Uninsured motorist insurance

[tightasadrum]

East Texas, that was a very good summary of the whole insurance picture. Thanks.

 

[eytonxav]

Perhaps driving a 2 to 3 ton vehicle with adequate air bag protection is a viable alternative?

My son was in a 2005 Honda Civic and was hit by a Camry. When getting hit broadside by any car going 80+ MPH there are no viable alternatives. The firemen who cut him out of the car said it was a miracle he survived. I am a big believer in Honda's after that experience. We put him in a Honda Ridgeline after he recovered.

I'm confused, if you have car ins.would'nt you be covered? if I had a car accident with no UIM my regular car ins. Would cover me and since I have medical coverage it would cover anything my car ins didn't.

Medical coverage under most auto policies is not high enough if you are in a catostrophic accident and yes he was also covered by my health policy, but my employer's health insurance wanted to recover what they paid out from the auto insurance (I was able to negotiate that amount down). Also, medical coverage does not address pain, suffering, disfigurement, disability and other consequential damages, so if you get hit by someone who is under or not insured (with no assets), you are at risk.

 

[meierlde]

Note that I was told that PIP by including disabilty payments in Tx is not needed if you are retired, since you are not working, thus can not recover on that, so for a retired person medical payments is all that is needed.

Further regarding disability, if you have a regular disability policy, that should cover not being able to work, and if one is working one should have such a policy, because there are other accidents than motor vehicles that one can have let alone talking about sickness.

 

[East Texas]

Note that I was told that PIP by including disabilty payments in Tx is not needed if you are retired, since you are not working, thus can not recover on that, so for a retired person medical payments is all that is needed.

Further regarding disability, if you have a regular disability policy, that should cover not being able to work, and if one is working one should have such a policy, because there are other accidents than motor vehicles that one can have let alone talking about sickness.

That's true in a literal sense. However, PIP also includes coverage for essential services such as housekeeping, yard work... things you can't do as a result of the accident. It also includes medical payment coverage that can be stacked on top of MedPay.

 

[Buckeye]

East Texas - The Med Pay coverage for my policy from USAA in FL is half the cost for the same amount of UMBI coverage. Also, the UMBI is 100,000/200,000 (for ex.) but the Med Pay is 100,000 per person. I'm assuming that means I could have 4 people in the car and possibly have a claim totally up to $400,000 against the UMBI for a single accident.

Med Pay coverage also seems more accessible than UMBI in that it is available immediately to me and my passengers instead of having to struggle with the at-fault party's insurance company until their coverage limit is exceeded.

Med Pay seems to be a much better option than the UMBI for both accessibility and cost but coverages are priced the way they are for a reason. What am I missing?

 

[East Texas]

East Texas - The Med Pay coverage for my policy from USAA in FL is half the cost for the same amount of UMBI coverage. Also, the UMBI is 100,000/200,000 (for ex.) but the Med Pay is 100,000 per person. I'm assuming that means I could have 4 people in the car and possibly have a claim totally up to $400,000 against the UMBI for a single accident.

Med Pay coverage also seems more accessible than UMBI in that it is available immediately to me and my passengers instead of having to struggle with the at-fault party's insurance company until their coverage limit is exceeded.

Med Pay seems to be a much better option than the UMBI for both accessibility and cost but coverages are priced the way they are for a reason. What am I missing?

You're not missing a thing and it's commmendable you know and understand your coverages. MP is on a per person basis and is a "no fault" coverage which means the occupants of your car can collect under your MP regardless of fault. It's not limited to family members. PIP is also no-fault and on a per-person basis. I carry both MP and PIP because they are stackable.

Maybe USAA is the only company who offers $100k on both MP and PIP. We live in rural Texas and pay about $7 per car per six months for $100K MP. I'm doing the PIP from memory - I think we're paying around double that amount for $100k in PIP. It's well worth the piece of mind.

