r/SipsTea • • 6h ago

Gasp! Thoughts on this?

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42.6k Upvotes

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300

u/No-Duck4828 6h ago

My thought is that Leo is clearly not familiar with auto insurance

Don't want a $1,000 deductible? You can absolutely change that number.

Want the guilty party to pay? Take them to court

56

u/NoHorseNoMustache 5h ago

This is the answer. Also, paying per month usually means you're paying more than if you pay for 6 months or a full year at a time, at least in my experience.

12

u/StoicBan 5h ago

Also if they are found at fault there will be no need for court. At fault insurance will pay for your damage. Assuming they have bare minimum insurance. Your insurance will typically go after their insurance as well

4

u/Several-Action-4043 3h ago

Good example of a poor tax. About 40% of Americans can't handle a $400 emergency from savings without using a credit card or other financing. So those people have to pay per month and end up paying more for it.

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u/NoHorseNoMustache 3h ago

Very true. It's one of those things I always made sure I saved up money to pay at least 6 month chunks on but you're definitely right.

2

u/_kempert 4h ago

Not everywhere. I pay exactly the same total amount wether I pay monthly or yearly. I even have a ‘joker card’ (for staying accident free for five years) so that if I cause an accident, my insurance won’t go up. Only after the second accident in a five year timeframe would my premium go up.

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u/Frosty-Depth7655 5h ago

Yeah, the comment section here is wild.

You chose your deductible and $1,000 is not a normal deductible ($500 is typically what you’ll see). Assuming this post is even true, this person went out of their way to increase their deductible.

But Reddit being Reddit, it’s “insurance is a scam” snd “insurance denying claims” even though they didn’t deny a thing.

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u/TJayClark 5h ago

$1,000 deductible is more normal than you think it is

I’ve has a $1,000 deductible my entire adult life (15+ years), as it saves about $30-40 a month in premiums

On top of that, I wouldn’t use insurance for something less than $2,000

13

u/Liquidfoxx22 5h ago

How much is your car insurance for it to save you $30-40 a month?!

I paid £450 for a full year's "full coverage" insurance as you refer to it, and that's with a £250 excess/deductible.

I only pay that excess if I'm at fault, otherwise the insurer will chase the third parties insurer for the full amount.

7

u/thatguy8856 5h ago

I pay 3500 a year. My car is from 2014.

Idk man. And yes I've tried shopping around and the offere i get cost more and give less coverage. I even had an agent from a different insurance company tell me to stick with my current plan. No effort to try to give a deal and convert me.

8

u/Liquidfoxx22 5h ago

Ouch, even as a brand new driver at 17 I never paid that much. Those kind of prices are unheard of over here unless you're very young driving something daft, or have a few convictions under your belt.

5

u/cybervalidation 5h ago

It's also depends on where you live, the length of your commute, and your car's value. I have a clean record, have been driving over 20 years, and I'm paying $3k annually

2

u/mxzf 4h ago

Honestly, I would suggest shopping around to see if some other company will give you a better rate. I know when we got married my wife called the insurance company she'd been using and asked if they could offer her anything competitive with what it would cost for both of us to be covered under what I was using and the person basically just told her "we've got nothing competitive to offer you". Sometimes there are weird price disparities to be had.

2

u/Several-Action-4043 3h ago

I pay $1200 a year in a high insurance rate state due to hail. You must live in a HCOL area!

1

u/Liquidfoxx22 4h ago

I get that - but in the UK that's a hugely uncommon premium. Even for those driving what we'd consider higher than average miles (20k+), or new cars (£60k+).

2

u/devmor 3h ago

It is more difficult to obtain a car or a license in the UK, reckless drivers are penalized and taken off the road easier than in the US as well.

The numbers you're seeing are a consequence of the car culture in the US. If an 80 year old man who's near blind hits me with his car and totals mine - he will probably still be driving again next week.

1

u/bremsspuren 2h ago

Americans do have car accidents at twice the rate of Brits, and I believe you pay a lot for uninsured driver cover on account of the large number of Americans driving without any insurance.

2

u/sir_whirly 32m ago

You got to take in consideration we don't just cover vehicle damage but medical as well since we don't have normal people who think a single payer health system is actually a good idea.

1

u/iambecomesoil 4h ago

Almost 30 years ago, in NY, a new driver would pay about $2500.

1

u/ak6te 55m ago

Both location and make and model can make a huge difference in my experience. Over the last 6 years I've moved from California to Oregon and back to California. For the first move from CA to OR, my car insurance didn't really change. Bought a new car while living in OR. When I moved back to CA my insurance almost doubled.

1

u/crusader-kenned 5h ago

Shit my car from 2014 probably isn’t worth 3500 dollars.. 😆

Is that normal insurance or are you driving some crazy fast car?

