"Stacked" uninsured motorist coverage?

[ORD2KOA]

Hi. Our car insurance has gone up $300 in the last three years (no claims, two drivers over 55), so I'm starting to get quotes to help stop the bleeding and I need a little help.

Does anyone know - do I need "stacked" uninsured motorists coverage? We live in Orange County, FL. We have 100,000/300,000 for the Uninsured Motorists Bodily Injury.

We had The Hartford AARP for maybe 8 years in Hawaii, but when we moved back to the mainland our premium jumped $500, so we jumped to Amica, but I think a $300 increase in 3 years with no claims is too much.

I'm not sure I understand what stacked coverage is and why I need it.

If anyone knows, I'd appreciate your advice. TIA!

 

[robinb]

Isn't stacked insurance where you can use the coverage of one car on the other in case of accident? I know that some states do not allow that. Our state JUST voted to discontinue stacking for uninsured/under-insured coverage. Yippie! Another hand out to the insurance industry!

 

[ORD2KOA]

Isn't stacked insurance where you can use the coverage of one car on the other in case of accident? I know that some states do not allow that. Our state JUST voted to discontinue stacking for uninsured/under-insured coverage. Yippie! Another hand out to the insurance industry!

Thanks for the help.

If your state voted to discontinue it, it seems like something we don't need.

Does anybody still remember when insurance was easy??? I never heard the term "stacked" until we moved back. I'm sooooooooooooooo confused.

 

[kymmyk13]

If you have an accident in 1 vehicle and the person who caused the accident is uninsured or underinsured (which happen alot) you can collect from your vehicle's UMI and the second vehicle you have. It automotically stackes here. The reason teat state did away with it, is most likley pressure from the insurance industry.

 

[robinb]

If your state voted to discontinue it, it seems like something we don't need.

Nope. I would not say that at all. As kymmyk13 said, the insurance industry got to them. They thought they were paying out too much money. Of course the consumer loses.

 

[marybet]

Have you checked AARP/The Hartford rates recently? We have it, today I got a quote from the company that insures our home and it was $600 more. Might want to give them another try.

 

[John VN]

If you can afford it, KEEP IT. Wish we had.

Many more uninsurred down here in Fl. on the road today.

 

[ORD2KOA]

Have you checked AARP/The Hartford rates recently? We have it, today I got a quote from the company that insures our home and it was $600 more. Might want to give them another try.

Thanks. I did check AARP/The Hartford again and it's about the same price. HO insurance is very difficult here, though. The Hartford doesn't offer it (they didn't in Hawaii, either) and Allstate and State Farm don't write here.

They used to say FL was an inexpensive place to live. I'm finding that's not the case these days.

 

[golfgal]

I would look into the pricing of an umbrella policy vs stacking your auto coverage. An umbrella policy will help you in auto accidents and anything with your home-so it is more versatile. Chances are it is less expensive and you can get more coverage.

 

[Jedana]

Our Geico rep said that the stacked insurance is for people with multiple cars. If you have two cars, and one is in an accident, then you can claim off of the 2nd car for the insurance amounts.

If you have only 1 car, go unstacked. But in FL, you definitely need the underinsured/uninsured coverage.

Also, for the rate hikes, both Progressive and Geico have told me they are raising rates across the board.

 

[golfgal]

Here is the deal with rate hikes across the board-in a bad economy, more people file claims. In a good economy, the smaller claims go unfiled because people just pay out of pocket not to see a rate increase in the future. In a bad economy, people don't have the extra money to pay for damage so they file claims. Since insurance companies can't pick and chose who gets rate increases and who doesn't they have to do their increases by "class", usually by zip codes. If your zip code has a higher than normal claims experience, you are going to get a rate increase whether you filed a claim or not. That is how the insurance laws are written.

Also, OP, since you are over 55, you are going to get a rate increase from every company. That is when your "best" driving years end statistically. You can help offset that increase by taking a 55 Alive class and keeping that up to date (every 2 years).

 

[sjs314]

DH was hit some years ago by an unisured driver at the time we had 3 cars on the policy with the stacking option.

Basically you sue your own insurance company since we had 3 cars each insured for $100,000 liability we sued for $300,000. Meanwhile the medical bill were piling up since DH Left arm was almost severed in the accident which required multiple surgeries and rehab, he missed alot of work and we fell behind in all our other bills.