On a slightly different topic, since we live in a rural area we have a membership in the AirLife MedEvac out of Shreveport - it's the air ambulance that's called about 90% of the time for this area. An AirLife ride costs several thousand dollars and having a membership in one means they'll accept whatever payment the insurance company gives them and then write off the rest. It's a finger-crossing kind of thing - in case we need AirEvaced for a medical reason, I want this company to be called so I've registered our membership with the two ambulance companies in this area.

This is another reason I want to have enough coverage under MY policy so any accident becomes as hassle-free as possible. If we need to be AirEvaced from a car wreck, then the costs would be covered under the car insurance. If we need to be AirEvaced for a medical reason, I want to be able to use the company in which we have membership.

As with insurance, it's all about the risk. We'd rather have the coverage and membership and not need it than need it and not have it.

 

[scrabbler1]

Late to the dance here, but East Texas has very well answered the OP's and others' questions. I worked in the personal auto area of an actuarial department for 23 years but have little to add.

As one poster mentioned, the UIM rates can be high if a state's FR (minimum level of financial responsibility) is low, such as Florida's. Whenever we had to price the rate effects of a law change which included, for example, a tougher mandatory insurance law, the UM rates went down but the UIM rates always went up (but not by as much). UIMBI is a tricky coverage whose provisions vary by state. I forget Florida's state rules, as I have not worked at my old place in 3 years (YAY, but sorry). Florida did have a very unique set of rules which put it in a class of its own, unlike any other state's.

Med Pay is always an optional coverage, even in a state where PIP (no-fault) is not available. From my working days, Florida was one of the few state in which re reviewed Med Pay and PIP every year because Med Pay was often purchased in lieu of higher limits of PIP (probably because higher limits of PIP were not available or inadequate to meet the needs of the policyholders).

UMBI (also UIMBI, UMPD, and UIMPD) only pays if the other dirver is at fault. Med Pay and PIP pay no matter who is at fault. [Florida did not allow the sale of UMPD or UIMPD as I recall from my working days.]

 

[East Texas]

There are some comments that always make my head do a 360... the following diatribe is not directed at any particular person. I am curious as to how many of you will contact your insurance company after you read this just to go over your coverages. The "you" is not to be taken personally.

I have full coverage on my car.

I don't know what that means. Oh, I know what you think it means. You think if you have an accident you're fully covered for all accident costs (to you and the other people) and for replacement of your car. That's not going to happen and, unfortunately, the time you finally find out it's after you have a loss.

I have the coverage the state requires.

This is right up there with Name Your Price.

Thanks. I feel better.

I guess some explanation would be in order. There is no such thing as "full coverage" in the sense that you're 100% insured for each and every situation. You probably have the minimum of each coverage limit the company offers as well as comp and collision for your car if you have a leinholder. You might have gone with a high deductible on comp and collision (if your leinholder let you) without any thought as to how little you're saving on premium to double your deductible. If you take out a loan for a new car - get GAP insurance. If the car is totaled, insurance plus the GAP insurance will pay off the loan. This is important because you're probably upside-down on the note.


Here are some questions to ask your insurance agent (or some of you can get online and do quotes on your insurance company's website).

1. What limits do I have for Bodily Injury and how much am I paying for it? How much would it cost to go to a higher coverage amount? You should have at least $300,000 per person and $500,000 per accident. Most of the premium for liability is with the lower limits. Once you start getting higher limits you can double your coverage for just a few dollars. Bodily Injury is for the other people you injure in an accident that you caused. I personally think if you can go to $1mil on your auto insurance you should do so. You would be surprised in how little premium increase there is to go to that limit. If you hit two or three cars, a school bus, the minivan with a family of eight, you'll go through that coverage quickly. The objective is to have enough coverage to take care of their injuries and their property damage without any out of pocket costs to you. More on that in a bit.
2. Property Damage. This coverage is for other people's property you damage. You should carry the absolute highest amount your company offers. $25k won't be enough for that new Mercedes you just hit.

Those coverages protect you in case you caused the accident. I cannot be emphatic enough on this next statement - STATE MINIMUM IS TOO LOW!


