SAVAGEJIM

Actually, if you get sued, having an insurance company is still just as useless. I said so in post #15

And you said so also in your reply in post #17
So sued or not, that insurance will only cover tops what the coverage is, and under self insuracne, likewise, that only covers tops what you have in the bank. You still have to pay the difference. Bottom line, similar to like you said, if you want more coverage, you have to have more money in the bank just like you would have to pay more for more coverage from the insurance company.

By going the insurance company route, you are very much most likely to lose more money. That is how the insurance mathematical statisticians (called actuaries) calculate it. Otherwise, insurance companies would not even bother if they would lose money over numbers of policies and over time.

The vast majority of Americans purchase the only minimum legal requirements. Mostly because insurance is expensive for too many reasons, but also for the attitude they share as I do; we essentially hate gambling on something we are forced (because laws requires to) and this game does not yield any chance of hitting a jackpot (unless you fraud the insurance company, which itself is illegal too).

The Hedgehog

100% wrong. You said if you got cheap cheap insurance it wont cover everything. That's because you got cheap insurance you got cheap coverage.

Your arguments are way out there.

If I it someone in the winter by skidding on ice (since you are a very very very safe driver ice can still be tricky), and I get sued for 300k, guess what I am covered, because I buy insurance to cover me in situations like this.

By all your arguments, any time of insurance is just a waste of money, but it's just that insurance.

SAVAGEJIM

I will have to read the policy you have to see how you get . If your policy will cover $300K, that is your policy coverage that your policy has.

If your policy will cover more than the coverage amount you pay for, I really have to see what your policy has in writing and compare that to your premium and the factors that insurance actuaries consider before they sell such a policy to you.

Maybe you have a combined policy like home, auto, and others batched together. This is a tactic insurance companies use now. So, the loss leader policy migt be auto, but they make up for it by subsidizing from your other policies that you most likely would never make a claim on, probably your home policy for example.

DaveG55

Jim, you are wrong about being limited to the amount of money you have in the bank. If you are sued and lose the courts can award everything that you own to satisfy the judgement. They can require that everything you own be sold and put toward the judgement and can even go so far as to lien/garnish future wages. There may be some kind of limit to allow you an amount of income to live on but how much varies between judge and jurisdiction.


Of course that could apply to self insured or the amount over the policy coverage as well.

Lightfoot

My Feedback: (1)

I got sued for $100K because of a traffic accident. My son-in-law was driving my truck and pulled out in front of a railroad truck. The driver of the other truck said he wasn't hurt but later filed a suit against my son-in-law and his lawyer had me added to the suit because it was my vehicle and my insurance. We won the case because my lawyer was able to prove that he had no injuries as a result of the accident but he still had the court rule that I was responsible for court costs. I now have to pay almost $1000 to the court because that isn't covered by my insurance.

Basically, an insurance policy is customized to suit the needs of the policy holder by letting him determine the level of liability that he wants to be covered. The maximum retribution allowed for a suit is determined by state law. A policy holder takes a gamble if he choses to insure for less. In most cases that amount is more than adequate but in some cases, an injured party may be awarded several million dollars and no insurance company will cover the full amount.

Insurance does nothing more that keep the policy holder from losing everything he owns if he is sued. In current society, too many people are looking for a way to get rich quick even at the expense of a fellow citizen. They don't care where the money comes from or how hard someone has had to work for that money. They just want their part even though they don't deserve it. We have to protect ourselves from those people, such as the one who sued me, and the only way we can do that is to keep ourselves over-insured.

The Hedgehog

Sorry I am not going to send you a copy of my insurance policy in writing.

Lunchboxer

I guess.. I will post.. just one more time.. for sure.. the insurance company is there to make money.. like every other companies.. and the chance of you needing the coverage is small.. so your expected value is low.. I think we all agree on that..

The key is that one in a million event.. would you be willing to take the risk, of losing everything you own.. so you can save some money up front..

Also, to set aside, say, $300k, in cash or liquid investment, is mostly not a possibility for most..

It is probably okay if one has nothing to lose.. but imagine if you have a few houses, a family, kids, and the moment that you are sued, your family is going to lose the house and such... that might make you re-think about the strategy. Maybe..

Regarding the "you still have to pay whatever that's not covered".. in that case, I suggest up the coverage, if you don't feel comfortable... I know my dad always have 1 million+ of coverage on his cars.. and he drives pretty beat up cars.. it is there "just in case"..

warheadforever

Insurance companies work in a 4 step proses.

Step one Take your money,
Step two Run,
Step three Take more money,
Step four Run again.

larryf333

My Feedback: (2)

Over here, if someone breaks into your house and you kill them, it's okay. If they got the gonads to enter my home, without my permission, then they deserve what they get. Just like sex offenders, they should have their junk cut off and have to pee through a tiny tube. I bet the amount of sex crimes you hear about would drastically decrease after that.