Insurance Increases

[armylifer]

The insurance laws are different in many states. Some of what I read in this thread is wrong for my state and some of it is correct for my state. The point is that one must be sure of what is covered. A good agent can help with that. Absent having an agent, one must read the policy thoroughly and ask the insurance company to clarify anything that you do not understand.

 

[fried1765]

The insurance laws are different in many states. Some of what I read in this thread is wrong for my state and some of it is correct for my state. The point is that one must be sure of what is covered. A good agent can help with that. Absent having an agent, one must read the policy thoroughly and ask the insurance company to clarify anything that you do not understand.

And.......NEVER trust an agent to get the answer correct!
Get your answer directly from the insurance company....in writing (e-mail).

 

[NCL4701]

The insurance laws are different in many states. Some of what I read in this thread is wrong for my state and some of it is correct for my state. The point is that one must be sure of what is covered. A good agent can help with that. Absent having an agent, one must read the policy thoroughly and ask the insurance company to clarify anything that you do not understand.

That’s exactly why threads like this on a national/international forum like this one aren’t very useful when it comes to insurance coverage options and specifics. Insurance law and contracts, with very few exceptions, are subject to state courts, state legislatures, and state regulatory authorities. Laws and coverages vary, sometimes quite substantially, from state to state. Even with the same company, their product offerings and coverages have to vary to comply with various state laws and regulations.

I’m not an agent. I’m one of a handful of people the agents I work with call when they have coverage questions. Have been for 33 years. In NC, I know what I’m talking about in regard to property and casualty insurance. Outside NC, I know general principles and things such as reinsurance that impact what I do in NC but I also have a pretty good handle on what I don’t know so I don’t have much input on insurance discussions other than to state what you said: Specific questions and issues require local answers.

And I do agree with @fried1765. If you have a question, get the answer in writing if at all possible. If the agent is the best you can do to get an answer and you have that answer in writing, either the carrier will handle claims accordingly or the agent’s errors and omissions will handle it accordingly.

 

[ctfjr]

I can only speak from my experiences in CT. Several years ago I was stopped at a stop sign and another driver made a left hand turn right into my car. Long story short - I had major neck injuries and surgeries. The other party had a $100k policy that their insurance company threw in right away. I had $250k uninsured/underinsured coverage. My insurance company paid the difference to the limit.
That did not let the other driver off the hook. We chose not to sue and foreclose on their house (their only significant asset).
BTW there is a rider, I can't think of its name (something like convergence???), that if I had, would have meant my ins co would have paid the full $250k.

 

[P0234]

Uh.... I never said you have to have insurance. I only said you are not required to have un/ underinsured coverage because you can get a liability only policy.
And, uh.... I'll wager I'm right on point #2. The other person is NOT on the hook for it. YOU are. YOU took the loan, YOU pay the debt. Sure, you could sue them for the cost of covering it. Even if the court awarded you the damages, it it STILL YOUR debt to the lein holder. The bank doesn't care about the judgement.
Here is a quick snip from Progressive. It doesn't take much of a search to find out I'm right. You'll get hits from attorneys, insurance companies and state web pages.
View attachment 116920

I'm not going to belabor the point, in fact I think the whole thing went right over your head, let me re-phrase it so you might be able to understand the hypocrisy I was pointing out:

1. You don't need to have car insurance in VA.

2. If you have the OPTIONAL insurance... YOU MUST have under-insured coverage.

If you don't see the irony in that, I can't help you.

 

[aaluck]

I have been a USAA member for 61 years.

I had them for 30 years. Their prices were ridiculously high when I finally shopped around a dumped them 3 years ago. Had to keep prices down when you advertise in every college and pro football game. Did have great customer service until the end.

 

[aaluck]

And, uh.... I'll wager I'm right on point #2. The other person is NOT on the hook for it. YOU are. YOU took the loan, YOU pay the debt. Sure, you could sue them for the cost of covering it. Even if the court awarded you the damages, it it STILL YOUR debt to the lein holder. The bank doesn't care about the judgement.
Here is a quick snip from Progressive. It doesn't take much of a search to find out I'm right. You'll get hits from attorneys, insurance companies and state web pages.

You are both actually right. Yes, your loan is with the bank and it is YOUR job to buy insurance to properly cover the vehicle in a total loss situation. To rely on our fellow humans to have enough (any) insurance is a BIG mistake. However, the at fault party can be sued for the full value of the vehicle in a total loss, which in theory ONLY would pay for the loss. But, in real life good luck collecting that judgment.

 

[fried1765]

I had them for 30 years. Their prices were ridiculously high when I finally shopped around a dumped them 3 years ago. Had to keep prices down when you advertise in every college and pro football game. Did have great customer service until the end.

I own a 294 year old house in a "hurricane zone"
For quite some time, only LLoyds of London offered affordable coverage.
After years of prodding, USAA FINALLY took my coverage at an affordable rate.
They have covered me there for 3 years to date.
Renewal is due soon.
We shall see what happens!

I do also have their auto coverage.
Customer service is not even close to what it was, when I joined USAA in 1962.