Comprehensive and Collision are for your car. You don't have to have those coverages unless you have a leinholder. You need to carry comp regardless because it gives you a lot of protection for little premium.

1. Comp deductibles should be pretty low - around $200. Get a quote for all levels of deductibles and see why you should not be carrying a $500 or $1,000 deductible on your comprehensive coverage. This coverage is for vandalism and things that happen to the car when it's not moving (oversimplification - but, it works).
2. Collision fixed your car when you hit something. You can go to higher deductibles here if you can afford it; but, stay under $1,000 unless you have a really expensive to insure car. Again, get quotes from your insurance agent on the various levels of deductibles.

The other coverages (Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist, MedPay, PIP, Comp, and Collision) are completely optional - although you may have to sign a waiver not to have some of the coverages. This is where you can save premium if you are in desperate need of saving money. The caveat is you're taking a risk that you won't be in an accident that would cost you any money out of pocket. See my other post on this topic. If I had to pick one coverage to have, that would be $100,000 MedPay.

You can't get blood out of a turnip.

So you're carrying the minimum liability for the state just because you believe if you cause an accident, and you get sued, you have nothing to lose. Judgments can last for decades. Leins can be put on your house. Your checking and savings accounts can be grabbed. If you die and the judgment is still in place, then your estate must settle it before any distributions can be made.

Some of you are shrugging your shoulders at this with a "so what?". Let's flip the scenario. You were severely injured in an accident that was clearly the other person's fault who doesn't have insurance. Do you think it's right for you to get deeply in debt because the other driver didn't do the right thing and have the right amount of coverages?

This is where you find out that you don't have "full coverage" and for just a few dollars you could have had pretty high limits in MedPay and PIP and that UM/UIM could have also helped you out.

I am a proponent of having an Umbrella policy. If I had to chose between having $1mil on my auto and a $1mil Umbrella, I'll take the $1mil on the auto coverage because it's just not that expensive.

 

[scrabbler1]

The other coverages (Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist, MedPay, PIP, Comp, and Collision) are completely optional - although you may have to sign a waiver not to have some of the coverages.

Not exactly. In the relatively few states which offer PIP, that coverage is usually mandatory. Like the always optional Med Pay, there is a basic limit and (in most states) optional higher limits. PIP varies a lot by state, as some states have coverage components besides the usual Medical benefits which include wage loss, essential services, funeral benefits, and survivor benefits. Sometimes, the basic required package includes one or more of these lesser components, sometimes they do not.

Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist coverage is mandatory in some states but optional in others. Sometimes these two coverages are sold together as a combined unit, sometimes not. Sometimes, the PD component of UM (even UIM) is mandatory, sometimes optional, sometimes not available at all. Sometimes, UMPD can be sold only to those who have not bought Collision, as those coverages are somewhat similar.

Comp and Collision are always optional (unless there is a bank loan for the car), as is Med Pay.

While I agree that the state minumums (FR limits) are too low, even in some states (i.e. Alaska and Maine) which have high FRs, I do not necessarily agree that you should buy the highest limits available. BI Limits such as 100/300 and 250/500 are reasonably high enough as are PD limits of $50k. If you buy Umbrella, however, you do need to have a certain minimum limit for BI at which point the PU begins.

For Comp deductibles, you can usually buy a Full Coverage Glass no matter what deductible you have for the other causes of loss (besides Collision). I have always thought that the small extra charge for the FC Glass was worthwhile because Glass tends to be a high-frequency, low-cost loss compared to the other causes of loss.

 

[East Texas]

This is fun... I feel like I finally have my own personal Actuary!

For me to go from 300/500/25 to 1mil/1mil/100 was only about $10 per car every six months. What I don't get - and this is where having my very own personal actuary is handy - why collision keeps going up on my 1996 Land Cruiser. I've had about a 20% increase the past few policy periods. That's each period, not cumulative. Is there an increased possibility a gopher is going to steal tires or a feral hog hotwire the car? (I can hear the comments now from my friends west of here....)

Maybe it's an incentive for me to drop collision and put UMPD on my UM/UIM coverage.

