quote:

Originally posted by 229DAK:
[QUOTE]They at first told me it was covered by collision with a $1000 deductible. I called them back after talking to a friend in the insurance business and they admitted it would fall under Uninsured Motorist, with a $250 deductible.

My understanding is that you are not covered if the person that hit you is unidentified unless you have full coverage

Allstate TRIPLED my rates after a non at-fault accident with another Allstate insured.

They ordered me to claim against my own policy and then have the insured's policy reimburse me any expenses I incurred. It would be at a "fair rate".

They tried to "settle" my medical expenses at medicare rates against my actual bills.

I had to sue the parents of the girl I nearly killed when she blew the stop sign to recover my losses, including my destroyed truck.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
$1680 per year for a 2018 Silverado.
Welcome to Michigan.

You forgot the best part, Michigan is a "No Fault" state. If your car has any value Collision insurance is necessary together with Uninsured coverage. Last estimate I saw over 50 percent of the vehicles in urban areas (Detroit,Flint,Saginaw,etc) have no insurance whatsoever. Unless you have Collision coverage you have no way to collect any damages to your car. Two slight exceptions, IF the other driver has insurance you can claim against them for a thousand dollars, that was meant to cover deductibles but was broadened. The only other way is that your vehicle must be legally parked and the driver's seat not occupied when struck. Then the insurance company of the vehicle that struck yours is liable for the repairs, again if that vehicle is insured.

If you are in a collision and your insurance pays for the repairs you have no leverage with the company for how the job is done. At least with a normal situation you can somewhat pressure the other driver's insurer to use OEM parts,skip a betterment charge, things like that.

And as a P.S., we have this:http://www.michigancatastrophic.com/ with changes up and down in the assessments. This year's announced charges is $220.00 per vehicle per year. Only exception is a Historic/Year of Manufacture license plated vehicle. Those are assessed at 50%. Of course there are restrictions how those vehicles can be used also.

quote:

Originally posted by oldbill123:

quote:

Originally posted by 229DAK:
[QUOTE]They at first told me it was covered by collision with a $1000 deductible. I called them back after talking to a friend in the insurance business and they admitted it would fall under Uninsured Motorist, with a $250 deductible.

My understanding is that you are not covered if the person that hit you is unidentified unless you have full coverage

I can only speak for Virginia. In my case, the car was hit in a drug store parking lot. I did not notice it until I stopped to get gas about 30 minutes later. It did not dawn on me to call the police. I figured I would just call Liberty Mutual on Monday. When I did, the woman said, "You have a $1000 deductible on collision". I said, "You don't understand. Someone hit me. I did not hit them." Isn't this under comprehensive. No I was told, collision. I had already gotten an $800 estimate on the damage so it did not make sense to file a claim. A few days later, I was talking to a friend, who owns an insurance agency. He informed me that in such cases, they are usually filed under one's uninsured motorist coverage, which carries a $250 deductible and does not go against my claims history. When I called Liberty Mutual back, the woman said, "let's see if you have that coverage." I replied that it was my understanding everyone was required to have that coverage. So now I am told that I have to file a police report. I go to police headquarters, where I'm told I can't file a report there, I have to go back to the drug store parking lot and call the police form there. So I do that. I then call Liberty Mutual back, where I'm told they can't OK the claim until they get the police report, which could take 2-3 weeks.
I told the woman if they didn't receive the report in the next 72 hours, I expected them to be on the phone with the county police every day until they received it. The woman then told me she was not going to do that. So I had to go to the police department again and get the report myself and fax it to Liberty to expedite things.

By contrast, a month later, my son was forced into hitting the median by a reckless driver. His wheel and tire were damaged. His insurance was through USAA, who said it would be covered under his uninsured motorist coverage. They took his word for what happened as the reckless driver did not stop. He was told he would have to file a police report, which like me, he did. A few days later he got the call that it was approved. He asked if they needed him to send a copy of the police report. They said, no, they had checked with the police, who confirmed a report was made and that's all they needed.

One additional observation on the cost of insurance. It occurred to me one day, that considering as how, every other ad on TV is for Liberty Mutual, Farmers, State Farm, Progressive, The Hartford and on and on that the auto insurance business must be incredibly lucrative. Shortly thereafter, I passed a factory with a huge parking lot. There must have been 800-1000 cars in that lot. I then thought that every one of those car owners is paying $500-$1500 and up every year for insurance and how many of them are likely to have a claim in the next twelve months? Then it made sense . The profit must be enormous.