 

[armylifer]

I had them for 30 years. Their prices were ridiculously high when I finally shopped around a dumped them 3 years ago. Had to keep prices down when you advertise in every college and pro football game. Did have great customer service until the end.

USAA has two separate risk pools. One for officers and one for enlisted. The enlisted risk pool is charged higher rates for the same coverage than the officer risk pool is.

 

[The Evil Twin]

I'm not going to belabor the point, in fact I think the whole thing went right over your head, let me re-phrase it so you might be able to understand the hypocrisy I was pointing out:

1. You don't need to have car insurance in VA.

2. If you have the OPTIONAL insurance... YOU MUST have under-insured coverage.

If you don't see the irony in that, I can't help you.

Nothing went over my head, bud. I just don't think you completely understand how insurance works.
1. Correct

2. No. You can have insurance WITHOUT un/ underinsured coverage. It's called LIABILITY only.

If you want "full coverage", then yes, UIMP is required. Irony...maybe. You should have protected yourself against losers anyway. Now you can just adjust your other coverages (collision).

 

[fried1765]

USAA has two separate risk pools. One for officers and one for enlisted. The enlisted risk pool is charged higher rates for the same coverage than the officer risk pool is.

Interesting....
I was not aware of that!
I wonder what risk pool 83 year old former officers fall into?

 

[armylifer]

Interesting....
I was not aware of that!
I wonder what risk pool 83 year old former officers fall into?

According to the customer service representative that I talked to if you were enlisted when you bought coverage you stayed in that risk pool even after retirement or honorable separation from service. The same for the officer risk pool. I found this out when I investigated pricing for insurance for my car's and my home. I was wondering why they were charging me more than they were charging my children and I asked them specifically about that. Both of my children are officers in the army and I was enlisted and retired as enlisted. Because of that I was in the enlisted risk pool and even though I was retired and had a excellent driving record I stayed in that risk pool and could not get into a different rating pool. Didn't make sense to me because my driving record is better than both of my children. Needless to say I did not go with them because they were actually doubled what I was being charged with my current insurer. I tried a couple of times because my children's rates were so much lower than mine but they would not budge even an inch.

 

[fried1765]

According to the customer service representative that I talked to if you were enlisted when you bought coverage you stayed in that risk pool even after retirement or honorable separation from service. The same for the officer risk pool. I found this out when I investigated pricing for insurance for my car's and my home. I was wondering why they were charging me more than they were charging my children and I asked them specifically about that. Both of my children are officers in the army and I was enlisted and retired as enlisted. Because of that I was in the enlisted risk pool and even though I was retired and had a excellent driving record I stayed in that risk pool and could not get into a different rating pool. Didn't make sense to me because my driving record is better than both of my children. Needless to say I did not go with them because they were actually doubled what I was being charged with my current insurer. I tried a couple of times because my children's rates were so much lower than mine but they would not budge even an inch.

Interesting.......
I had no idea that there was a rate difference.

Sadly, none of my 3 children did any military service!
One had a nomination for the USNA, but decided not to pursue it.
I thought about throttling him......

 

[armylifer]

Interesting.......
I had no idea that there was a rate difference.

Sadly, none of my 3 children did any military service!
One had a nomination for the USNA, but decided not to pursue it.
I thought about throttling him......

Your family members including your children and spouse are eligible for USAA Insurance because of your service. I don't know what rape pool they would be put in but it might be worth checking out if they are not already insured by USAA. I used the word rape pool on purpose because we are all getting raped by the insurance companies whether we're getting raped a little or a lot we're still getting raped. Bad attitude on my part I guess.

 

[fried1765]

Your family members including your children and spouse are eligible for USAA Insurance because of your service. I don't know what rape pool they would be put in but it might be worth checking out if they are not already insured by USAA. I used the word rape pool on purpose because we are all getting raped by the insurance companies whether we're getting raped a little or a lot we're still getting raped. Bad attitude on my part I guess.

I think that 2 of my 3 children are currently using USAA for auto insurance.
I absolutely do agree with your "getting raped" assessment,...... by all insurance companies!

 

[tbk5]

When I moved to AL, I got quotes from my existing company (MetLife) and USAA. Both were double the cost of the policy that the previous owner had (Allstate). I went with Allstate for the home, 3 vehicles, umbrella and specific personal property. It has, of course, gone up a little every year.

This year, the home insurance doubled with no explanation! We called our agent 5 times. We were told that someone would call us back. Crickets. We shopped around. We called six different agents and couldn't get a quote or call backs. Independent agents seemed to default to the same carriers and it was expensive.

We got a recommendation for a local State Farm agent from our neighbor's agent. It was a positive experience and we learned a lot. First, our personal property (mainly wifey's jewelry) was not insured properly. Allstate had it as a rider on the home owner's policy thus it was subject to a deductable. State Farm sets it up as a separate policy with no deductable. We were also able to get replacement coverage for the horse trailer. All other coverages were same or better.

At the end of the day, our cost went from $7500 to $3600 for the year! So yes, a good agent matters. It pays to pay attention and shop around.