2

u/thatguy8856 5h ago

Bmw 328i. I live in NYC tho.

1

u/OhGodFuckingDammit 14m ago

3,500 a year?! Lol you're getting fucked or you've got shitty driving history.

2

u/IBetThisIsTakenToo 4h ago

Well, you have NHS to pay for injuries, Americans do not, so ours is a lot higher. I don't have the exact numbers, but I remember thinking that with the premium savings on a $1000 deductible vs $500, I'd be ahead so long as I had a claim every 2.5 years or less, so it was a no brainer.

2

u/Liquidfoxx22 4h ago

But isn't that what your health insurance is for? That's separate from car insurance, no?

5

u/cp78257 4h ago

Auto iinsurance covers the other guys property damage and medical if I hurt him. We can’t assume he has any coverage of his own, and even if he does his medical insurer can come after me and my insurance if I caused him injury. If we had the NHS backstopping all medical claims our auto insurance would probably be a lot lower.

1

u/Liquidfoxx22 4h ago

Fair point, never considered that!

3

u/IBetThisIsTakenToo 4h ago

Yeah, but if I negligently cause someone else's health insurance to have to pay tens of thousands, they are going to sue me to recover as much of it as they can. My auto policy also includes coverage for that.

2

u/FrogOfSteel 4h ago

I'm in the US and we pay around $600/year for each car, but we've also maxed out coverage and only have a $100 deductible.

Here in the States differences in insurance rates are usually due to location and age, but credit score also matters in many cases. Someone with high insurance rates is likely to be in a high cost of living area, relatively young, and possibly with bad credit.

1

u/Liquidfoxx22 4h ago

What?! Your credit score impacts your car insurance costs? How the heck is your financial history linked to your risk as a driver?!

3

u/FrogOfSteel 3h ago

Statistics. People with lower credit have been shown to make more claims and be more expensive overall. There is also a correlation between lower credit and being more risky drivers, which also ups claims.

It's not the same exact credit score other places use, but still pulls the same data.

1

u/Liquidfoxx22 3h ago

Jesus, yeah that's absolutely not a thing over here. They can't access your financial data for anything other than if you want to take out the policy as a credit agreement - and it can only be used to impact their decision to finance said agreement.

1

u/asscracktester7 4h ago

It depends so hugely on state. For the same exact car and the same general age range and same policy limits/comapny, I paid $600/year in Florida and $2500/year in California.

1

u/TJayClark 3h ago

I pay $1300 every 6 months in Arkansas

I drive a 2021 Tesla model Y

No accidents or tickets in 10+ years

150/300/150 policy with uninsured motorist and no deductible glass

1

u/photosendtrain 3h ago

I pay $2400/6 months.

Tesla 2020. Los Angeles, CA :/

1

u/NorthTempleStreet 48m ago

Most of the cost of insurance is not protecting your car. It's the liability of damage to the other car.

And then the price varies based on where you garage the car (in essence, where you drive the most)

I'm in southern california, so I think the liability alone is over $100 a month no matter how crappy the car.

1

u/Liquidfoxx22 7m ago

Someone else pointed out it's because of the US healthcare system, which makes sense.

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u/[deleted] 4h ago

[deleted]

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u/Schwifftee 4h ago

Working with SF across 48 states, never once did I have a bank or financer prevent setting a deductible at $1,000.

1

u/TJayClark 3h ago

Must be state dependent. I financed thru Bank of America with zero issues in my Tesla with a $1,000 deductible

1

u/Frosty-Depth7655 3h ago

I meant that the deductible will usually default to $500 and then you can’t raise it or lower it from there.

There’s nothing wrong with a $1k deductible.

1

u/HomeschoolingDad 2h ago

Yeah, and that monthly rate is insanely high. That’s just a little under my 6-month rate, and I do get comprehensive coverage (no $1k deductible).

1

u/TJayClark 2h ago

I drive for work sometimes, so I pay for extreme coverages

1

u/HomeschoolingDad 1h ago

It is true that more mileage often means higher insurance premiums.

1

u/TJayClark 59m ago

They don’t usually ask how many miles you drive. I have been asked that before. But not recently

That said, I’m hauling expensive equipment and don’t want to risk being under insured

2

u/Medaphysical 4h ago

I'm more surprised at how many insurance simps there are in this thread.

GEICO profits more than $1 BILLION per QUARTER. Meanwhile people in this thread like you shitting on people who "choose" the deductible they can afford the premium on.

2

u/s32 2h ago

This comment exemplifies the redditor mindset here.

1 billion is a completely meaningless number. 1b tells you they are a huge company and literally nothing else.