I love when the insurance company tells you, after not filing any claims, that your premiums have doubled over the last couple years because the number of claims in your area. WHAT? You don’t base my insurance on my driving and my claim history? I know 90% of the drivers on the road suck... charge them triple and leave my rates alone

My brother used to work for State Farm and then Allstate as an adjuster. I used to complain to him all the time about how much insurance sucks. He kinda agreed with me most of the time, but also pointed out a few things that did make sense:

New cars are insanely expensive to buy, and insanely expensive to fix. The taillight assembly on a new F150 with all the LEDs, lane change sensors, and other BS that doesn't need to be in there is over $800. Rear bumpers now have backup sensors, cameras, and other doodads because folks can't be bothered to turn their heads and look behind them. So a simple fender bender that might have been $500 a few years back is now thousands of dollars. I drive old, cheap, vehicles without any of that stuff, but I get the pleasure of paying for the liability of driving on a road full of folks who just have to have it.

Health insurance is the same way. Yes, costs are out of control, and Obamacare has really screwed up the industry, but you also have people who call the ambulance and go to the ER for EVERYTHING. In any given shift, I couldn't begin to tell you how many times I hear EMS and fire get toned out for difficulty breathing, flu symptoms, or falls (and that doesn't even take into consideration all the drunks and druggies who we have to send every night because despite their ailments being the result of their own stupidity, we're not allowed to let nature take it's course). It's going to take a bone sticking out of my leg to get me into an ER, and even then I'm likely arranging my own transport if I'm conscious. But like car insurance, I get to pay higher rates to cover the cost of everyone else's unnecessary ambulance rides.

quote:

Originally posted by BadDogPSD:
I'm starting to think there are no 'good' insurance companies left.

They are good at taking your money.

I would do certain things differently if I were starting over again. One would be ALWAYS shopping for a better deal.

It's strange, but just about EVERY organization seems to have more respect for you if you do this. If you stay around they think you're "in their back pocket".

It's strange but seems to be true. So much for "loyalty discounts".

V.

Man you were getting hosed. I pay $1900 a year for a 2015 Explorer, 2002 F-250 both with $500 deductible, full tort and I have a 16 year old driver in the house. Prior to my daughter turning 16, I was only paying around $900 a year.

My Wife and I see rate increases every year.
We are very low mileage drivers, no accidents or traffic violations, no claims for more than 20 years, and our newest vehicle is three years old.

One part of the rate equation that becomes very important as the years pass is age. So we could park our cars for the year and still see rate increases because we both just passed our 85th birthdays. I know a few drivers around here who are in their 90s and I expect the insurers experience with that group is limited and not positive. I expect my Wife and I will regress to teenage male rates before long.

Expect rate increases due to age alone to start at about 65.

They jacked the rates because they have to pay for their advertising budget. It costs a lot of money to have one of your commercials on every channel every 10 minutes.

We recently paid off our mortgage so there is no escrow account to pay our homeowners insurance . When you get the bill sent directly to you and you have to make that payment you tend to scrutinize things a little closer . I'm seeing things on the bill that I don't really understand . $26,000 coverage for " Other structures on insured location ." WTF is that ? I don't have any other structures other than a 10x8 shed . I need to make a call...

You can't compare rates from one carrier to the other, even on the same type vehicle without factoring in a lot of different things.

Miles Driven daily
Age of driver
driving record
Risk area

A guy that drives car A 50 miles a day to work in Washington DC will be rated higher than someone that drives the same car rated for pleasure use in Central rual VA.

The other thing you have to know when someone is telling you they paid more or less for their coverage with XYZ carrier is how they insured the vehicle. Do they have full coverage, what is the deductible on each peril, what are the liability limits, how much medical coverage and UM do they have. Unless you are comparing the exact same coverage it's not going to mean jack that Tom pays $1200 a year and you pay $2400.

Having said that, shop your insurance every year, if not at least every other year. Learn the policy type and what coverage you can live with or without, and what limits you are comfortable with.

IF you are in DC driving daily to work then you probably want higher medical and um coverage as the risk is higher, as well as higher liability because you ARE going to get sued in an accident due to the large number of PI Attorneys in the area.