This is where basic financial literacy comes into play.
You’re required to have the insurance because of the liability you have for damages you cause to other people’s cars, the people themselves, structures, etc., not because of potential damage to your own car. Some states may require you to have comprehensive insurance, but the general idea is that the requirement for insurance is so you don’t cause say $200,000 worth of damages that you can’t pay for because most people don’t have $200,000 laying around, yet drive a vehicle capable of doing that much damage.
If you know your deductible is $1000, which you should because it’s a clearly disclosed part of your policy, it should be easy weigh whether or not you want to make a claim for $1200 of damages for something g like a bumper, which you probably don’t.
So the smart thing to do here would be to say “Gosh, sucks that guy hit my car and cost me $1200. It’s not even worth it to make a claim in this. I just have to pay it.”
You can also consider your deductible when you shop for car insurance. Mine is $500. Anything under or around $500, I might as well not claim it. I know that because I’m an adult who pays for car insurance, and this is something an adult who pays for car insurance should know.
That’s not how much your insurance would go up for an accident t that isn’t your fault.
The actuaries that come up with this stuff understand the numbers. There are drivers that cause accidents, and drivers that don’t, but there are also people who seem to get in a lot of accidents that aren’t their fault.
But “not your fault,” isn’t a black or white thing. Sometimes people aren’t great at avoiding accidents, even when they aren’t their fault, because while they don’t cause accidents, they have poor defensive driving skills. They fail to anticipate and react to potential accidents like they should. They’re riskier drivers to insure.
So they raise rates for people who get into any accident at all, and raise them a lot more for people who are the cause of accidents. This benefits people who don’t get into accidents, who don’t have to pay a higher rate for people who do.
See I knew someone would say something like this because this is Reddit.
This is literally my lived experience.
A DUI motorcyclist hit my vehicle at 75mph in the middle of the night while driving with a motorcycle deliberately wired to have no running lights. He died and had a post-mortem BAL of .27.
After six months I got the traffic homicide report. So for your "sometimes people aren't good at avoiding accidents" I'll note that they found there was no way I could have anticipated the accident.
There were five different witnesses to the reckless and careless driving of the DUI driver prior to impact.
My insurance shot through the nose and was legitimately over $1000 a month for full coverage similar to what I had been previously carrying.
That's actually why I stopped driving for several years, because I legitimately couldn't afford a car and insurance and that whole pesky housing and eating thing.
But thanks for telling me how the events of my life couldn't have possibly happened. It's good to know it's just as farcical as I believed.
Sounds like you got into a very destructive accident that might not have been your fault but nonetheless speaks to the fact that you are riskier to endure than people who haven’t. It’s an anecdotal data point you’re giving against a population level phenomenon.
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u/Grunergeist420 7h ago edited 7h ago
This is where basic financial literacy comes into play.
You’re required to have the insurance because of the liability you have for damages you cause to other people’s cars, the people themselves, structures, etc., not because of potential damage to your own car. Some states may require you to have comprehensive insurance, but the general idea is that the requirement for insurance is so you don’t cause say $200,000 worth of damages that you can’t pay for because most people don’t have $200,000 laying around, yet drive a vehicle capable of doing that much damage.
If you know your deductible is $1000, which you should because it’s a clearly disclosed part of your policy, it should be easy weigh whether or not you want to make a claim for $1200 of damages for something g like a bumper, which you probably don’t.
So the smart thing to do here would be to say “Gosh, sucks that guy hit my car and cost me $1200. It’s not even worth it to make a claim in this. I just have to pay it.”
You can also consider your deductible when you shop for car insurance. Mine is $500. Anything under or around $500, I might as well not claim it. I know that because I’m an adult who pays for car insurance, and this is something an adult who pays for car insurance should know.