 

[Nords]

OK, let me jump in with questions.

Our two Priuses (2005 & 2006) are probably worth about $15K each. We don't carry comprehensive or collision insurance because we'd rather carry the risk of replacing them. We'd certainly keep driving them if they were damaged or vandalized yet still safe to drive. We don't carry towing or roadside assistance or rental coverage either, because we retirees barely drive 3000 miles/year on a 30x40-mile island.

We carry Bodily Injury insurance for $500K/person and $1M/accident. Property damage $100K. We have umbrella liability above that which exceeds our gross worth.

We carry the state's minimum PIP (I think it's $10K) with a $1000 deductible.

UM is "stacked" at bodily injury of $500K/person and $1M/accident. UIM is the same numbers.

It's been nearly 15 years since we had the conversation with a retired Navy officer & new law student, but his point about UM/UIM was that my spouse and I were covered by the military's Tricare. However if our daughter got T-boned in an accident, she might need lifetime care that would be subsidized by UM/UIM.

In a few years our daughter will finish college and be out on her own insurance policy. At that point we'd be tempted to drop the UM & UIM. Of course together they make up only $110 of our total $452 six-month premium. Not that much of a financial burden, as long as we're not ignorantly throwing away the money.

What else are we blissfully ignorant about? (I mean in the context of vehicle/liability insurance...)

 

[scrabbler1]

What else are we blissfully ignorant about? (I mean in the context of vehicle/liability insurance...)

You can elect to buy lower limits of UM and UIM than your BI liability limits (as long as they are at least the state's minimum FR limit, assuming UM and/or UIM are mandatory). For example, on my own car, I have 250/500 BI but have only 50/100 UM/UIM BI. This will save you some money while retaining some protection from those 2 coverages.

When you say "stacked" UM and UIM are you referring to the optional stacking of UM and UIM limits for multi-car policies? That is, if you have bought 250/500 for 2 cars you are actually buying 500/1000 for each car because the limits from one car can be added to, or "stacked," from one car onto the other one? In that case, the rate will be higher but you can drop the limits to give yourself equivalent (to BI) coverage for each car.

Comprehensive is usually much cheaper than Collision, so you might want to keep Comp on your policy longer than Collision. You are free to drop one while keeping the other, as I did with my previous car from 1999 through 2007, when I traded it for my current car. Comp provided me coverage for annoying but more likely glass losses as well as unforeseen events such as theft, fire, wind, and water. Your cars may be a bit too new and valuable to drop Collision (maybe wait another year or two) but that is a judgment call.

 

[Nords]

You can elect to buy lower limits of UM and UIM than your BI liability limits (as long as they are at least the state's minimum FR limit, assuming UM and/or UIM are mandatory). For example, on my own car, I have 250/500 BI but have only 50/100 UM/UIM BI. This will save you some money while retaining some protection from those 2 coverages.

When you say "stacked" UM and UIM are you referring to the optional stacking of UM and UIM limits for multi-car policies? That is, if you have bought 250/500 for 2 cars you are actually buying 500/1000 for each car because the limits from one car can be added to, or "stacked," from one car onto the other one? In that case, the rate will be higher but you can drop the limits to give yourself equivalent (to BI) coverage for each car.

Comprehensive is usually much cheaper than Collision, so you might want to keep Comp on your policy longer than Collision. You are free to drop one while keeping the other, as I did with my previous car from 1999 through 2007, when I traded it for my current car. Comp provided me coverage for annoying but more likely glass losses as well as unforeseen events such as theft, fire, wind, and water. Your cars may be a bit too new and valuable to drop Collision (maybe wait another year or two) but that is a judgment call.

I think that's what it means, and the word "stacked" on my policy next to the $500K/$1M numbers means that it might actually be as high as $1M/$2M.

I need to [-]parse[/-] read my policy and maybe make a few phone calls. The "stacking" concept confuses the heck outta me.

USAA's so inexpensive compared to the others that we tend to not comparison shop unless the rates really jump up.

