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I recently bought a house and was talking to an agent, switching my cars to the same company where I have my homeowners insurance. I've never had a claim in 25 years so far of paying insurance, and my coverage currently is minimal. The agent suggested that I have my limits higher now that I own a home, because "there could be a lien attached to your house, garnished wages" if I were sued. I'm trying to understand the logic of that one, other than she wants to sell me more insurance.
Say if my coverage was 300k per incident (is that still considered very low?). If someone was very injured, whether I have 30k or 300k per incident seems inconsequential. A couple of weeks in the hospital would run up 300k, not even adding in lost wages or whatever else people sue for these days. My house is not even worth that so I don't understand getting a bunch of *auto* insurance to cover it. Advice? What do you buy?
what you want to do is add a balloon policy to your overall insurance, which protects your assets basically from being taken from you in the event of a catasrophe. everyone i know does this. i hate insurance as much as you do, but for $100/yr to be covered for up to $1,000,000, it's worth the piece of mind.
$300k is nothing. i spent 1 night in a hospital post surgery and had 4 tests. they gave me a dose of pain medication every 8 hours, and another type of medication every 4. for 24 hours, medicine along cost my insurance company $2,000. the room was $3,500 for the night. all in, it was a $17,000 trip AFTER adjusted down by my insurance company's agreed upon rates.
god forbid you ever hit someone who doesn't have insurance and it's your fault. you may be in serious financial trouble.
so if you've never had a claim, raise your deductible save a few bucks there. but for CYA in case you ever get sued, $300,000 is nothing.
what you want to do is add a balloon policy to your overall insurance, which protects your assets basically from being taken from you in the event of a catasrophe.
Do you mean umbrella policy?
We added an umbrella policy when our son started driving.
Your agent is right, in many states if you are in an accident where you are at fault and you are sued they can seize your assets, garnish wages, etc. to pay off a settlement. We have 100/300/100 on our cars with a 2,000,000 umbrella-we have teenage drivers. Adding additional liability coverage isn't that expensive. I would get an umbrella policy with the lowest liability limits possible on your auto because the umbrella will also cover personal injuries/damages associated with your homeowner's insurance-say you leave a candle burning and it burns down your house AND your neighbor's house. Your liability on your homeowners will cover up to that limit but if your neighbor's house is worth more than that, you either pay the rest out of pocket or your umbrella kicks in.
Last year my neighbor got caught in a lengthy legal suit filed by the mothers of two children who tripped the steps in his house and were seriously injured. He had very minimal insurance and had to bear most of the costs on his own. Seeing him financially ruined almost overnight made me sit up and take stock of my own insurance. I increased the liability coverages of my home and car insurance and also purchased addition umbrella insurance for $1 million. Getting all done from the same company (The Hartford-AARP in my case) does save quite a bit of money.
Last year my neighbor got caught in a lengthy legal suit filed by the mothers of two children who tripped the steps in his house and were seriously injured. He had very minimal insurance and had to bear most of the costs on his own. Seeing him financially ruined almost overnight made me sit up and take stock of my own insurance. I increased the liability coverages of my home and car insurance and also purchased addition umbrella insurance for $1 million. Getting all done from the same company (The Hartford-AARP in my case) does save quite a bit of money.
Sounds scary but in most states as long as the property owner didn't neglect his steps you will not be awarded a judgement simply for tripping.
"North Carolina, like most states, does not follow the law of strict liability in premises liability cases. In other words, the fact that you may have been injured on someone else's property does not automatically allow you to receive compensation for your injuries. Rather, you need to establish that the property owner or property manager was aware of a hazardous condition, failed to take reasonable steps to remedy the hazardous condition, and the failure to do so resulted in your personal injury."
Basically it means if the plaintiff is even partially at fault for the accident, they receive nothing.
Here is a heart-wrenching article about a guy who didn't pull completely off the side of the road on an off-ramp, and a car hit his car while he was changing the tire.
N.C. reviews its negligence standard : News-Record.com : Greensboro & the Triad's most trusted source for local news and analysis (http://www.news-record.com/content/2009/05/23/article/nc_reviews_its_negligence_standard - broken link)
It makes it sound bad but it is great for citizens. Say someone walks out in front of your car and you hit him. Most states would assign responsibility to the driver, or at least a 50/50 share (you hit him, but he walked out in front of your car). You would be responsible for 50% of his damages. In NC you would not owe a dime because the plaintiff contributed to the accident. Had they not walked out in front of you, and taken personal responsibility, they would not be injured. It makes sense and I'm glad I live in a state that has it on the books. Of note is Washington DC also has it...hmmm...
In his case one of the steps was slightly cracked so that the dress of a little girl got caught in the wedge and she tripped on the kid on the step below.
Most umbrella policies require auto liability limits of 300-500, some permit 100-300.
Get full homeowners coverage, auto liability with acceptable limits and a 2mm umbrella. This is what a middle class homeowner with the usual risks needs. If you have really big assets to protect, consult your lawyer to have an asset protection plan and up the umbrella accordingly. But remember, the bigger the target the more people will want to shoot at it.
Im seriously considering dropping to liability only. My insurance is very expensive around 400 a month since I drive a 'sporty' car, am under 30, and where I live. Car is only a couple years old so is still worth a decent buck, but its paid off.
Im seriously considering dropping to liability only. My insurance is very expensive around 400 a month since I drive a 'sporty' car, am under 30, and where I live. Car is only a couple years old so is still worth a decent buck, but its paid off.
I have not had collision insurance on a car for years. One can control collision losses by meticulous good driving. That is the biggest cost item.
Be sure to keep your comprehensive coverage protecting you against theft, and weather damage and consider underinsured and med pay. They are cheap and protect things you can't control.
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