Questions and Answers FAQs
1. How can a driver determine if adding medical payments
coverage is right for them?
You should be thinking about adding medical payments coverage to your auto insurance policy if you do not have health insurance and you do not carry uninsured motorist coverage on your policy.
2. Should medical payments coverage
be added if a driver already has personal injury protection
(PIP) coverage? Why or why not?
(PIP) coverage? Why or why not?
For most people if you have health insurance you do not need to carry medical coverage. PIP coverage on your auto policy will cover the first $10,000 of medical injuries. Once your PIP coverage on your auto policy is exhausted then your health insurance coverage will kick in.
TEXAS
1. What car insurance coverage do you recommend Texas drivers
buy more of and why? Be specific and give examples of why a
Texas driver might need more than the minimum requirement.
buy more of and why? Be specific and give examples of why a
Texas driver might need more than the minimum requirement.
Texas drivers should buy more Bodily Injury coverage. If you don’t carry enough bodily injury liability coverage and you seriously injure another motorist, then they could sue you for the difference. They could put a lien on your home, or worse take it from you. If you rent a property, then they can garnish your wages.
2. What car insurance add-ons should Texas drivers opt into and
why?
why?
Texas drivers should add-on uninsured motorists coverage to your auto policy. You want to make sure that you are covered in case you are hit by someone who is uninsured and you have serious injuries. You can try and sue the other driver but the odds of you collecting any real amount of money are slim. Also, uninsured motorist coverage covers work loss coverage, just in case you have to miss time from work.
3. Is Texas state minimum car insurance enough, if not why not?
And what exact liability coverage levels should Texas drivers
get instead?
And what exact liability coverage levels should Texas drivers
get instead?
I do believe that minimum requirement for auto insurance coverage is adequate for the majority of drivers. $30,000/$60,000 Bodily Injury and $25,000 Property Damage Liability coverage will be able to satisfy the vast majority of accidents. The Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association (RMIIA) reports that the average auto liability claim for property damage is $3,231. Additionally, the average claim for bodily injury is $15,443. That is well within the minimum required limits for Texas. But I do recommend higher limits for people that have more assets and have higher paying jobs. You will thank me in the long run.
4. Are there any new laws that affect your auto insurance in
Texas? What year did they take effect?
Texas? What year did they take effect?
Effective Jan. 1, 2020, the writing and renewal of named driver policies will be prohibited in the state by House Bill 259. Prevalent in Texas and historically less expensive than a standard policy, a named driver policy provides auto coverage to those listed on the insurance policy but does not provide coverage for household members who are not listed. Therefore, the vehicle is insured only when a “named” household member or someone who lives in another residence is driving. If driven by someone who lives in the same household and not named on the policy, the car does not have coverage in an accident.
FLORIDA
1. What car insurance coverage do you recommend Florida drivers
buy more of and why? Be specific and give examples of why a
Florida driver might need more than the minimum requirement.
buy more of and why? Be specific and give examples of why a
Florida driver might need more than the minimum requirement.
Florida drivers should buy Bodily Injury coverage. If you don’t carry enough bodily injury liability coverage and you seriously injure another motorist, then they could sue you for the difference. If you own more than one home they could put a lien on your home, or worse take it from you. If you only own one home and its homestead or you rent a property, then they can garnish your wages.
What car insurance add-ons should Florida drivers opt into
and why?
and why?
Florida drivers should add on uninsured motorists coverage to your auto policy. In the State of Florida 20.4% of drivers are uninsured, which means the odds of you getting hit by a driver that is uninsured is quite high. You want to make sure that you are covered in case you are hit by one of those uninsured drivers and you have serious injuries. Every insured driver in Florida is covered by Personal Injury Protection coverage through their auto policy, but that is only $10,000. If you are seriously hurt that won’t be nearly enough. Also, uninsured motorist coverage work loss coverage, just in case you have to miss time from work.
3. Is Florida state minimum car insurance enough, if not why
not? And what exact liability coverage levels should Florida
drivers get instead?
not? And what exact liability coverage levels should Florida
drivers get instead?
Florida minimum car insurance is nowhere near enough coverage. In the state of Florida the minimum required coverage is $10,000 in Personal Injury Protection and $10,000 in Property Damage Liability. Bodily Injury is not even required. If you do not carry Bodily Injury Liability coverage you open yourself up to potential lawsuits for even just minor accidents. Also, if you do get into an accident and another party is injured in it, then you would be required to carry an SR-22 by the State of Florida Department of Motor vehicles for up to 3 years. I feel that the minimum coverage for the State of Florida should be $25,000/$50,000 Bodily Injury Liability and $25,000 Property Damage Liability. If Florida required those limits then Personal Injury Protection would not be necessary and would offset the costs of the increased insurance.
4. Are there any new laws that affect your auto insurance in
Florida? What year did they take effect?
Florida? What year did they take effect?
There was a new law passed last year by the Florida State legislature which got rid of Personal Injury Protection Coverage and in turn required every driver to carry Bodily Injury Coverage, but Governor DeSantis (the Governor of Florida) vetoed the bill. So it did not get put into law. No other real meaningful changes have been made to Auto Insurance in Florida the last few years.