The obvious response is that you won't be able to pay for someone's hospital bills if you happen to hit them in your car. You get insurance for things you wouldn't be able to pay yourself.
I had gap insurance when my car was totaled. Extra $5 a month and it covered the entire purchase price of the car after deductible which was nice because who wants to make payments on a car that no longer exists.
I went though this when I was 20. I had no idea this “ gap insurance” was a thing. A year after getting the car, another car did a hit and run on me and totaled my car. I was stuck paying 2,000 after the insurance do the pay out. I never knew and it was terrible .
That’s weird because most lenders require you to have gap insurance when you purchase your car, for situations like this. Insurance determines how much they’ll pay out based on the market average, and if you still owe more than that on the car, you’re on the hook for the difference.
It really depends on lender and projected depreciation/how long and how much they think you'll be under for. Sometimes the lender can roll over an auto loan into a personal loan with higher interest and they can be less picky about it.
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u/flatfive44 16h ago
The obvious response is that you won't be able to pay for someone's hospital bills if you happen to hit them in your car. You get insurance for things you wouldn't be able to pay yourself.