"full coverage" insurance and it's $

[Mel]

We have a lot of threads questioning/discussing our insurance and how much it costs. I often see the term "full coverage" followed by a dollar figure and sometimes the name of the insurance company.

 

I keep wondering what full coverage means vs. less than full coverage. I'm sure that many of us have different liability limits which naturally has an effect on the cost. $100,000/$300,000 or $250,000/$500,000 or what?

 

I finally got smart enough to drop the uninsured/underinsured coverage. When I questioned them about it, they agreed with me that it is for medical coverage and if you have medical insurance it would be redundant to carry this coverage. Those coverages cost $151 a year. I still consider myself to have full coverage, meaning collision, medical, comprehensive, etc.

 

I'm sure there are different minimum requirements for different states, and for some of us those requirements are not satisfactory. So, I'm just wondering if we are sometimes comparing apples and oranges when stating "full coverage" when the liability limits are not stated.

[CaptainJoe]

Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... That all depends on your deductable.

 

excellent thread though... My wife and I had the same discussion.

 

If you have a $5000 deductable on your health insurance like I do, make sure get Select Solutions to cover medical expenses resulting from an accident. mine is good for up to the deductable of $5000. one caveot... you must pay the bill first and they reimburse you.

 

Otherwise your out the 5K.

[GolfVenture]

You are right about medical coverage on you. But if you do get in an accident and it is your fault, yes your personal medical will cover your medical but do not expect a settlement offer to close your claim. If you did have medical on you for your m/c policy then, the m/c insurance will make an offer to settle your claim after you have made as much recovery as you can in 3 years to cover future needs and for your pain and sufferings up to your policy limit. A good guide is that a settle offer could be about 2 to 3 times your total medical bill up to your policy limit.

[Condor]

Your canceling of the un-insured/under-insured portion of your coverage might not have been a smart thing to do. Ask Yammer Dan about his experience. If the accident is not your fault and the other party is insured for only the minimum coverage, your insurance has no obligation to cover your costs.

 

I've found that Geico has the most economical coverage for my two bikes. '91VR and 99RSV. I had my trailer stolen in Feb 2012 and they took care of the claim to my satisfaction... BTW the trailer did not need a policy rider. They just asked for the VIN#, make, and model for their records.

 

I'm not sure about the rest of the world, but here in the Kingdom of Kalifornia, by law a driver only needs to carry minimum liability of 15/30. Full coverage would be for liability, medical, and comprehensive, but still can only have the 15/30. Personally I carry 100/300, but have been giving some thought to bumping it up to 250/500 because the dollar has been taking the inflation hit lately.

 

MY

[MikeWa]

So if your bike gets totaled by an unisured motorest you'r not covered?

 

Mike

[Venturous Randy]

After Yammer Dan's crash, I raised my rates because it also raised my coverage on uninsured/underinsured coverage. Insurance is required in Tennessee and we routinely have people charged with not having insurance. We have a bunch of illegals and most don't have a drivers license or insurance. If they run over you, they just get a free ticket south while you are trying to get your life back together. There is no way I would drop uninsured motorist.

I use Allstate and have been happy with them, but I may go to Farm Bureau where I have my house and cars.

RandyA

[Guest scarylarry]

After Yammer Dan's crash, I raised my rates because it also raised my coverage on uninsured/underinsured coverage. Insurance is required in Tennessee and we routinely have people charged with not having insurance. We have a bunch of illegals and most don't have a drivers license or insurance. If they run over you, they just get a free ticket south while you are trying to get your life back together. There is no way I would drop uninsured motorist.

I use Allstate and have been happy with them, but I may go to Farm Bureau where I have my house and cars.

RandyA

 

 

I have been with FB for over 15 yrs never filed a claim but so far I'm happy and my rates can't be touch by all the on line Ins companies I have ask for a quote from..

 

Like my agent said longevity has it's benefits...

[Condor]

So if your bike gets totaled by an unisured motorest you'r not covered?

 

Mike

 

Only if you have the uninsured and underinsured option on your policy. You can however still sue for damages in civil court... good luck... If they don't have insurance, generally they don't have anything to protect.

[djh3]

If I'm not mistaken the un/underinsured part of my policey is what keeps going up dramaticly. Everytime I turn around it goes up another 50 or so. In Oklahoma we had to show proof of insurance when you bought tags and also when you got vehocle inspected. So how these folks get away with no insurance I dont know. The insurance companies dont notify the police thru computers somehow?

[Guest scarylarry]

If I'm not mistaken the un/underinsured part of my policey is what keeps going up dramaticly. Everytime I turn around it goes up another 50 or so. In Oklahoma we had to show proof of insurance when you bought tags and also when you got vehocle inspected. So how these folks get away with no insurance I dont know. The insurance companies dont notify the police thru computers somehow?

 

No they don't.. In Ga. they have to show proof but some have figure away around it...

 

In Tenn. you have to show proof if you pulled over...

 

Uninsured coverage does cost as much and the comp. if not more, but I'll keep it that way I sleep better at night..

 

Hard to sue someone when all they have is furniture in apartment..

[Condor]

No they don't.. In Ga. they have to show proof but some have figure away around it...

 

In Tenn. you have to show proof if you pulled over...

 

Uninsured coverage does cost as much and the comp. if not more, but I'll keep it that way I sleep better at night..

 

Hard to sue someone when all they have is furniture in apartment..

 

You might want to double check your coverage. Just because you have Un doesn't neccessarly mean you have under. They don't go hand in hand. Some companies automatically link them and others don't.

