Driving in MD becoming unaffordable?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Folks, STOP BUYING COMPREHENSIVE AND COLLISION COVERAGE, AND GET THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE DEDUCTIBLE!

You people spend way too much money on insurance. I pay like $500 per year for my 2017 Toyota Corolla.

1). All you’re legally required to buy is liability coverage to cover the other person (damage and injuries) if you’re in an at-fault accident. A lender may require you to also have comprehensive and collision coverage—so just pay cash for your cars and don’t use a lender!

2). Collision coverage covers your car if you’re in an at-fault accident. If that happens, just pay for the repairs yourself. If your car is totaled and you’re at fault, just spend the $20,000 to buy another slightly used Corolla—this will happen at most once in your lifetime if you’re extremely, extremely unlucky. If you can’t afford to unexpectedly pay cash for a new car once in your lifetime, the car you have is too expensive!

3). Comprehensive coverage covers your car in the event of theft, hail damage, etc. Dear reader, when is the last time your car was stolen or suffered from hail damage?? Even if you did encounter those scenarios, the insurance company would then jack up your rates so it’s not worth it to get the coverage.

4). Get the highest deductible possible, $2,000 or whatever it is. This is a no-brainer and I don’t know why everyone does not select this option automatically.

Now that I work from home and drive minimally, my TOTAL auto expenses are under $1,000 per year—this includes gas, nonexistent Corolla repairs, auto insurance, and an annual oil change. Inflation is not your problem when it comes to auto insurance—not being a savvy consumer *is*!

Yes, get liability only car insurance. It is much much cheaper. This is another reason to pay cash for cars instead of borrowing money. Car lenders will not let you get liability only insurance

[Anonymous]

If your car is more than 7 years old or has more than 100K miles, that when it's time to consider dropping the collision and comprehensive coverage. My car might be worth $7,500 now, so I have dropped this coverage because I can afford that loss. I can even afford buying a new car with cash at this point.

What I don't skip is having high liability limits in addition to an umbrella policy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Folks, STOP BUYING COMPREHENSIVE AND COLLISION COVERAGE, AND GET THE HIGHEST POSSIBLE DEDUCTIBLE!

You people spend way too much money on insurance. I pay like $500 per year for my 2017 Toyota Corolla.

1). All you’re legally required to buy is liability coverage to cover the other person (damage and injuries) if you’re in an at-fault accident. A lender may require you to also have comprehensive and collision coverage—so just pay cash for your cars and don’t use a lender!

2). Collision coverage covers your car if you’re in an at-fault accident. If that happens, just pay for the repairs yourself. If your car is totaled and you’re at fault, just spend the $20,000 to buy another slightly used Corolla—this will happen at most once in your lifetime if you’re extremely, extremely unlucky. If you can’t afford to unexpectedly pay cash for a new car once in your lifetime, the car you have is too expensive!

3). Comprehensive coverage covers your car in the event of theft, hail damage, etc. Dear reader, when is the last time your car was stolen or suffered from hail damage?? Even if you did encounter those scenarios, the insurance company would then jack up your rates so it’s not worth it to get the coverage.

4). Get the highest deductible possible, $2,000 or whatever it is. This is a no-brainer and I don’t know why everyone does not select this option automatically.

Now that I work from home and drive minimally, my TOTAL auto expenses are under $1,000 per year—this includes gas, nonexistent Corolla repairs, auto insurance, and an annual oil change. Inflation is not your problem when it comes to auto insurance—not being a savvy consumer *is*!

There's a lot of shit advice in here. PP is arrogant, short sighted, and out of touch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your car is more than 7 years old or has more than 100K miles, that when it's time to consider dropping the collision and comprehensive coverage. My car might be worth $7,500 now, so I have dropped this coverage because I can afford that loss. I can even afford buying a new car with cash at this point.

What I don't skip is having high liability limits in addition to an umbrella policy.

This is smart. Dumbass PP arguing for minimal liability coverage while insisting you must have enough cash on hand to buy a new car at any time is just asking to lose his assets after an at-fault collision.