 

[East Texas]

Scrabbler - not every state allows stacking UM/UIM and I have no idea if Hawaii is one of those states.

Nords, logon to USAA, go to the area where you can change auto coverages, and see if you can get $100k MedPay - and the premium. Wander back this way when you have the answer (I'm assuming you do not currently have that limit in MedPay).

ETA: Nords, just out of curiousity, see what the difference is in premium for you to go from your current Bodily Injury coverage to $1mil while you're on the website.

 

[grasshopper]

I don't know enough to tell you what is high or not, but I do know that I shop my insurance rates every year through my Hub International broker. However, I've been with Citizens for my auto and home insurance for the last few years as they have consistently been the best deal for comparable coverage through other providers.

About eight years ago prior to knowing much about insurance rates at all, I was paying around $1,400 every six months for my 2001 Dodge Ram 4x4. I quickly got sick of that and shopped around and cut my cost in half by switching from Progressive to AAA. Then, a couple years or so later I shopped around and found Citizens through Hub International. I'm down to around $100 a month for my 2006 Dodge Ram 4x4 now. Five years newer vehicle and still a lower cost.

The amount of variance between insurance companies is amazing to me.

I pay $97 a year on my 1995 Dodge Ram 4X4 with Progressive. Whats your credit score?


Living 30 miles from the Mexican border, requires a zillion dollar UIM limit. And like East Texas a Med-i-vac subscription, for those pesky rattlesnake bites.

 

[Midpack]

Thanks for raising the question. I am looking at my renewals with Liberty Mutual, and the online quotes I have gotten so far from three other big name carriers are considerably less. I'll be dropping by some brick-n-mortar offices this week, and switching carriers (after 30+ yrs) if the lower rates are confirmed...

 

[East Texas]

I pay $97 a year on my 1995 Dodge Ram 4X4 with Progressive. Whats your credit score?

Living 30 miles from the Mexican border, requires a zillion dollar UIM limit. And like East Texas a Med-i-vac subscription, for those pesky rattlesnake bites.

Ah, come on, my rattlesnake wrestling friend to the south.... you must be carrying only the minimum liability limits (and probably just BI/PD) in addition to having a great credit score, defensive driving, and no claims. Right?

On a side note since the credit score topic has now surfaced - the nice thing about USAA - although they're probably not advertising it - is your credit score no longer counts against you if it's crummy and you're a 20+ year member. (I think it's 20 years.....) And I do like getting that check every year.

 

[grasshopper]

Ah, come on, my rattlesnake wrestling friend to the south.... you must be carrying only the minimum liability limits (and probably just BI/PD) in addition to having a great credit score, defensive driving, and no claims. Right?

On a side note since the credit score topic has now surfaced - the nice thing about USAA - although they're probably not advertising it - is your credit score no longer counts against you if it's crummy and you're a 20+ year member. (I think it's 20 years.....) And I do like getting that check every year.

I have 100/300 liability, 100/300 UIM is $6 a year. Heck the Dodge only has 125K and is 17 YO, sits in the barn and has 10 bags of trash in it to go to the transfer station Wednesday.

 

[East Texas]

I have 100/300 liability, 100/300 UIM is $6 a year. Heck the Dodge only has 125K and is 17 YO, sits in the barn and has 10 bags of trash in it to go to the transfer station Wednesday.

It looks like you're able to enjoy another benefit of living in the boonies by having pretty affordable insurance premiums. It probably didn't cost you but just few extra dollars to go from state minumums to your coverage level. Good for you. I bet if you price 300/500 it's only a couple of dollars more......

<sidebar> I was so happy to find out we could have garbage pickup way out here. Well, it's not really "here". I take the bags down the road about a mile once a week and it's picked up at that point (it's a consideration for the garbage guy since we're pretty far out of the way). Having garbage pickup - priceless!

 

[eytonxav]

And like East Texas a Med-i-vac subscription, for those pesky rattlesnake bites.

Rattlesnakes or drug runners

 

[grasshopper]

Rattlesnakes or drug runners

Oh no, the South of the Border citizens get the free copter ride. If I didn't join med-a-vac a $14k trip for me.

