Public Service Announcement. Check your insurance limits.

[Irving]

Guys and gals, I occasionally come across claims where people run into their limits on their auto insurance. I really encourage you to raise your liability limits to whatever you can comfortably afford. I'd like to generate some discussion on what liability limits people carry and WHY. The state minimum from property damage in Colorado is $15,000. That's pretty low. Shockingly, the state minimum in California is only $5,000.

Anyway, on to some examples of property damage limits and where having low limits can get you into trouble. Please remember that there are many more things to run into than just vehicles when you are driving. Super cars may be rare, but all the other things are not.

$25,000 is low when you rear-end a 53' straight deck cattle hauler and put it out of commission for 3 months. It might only take $10,000 in parts to repair, but there is also the downtime and lost income (for both the business and employee) to consider.

$50,000 is low when you let your rental car roll into a Beachcraft King Air 200. <- go ahead and check the current sales prices on those, even if you go back 10-15 years in model year).

$100,000 in property damage is getting up there, until you black out behind the wheel and drive through a red light, hit a car, jump the curb and make contact with not one, but TWO houses.

$100,000 is the most common coverage amount I see. What happens when while driving on the highway, you bounce off a car on your left, collide with a semi-truck on your right, the semi-truck loses control off the shoulder on the right and impacts an elevated railroad track, flipping and totalling the truck, destroying ALL the time sensitive cargo in the full trailer, not to mention the damage to the railroad tracks?

Like I said before, there are a lot more things to crash into that cost a whole lot more than just an expensive car. For full disclosure, I almost never have limits issues, and I usually don't even think about a limits issue when someone carries at least $100,000, but stuff can, and does happen, and you don't want to get yourself in a bad spot if you can avoid it.

I'm not trying to come off as a shill or anything, I just really feel bad when I have to break the news to someone that the damage they've caused is beyond what I can pay for. I know I sure as heck wouldn't know what to do in that situation. Just something to consider.

[Teufelhund]

Good advice.

I'll throw in my $0.02 and say take a look at your home owners insurance coverage as well. When our house was robbed last year, we found out the hard way that the wife's jewelry was only covered up to $500. Who the fuck has less than $500 in jewelry?

[Irving]

Good advice.

I'll throw in my $0.02 and say take a look at your home owners insurance coverage as well. When our house was robbed last year, we found out the hard way that the wife's jewelry was only covered up to $500. Who the fuck has less than $500 in jewelry?

Can't believe I forgot about this. Unscheduled items like jewelry and guns come with a cap, just like the above example. I believe the common cap on firearms is $2,000 if you do not have them scheduled. You guys don't know anyone with more than $2,000 worth of guns do you?

Scheduling is where you list each item on a separate endorsement. Call your agent and ask for more details. If you don't have an agent, get one you like and get to know them.

[jerrymrc]

Can't believe I forgot about this. Unscheduled items like jewelry and guns come with a cap, just like the above example. I believe the common cap on firearms is $2,000 if you do not have them scheduled. You guys don't know anyone with more than $2,000 worth of guns do you?

Scheduling is where you list each item on a separate endorsement. Call your agent and ask for more details. If you don't have an agent, get one you like and get to know them.

Yep. "sporting goods" are all lumped into one. I added a rider years ago.

[Irving]

That's great advice, but I'm not as well versed in that area. A lot of specific contents categories like Jewelry, guns, tools, etc top out at $2,000 unless a special rider is purchased. I've been hearing that a lot of people are underinsured on their contents coverage lately. This puts you in a pretty tough position if you have a total loss, or even just a large loss from a fire. Contents are tough because you don't really have a list of all the things you own. Just take a moment and try to make a quick mental list of every single item you have in the smallest room in your house. Now do that for your entire house. Oh you had a TV? What size? What brand? What model? A lot of us might know that info for their favorite stuff like the big TV, or the computer, but what about the microwave and the toaster? Heck I can't tell you a single brand of any appliance I even have, even the ones I've installed myself. It seems hokey, but it's not a bad idea to do a quick video inventory walk through of your house occasionally. I've never done that before, but it is so simple to do, I really have no excuse for not having done so.

[HoneyBadger]

That's great advice, but I'm not as well versed in that area. A lot of specific contents categories like Jewelry, guns, tools, etc top out at $2,000 unless a special rider is purchased. I've been hearing that a lot of people are underinsured on their contents coverage lately. This puts you in a pretty tough position if you have a total loss, or even just a large loss from a fire. Contents are tough because you don't really have a list of all the things you own. Just take a moment and try to make a quick mental list of every single item you have in the smallest room in your house. Now do that for your entire house. Oh you had a TV? What size? What brand? What model? A lot of us might know that info for their favorite stuff like the big TV, or the computer, but what about the microwave and the toaster? Heck I can't tell you a single brand of any appliance I even have, even the ones I've installed myself. It seems hokey, but it's not a bad idea to do a quick video inventory walk through of your house occasionally. I've never done that before, but it is so simple to do, I really have no excuse for not having done so.

Something I started doing last year after I saw several friends and co-workers lose their homes in the Black Forest fire: digitally document EVERYTHING. Take a few hours to make or acquire digital copies of all your important documents: driver's license, passports, social security cards, birth certificates, marriage certificate, other important IDs or documentation, etc. You can even go as far as to scan all your big ticket receipts so you have records of all of it for insurance. Then walk around your house with a digital camera and open every single drawer and cabinet and take a picture of EVERYTHING you own, including as much detail as possible, even serial numbers or product numbers if applicable. Go buy a couple of 32GB SD cards (or however big you need) and put it all on one SD card, then make a backup. Encrypt them and give the backup to a trusted family member or good friend to keep in their safe.

[Graves]

I sure as hell didn't waste more than $500 on blang.

[ruthabagah]

Good post. Also to consider, your medical coverage if you, let say, have a motorcycle accident not imvolving a 3rd party, is usually 5k by default... my first hour of emergency care after my accident was 37k.... including a 1k, 3 miles, ambulance ride!

[TFOGGER]

Good post. Also to consider, your medical coverage if you, let say, have a motorcycle accident not imvolving a 3rd party, is usually 5k by default... my first hour of emergency care after my accident was 37k.... including a 1k, 3 miles, ambulance ride!

Your wreck was cheap. In mine, they had spent nearly 50k by the time I got to the ICU, and another 60ish before I got out of the hospital 4 days later. Total medical from that incident has topped $122K. Because I had decent insurance, my total out of pocket on medical was about $700.

I carry policy limits of 50/100/300 on the cars for liability, considered upping them, just to be safe.

[ruthabagah]

Your wreck was cheap. In mine, they had spent nearly 50k by the time I got to the ICU, and another 60ish before I got out of the hospital 4 days later. Total medical from that incident has topped $122K. Because I had decent insurance, my total out of pocket on medical was about $700.

I carry policy limits of 50/100/300 on the cars for liability, considered upping them, just to be safe.

37k was for the first hour....I spend 11 days in the hospital... final bill will be close to 250k when I am done with PT. Totally my fault for not checking / understanding medical coverage limit on my Car Insurance and having to rely on my healthcare coverage.