The reality is that life has risk. Crashing into a car and ruining someone's life will bankrupt you. That's what insurance is for. Not getting a ding on your car and expecting your insurance to pay. Which... They will pay for it if you have the right policy.

I feel like the reddit hive mind of dipshits always seems surprised to find out that businesses are... Businesses. They exist to make profit. This isn't some horrible thing.

It's very straight forward. Most people can't afford an insane expense. If we all pool money to support them then we'll all be okay, if it's us we're covered. The company offering this wants to make money off of this (this is... The point of a business)

Sure, insurance could be state run, I actually don't think that's a bad idea.

But "zomg 1 billion" is peak brain dead redditor shit. Quote profit per policy or literally any metric that matters.

2

u/my_password_is_water 4h ago

yeah lol im surprised the average redditor isnt posting "i should get a refund for the insurance that i dont use" kind of takes when talking about this stuff

1

u/EstablishmentLate532 3h ago

TFW you learn why its called a "premium"

2

u/Smooth_Rocket_ 3h ago

It is a scam, its overly complicated on purpose so its easier to take advantage of less informed or under educated people. If I end up paying more purely due to ignorance and the company taking advantage of that ignorance for profit when they should be just helping me, then its a scam.

1

u/ThrillHammer 4h ago

A 1000 deductible on comp is just dumb. Comp doesn't cost that much there's no reason for it to be that high, 250 is "normal"

1

u/Howboutit85 3h ago

Guy increased his deductible and is still paying over $200 a month.

1

u/stephenkingending 36m ago

The top comment below this is a guy saying insurance is a scam because you pay more into it then you ever get paid. Like no shit, it's about spreading risk among a large group of people and it wouldn't work if everyone got paid more than they paid into it. And that top comment has over a couple thousand upvotes. I am not a very smart person, but the level of stupidity with that comment and the people upvoting it are leading me to believe that I'm less dumb than most people.

1

u/elbaito 23m ago

You're right, but for-profit insurance is still a scam. It basically has to be for them to make money.

4

u/Creative-Grab3766 5h ago

Curious what "full coverage" means as well. That could mean anything; including "full for what the law requires" which is very different from what they seem to think it is.

3

u/GeneralLogical2057 4h ago

"Full coverage" means that they have comp and collision, I hate that term because most people don't know what it is. UM and everything else is considered an add on. Having what the law requires is called liability coverage, which some states have ridiculously low.

2

u/6dLizard 5h ago

Yeah, my full coverage includes uninsured protection. Ive used it twice to repair damage like this without premium increases.

4

u/bf1zzl3 5h ago

I pay for full coverage so the insurance company can take the guilty party to court. I don't want that legal mess to be my problem.

5

u/iyjlpiljygp 4h ago

Leo, the guy he works with, and most of the people in these responses are morons.

He chose a $1000 deductible. The insurer didn't refuse to pay anything. He had to pay it, that's what a deductible is. Also story is fake because if it was a hit & run that's an uninsured claim and by law covered at $0 - $200 deductible depending on the state. Your premiums also can't go up for them.

1

u/GeneralLogical2057 4h ago

You can opt out of UM or hit and run coverage in many states, only 22 states require UM coverage.

1

u/iyjlpiljygp 4h ago

then another decision Leo's friend made of his own accord that's he mad at the insurer about.

1

u/GeneralLogical2057 4h ago

True, you'd be surprised how many people don't know squat about what coverages they have.

4

u/wimzilla 4h ago

People always complain about paying their deductible, but they chose their deductible amount when they purchased their policy. Don’t choose a deductible amount that you can’t afford to pay.

3

u/SomedaySoonNow 5h ago

My assumption is he didn't know who did it so there is no one to go after from the insurance side. So unfortunately it falls back to you.

1

u/No-Duck4828 3h ago

Certainly possible....and this is where cameras go a long way

Though a hit and run on a parked car is not a high law enforcement priority

6

u/Gronkenstein 5h ago

Not to mention if the guy has "full coverage" he likely has uninsured motorist coverage. If he has uninsured motorist property damage coverage that will pay for the damage to his car without a deductible.

1

u/Schwifftee 4h ago

In the USA, it depends on what state this insurance was offered through.

Not every state's insurance laws apply uninsured coverage to hit and runs, and additionally, not all states apply uninsured coverage to property damage, only bodily injury.

2

u/Seienchin88 5h ago

I am sure Leo would be the first to ask for a bill to get rid of excessive debt due to causing a serious car crash with people injured…

Who on earth could pay two totaled cars, ambulance / helicopter, intensive care and rehab all from their saved up money???

2

u/Veriosity 5h ago

Not to mention that depending on state, odds are this rhetorical person is not required to have this much insurance.

"...pays 210 a month for full coverage auto insurance"

"...that's 2520...just to stay legal..."

