Car insurance you can swap between vehicles?

[SC Maintenance]

I wish a lawmaker would explain this one.... Ohio requires liability insurance to cover any damage you do to the other driver. They then turn around and require that drivers have uninsured motorist coverage.

Yep, same here. Uninsured / underinsured coverage is the largest line item on my bill - about half the total.

SC only requires $25K liability per person / $50K total per incident - however every quote I have ever gotten said that uninsured needs to match the liability amount I have. So if I want half a million liability for myself, I am forced to absorb half million liability for the underinsured crowd also.

 

[JHZR2]

I don't see how that could work. Everything is based on statistics. It all differs from each vehicle driven.

That’s just a way to scam the population. The driver is the liability statistic. An old person driving a red corvette 55 mph is a different risk than a maniac driving a beat up old dodge neon well above the speed limits.

Anyone that actually cares about stereotyping should reject the concept that insurance currently uses for cars. As an owner/insurer of over ten cars in a two driver household, I actively am ripped off by an utterly impossible liability scenario.

I wish a lawmaker would explain this one.... Ohio requires liability insurance to cover any damage you do to the other driver. They then turn around and require that drivers have uninsured motorist coverage.

It’s simple, it’s because there are state mandated minimums. Some irresponsible idiot with state minimum coverage, whatever it may be… $15k? $25k? Could run through their coverage limits super easy and fast. The theory unfortunately is that these people have no assets to protect therefore are lawsuit proof. Meanwhile the damaged party is still damaged.

Precisely why liability limits should be higher, tied to the person, and then under/uninsured would be a far lower risk exposure. Currently I pay a premium for fars that stay parked quite a bit because I can’t insure against damage to myself without it being aligned per vehicle.

... so how would the insurance company charge you the correct premium? Since each car on its own has its unique premium, or you do expect the insurance company to take a look at how much you drove each car and charge you an appropriate premium?

Simple. Everybody has a driving record. Insurance companies currently penalize people on a one by one basis if they get tickets or have incidents. So the insurance company sells insurance based upon a driver’s liability risks. Like today, the owner decides if they want collision/comp/etc. if folks want a payout, they could have either a stated value or a market based value insurance against loss. An owner would need to decide if they wanted to have a rider for an uninsured driver to be covered to “borrow” their vehicle. A driver with a license could have a low use liability insurance policy too so if they rent/borrow a car, they have coverage.

This way for someone like me, I could have protection against my liability (protect my assets), and not be paying for coverage for 10 cars that my wife and I cant possibly drive. Not have policies for hundreds of dollars a year for cars that get a few thousand miles a year and stay in a garage. My classic insurance reduces the cost to an extent, but it has more restrictions. A coverage per driver for the purpose of having a license would be far superior.

 

[henni]

Just had a live chat with Progressive online. They offered an instant refund based on actual miles driven for several of our cars (< 5,000 / year).
Just another way to reduce premiums.

 

[CKN]

New Hampshire does not require car insurance. Nor does it require seat belt use or motorcycle helmets.

The state symbol is a granite head. Describes the mentality there.

I am always wary of New Hampshire plate cars that are beaters. Likely to be uninsured.

But they have a financial responsibility law. You must show you have the means if you get in to an (at fault) accident to pay for it. How do they do this?

 

[Jetronic]

I don't see how that could work. Everything is based on statistics. It all differs from each vehicle driven.

It could if you pay the premium for the most expensive of the lot.

My issue is, you can't let anyone else drive a car unless you're in it.

 

[JHZR2]

But they have a financial responsibility law. You must show you have the means if you get in to an (at fault) accident to pay for it. How do they do this?

I thought you had to put up a bond in lieu of.

 

[JHZR2]

It could if you pay the premium for the most expensive of the lot.

My issue is, you can't let anyone else drive a car unless you're in it.

So what?

If insurance was carried by driver, like health insurance, then the other user would notionally have it.

If they didn’t, I’m sure the companies would have a way to sell a rider for others’ use.

 

[atikovi]

@atikovi might be of help.

There are policies that cover you if you drive someone else's vehicle and they don't have insurance. Its called non owner car insurance.

I guess it's like how dealer tags work. You can put the tag on any car you want to drive and have no tags on everything else. Other varieties include transporter tags for companies that deliver cars, repo tags for those that repo cars, etc. Not sure such a thing exists for individuals though.

 

[Jetronic]

So what?

If insurance was carried by driver, like health insurance, then the other user would notionally have it.

If they didn’t, I’m sure the companies would have a way to sell a rider for others’ use.

Because there could be 2 cars on the road for the same insurance that covers 1 car at a time

 

[JHZR2]

Because there could be 2 cars on the road for the same insurance that covers 1 car at a time

No. Insurance covers the driver. That’s my point.