 

[Nords]

You can elect to buy lower limits of UM and UIM than your BI liability limits (as long as they are at least the state's minimum FR limit, assuming UM and/or UIM are mandatory). For example, on my own car, I have 250/500 BI but have only 50/100 UM/UIM BI. This will save you some money while retaining some protection from those 2 coverages.
When you say "stacked" UM and UIM are you referring to the optional stacking of UM and UIM limits for multi-car policies? That is, if you have bought 250/500 for 2 cars you are actually buying 500/1000 for each car because the limits from one car can be added to, or "stacked," from one car onto the other one? In that case, the rate will be higher but you can drop the limits to give yourself equivalent (to BI) coverage for each car.

I think when our daughter leaves our insurance policy (when she's graduated/commissioned in May 2014 and gets her own USAA policy) we'd drop us geezer's UM/UIM as low as we could get away with. We just don't see the point of getting a pile of money for being injured ourselves if we're covered by Tricare, by personal assets, by pension, and (now that we're in our 50s) presumably by injury-limited longevity.

Of course I'm not familiar with the details of Tricare or VA coverage limits if we end up quadriplegics, let alone the limits or expenses. But it seems strange to use auto insurance for long-term care insurance-- wouldn't it be cheaper to buy some sort of separate LTC or "disability" policy? (I mean "disabled" as in "immobilized", not "loss of earning power". I don't need to insure earning power!) Guess I need to e-mail USAA about this one.

Here's the part where I learn to hate stacking:

Coverage Limit Stacking option: Stacked option means the coverage limit is multiplied by the number of cars you have insured on the policy to increase the total amount of coverage available. Non-stacked option means the maximum coverage available is the limit on that particular vehicle.

UM BI: $500K/$1M stacked is $12.57/month. $1M/$1M non-stacked is only $10.83/month. So hypothetically we'd want to go with the cheaper premium since it results in the same coverage. But is that really the same coverage? ISTM that "$500K/$1M stacked" is the equivalent of "$1M/$2M" per car. So of course it would cost more.

And IIRC the prices bounced around with every renewal, requiring an alert customer to check each price each time. Of course now it's on a website instead of a phone call so it's not as painful to check. And maybe prices don't bounce around anymore... our premiums have been pretty stable for the last 4-5 years.

UIM BI similarly goes from $5.84/month to $4.83/month when stacking is removed. But stacking might double the "per accident" limit as well, so of course it would cost more too.

Comprehensive is usually much cheaper than Collision, so you might want to keep Comp on your policy longer than Collision. You are free to drop one while keeping the other, as I did with my previous car from 1999 through 2007, when I traded it for my current car. Comp provided me coverage for annoying but more likely glass losses as well as unforeseen events such as theft, fire, wind, and water. Your cars may be a bit too new and valuable to drop Collision (maybe wait another year or two) but that is a judgment call.

We just bought the 2005 Prius for $17K a couple months ago, and the 2006 is probably worth about the same (the 2005 has a fancier CD player). At those prices we'd rather self-insure because we'd happily drive them with body damage. The premium savings pays for the windshields or headlights or mufflers and I wouldn't care about crumpled plastic. We've driven cars with collision damage before and we don't care about "pretty" as long as the car is safe.

The Prius key fob immobilizes the ECU and locks the front wheels, so a thief would have to carjack us or clone the fob or bring a flatbed truck. But nobody thinks Priuses are worth stealing, especially when ours are covered with beach sand & surf wax.

Fire, flood... yeah, that'd be a bummer. But they're garaged and again we'd rather self-insure. We're saving what we don't pay in collision/comprehensive premiums, too, so in our case the savings helps pay for a new car every 10 years or so.

Admittedly being Prius owners is new territory for us. We've spent most of the last 30 years buying cars for $8K or less and driving them into the ground. But we're not far away from the day when the Priuses are worth $8K, either, and we're willing to retain the risk until then.