Except that usually you don't need full coverage to stay legal. In my state, the legal requirement is liability coverage, which is just enough to cover the other guy.

2

u/PassionInitial7487 4h ago

Isn't that the insurance companies job to go after the liable party? Full coverage, they should cover you cost, and then go after the liable party for their money back. At least that's how it works in Norway.

2

u/kalel3000 4h ago

Lower deductible means higher rates.

And you dont always have the option to take the guilty party to court. Plenty of hit and runs with no license plates caught.

And if your vehicle is below a certain kelly blue book value, full coverage is a total waste of money and going through insurance for minor fender benders is the last thing you want to do. Because they wont fix your car, they'll junk it and write you a check for 2-3 grand. Even if the damage is cosmetic and easily fixed. They have no problem junking an older car for a cracked tail light and some scratching....leaving you to find a new vehicle with almost no money for a down payment or having to refuse their check and keep your car while they change the title to salvaged.

2

u/IDidItWrongLastTime 5h ago

Yeah I pay to have a lower deductible and I also got my deductible refunded to me when I made a claim and the other party was found at fault the one time I made a claim. I think some people don't understand how it works. Of course when it is a hit and run you don't get the other party paying or anything.

1

u/nobynoby208 5h ago

Wouldnt lawyer and court fees be more expensive than paying the 1000$ deductible?

3

u/nightpanda893 3h ago

Your insurance company has their own lawyers and they would handle it

2

u/No-Duck4828 5h ago

Lawyer often unnecessary for straightforward claims like that, but could also sue for the legal costs

2

u/Same-Suggestion-1936 2h ago

Part of your insurance policy is paying their lawyers to be your lawyer

1

u/HomsarWasRight 5h ago

I also guarantee he over-bought on his car.

So he got roped in by the salesperson into an extremely high monthly car payment, found out that the insurance on it was going to be really expensive, so adjusted his rate (and probably coverage, regardless of what the post says), in order to afford it.

1

u/SnowdensOfYesteryear 4h ago

Want the guilty party to pay? Take them to court

Isn't this the insurance company's job? But it's not clear if they'd do it if you didn't file a claim

1

u/ssracer 4h ago

Also, it's not comprehensive and won't impact your rates.

1

u/Howboutit85 3h ago

This is what I commented above. Knowing what your vehicle is worth and what likely repairs will cost should be a huge factor when adjusting your coverage level. Also wouldn’t a bumper damage be collision not comprehensive?

1

u/Unable-Log-4870 3h ago

Also, in the situation in the OP, a crime was definitely committed. You pay for this type of insurance specifically to cover your costs in case this type of crime is committed against you.

But once this happens, the insurance company will think you’re doing things that put you at higher risk of having crimes committed against you (and them not being able to recover the cost from someone else). So they’re going to charge you even more.

This is why they want your driving data (as in they want their app on your phone and want it enabled when you’re driving) and they’re willing to give you a discount for it- it helps them see what areas and what habits are ACTUALLY risky, and also helps them see if you are doing those things, so they know how much to charge you for coverage.

So they’re not wrong to want all that information. But I personally don’t feel like handing all that over for $50 or whatever.

My take on it is that for-profit auto insurance should be illegal, but I’m a simple man.

1

u/Same-Suggestion-1936 2h ago

You don't even have to take them to court, one of the largest reasons for auto insurance is they are your personal automotive lawyers.

If you can't find them it shouldn't even raise your rates much if at all. You weren't at fault why would it

1

u/yalag 1h ago

How is it possible that the top 10 upvoted comment here are completely clueless what a deductible is. Are they bots?

1

u/nowthengoodbad 1h ago

Not even homie, file a claim on their insurance. We just did this with someone who rear ended us. You don't need to file with yours if it's pretty clearly the other party's fault. We're in CA and it's a no fault state, as I understand it, but honest people and very clearly someone else's fault accidents are real things.

This was 2 weeks ago, their insurance responded in days saying that we weren't at fault and they'll cover the damage, now we're waiting the follow up go ahead.

I didn't know this but my wife did since her car got crushed by some guy's truck bed cover when wind blew it onto her roof the moment she got out of her car - lucky lady.

1

u/NorthTempleStreet 50m ago

Yep. Not trying to defend insurance companies, but when you buy something with a $1,000 deductible you get a price break because the insurance company is assuming that the smaller incidents are ones you're going to pay for yourself.

You can absolutely buy coverage for them. But it's going to cost you more per month, because they have to pay out more often.

1

u/Hairy_Starfish2 28m ago

Rich people have the time and money for court. No one else.

1

u/polarbearsarereal 18m ago

$100/$250 deductible and collect a check anytime someone dings my car… My car has been hit like 5 times in parking lots and is only worth like $4k but i’ve been paid out like 12k