Looking for new auto insurance, any recommendations?

[NinaBella]

This is why everyone needs an umbrella policy. It was actually cheaper to get a $5 million umbrella policy that boost my liability coverage on my cars and house.

Not everyone can qualify for an umbrella. Some companies require you have home owners and auto with them for the umbrella and your auto policy usually has to have minimum liability requirements of 300,000/500,000/100,000. If you have a dog that has bit anyone... ever, even once, you may be denied. DH had a backing accident; my son has two speeding tickets, and I had a tire fly off a semi truck in front of me on the highway that I couldn't avoid on I-75 rush hour traffic so filed a claim for the damage to my vehicle from the impact and was denied an umbrella based on driving history. I plan to reapply for an umbrella once my son goes onto his own policy and the backing accident should fall off next year. Umbrella polices are pretty strict on who they accept.

For anyone, you need to ensure your liability limits exceed your assets. If not, yes, you can be sued and could lose your home, retirement, future wages, etc. So many people do just want less expensive insurance and will take state minimum liability limits not realizing they are leaving themselves vulnerable for lawsuits.

 

[tvguy]

Not everyone can qualify for an umbrella. Some companies require you have home owners and auto with them for the umbrella and your auto policy usually has to have minimum liability requirements of 300,000/500,000/100,000. If you have a dog that has bit anyone... ever, even once, you may be denied. DH had a backing accident; my son has two speeding tickets, and I had a tire fly off a semi truck in front of me on the highway that I couldn't avoid on I-75 rush hour traffic so filed a claim for the damage to my vehicle from the impact and was denied an umbrella based on driving history. I plan to reapply for an umbrella once my son goes onto his own policy and the backing accident should fall off next year. Umbrella polices are pretty strict on who they accept.

For anyone, you need to ensure your liability limits exceed your assets. If not, yes, you can be sued and could lose your home, retirement, future wages, etc. So many people do just want less expensive insurance and will take state minimum liability limits not realizing they are leaving themselves vulnerable for lawsuits.

Certainly if you have a history of too many claims an insurance company is going to deny you or classify you as an assigned risk.
i have had $1 million liability on my cars probably for 20 years. My agent suggested an umbrella policy when I asked about boosting my auto liability to $5 million. The umbrella was much cheaper, and the bonus was, it applies to my homeowners policy too. I figured the $500,000 I had on the house was enough, but now it is under that umbrella $5 million coverage too. Premium is only about $275 a year.

 

[havaneselover]

Not everyone can qualify for an umbrella. Some companies require you have home owners and auto with them for the umbrella and your auto policy usually has to have minimum liability requirements of 300,000/500,000/100,000. If you have a dog that has bit anyone... ever, even once, you may be denied. DH had a backing accident; my son has two speeding tickets, and I had a tire fly off a semi truck in front of me on the highway that I couldn't avoid on I-75 rush hour traffic so filed a claim for the damage to my vehicle from the impact and was denied an umbrella based on driving history. I plan to reapply for an umbrella once my son goes onto his own policy and the backing accident should fall off next year. Umbrella polices are pretty strict on who they accept.

For anyone, you need to ensure your liability limits exceed your assets. If not, yes, you can be sued and could lose your home, retirement, future wages, etc. So many people do just want less expensive insurance and will take state minimum liability limits not realizing they are leaving themselves vulnerable for lawsuits.

Maybe I don't understand this correctly, but if your assets are $400 K and your liability limits are $500 K but an accident causes $750 K in medical bills, then you haven't protected your assets sufficiently, correct? I think TVGuy's point is good. I don't have an umbrella now but probably should look into it. And I definitely want one before my kids are driving.

My parents had an umbrella policy which was smart because my brother was an idiot as a teenager (parties with 40 kids over drinking when my parents were out of town) but it actually gave them some peace of mind when our dog ran away and got hit and the people who hit her sued my parents. They didn't get anything, but it was nice to know the umbrella policy was there.

 

[tvguy]

Maybe I don't understand this correctly, but if your assets are $400 K and your liability limits are $500 K but an accident causes $750 K in medical bills, then you haven't protected your assets sufficiently, correct? .

Correct. They can go after your house, and future earnings to satisfy the judgement. I am not up on laws on retirement money, but seems to me that is untouchable, at least in certain circumstances. OJ Simpson comes to mind, because it seems if I recall correctly folks were upset that his $25,000 a month NFL pension could not be used to satisfy his civil judgement.

 

[NinaBella]

Maybe I don't understand this correctly, but if your assets are $400 K and your liability limits are $500 K but an accident causes $750 K in medical bills, then you haven't protected your assets sufficiently, correct? I think TVGuy's point is good. I don't have an umbrella now but probably should look into it. And I definitely want one before my kids are driving.

My parents had an umbrella policy which was smart because my brother was an idiot as a teenager (parties with 40 kids over drinking when my parents were out of town) but it actually gave them some peace of mind when our dog ran away and got hit and the people who hit her sued my parents. They didn't get anything, but it was nice to know the umbrella policy was there.

Your thinking is correct. I just stated at minimum your liability should exceed your assets. There is no way to predict how much insurance is enough to 100% protect you. I think umbrellas are great! I also think my family does have a great diving record and we were still denied. I only stated they are pretty strict on who they give umbrella polices to. I will reapply next year to see what happens.

There are a lot of people who only have the minimum liability requirements. I live in Florida and from what I hear 1 in every 5 drivers are uninsured.

 

[cvjw]

This is why everyone needs an umbrella policy. It was actually cheaper to get a $5 million umbrella policy that boost my liability coverage on my cars and house.

We had a $1,000,000 umbrella policy with State Farm for many, many years. It was about $100 per year. Then my son turned 16 and it jumped up to over $600 per year. It was actually cheaper to bump up our liability coverage on our auto policies than pay for the umbrella policy. We did what our State Farm agent recommended.

 

[tvguy]

We had a $1,000,000 umbrella policy with State Farm for many, many years. It was about $100 per year. Then my son turned 16 and it jumped up to over $600 per year. It was actually cheaper to bump up our liability coverage on our auto policies than pay for the umbrella policy. We did what our State Farm agent recommended.

Makes perfect sense. That was not the case with Allstate, the bonus being it applies to both our auto and homeowners, for less than the cost of boosting just the auto coverage.