[Anonymous]

We drive Subaru Foresters. Very low insurance since the average owner is 62 years old and they are easy to repair. Boring, but cheap to insure. Always call up the insurance company to check rates on a car you are going to purchase.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's unaffordable because of so many unlicensed and uninsured drivers on the road

+1

Also, insurance companies are loosing money with all the natural disasters (fires, hurricanes, flooding, etc) so they pass those costs on in home owners and auto insurance policies. Ultimately they plan to make money at their business, not loose money. Also, the cost for repair parts and for the work to be done has skyrocketed during covid and has not come back down. So Auto damages alone are costing them much more.

What's really sad is they wont' allow a deductible higher than $1K for my policy (different state, but still 30-40$ increases this year). I'd take $2.5K deductible if I could, because I don't plan to file a claim unless catastrophic (think actual accident at high speeds, multiple cars involved, personal injuries possible, etc---not a I accidentally rear-ended you at a red light and it's $3.5K to fix your car). I'd prefer to still have insurance that doesn't drop me.

Are you suggesting that because of increased homeowners insurance claims, rates for auto insurance are going up? Because that's just wrong.

Do you think floods and hurricanes somehow go around cars?

That . . wasn't the question.

Sure it was. Those events cause auto insurance claims too, not just home owner claims.
Thus increasing rates for everyone

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's unaffordable because of so many unlicensed and uninsured drivers on the road

+1

Also, insurance companies are loosing money with all the natural disasters (fires, hurricanes, flooding, etc) so they pass those costs on in home owners and auto insurance policies. Ultimately they plan to make money at their business, not loose money. Also, the cost for repair parts and for the work to be done has skyrocketed during covid and has not come back down. So Auto damages alone are costing them much more.

What's really sad is they wont' allow a deductible higher than $1K for my policy (different state, but still 30-40$ increases this year). I'd take $2.5K deductible if I could, because I don't plan to file a claim unless catastrophic (think actual accident at high speeds, multiple cars involved, personal injuries possible, etc---not a I accidentally rear-ended you at a red light and it's $3.5K to fix your car). I'd prefer to still have insurance that doesn't drop me.

Are you suggesting that because of increased homeowners insurance claims, rates for auto insurance are going up? Because that's just wrong.

Do you think floods and hurricanes somehow go around cars?

That . . wasn't the question.

PP mentioned costs from natural disasters driving up rates for home owners and auto insurance. Asking "Are you suggesting that because of increased homeowners insurance claims, rates for auto insurance are going up?" only makes sense if you think that somehow floods and hurricanes don't lead to auto claims.

You also realize, don't you, that insurance premiums are established by locality, zip code and even as granular as address. The impact of hurricanes in Florida has nothing to do with the rates that are charged in Bethesda. Also, the value of your neighbor's cars will impact your rates. If you drive a 20 year old beater that has a value of 500 bucks and live in a zip code where 80 and 100k cars are the norm, your rates will be higher than if you live in a community with 10 year old pickup trucks with 150,000 miles on them. The cost to repair your basic DCUM middle class Range Rover (ok, Land Rover) is astronomical. The entire thing is computer controlled with innumerable sensors, plugs, controllers, etc. Bash one of those with your beater and it will still cost a lot to repair.

Exactly!!! If you want lower rates, move to a remote rural area where everyone drives beaters. But if you live in suburbia where most drive 50K+ cars, and there are plenty of 75K+, you will have higher rates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your car is more than 7 years old or has more than 100K miles, that when it's time to consider dropping the collision and comprehensive coverage. My car might be worth $7,500 now, so I have dropped this coverage because I can afford that loss. I can even afford buying a new car with cash at this point.

What I don't skip is having high liability limits in addition to an umbrella policy.

This is smart. Dumbass PP arguing for minimal liability coverage while insisting you must have enough cash on hand to buy a new car at any time is just asking to lose his assets after an at-fault collision.

We carry a good umbrella policy of $3M. WIth that, it means the insurance company will put their top lawyers on all cases, if needed, as they won't want to pay out. It protects are much higher assets from a $$$ seeker.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We drive Subaru Foresters. Very low insurance since the average owner is 62 years old and they are easy to repair. Boring, but cheap to insure. Always call up the insurance company to check rates on a car you are going to purchase.