We had a strong case DH was left handed plus some years earlier he had an accident with his right arm which left it partially disabled physically.

After a number of months the insurance company made an offer, we said no (I forget what amount it was now) We borrowed $ from our lawyer as a last resort for help with some of the medical expenses not covered by ins and other bills my salery just could not cover everything.

The insurance co made a second offer which was under $100,000 less than 1/3 of what we were sueing for and might get if we went to trial but to get a trial date could take another 2 years

This was the insurance companies final offer we ended up settling just to be able to stay afloat. Out of that settlement we had to pay the lawyer his cut, pay back the insurance company for medical expenses they paid. We ended up ahead of the game but no where what we could have had we went to trail.

IMO if you have saving enough to stay afloat for an extended length of time and can afford the extra for the insurance payments by all means keep the option and hold out and go to trail if you should get hit by an uninsured driver.

I would think with the present state of the economy there must be more uninsured drivers on the road than ever before.

 

[ahutton]

I would look into the pricing of an umbrella policy vs stacking your auto coverage. An umbrella policy will help you in auto accidents and anything with your home-so it is more versatile. Chances are it is less expensive and you can get more coverage.

Make sure you read the Umbrella carefully. Many have an exclusion for Uninsured/Underinsured motorist coverage. The intent of the Umbrella is to provide extra Liability coverage, so if something serious happens and you are found liable you have extra coverage availalbe. It is usually very economical to purchase this way because it is not frequent that you have a loss that is so severe.

 

[IDoDis]

Make sure you read the Umbrella carefully. Many have an exclusion for Uninsured/Underinsured motorist coverage. The intent of the Umbrella is to provide extra Liability coverage, so if something serious happens and you are found liable you have extra coverage availalbe. It is usually very economical to purchase this way because it is not frequent that you have a loss that is so severe.

Yes, that is true. It won't cover you if someone else is liable. Also, most insurance companies require you carry a certain amount in regular coverage before they'll sell you an umbrella policy. GEICO requires a 300,000/300,000 auto policy before you can purchase an umbrella policy.

In my state there's a new rule now that if the policy holder's uninsured bodily injury coverage is lower than than regular Bodily Injury coverage, the policy holder is required to sign a waiver stating that they know they may not have enough coverage should they get hit by an uninsured driver.

A friend of mine was hit by a teen driver who was driving on a suspended license. My friend's SUV was totaled and both she and her DS had head injuries. She was diagnosed with TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) which caused her to not be able to be an E.R. nurse anymore because she no longer had the quick thinking skills and had problems with her short-term memory. The teen driver's family only had a $100,000 policy which wasn't enough to pay for the damages, so my friend's family was ready to go after the teen family's personal assets to cover the rest. The case almost went to trial before they did end up reaching a settlement.

Word to the wise -- pay the extra couple hundred bucks every 6 months to make sure you are carrying enough coverage. 100,000 is not near enough in this day and age.

 

[golfgal]

Yes, that is true. It won't cover you if someone else is liable. Also, most insurance companies require you carry a certain amount in regular coverage before they'll sell you an umbrella policy. GEICO requires a 300,000/300,000 auto policy before you can purchase an umbrella policy.

In my state there's a new rule now that if the policy holder's uninsured bodily injury coverage is lower than than regular Bodily Injury coverage, the policy holder is required to sign a waiver stating that they know they may not have enough coverage should they get hit by an uninsured driver.

A friend of mine was hit by a teen driver who was driving on a suspended license. My friend's SUV was totaled and both she and her DS had head injuries. She was diagnosed with TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) which caused her to not be able to be an E.R. nurse anymore because she no longer had the quick thinking skills and had problems with her short-term memory. The teen driver's family only had a $100,000 policy which wasn't enough to pay for the damages, so my friend's family was ready to go after the teen family's personal assets to cover the rest. The case almost went to trial before they did end up reaching a settlement.

Word to the wise -- pay the extra couple hundred bucks every 6 months to make sure you are carrying enough coverage. 100,000 is not near enough in this day and age.

In our state you can add UM/UIM to an umbrella-figured that was the same most places.