zero Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 I got a big surprise yesterday and that got me thinking about RV insurance. Yesterday while on the way to grocery shopping with my wife, little kid, and dog - some guy came down the road the wrong way, in the wrong lane and was heading straight for us. I cut the wheel to the right, drove off the road on to the grass and the idiot still hit us. As least I avoided a head-on collision. This on the front lawn of the Michigan State Police barracks. Here's my surprise. I've been driving for near 50 years and never, ever, had collision insurance. Just the mandated liability insurance. My mindset being I drive well enough that if I ever got into an accident, it would be the other driver's fault and his/her insurance would have to pay for damage to my vehicle. That's the way it was when I lived in NY, NJ, and VT. Note that I also never buy new vehicles. Total waste of money as I see it. I rarely drive anything with a value of more then $4000. Found out yesterday as a new Michigan resident that liability insurance does NOT pay for damage to someone else's vehicle. So my Dodge van is wrecked, 100% the fault of the other driver. His insurance has to pay me NOTHING. By Michigan law, I am allowed to take him to small claims court and ask for no more then $1000. Even if I had been driving a $50,000 car, it would be the same. So, this is HUGE news to me. I did not reallize anywhere in the USA was like this. Has me wondering now why Michigan insurance is so damn expensive (twice what it is in New York) considering the coverage is so limited. This now has me thinking of RV insurance. My RVs are likely more valuable then any car or truck I drive. All I have is bare-bones liability insurance. Now I'm wondering if collision is worth having on an RV that's 30 years old (or more). Here's what our van looks like now. I had to climb out the passenger side. Pickup truck in the distance is the one that hit us with no driver visible. He seemed to be leaning over, or sleeping. I though maybe some old geezer had a heart attack. Ends up is a kid, teenager or early 20s. Cops would not let me even get near him so I don't even know his name or if he even owned the truck. State Police want to charge me $10 to get that information and ordered me to get away from the idiot and stay by my van. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shibs Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 JDE, Welcome to MI, the land of NO FAULT insurance. Biggest scam on earth. His flipping insurance will ONLY pay for your deductible. What you should do is get a lawyer and sue for bodily injury. Also make sure that guy does not drive again, probably drunk, on drugs.... Sorry about your van. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linda s Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 Glad your family is OK but man that insurance thing is wacked. Insurance companies must love Michigan. Charge the max but be responsible for very little. How did something like this ever get approved by the state. I just dropped the collision on my Explorer cause it's worth less than 4 grand and in California if someone hits me they will have to pay for the damage. I only carry collision on my Toyota Sunrader cause I drive it a lot and it's value has increased since I bought it. Cost here to insure 4 vehicles is $1200 a year. Linda S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huewood Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 JDE Glad you are ok. As a Michigan resident, I feel your pain. I believe we have the most expensive insurance in the country. I have lived in a half a dozen states and none have insurance as expensive as this state. I have zero point, excellent credit and no accidents ever that were my fault. However, I pay $195.00 a month for full coverage insurance on a 2003 Toyota Tacoma 4x4. I am told it is due to PIP (personal injury protection). Most states cap at 50K-100k. Michigan cap is 1,000,000. Good news is if the police report show the other driver is at fault and he has insurance. If you call his insurance company they will cut a check asap. Now, if you lived in Detroit, you would have to sell your mini's just to afford the insurance. I have friend who though about moving down there to be part of the "renaissance". But the high cost of home and auto insurance outweighed any savings from the depressed housing prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjrbus Posted March 22, 2015 Share Posted March 22, 2015 For special vehicles "agreed value" insurance can be purchased. An appraisal is obtained ($150-200) from an appraisal company approved by your insurance company. The appraisal is normally done by mail, using pictures and your description of the vehicle. Then taken to your agent for verifying of vin and pictures. You then have a pre determined value of your vehicle and do not have to fight with attorneys. Insurance rates generally rise very little if at all. HTH JIm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5Toyota Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 I did that with my insurance. no appraisal from an outside party. I have my dolphin covered for 8000 total loss in writing and I have full coverage. if you do not at least have comp then you have no fire coverage. I live in a county with a high amount of no insurance people. I carry 35 000 pip personal injury. SOME people have had liability only and found themselves hurt not at fault by someone who took off fled and found that they had no medical coverage for themselves. IT PAYS to check your insurance. and do not buy the state minimum. MY mother worked for lawyers I know something about these things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5Toyota Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 hit by a kid I bet anything he was texting on a cell they will do it all time we just had a kid do that here he took down a bunch of poles went up on a sidewalk at least he did not hit anyone. some where else a kid hit a stopped school bus in the back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjrbus Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 I did that with my insurance. no appraisal from an outside party. I have my dolphin covered for 8000 total loss in writing and I have full coverage. if you do not at least have comp then you have no fire coverage. I live in a county with a high amount of no insurance people. I carry 35 000 pip personal injury. SOME people have had liability only and found themselves hurt not at fault by someone who took off fled and found that they had no medical coverage for themselves. IT PAYS to check your insurance. and do not buy the state minimum. MY mother worked for lawyers I know something about these things. You were able to get agreed value of $8k without an appraisal? Did it require an inspection of any kind? Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snail powered Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 Liability only insurance. Everyone knows that purchasing that kind of insurance means you have a significant chance of loss without financial compensation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5Toyota Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 only the agent looked it over from a distance and took a bunch of pictures of it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjrbus Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 only the agent looked it over from a distance and took a bunch of pictures of it Last time I did this I was registered in FL and had State Farm ins. When I requested agreed value coverage they gave me a list of apprasiers. Appears I need to look into it again. On a side note, my friend was involved in a collision, a lady side swiped one car bounced off and side swiped another car, then hit him head on. She had minimum coverage and after paying off the first two cars there was nothing left on her policy for his brand new totaled truck! She of course was a minimum wage person with no assets and he did not have full coverage. on one hand after 55 years of incident free driving it is tempting to drop coverages and reduce expenses. On the other hand with a reported 24% of drivers in FL uninsured it seems foolish. Jim in an internet cafe in the Philippines Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5Toyota Posted March 29, 2015 Share Posted March 29, 2015 agree Yakima county wash state very high number of people with no ins. I have the Grange ins out of seattle never had state farm. if he had a brand new truck and paid cash not required to have full coverage . but a very bad choice. you can save money on full ins I don't use my camper in the winter I park it and I just keep comp fire theft cost very little then I tell them to put it all on before I drive it . up here from. april to November. on a side note a man bought a older double wide mh home for 9000 500 cash in my court never got ins on it 3 months later it caught fire and burned out a total loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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