Vehicle Insurance

[FarmerChick]

it is a city ticket and they can't enforce state law??????

what mumbo jumbo is that crap! that seems just insane!

Have you called the parents yet? Or is this "kid" out on his own now? Just wondering cause if he is at home with parents, maybe you can get your money from them. But that is a crapshoot also.

And I hear you---if that was me I would be in jail and paying tons of fines also......who are we kidding? There is no justice! Just loopholes and handing off of responsibilites. You know, the usual..LOL

 

[Big Daddy]

Well Beekissed that bites!! I have an '05 ford F-350 and my wife has a 2000 ford excursion, we only had liability as these are paid for. Dec 18th some guy blows a stop light and takes out the right front of my wifes truck. $7500.00 in damages. IF he had insurance they would have totaled it. (key word there was "IF"). My attorney told me to take it to the prosecutors office and attach the estimate to the ticket so the judge will see it and order restitution. If he doesnt pay he goes to jail.
Oh, I went out the next day and put FULL coverage on my 1 ton, it only cost $35.00 a month more!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I increased my deductable to $1000.00 this drops your monthly . The higher the deduct the lower the payment.

If you drop collision you have to have uninsured motorist.

 

[Big Daddy]

Word to the wise......I took off my full coverage so I could afford to put a kid on the insurance.....NOT a good idea!!!

As of today, I now have a vehicle that is totaled in a single car accident, no backup car and no rental car to drive, no insurance to fix the car or replace it and now have a big problem on my hands~no way to get to work.

Unless you have a spare and have a good chunk of cash floating around in the bank to replace your main sled, I wouldn't go the liabilty only route.

I know I won't, after this little incident! :/

My 17 yr old drives a 97 Caddilac Cattera worth about 3500. Liabilty only cost 1500 a year, we started out with coll and comp plus liab. Got the bill it was 3600 a year. He has liability and uninsured now and that's it. It uses about 40% of what he earns per month, but we live in the country and there's no school bus.

 

[Big Daddy]

Problem with full coverage is: You are only going to get blue book value. So if you are driving an older vehicle you are paying out big bucks and will never get enough money to replace your vehicle. It works for newer model vehicles but for older ones I just don't think its worth it. We drive older paid for vehicles. Liability and uninsured motorist is all we have. We try to save the extra dollars we save each month. But we do have a back up car.

I agree with Ann on insurance. Its a crap shoot and you are always going to pay out more than you ever get back.

Actually insurance companies are required to pay the actual cash value of the car. That is what the car is actually selling for in your area. They are responsible for paying what the car is worth. That takes into account the mileage and overall condition of all parts of the car. Most people feel they are getting cheated when their car is totaled because they think it is worth more than it is. The insurance company will provide you with a complete list of other cars that were used as compareables. You have the right to ask how they came up with the amount. Just because you paid 10k for your car a week before you wrecked it doesn't mean it's actually worth 10k. As usual buyer beware.

 

[Big Daddy]

Wow Opie that just stinks.

BUT for everyone.....I had an older Sunbird back when I was a kid. A lady ran a stop sign and slammed the back and I spun around a few times.

The insurance wanted to total the car and give me like $2800 for it......well heck I couldn't buy a car for 2800 to replace my perfect older Sunbird. We had a heck of a fight about it but they paid the $4300 or so to fix the whole back panel and bumper and put it back to just like it was before I was hit.

So you can fight. It isn't just "total and blue book value" ---well not every time...lol....you can try like me and win. My Dad was brutal stating he paid for insuarnce to fix vehicles and by gosh they were going to do it..HA HA HA

Now of course that was like 27 years ago...whew...I am sure times have changed on those policies maybe????


27 years ago I was 20......HOLY MOLY!!!!!

Times have changed. Now they have computers. Their evaluation will stand up in a court of law. Most insurance companies wion't go that far though.

 

[opiemaster]

Well Beekissed that bites!! I have an '05 ford F-350 and my wife has a 2000 ford excursion, we only had liability as these are paid for. Dec 18th some guy blows a stop light and takes out the right front of my wifes truck. $7500.00 in damages. IF he had insurance they would have totaled it. (key word there was "IF"). My attorney told me to take it to the prosecutors office and attach the estimate to the ticket so the judge will see it and order restitution. If he doesnt pay he goes to jail.
Oh, I went out the next day and put FULL coverage on my 1 ton, it only cost $35.00 a month more!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I increased my deductable to $1000.00 this drops your monthly . The higher the deduct the lower the payment.

If you drop collision you have to have uninsured motorist.

Well Big Daddy, I wish you were right, we only had liability, thats all Missouri makes you have ( Hah! That was funny) thats all I had on her truck.
I call this guy a kid as he is (I beleive) 24 years old. Hes living in an apartment in that town.

 

[Big Daddy]

I didn't mean it was a legal requirement. I was directing that comment to anyone reading the post. I meant if you decide to drop coll and comp you need to be sure you replace with UM.

Word to the wise. Call your agent and be sure what coverage you have. Once you have an accident it's too late.

 

[Wifezilla]

No kidding!

We switched our policy to a new company and told our new agent we wanted the exact same coverage as we had on our old policy. The agent forgot the uninsured motorist...AND the rental car coverage.

Fortunately the agent was able to document our request, admitted his screw up and we got covered when the uninsured twit smashed in to me. The odds of other agents doing that and you having a paper trail needed in a case like this is very rare.

Most people feel they are getting cheated when their car is totaled because they think it is worth more than it is.

I felt like I was ripped off when they valued my car because...well...I was. I had comps from my area with similar miles, condition, etc...

They pulled comps from the EAST COAST of some torn up rust bucket and tried to say my rust-free Jimmy was worth the same amount.

I lost that fight, but next time I something like this happens my first step is to call a freaking lawyer.

 

[Big Daddy]

Lawyers can help to an extent. They can get you a few hundred more dollars. Their fees offset the extra you get. Lawyers are best for injury cases.

Remember that just because someone puts their car on Craigslist for 5000$ dollars doesn't make it worth that. Insurance companies usually pole in the area where you live. Usually within a 100 mile radius. They have 2 major companies that go to all the dealers in town each week and see what the cars are actually going for. They also pole newspapers and car web sites. They adjust for mlg which is the biggest factor and other conditions.

If they showed you an evaluation with cars from the east coat and you live in Colorado then you should go to the insurance commission. they are required to give you the actual cash value of your car. The insurance commission takes it very seriously. They are more effctive than lawyers.

 

[FarmerChick]

Wow Opie that just stinks.

BUT for everyone.....I had an older Sunbird back when I was a kid. A lady ran a stop sign and slammed the back and I spun around a few times.

The insurance wanted to total the car and give me like $2800 for it......well heck I couldn't buy a car for 2800 to replace my perfect older Sunbird. We had a heck of a fight about it but they paid the $4300 or so to fix the whole back panel and bumper and put it back to just like it was before I was hit.

So you can fight. It isn't just "total and blue book value" ---well not every time...lol....you can try like me and win. My Dad was brutal stating he paid for insuarnce to fix vehicles and by gosh they were going to do it..HA HA HA

Now of course that was like 27 years ago...whew...I am sure times have changed on those policies maybe????


27 years ago I was 20......HOLY MOLY!!!!!

Times have changed. Now they have computers. Their evaluation will stand up in a court of law. Most insurance companies wion't go that far though.

See there--just goes to prove the olden days were better!!!!!!!