Insurance goes with the driver not the car.

If someone wants to drive they need insurance, or the vehicle owner needs some rider.

I have over ten cars insured. My wife and I are the only drivers in the household. How is it reasonable that we only get a pittance of “multi car” discount and have to pay liability on all of them? We can’t drive them.

Thus my point. It’s idiotic to the point of fraud. But I have no recourse.

 

[Hall]

It’s simple, it’s because there are state mandated minimums. Some irresponsible idiot with state minimum coverage, whatever it may be… $15k? $25k? Could run through their coverage limits super easy and fast.

That would be underinsured motorist coverage and I'd voluntarily include that. We ran into that many years ago with a guy, driving a friend's car, and the owner had the minimum coverage ($12,500 at the time !!). Our minivan was totaled, my wife and son both went to the ER, and so on. You can imagine that $12.5k got eaten up real quick !

What I meant earlier was a vehicle registered in Ohio MUST have liability insurance. It's also a law that we have uninsured motorist coverage. They basically contradict each other but I'm sure the insurance industry lobbyists had nothing to do with this !

 

[Jetronic]

No. Insurance covers the driver. That’s my point.

Insurance goes with the driver not the car.

If someone wants to drive they need insurance, or the vehicle owner needs some rider.

I have over ten cars insured. My wife and I are the only drivers in the household. How is it reasonable that we only get a pittance of “multi car” discount and have to pay liability on all of them? We can’t drive them.

Thus my point. It’s idiotic to the point of fraud. But I have no recourse.

Well, that's the difference then, Here it covers the car and I can let anyone drive my car on the insurance on it.

 

[atikovi]

Well, that's the difference then, Here it covers the car and I can let anyone drive my car on the insurance on it.

How does that work? Rates are partly based on your driving record. When you let someone else drive your car, the insurance company hasn't vetted that driver. What if he's had 5 speeding tickets last year or even worse offenses?

 

[Hall]

How does that work? Rates are partly based on your driving record. When you let someone else drive your car, the insurance company hasn't vetted that driver. What if he's had 5 speeding tickets last year or even worse offenses?

Because in most cases, if you let someone else drive your car it's likely a 1 or 2 time thing vs the owner driving the car daily.

Ohio is the same way - our cars are insured, not specifically the driver(s). Well, technically it's a combination of the vehicle and the driver as you have to "assign" (and only for rating / premium purposes) someone to each car, based on the # of cars and the # of licensed drivers. This stops people from having insurance based on (1) driver for multiple cars. In our case, I have (3) cars on our policy and we happen to have (3) licensed drivers that live here. They make us pick who to assign to which car but it doesn't mean you're not insured if you drive one of the other cars.

 

[Jetronic]

How does that work? Rates are partly based on your driving record. When you let someone else drive your car, the insurance company hasn't vetted that driver. What if he's had 5 speeding tickets last year or even worse offenses?

I have to be the main driver. Speeding tickers dont affect premiums, only accidents

 

[Rmay635703]

delete

 

[Rmay635703]

Deleted

 

[Rmay635703]

... so how would the insurance company charge you the correct premium? Since each car on its own has its unique premium, or you do expect the insurance company to take a look at how much you drove each car and charge you an appropriate premium?

I knew an engineer at work who had a nearly Jay Leno like selection of transport devices RVs, LSVs, Motorcycles, Antiques all insured under a blanket.

He had at least 35 vehicles and paid less than I do for 3 cars.

He was through a small independent and had blanket liability coverage on his person didn’t matter if he was walking, in his house, in a store, on a bicycle, on a snowmobile, in an RV, or in a car he had liability insurance.

He said anyone who insured an individual car was a moron

 

[CKN]

No. Insurance covers the driver. That’s my point.

Insurance goes with the driver not the car.

If someone wants to drive they need insurance, or the vehicle owner needs some rider.

I have over ten cars insured. My wife and I are the only drivers in the household. How is it reasonable that we only get a pittance of “multi car” discount and have to pay liability on all of them? We can’t drive them.

Thus my point. It’s idiotic to the point of fraud. But I have no recourse.

Conversely-why do you need so many cars? Many would call that unreasonable. I refuse to believe you are not duplicating some purpose with some of those vehicles.

 

[CKN]

I have to be the main driver. Speeding tickers dont affect premiums, only accidents

So your state doesn't use some sort of "point system" where an accident is so many points, a ticket another? Some states a speeding ticket, reckless driving, etc., are more points than others? Your insurance company gives you a "free pass" on speeding tickets? Does your insurance company in your state have electronic interface with the DMV? Which insurance company and which state (down in the park is kind of hard to figure out) are we talking about?