How much car insurance coverage do i need?

Question

I'm buying car insurace and i need to know how much coverage to get. I want to get the lowest amount of coverage, without being unsafe. i have a clean driving record; im 18 yrs old, female, and i drive a 95 carolla, good condition. what do you feel is the minimal safe coverage?

Answer 1

For car insurance the best way to get a great rate is do a policy comparison on auto policies. Make certain that you pick similar policies with the same limits, auto make, location, etc so that all options are a good comparison.



What I usually recommend is an internet comparison quote at http://www.InsureAutoNow.info since they have lots of insurers and will give many quotes on car insurance polices.

Answer 2

The law requires15/30/15 ($15,000 bodily injury per person, $30,000 bodily injury per accident and $15,000 property damage per accident.) For more coverage and not much more $, get 25/50/25 liability coverage. (liability coverage is what you are liable in damages to other party if you cause an accident.) Uninsured motorist coverage, 15/30/15 (what your policy will pay out should someone w/o insurance cause damage to your car.) If you are not making pmts to a bank for your car you do not have to have property damage coverage (coverage for YOUR car in case of an accident). You do not really have to carry medical insurance, but $5.000 is standard and is usually excess over your own insurance. (Medical coverage is for you should you cause an accident). I hope this helps. Be prepared to pay a lot due to your age. If this is not clear, please contact me and I will try to help further.

Answer 3

Make sure you have the minimum liability insurance required by law. If the min is $250,000 in your state, it might be a good idea to bump it up to $500,000. What this means is that if you cause an acident and someone is hurt and needs expensive medical care, the insurance company will cover the medical car up to the liability limit. If the actual cost is higher, you could be sued for the difference. If you cause several people to be hurt badly, and they needed intensive care, its possible to run over the $250,000 limit that is the minimum required coverage for most states.

You should also get a policy that covers uninsured and underinsured motorists. This will protect you in case you are injured and/or your car is damaged by someone else who doesn't have insurance. If this happened and you didn't have this insurance, you would have to hire a laywer and sue the other driver. With the insurance, your insurance company takes care of everything and handles the lawsuit against the other driver.

Also cary PIP (Personal Injury Protection). This covers you and your passengers medical expenses regardless of the situation, even if its your fault. It even covers you if you are not in a car but injured by a car. I was knocked off my bicycle once by a truck and my PIP covered my injuries even though the driver was at fault and I wasn't in my car.

Since a 95 carolla isn't worth much money, you don't need coverage for the car. If you cause an accident and damage the car, the most you could get would be the value of the car, which I imagine is around $2000. You'll save money every month and there is a small chance that you'll have to come up with $2000 to replace the car yourself, the risk is worth the monthly savings. If someone else causes an accident and damages your car, they will have to pay for it, or your uninsured motorist coverage will pay for it.

Its probably not worth having insurance to cover things like break ins (just don't keep valuables in your car), theft, natural disasters, or glass damage. There is pretty low risk that any of these things would occur, and if they did, you could only get a few thousand for replacement of the car. Again, the risk of having to come up with $2000 to replace your car is worth it to save the monthly cost of insurance.

Answer 4

You just need the state required minimum liability coverage.  Usually when you call or get a quote online, it will tell you how much coverage you need and won't let you choose anything less than the minimum.  If you don't have any credit history, then you don't put anything down.  

The only bad thing about liability insurance is that if you get in to an accident, the insurance won't cover your car. They will only cover the car you hit.

Answer 5

I see people's lives ruined when  they get the minimum coverage required.  For example,  In my state you only need 10,000 in property damage coverage (this covers damage to you do other peoples property.)  Then this person goes and hits a mercedes pushing it into a newer model car.   The mercedes cost 17k to repair... the newer car  10k.   Since their policy only covers 10,000 they are left to pay 17,000 out of pocket!  Could you even imagine?!  

Never ever get the minimum offered.  There will be people who tell you "I would never get below 100/300/100!"  (This means  100,000 per person/300,000 per accident for injuries you cause.. and 100,000 for property damage.)

I however, am more realistic and realize thats not feasible for many people.  I would suggest a MINIMUM of 25/50 for BI  (25,000 per person you injure/ up to 50,000 per accident),  and for property damage get 50,000 if you can.