Car insurance question

[prolesunited]

If you drove a 2000 Saturn with 100,000+ miles on it, would you drop comprehensive/collision? I looked up the Blue Book and it's only worth a couple grand, but it would be enough money to buy a clunker to tide me over. I would save $163 per six months if I made this change.

I think the answer is to cancel it, but I'm afraid that if I do something will happen. My deductible is $500 but changing it to $1,000 only saves $22.

What would you do?

[NightWatcher]

1. insure it out the ying yang, then pull out in front of an Escalade and hit the brakes

ka-ching

[jxnmsdemguy65]

2. I'd drop it...

how much is your annual insurance cost now?

[Schema Thing]

3. Get some hail damage on it, then drop it

make sure you don't get more than 1999.00 worth of hail damage though :+




Seriously, I think any financial adviser worth their salt would tell you to drop the full coverage, unless you are just very accident prone, which you obviously aren't, since your rates are so low.... which is what makes it a difficult decision.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

4. I would drop it.

YMMV.

[CreekDog]

5. the problem is that they won't give you $2000

first you subtract the deductible and then they will try to give you more like wholesale which will be a lot lower. my guess is that you'll be lucky to get $1000 out of them, while paying $326/year on the off chance you will get that.

unless you are so broke that having to come up with that would break you, this is not a good deal and not even a prudent hedge against risk.

[prolesunited]

6. We're pretty broke

That's why it's such a conundrum. I could really use the savings to help pay for heat right now. However, if I get in an accident, I couldn't even afford a clunker.

Then again, I don't even have a job right now and hubby has a car. Once it gets warmer, I can to all my errands on my bike, including commuting to the train station should I get a job.

I've been shopping around and got a lower quote for $296 for six months from State Farm.

I only have a couple days left to decide. Any more advice?

BTW, I wasn't ignoring the responses, but my Mac froze up (It only works for about two hours a day before dying out and we've already had it looked at by the Mac guru at the Chicago store and of course the issue didn't replicate) and the PC had a total melt down and my brother is trying to rebuild it between his own personal crisis.

Yes, life pretty much sucks right now. Did I mention the colonoscopy I'm having next week?

[CreekDog]

8. since insurance is meant to deal with the risk level you can take

and since you are flat broke and the potential of losing your car and getting not one red cent would push you over, in that case i would keep the insurance. that said, after the $500 deductible and insurance not giving you full blue book (more like wholesale --which you can look up online), it's conceivable you might walk away with $500-$750 at most. if that will make the difference for you then keep the insurance for now.

that's my advice.

good luck. i'm sorry you are in a somewhat impossible situation.

:hug:

[flvegan]

7. Depends on your peace of mind without it.

If you honestly wouldn't be continually concerned/worried about having an accident/it getting stolen/burning to the ground I'd drop it. If there was to be constant worry, I'd keep it. $326/yr may or may not be worth it.

The other thing is that if you drop it, you have to take that money you save and put it away, just in case something does happen. In two years, you'll be self-insured with the savings.

[Zomby Woof]

9. If you do drop it

I recommend that you have Uninsured/Underinsured coverage. In case the other party is found at fault, and has no insurance, you have a decent amount of coverage at a reasonable cost. I once handled liability claims in the business, and witnessed too many people who had neither UM/UI and Comp/Coll, and were left holding the total expense bag.

I know how tough it is to manage a tight budget - but consider auto insurance right behind rent/mortgage, utilities, and groceries in the valid and important expenses column, especially if you have high reliance on your car for commuting and so forth. Minimum coverage: BIPD $25/50/50. UM/UI $25/50. If you can get Medical coverage for 5K at a reasonable rate, consider it, because it will pay regardless of liability - and has no deductible.


Good luck with whatever you decide.