Unless everyone in area you live also drive Subaru foresters, it doesn't really matter. If you cause a 3 car, 75K+ vehicles accident, your insurance will be paying to fix those cars as well

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your car is more than 7 years old or has more than 100K miles, that when it's time to consider dropping the collision and comprehensive coverage. My car might be worth $7,500 now, so I have dropped this coverage because I can afford that loss. I can even afford buying a new car with cash at this point.

What I don't skip is having high liability limits in addition to an umbrella policy.

This is smart. Dumbass PP arguing for minimal liability coverage while insisting you must have enough cash on hand to buy a new car at any time is just asking to lose his assets after an at-fault collision.

We carry a good umbrella policy of $3M. WIth that, it means the insurance company will put their top lawyers on all cases, if needed, as they won't want to pay out. It protects are much higher assets from a $$$ seeker.

There's no such thing as top lawyers for insurance defense.

[Anonymous]

We just moved from DC to VA. Car insurance for two cars just over $900 per year. Price went down in VA. This is with Progressive.

However, prior to switching to Progressive, we were paying $1800 for the same two cars a year ago with Geico.

You should shop around for car insurance at least every year as the companies gouge their existing customers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's unaffordable because of so many unlicensed and uninsured drivers on the road

Maybe. Someone hit a family member and gave her a fake DL and insurance card. But homeowners insurance is also insane right now, so that can’t explain it all. I think it’s just greediness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your car is more than 7 years old or has more than 100K miles, that when it's time to consider dropping the collision and comprehensive coverage. My car might be worth $7,500 now, so I have dropped this coverage because I can afford that loss. I can even afford buying a new car with cash at this point.

What I don't skip is having high liability limits in addition to an umbrella policy.

This is smart. Dumbass PP arguing for minimal liability coverage while insisting you must have enough cash on hand to buy a new car at any time is just asking to lose his assets after an at-fault collision.

We carry a good umbrella policy of $3M. WIth that, it means the insurance company will put their top lawyers on all cases, if needed, as they won't want to pay out. It protects are much higher assets from a $$$ seeker.

There's no such thing as top lawyers for insurance defense.

Well they will put the best they have to avoid paying out $250/500K+$3M. But yeah, it's "insurance company level top lawyers".

Versus if you have $100k/300K coverage, they will just pay out and let you be sued for anything above that and save the lawyer fees, if you are actually at fault/in the wrong.

We pay less than $1K for our umbrella policy. Well worth every penny to protect our assets should something happen

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's unaffordable because of so many unlicensed and uninsured drivers on the road

Maybe. Someone hit a family member and gave her a fake DL and insurance card. But homeowners insurance is also insane right now, so that can’t explain it all. I think it’s just greediness.

It's all of the claims the companies have had in last 5+ years. Hurricanes, fires and floods are expensive. That is why it's damn near impossible to get home insurance in Florida and rates have skyrocketed in fire prone areas. Insurance companies are in business to make money, if they are loosing money due to claims they have not choice but to raise rates.

Yes some is greed (execs get paid a lot), but majority is the vast increase in catastrophic claims due to natural disasters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your car is more than 7 years old or has more than 100K miles, that when it's time to consider dropping the collision and comprehensive coverage. My car might be worth $7,500 now, so I have dropped this coverage because I can afford that loss. I can even afford buying a new car with cash at this point.

What I don't skip is having high liability limits in addition to an umbrella policy.

This is smart. Dumbass PP arguing for minimal liability coverage while insisting you must have enough cash on hand to buy a new car at any time is just asking to lose his assets after an at-fault collision.

We carry a good umbrella policy of $3M. WIth that, it means the insurance company will put their top lawyers on all cases, if needed, as they won't want to pay out. It protects are much higher assets from a $$$ seeker.

There's no such thing as top lawyers for insurance defense.

Well they will put the best they have to avoid paying out $250/500K+$3M. But yeah, it's "insurance company level top lawyers".

Versus if you have $100k/300K coverage, they will just pay out and let you be sued for anything above that and save the lawyer fees, if you are actually at fault/in the wrong.

We pay less than $1K for our umbrella policy. Well worth every penny to protect our assets should something happen

This isn't how insurance defense works.