The way some get around the requirement is they buy a policy and then pay a monthly premium. The get the card, register the vehicle and then let the policy lapse. When it comes around to renewing they do it again. If it's an illegal they never register a car or apply for insurance. If they get into an accident they just walk away.

[Guest scarylarry]

You might want to double check your coverage. Just because you have Un doesn't neccessarly mean you have under. They don't go hand in hand. Some companies automatically link them and others don't.

 

The way some get around the requirement is they buy a policy and then pay a monthly premium. The get the card, register the vehicle and then let the policy lapse. When it comes around to renewing they do it again. If it's an illegal they never register a car or apply for insurance. If they get into an accident they just walk away.

 

For some odd reason we got a email at work from communcations saying check our policy something happen in the next county over and it made news, long story short they wasn't cover like they thought they was..

 

I been over mine, and trust me I asked questions and get simple answers, the language in a policy is written by lawyers for lawyers..

[Mel]

So if your bike gets totaled by an unisured motorest you'r not covered?

 

Mike

 

Collision coverage is for the damage to the vehicle. The under/un is for medical, not property damage or collision.

 

And it always amazes me how many uninsured are out there even when the state requires insurance or no registration/plates issued. How does that happen?

[jfoster]

In Louisiana, every vehicle is required to carry liability. What the majority of those that are uninsured do is get their policy and after the first month they cancel the policy (democrates are notorious for it). They will still carry their insurance card to try to claim they're insured. However, must of the time their insurance carrier will notify the dmv of the cancellation and the dmv will flag their driver's license and their registration.

 

We like others have uninsured coverage for property damage and medical injury. If you have full coverage (comprehensive / collision) it will cover the property damage if they don't have insurance, so I've been told by my agent. If you only have liabilty, I strongly recommend having uninsured motorist. Then we have uninsured coverage for medical expenses. Like some, I elected not to carry it. As Condor pointed out it may come back to bit me. But I pay a lot for good health insurance too.

[ediddy]

In my agency we never, never use the word full coverage. In reality there is no such thing as full coverage. Full coverage would mean that everything is covered without a limit or deductible. I don't won't to be put on the stand in a lawsuit where someone didn't get all their bills paid and their attorney saying to me, Mr. Hall tell the jury "what is full coverage." Years ago, I don't know how long ago, the term full coverage was used to mean that you have liability and comprehensive and colllision coverage. Many times each day I give quotes over the phone and I ask people, "do want just the state required liability or do you want comprehensive and collision also? Every time they will say, I want full coverage, if they want comp and coll. After seeing the number of uninsured motorist claims we have I wouldn't drive without it. There is more to uninsured motorist than medical payments. It covers your loss for bodily injury. What if you couldn't work for the next year or rest of your life. Uninsured motorist would cover that in addition to medical payments and it will pay for pain and suffering. Some states provide uninsured motorist coverage only, meaning the other party at fault is uninsured. Some states have uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. In Georgia you have the choice. I would buy the uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. As someone said underinsured will pay even if the other party is insured but their liability limits aren't enough to cover your loss. Last year I had a motorcycle insured with uninsured/underinsured. The rider was at a traffic light in the right lane. An auto came up in the left lane and decided to turn right from the left lane. Didn't seem serious, just knocked the rider off his bike. The other auto had $100,000 liability and they paid but it wasn't enough to cover my insured's damages. He just had his third shoulder surgery where they had to reconstruct his shoulder. He has been out of work for a year and may be out another year. His underinsured is now paying. Georgia has a mandatory liability law and the insurance companies transmit electronically to the state if you have coverage or let coverage cancel. There is a class of people that always try to beat the system. They buy insurance and never pay the first payment and let the coverage cancel. The state will send them a letter stating they must get coverage and pay a $25 fee to the local tag office. If they ignore this they will get another letter stating their registration has been suspended and they must pay a $60 fee. They won't get caught until time to renew their tag unless they get stopped for a traffic ticket. If they have to pay the fine to get their registration renewed, so what. That's cheaper than paying the insurance. But that is changing. Many LEO's are installing scanners on their cars that scan the tag when you go by and will tell them if your registration is suspended. Their vehicle is towed, they are arrested and I had a person in the office last week that said they were going to have to pay a $1,700 fine. This is getting their attention.

[Guest scarylarry]

But that is changing. Many LEO's are installing scanners on their cars that scan the tag when you go by and will tell them if your registration is suspended. Their vehicle is towed, they are arrested

 

This one law I could live with...I hope all states follow this trend...

 

I have a sister that lives in Ga and she said you be surprise she how many teachers that don't have Ins..

[tazmocycle]

alabama just passed a law that requires you to show proof of insurance before you get your tags. my exwife had a wreck back in '75 and totaled my 73 mazada wagon and the old man didn't have insurance so my insurance paid for my car less the deductable, and because i had bought it in sc before i moved, it aslo covered my exwife's medical costs, because uninsured in sc covered my car damage and medical costs and in al it only covered your property damage. the law in al was that you had to have uninsured coverage on your car or be able to post a $4,000.oo bond which the old man just claimed bankrupsy and got out of it. but state farm sued him over the wreck and i never heard what happened to him, problly the bankrupy got him out of it. AL has always been at the end of the line when it comes to most things!! i sc if you drop your ins they send you a letter and about 10 days a trooper shows up and takes your tags off. i think all the states needs to get on the same page when it comes to ins coverage, so it's the same everywhere.

[ediddy]

Hey tazmocycle,

You are right about Alabama. They are about 20 years behind the rest of the country. The birds fly upside over Alabama because there isn't anything work crapping on down there. If all state would start removing the tags people would keep their insurance.