need help picking car insurance deductibles

[tbomb]

im getting a new policy with a new company when i move next week, and i started looking around for insurance (full coverage.) i need help picking my deductibles - comprehensive and collision. heres one quote i got, for example:

$1232 for a 6 month policy
-$1000 collision and comprehensive deductibles

$1347 for a 6 month policy
-$500 collision and comprehensive deductibles

$1392 for a 6 month policy
-$100 comprehensive and $500 collision deductibles

what do you guys think?

funny thing is, i was paying $1300 for a YEAR policy in PA for full coverage (though i had $1000 collision and comprehensive deductibles), and in NY i pay that much for a half year. sucks.

thanks.

 

[dogfriend]

Ouch. The only good thing about getting older is that your rates will go down eventually.

You really have to consider how much you are willing to have to fork over at one time if you do get into an accident. If you can easily afford $1000 in one shot, then you can save on the 6 mo payment. If that is too much to bear, then you pay the extra so you can have the lower deductable.

One financial planning book I read put it this way: "Don't insure the things you can easily afford to replace, only insure the things that you can't easily afford to replace. Insurance is expensive, don't buy more than you actually need"

 

[Stephen]

Thats the difference when insuring in NJ. Most insurance carriers wont even write policies in NJ, so the companies that are there have a monopoly and rob you blind. i was just talking with my new saleswoman about it, she lives in NJ.

My take on it, I personally would go ahead and get the maximum coverage you listed there. You're looking at another $200 a year to go from $1000 deductibles to $500, my take on it is like dogfriend's don't insure something more than you believe that you'll use it, or than its worth. My thinking about the maximum coverage is because you care so much about the condition of your vehicle, anything that would happen to it under comprehensive (door dings, road rock and stick damage, vandalism) you would definately want fixed right away, so you may as well have the lowest deductable for that type of coverage you can find.

My insurance coverage on the vehicles is $500 collision, $100 comprehensive and I've used the comprehensive several times on each car. The insurance on the Lexus is handled through the office so I dont have any say over it anymore, and I dont know what they have it insured at. I think $500 for both.

 

[jimbo74]

talk about being robbed... if you have a bad record, and need insurane, and are a 20 year old male on a 4x4 truck, insurance is a pain....

i need to get some, quotes i have seen are like $1100-$1400 for 6 months only.... ONLY LIABILITY state minimum....

 

[Stephen]

Its all because he's in NJ, my son's insurance here isn't nearly that bad. His girlfriend (who is from NJ) was telling me last night that her mother who just moved back from PA got a policy for $2,000 a year, and she's a 55 year old woman with a clean driving record.

 

[tripleoption]

Geez, cross NJ off my list of places to move to. I was recently quoted just above 900 per 12 months with both deductibles at a grand each. My girlfriend pays something like 1300 per 12 for her 99 Taurus, but she's got low deductibles. I think they just consider her high risk. It's about time they got it right.

 

[tbomb]

well, actually, those quotes are for NY which is where im moving next saturday, and theyre only slightly better than what typical NJ rates are. luckily, ill be 24 in september, which means 25 isnt far off and my rates will drop. part of the reason those quotes are high is because i still have a decent amount of points lingering on my insurance

stephen, thats a helluva good point. i think ill go with a $100 comprehensive deductible and a $500 collision deductible. im still gonna call a few more places to see how much the quotes vary, but im sure theyll all be pretty close.

thanks for the input guys.

and tripleoption, high car insurance rates is only one of millions of reasons you shouldnt move to NJ. they call it hell's out-house for nothing, heh.

 

[Explorer46L]

I live in Ma and our rates are only behind Jersey. Some companies that won't insure in Jersey won't insure in Ma also. So to save money I have a $1,000 deductible. After very little time it pays for itself. Just make sure to keep some money in your bank account and you should be good.