductible is nearly the cost of the vehicle however if I'm still making payments I'm definitely keeping collision.

 

[Noey]

Nobody wants or needs insurance until they need it. The decision based on the odds is crazy, if that was the case, well, you'd never want or pay for any type of insurance at all.

I keep the Col/Comp for as long as I plan on keeping the car, or in other words, for as long as I'd want it fixed. On a '91 Escort, nah. On a BMW? Unless you're done with the car..in which case you wouldn't be here at a car maintenance site... then keep it.

 

[raytseng]

well, , you should put some calculations into what you are buying.
There are plenty of insurance options where you're paying for basically nothing.

The example above of opting for a $1000 deductible on a low price car is one such example.
Yes or no, is one decision.

But more importantly, say you choose yes, you need to consider the different options. There maybe a $50 deductible option which actually does get you a lot more if you end up using it, and may only be 10% more.

Not looking at all the deductible options, is like making sports bets but not knowing the odds of your payouts, and just caring if you "won" or "lost".

 

[Hollow]

We have the 2 vehicles in my sig.

The Subaru is worth about $4000 or so. The Olds maybe $1000 on a good day after I dump a few hundred dollars into making it safe to drive again.

I have State Farm and still run full coverage on the Outback, as I couldn't buy a vehicle out of pocket currently that is in the shape it is. When I added the Olds, the multiple vehicle discount I got made it $10 more a month to have the same coverage on it as the Subaru than what I was originally paying on just the Subaru. Dropping to bare bones coverage for the Olds didn't effect the rate enough at that point to make it worth it, so it is quite over-insured for something in the shape it is.

 

[Cujet]

15 to 1 ratio is my magic number.

Using an annual $400 premium, the car's value would have to be around $6000 for me to drop collision/comp.

Reasoning: I don't get in many accidents. The savings over 15 years will cover the entire vehicle cost.

Put another way, with 3 vehicles in my fleet, I only need to go 5 years without an accident in any one vehicle for the savings to work. For us, it's been 20 years between body repairs.

 

[KitaCam]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
Originally Posted By: tig1
$400 compared to a $5000 car. Keep the insurance.



No kidding.

On a 1000 dollar beater well I'm not worried about collision. My deductible is nearly the cost of the vehicle however if I'm still making payments I'm definitely keeping collision.


Yes...if you can go a couple of years without needing insurance you've got your $1k back...12 years to cover a $5k nut is wishful thinking.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: tig1
$400 compared to a $5000 car.

It's not that simple. If I were to make a claim, first, there is a $500 deductible to be paid. Then there is an unknown amount of premium increase over the next few years on all our cars. Car insurance is such a scam.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Cujet
15 to 1 ratio is my magic number.

Using an annual $400 premium, the car's value would have to be around $6000 for me to drop collision/comp.

In your example, is $400 premium just for comp/collision, or is $400 total insurance premium?

In my case, the total annual premium (incl. comp/collision) for the 530i would be about $850. $400 of that would be for the optional comp/collision with a $500 deductible.

Quote:

Reasoning: I don't get in many accidents. The savings over 15 years will cover the entire vehicle cost.

Up here, due to often ice and snow on the roads, this risk of getting involved in an accident is somewhat higher, I'd say. Then again, Florida has some pretty bad drivers, so maybe it evens out.

 

[rjundi]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: tig1
$400 compared to a $5000 car.

It's not that simple. If I were to make a claim, first, there is a $500 deductible to be paid. Then there is an unknown amount of premium increase over the next few years on all our cars. Car insurance is such a scam.



I have made a claim/year for 5years. One I was at fault with <$500 damage and one no insurance other party so they paid in full. No premium increases.....

 

[Quattro Pete]

Consider yourself lucky.