At What age do you switch to liability insurance on a vehicle?

[dareo]

Originally Posted by Al
If you get into an accident where it is not your fault good luck waiting for the other insurance to pay. If you have collision your company fixes it and goes after the other guy's insurance.

Lady backed into my T100 in a parkinglot, i stopped but she kept backing, and her insurance paid me the next day when i took it in to their estimator. $1500 check and all i had to do was pull the bumper out with a ratchet strap. That was a good day.

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted by supton
Usually one drops collision when they deem they can replace the vehicle out of pocket and "not be sad". They think they won't total the vehicle (as a result of their own fault) for several years; and they will save the money not spent on collision insurance instead. Then if in case they do have an accident, that money they saved will be spent, hopefully resulting in either no loss or perhaps a net gain (if they went years without an accident). I spell this out with words and not numbers because it's very individualized. What's your threshold for pain? what can you afford to walk away from? The numbers are different for each of us.

Then there is the reality that you posted. A vehicle might be worth "lots" to you but the insurance company might not pay out nearly what you think it is worth. That is a reality check right there. True vehicle value should be kept in mind.

Me, I was going to drop collision on my newer Camry this past summer but after raising the deductible to $1k it was only a couple hundred to keep collision. I suspect its value is dropping below $5k so it's not worth having collision on--yet it's gotten really cheap for some reason. We're to the point where, if we were to total the car (say in a snowstorm) we'd feel ok with just walking away and buying a new car, thus it's not really worth having collision.


Well put.

I love my trucks, but realistically full coverage on a 25 year old Explorer with over 250K miles doesn't do me any good when the premiums would quickly exceed its replacement value that insurance would pay if totalled.

 

[GoldDot40]

Originally Posted by brages
Originally Posted by bullwinkle
My rule of thumb is value $10K or less, and 7 years old or older (the time when new OEM parts start to get hard to find). I would add, an uninsured motorist section on your car insurance for roughly $10K is a good idea too.


Uninsured motorist -- at least the coverage I had -- only covers injuries caused by uninsured motorists; it does not cover damage to your vehicle caused by an uninsured motorist.

This varies by state. I'm in GA. If an uninsured/underinsured party hits my vehicle, my deductible is $250 to have MY insurance pay to fix the damage. They will then sue the other party or their insurer for reimbursement....AND it won't affect my premiums.

 

[Andrew1972]

Originally Posted by Al
If you get into an accident where it is not your fault good luck waiting for the other insurance to pay. If you have collision your company fixes it and goes after the other guy's insurance.


They pay eventually. That is why if you consider dropping you really should have the entire replacement money in hand before dropping full coverage. You can fill it back in when insurer pays.

 

[bunnspecial]

I agree with others that for me, it's not age but value.

Somewhere in the $3-4K range is about where I'm okay "self insuring" comprehensive-or in other words where I'll hold back the money saved and put it toward my next car in the event I were in an at-fault accident.

I should also add that for my own peace of mind, I carry well over the state minimum coverage on coverage caps-it's not that expensive to go from say $100K to $250K, but if I were in a serious at-fault accident that difference could put me in the poor house. I'd rather spend the money on that than comprehensive with state minimum liability on a $3K car.

 

[CourierDriver]

It would be nice if a retired auto insurance person would jump in here and give us their 10cents worth....