Nords, logon to USAA, go to the area where you can change auto coverages, and see if you can get $100k MedPay - and the premium. Wander back this way when you have the answer (I'm assuming you do not currently have that limit in MedPay).
ETA: Nords, just out of curiousity, see what the difference is in premium for you to go from your current Bodily Injury coverage to $1mil while you're on the website.

Interesting. MedPay coverage maxes out at $100K for $1.54/month. We don't currently carry the coverage because we feel that we're adequately covered by Tricare, pensions, & assets. Of course MedPay covers dental work and we don't have any dental insurance. This may be as much dental insurance as we'd ever be interested in having, and the price isn't bad-- $20/year.

Looks like going from $500K/$1M BI to $1M/$1M raises the monthly premium from $33.56 to $37.67. Presumably raising this coverage would also drop our umbrella liability policy premium a few bucks, but that coverage comes from Armed Forces Insurance so it's a separate phone call.

And this is why comparing coverages & companies is so much fun!

 

[East Texas]

Nords, you've been busy! Another reason we carry the $100k in MedPay (besides it being so darn inexpensive) is in case we have passengers in our car at the time of an accident. They might not have health insurance (or not be in-network) or maybe they have huge deductibles and co-pays. The peace of mind is worth it... especially if they're related to us!

 

[scrabbler1]

Scrabbler - not every state allows stacking UM/UIM and I have no idea if Hawaii is one of those states.

Most states do not allow stacking of UM/UIM. I do recall that Hawaii was one of the few which not only had stacking but offered it on an optional basis, meaning that those insureds who had multi-car policies could choose the stacked or non-stacked options. Most states which allowed UM/UIM stacking had it on a mandatory basis.

In my working days, I was the keeper of a spreadsheet which kept track of the UM and UIM features of each state such as those discussed in this thread. I have not seen this spreadsheet in over 3 years once I ERed from the company in 2008, however (not that I mind that, of course). I do remember many things from that spreadsheet but not always specific features about specific states, especially if I never worked on the state in my years there.

Along with the spreadsheet, I was the writer and keeper of a huge set of programs which calculated new UM and UIM rates based on each states set of UM and UIM features, so being the keeper of the aforementioned spreadsheet was useful and efficient. [But now someone else has to do that hehehehe.]

 

[East Texas]

There is one other topic that needs a few minutes of air time. If/when you need medical care, you are responsible for those medical bills. That's right... you. The doctor and hospital files with your health insurance as a courtesy. They also do the same with the auto insurance companies. Ultimately, the hospital, doctors, and other support agencies (e.g. ambulance, radiologists) look to you for payment if monies are not received from another source in a reasonably timely manner.

This is not the time to get locked in a "who did what" after a car accident. Especially if it draws out for an extended time and payments are not made, then the accounts could easily go to collection.

In Texas, even though auto insurance is mandatory, it's estimated 25% of the cars have NO insurance. Of the remaining 75%, it's estimated the vast majority of those cars only have the minimum coverage the state requires and fall into the "underinsured" category in case of an accident. The time to seriously think about whether or not you have the right kind and level of insurance is not when the car coming towards you moves over into your lane. It's tantamount to thinking about getting a storm shelter as you watch the tornado come over the hill. It's too late.

As for me and my family, each and every coverage as well as the limits of that coverage, have been thought out and weighed against eventually needing that coverage. It sounds like most of you do that also.

Insurance is all about risk. In my case, I hope for the best and plan for the worst. While I want to be cognizant of doing the right thing (e.g. carrying the right coverages and the right limits on those coverages) for anyone or anything I injure, I want that same level of responsibility for me, my family, and passengers in my car.

I realize times are hard and most folks are looking for ways to save on the bills. Before you look at cutting coverages on your auto policy, make sure you have all the discounts possible. If your state allows a safe driver discount, take the course. Make sure your car is rated correctly after you retire (changed from "work" to "pleasure") and you update your estimated annual mileage.

There is something else that keeps coming up. A red car is not more expensive to insure. Unless it's a Lamborghini.