I have a 2005 Hyundai with 125K miles on it. I’m at a point where I’ll probably be driving it less than 10 miles per week. It is time to renew the insurance, so please give me your ideas on how much and what kind of insurance I need.
Thanks.
First, I am not your agent. Call your agent to get specific recommendations.
Now that that’s out of the way, if you are driving your car at all, even 1 mile a year, you should have liability insurance to cover “the other guy” if you are involved in an at-fault accident. Your state may offer you the opportunity to self-insure and not go through an insurance company but you’ll have to research the guidelines for your particular state. Your agent can give you guidance as to the proper amount of insurance you may need.
As for the physical damage insurance (comprehensive and collision coverages) you have to weigh the cost of the premium to the amount you have the potential to lose if you’re involved in an accident. If your car is only valued at $500, it makes no sense to spend $300 a year for physical damage insurance.
Have fun. I just bought a used car and am going through those decisions right now…
If you’re employed and have health insurance; you don’t need PIP. (Personal injury protection) It wont save you a boat load of cash but still; why pay for something you don’t need?
Florida law requires PIP.
Then set it at a super high deductible. My insurance covers up to $20k in charges per year… so we set my PIP at $20k. The higher the deductible, the less it’ll cost you per month.
If it’s totalled and you’re at fault (if you’re not at fault, the other guy’s insurance would pay), can you afford to replace the car? And how much would the premiums be with / without collision coverage? Is the difference enough to make it worth dropping collision coverage?
Obviously you’ll need to carry liability coverage regardless; your own circumstances should indicate how much (like are you so poor as to be judgement proof or do you have assets to protect, what are your state’s minimum requirements, etc.).
We carry collision even on our 10 year old Civic as it has held its value fairly well and it’d be a hardship to replace, though I seem to recall the collision cost isn’t a huge portion of our annual premium.
Also - make sure the insurance carrier has the correct usage information - e.g. pleasure use only, rough estimate of miles per week, vs. commutes 10+ miles a day 5 days a week. The difference isn’t huge but with such low usage, you should save a bit.
get umbrella coverage for everything, including UIM. That’s where you’re most likely to need it, some idiot with zero or inadequate insurance creams you.
(it’s the best value you can but, we have !,000,000 umbrella for about 300 bucks a year)
I’d say Minimum Legal Coverage.
As much as you can afford, Why take the chance.
I found a company that seems to be the lowest. Their claim: Amica is the oldest mutual insurer of automobiles in the country.
I think the reverse is true. All insurance is based on the premise that more premiums are paid in than claims are paid out. So get coverage only for those things you can never afford, like major catastrophes, and have a deductible as high as you could borrow in a crisis. This makes you self-insured for the small and medium problems, and the odds favor your saving money that way.
What’s you car worth? I only carry PL/PD on my main car, because it’s completely worthless. I carry collision and comprehensive on my SUV, because it’s quite valuable. I put about 20,000 miles per year on the main car (barely insured), and about 3,000 on the SUV (lots of insurance). Doesn’t look logical on the surface, but it is.
Minimum legal coverage is almost always a Very Bad Idea. In Florida, where I believe the OP lives, the requirement is 10,000 in personal injury and 10,000 in property damage liability. (These figures are from the state website.. A single accident can be well over these amounts, and the OP would have to come up with the difference out of pocket; that doesn’t go away just because your insurance policy hit the maximum.
Moreover, Florida has an uninsured motorist rate of 23%. Here is the cite for that number.. This means that there is a very non-trivial chance that if Louis is involved in an accident, it will involve an uninsured motorist. If that does happen, he’ll be on the hook for a hell of a lot more.
My advice is that if you’re OK with liability-only coverage, then look for a realistic amount with a higher deductible. You should also ask your agent for any available discounts that may apply to you.