Auto Insurance Coverage Limits in Houston

[notkim]

Originally Posted by resonator

If you have more than $100,000 in cash you need an umbrella policy. The umbrella requires carrying the maximum liability limits on the underlying auto policy.

Raise your deductibles to $1,000.

If you are a home owner, Texas law protects your homestead/cars from judgements. Also your 401(k) and similar plans are protected from judgements.

Umbrella is roughly $170/year.

Point noted - Will buy Umbrella Policy. What limit do you suggest? I have not looked into Umbrella, so not sure if there are any limits to choose from to begin with or there is just one Umbrella amount.

Also, which deductibles should I increase to $1000? For both the vehicles?

Thanks you !

[notkim]

Originally Posted by WRM20

Increase your property damage to $100k. Hitting a new high end Mercedes ot other vehicle will exceed the $50k limits pretty quickly.

I second the Umbrella policy.

I will increase Property Damage to 100k, BUT are you talking about Property Damage under the "Policy Coverage" or under the "2017 Merc. Benz - Uninsured Motorist Property Damage"?

Sorry, just making sure I understand and increase the correct line item.


Policy Coverage
Property Damage Liability = $50,001

2017 Merc. Benz
Uninsured Motorist Property Damage = $50,000 / $250 Deductible

[notkim]

Originally Posted by Texas Ag 93

Agree with the above, especially with the umbrella policy recommendation, which has been made by both the other posters. We're in a similar situation as you, and I also prefer we be overinsured rather than underinsured.

I think our personal injury coverage is higher than yours, 250K/500K if I recall. Property damage is 100K.

Personal Injury coverage is the one which is in RED and underlined below - Correct ??

So I should increase that from 300K/300K to 250K/500K?


Policy Coverage
Bodily Injury Liability = $300,001 / $300,001
Property Damage Liability = $50,001
Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury = $300,001 / $300,001

[resonator]

If you are lawsuit proof in TX you don't need an umbrella. To me that translates to $100K+ in unprotected cash or other assets.
Lots of protections in TX, but some of them take positive actions to get them.

[Texas Ag 93]

Originally Posted by notkim

Personal Injury coverage is the one which is in RED and underlined below - Correct ??

So I should increase that from 300K/300K to 250K/500K?

If I'm not mistaken and as previously mentioned by another poster, a lot of your coverage requirements will be dictated by your umbrella policy. They'll tell you what your mins need to be (and they'll be pretty high). As far as your question about what the umbrella should be, I want to say ours is $2M (I could be wrong about that). Now, I have heard the theory that having a very large umbrella can, potentially make you more of a target by calling attention to the fact that you likely have a high income, a large number of assets etc, but I don't know if that's accurate or not.

For deductible, just ask your agent how much you'll save going up to $1,000 for example. Ours is still only $500, even though we could do $1,000 or more, but I want to say that the savings for that were almost negligible in our case, so we left it at $500.

[notkim]

Originally Posted by resonator

If you have more than $100,000 in cash you need an umbrella policy. The umbrella requires carrying the maximum liability limits on the underlying auto policy.

Raise your deductibles to $1,000.

If you are a home owner, Texas law protects your homestead/cars from judgements. Also your 401(k) and similar plans are protected from judgements.

Umbrella is roughly $170/year.

Given the number of uninsured motorists in Houston, TX, and the higher chances of being involved in accidents; don't you think it is a better idea to keep the deductibles low?

Touchwood, we have not had an accident so far that we have lived in TX, but spouses job will require him to cover more hospitals now and therefore travel more.

[notkim]

Originally Posted by WRM20

That's what we have as well, 250/500/100

I looked it up and in the 250/500/100:
250 = Bodily Injury
500 = ??
100 = Property Damage

What is the 500 for? Google says it is Total Bodily Injury, but on GEICO's website, I do not see the option for Total Bodily Injury. It gives me options of Bodily Injury like this:

300 per person/300 per occurrence

300 per person/500 per occurrence

500 per person/500 per occurrence

....and so forth

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by notkim

I looked it up and in the 250/500/100:
250 = Bodily Injury
500 = ??
100 = Property Damage

What is the 500 for? Google says it is Total Bodily Injury, but on GEICO's website, I do not see the option for Total Bodily Injury. It gives me options of Bodily Injury like this:

300 per person/300 per occurrence

300 per person/500 per occurrence

500 per person/500 per occurrence

....and so forth

The 250/500 is the same as Geico's 300 per person/500 per occurrence. The 250/500 means $250k per person, $500k per occurrence, which could be 4 people at $125k.

You want your uninsured motorist bodily injury limits to be the same as your liability limits, so you will be well covered if you are injured by an uninsured/under insured motorist.

[notkim]

Originally Posted by WRM20

Increase your property damage to $100k. Hitting a new high end Mercedes ot other vehicle will exceed the $50k limits pretty quickly.

I second the Umbrella policy.

Thank you WRM20. Last question for you.

With ref. to above suggestion - I will increase Property Damage to 100k, BUT are you talking about Property Damage under the "Policy Coverage" or under the "2017 Merc. Benz - Uninsured Motorist Property Damage"? OR Both ?

Sorry, just making sure I understand and increase the correct line item.


Policy Coverage
Property Damage Liability = $50,001

2017 Merc. Benz
Uninsured Motorist Property Damage = $50,000 / $250 Deductible

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by notkim

Thank you WRM20. Last question for you.

With ref. to above suggestion - I will increase Property Damage to 100k, BUT are you talking about Property Damage under the "Policy Coverage" or under the "2017 Merc. Benz - Uninsured Motorist Property Damage"? OR Both ?

Sorry, just making sure I understand and increase the correct line item.


Policy Coverage
Property Damage Liability = $50,001

2017 Merc. Benz
Uninsured Motorist Property Damage = $50,000 / $250 Deductible

You can limit the uninsured damage to the value of your car, although we don't. The 100k number is for your liability if you hit another car.