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What's a good liability amount to have for car insurance?

What's a good liability amount to have for car insurance?

Old Feb 9th, 2011, 09:30 PM
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What's a good liability amount to have for car insurance?

What's a good liability amount to have for car insurance for two drivers and one car in Cleveland, OH? Thanks in advance.
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Old Feb 10th, 2011, 12:32 AM
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Depends on a lot of things - if your car causes damage over the amount of liability to a person or thing, they come after your assets. So if you own nothing, not much. If you have assets to protect, a lot. There is also something called an umbrella policy that covers liability over the amounts on other insurance.
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Old Feb 10th, 2011, 02:57 AM
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Are you judgement proof? that is, if you have no assets, then you can have a very low amount - like $50,000 or so - if that is legal in your state. (Different states have different lower limits, not sure what this is in Ohio.)

If you have assets to protect - you need to be sure you have a reasonable amount that would cover you in case you total an expensive car and cause injuries to driver and passengers. We carry $1 million each - since there are a lot of expensive cars in NYC - and attorneys promoting litigation.

My father was involved in a literal fender bender backing out of a space in a parking lot and the other driver sued for multiple million dollars, claiming he had life-changing neck and back injuries. This was patently untrue, and it isn;t even clear that my father was at any more fault than the other driver (he backed into the front of the other car - not the side). The other driver got in excess of $100,000 in nuisance payments. (My father carried $300,000 at the reco of his agent.)

So if you have assets to protect I would never carry less than $250,000 or so.
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Old Feb 10th, 2011, 06:57 AM
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I also suggest an umbrella policy if you have assets that are not judgement proof. I carry a $3 million dollar umbrella. If you hit a car load of brain surgeons, even $3 million might not cover it but it is a start.
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Old Feb 10th, 2011, 05:47 PM
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First of all, as we always told our insurance clients, never make what limits you carry available to anyone. That just encourages higher liability suits.

If you are sued and the plantiff wins an amount higher than your BI and/or PD limits you could find in the future that you will have a lien put against your future paychecks etc.

Carrying the highest limit available and adding an umbrella policy to your insurance coverage is a very good idea. Do make sure the coverages are with the same insurance company.
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Old Feb 10th, 2011, 06:02 PM
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I do the reverse on advice of agent. Since the umbrella policy is cheaper than the liability on the car, I carry the min liability on the auto policy that meets state requirement and million plus umbrella.
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Old Feb 11th, 2011, 03:06 AM
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Why do so many people ask car insurance questions on this forum? I am honestly curious, not just being snarky.
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Old Feb 11th, 2011, 07:30 AM
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Because how you put together insurance packages is confusing.
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Old Feb 11th, 2011, 08:01 AM
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That may be true, but this is a forum for an exchange of information regarding travel, not an insurance advice forum.
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Old Feb 11th, 2011, 08:43 AM
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This thread should be in the Lounge actually.

I am in CA and consequently have no knowledge about the requirements for other states but here an insured is required to carry a certain amount of liability on their auto policy for BI and PD and it is way more compared to the minimum the State of CA requires. And if one has a Homeowners or Renters Homeowners one must carry a certain amount of liability coverage under the Section 11 portion of the policy.

But what the OP needs to do is to talk to an insurance agent or insurance company of course.
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Old Feb 14th, 2011, 04:09 AM
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I was planning to go for much lower but now you’ve all set me thinking. How does I million liability and one million umbrella look like?
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Old Feb 14th, 2011, 07:05 AM
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You need to talk to some agents in your area. Obviously the cost will depend on a whole variety of factors - including your driving record, the type of car you have and where you live.
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