Low insurance costs on my Prius!

I've been helping my folks compare car insurance quotes, the past couple of days and I have to agree with you, I rather get them quality insurance coverage than cheapo coverage in case of a serious accident.

The challenge I've found, is balancing cost with quality - it's a work in progress.

 

DavieDanie630: I am not in the insurance industry -- but I am in the Trauma business ........ And I see this on a weekly basis. People with inadequate insurance.

Insurance is not a very exciting subject -- but you have to educate yourself a little bit to understand what it is you are buying and what you are not getting. Many - especially younger drivers -- never ask and really don't know.


Always compare the same limits -- get combines single limits if available (500/500 not 250/500) .... ask what the discount is to go to the higher deductible ... don't use your health insurance as primary. Always get UM at the same limit as the primary coverage -- you are buying this to insure yourself. Ask what a million dollars liability costs.


If you are in a serious accident the tooth fairy does not come down and put money under your pillow. And you can't bet on the other guy having the high limits and being at fault.

My quotes for Prius coverage were actually a little higher -- maybe in a crash the Prius is more expensive to fix or is more often totaled -- and it being a smaller car it may have higher bodily rates than larger cars --- this is all speculation on my part.

 

+1
Yeah, it is confusing- but it's vitally important to know exactly what you're buying!
I copied this info from Geico some time ago, it's simple explanations for the most common automobile insurance terms...


********************************************************************************************
********************************************************************************************
What is Bodily Injury Liability?

Bodily Injury Liability pays damages for people injured or killed in an accident for which you are legally responsible. It also covers your legal defense if you are sued as a result of an accident.

Each selection shows two coverage limits: the first dollar amount represents the coverage limit for any one person; the second dollar amount represents the total coverage limit for one incident or accident.

Why Do I Need This?

If your operation of a covered vehicle results in your being legally responsible for someone's bodily injury or death, you may be required to pay for the person's loss. If the damages are high, all of your assets — including your home, savings and future wages — are in jeopardy. Bodily Injury Liability helps protect your assets by covering the injured person's losses and expenses. It also covers legal defense if you are sued as a result of an accident. There are a number of common exclusions to this coverage that will be detailed in your policy.

How Much Coverage Do I Need?

When you purchase this coverage you select two limits, for example $100,000/$300,000. The first number in the coverage limit is for any one person; the second is the total coverage limit for one incident or accident. Individual states have different minimum requirements for liability insurance and for lease cars. If you lease a car, your lease contract will typically require you to maintain minimum Bodily Injury Liability coverage of $100,000/$300,000. You should buy enough Bodily Injury Liability coverage to fully protect your assets.


********************************************************************************************
********************************************************************************************


What Is Comprehensive Coverage?

Comprehensive coverage pays for losses to your auto not caused by collision, such as theft, flood, vandalism, earthquakes, explosion, fire, or other covered causes.

Why Do I Need This?

Comprehensive coverage pays for such common non-collision losses to your auto as a broken windshield, a stolen car stereo, or a stolen vehicle. It also pays for damage to your auto caused by natural disasters such as fire and flood.

How Much Coverage Do I Need?

With Comprehensive, you can collect for damages up to the actual cash value of your car. If you have an older car, where the cash value is low, you may decide not to purchase this coverage. With Comprehensive, you choose a deductible — the amount that you will pay out of your own pocket-before your insurance pays your claim. For example: your car's stereo is stolen and replacement costs are $500. If you have a $100 deductible, Comprehensive will cover $400 — the replacement cost minus your $100 deductible.

To keep your premiums low, select as high a deductible as you feel comfortable paying out of pocket. If you lease a car, your lease contract will typically require you to have Comprehensive coverage.


********************************************************************************************
********************************************************************************************


What Is Collision Coverage?

Collision Coverage pays for damages to your auto caused by collision with another object or when it overturns.

Why Do I Need This?

If you are legally responsible for an accident, your auto insurance will not cover repairs to your vehicle unless you have Collision coverage. This coverage is normally required if you have a car loan or leased vehicle. There are a number of common exclusions to this coverage that will be detailed in your policy.

How Much Coverage Do I Need?

Your Collision coverage pays for repair or replacement of your vehicle, up to its actual cash value. If you have an older car, where the cash value is low, you may decide not to purchase Collision coverage. With Collision, you choose a deductible — the amount that you will pay out of your own pocket-before your insurance pays your claim. For example: you have a fender-bender caused by backing into a pole, and the damage is $500. If you have a $100 deductible, Collision will cover $400 — the repair cost minus your $100 deductible.

To keep your premiums low, select as high a deductible as you feel comfortable paying out of pocket. If you lease a car, your lease contract will typically require you to have Collision coverage.


********************************************************************************************
********************************************************************************************


What is Property Damage Liability?

Property Damage Liability pays for damage to other people's property resulting from an accident caused by your auto for which you are legally responsible. It also covers your legal defense if you are sued as a result of an accident.

Why Do I Need This?

If your operation of a covered vehicle results in your being legally responsible for damage to someone else's property — for example, a car or building — as the result of an accident when you are operating your auto (and certain non-owned vehicles) you may be required to pay for that damage. If the property damages are high, your assets — including your home, savings and future wages — may be at risk. Property Damage Liability helps protect your assets by paying for the damage to the property. There are a number of common exclusions to this coverage that will be detailed in your policy.

How Much Coverage Do I Need?

Individual states have different minimum requirements for Property Damage Liability insurance. If you lease a car, your lease contract will typically require you to maintain minimum Property Damage Liability Coverage of $50,000.

You should buy enough Property Damage Liability coverage to adequately protect your assets.


********************************************************************************************
********************************************************************************************


What Is Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury?

Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury typically pays for you and your passengers' bodily injury damages caused by an uninsured driver. The amount of coverage that you may purchase will vary depending upon the state where the policy is issued. There are a number of common exclusions to this coverage that will be detailed in your policy.

Why Do I Need This?

If you are the victim of an accident for which an uninsured motorist is legally responsible, this coverage will pay your bodily injury damages that you would normally recover from the driver's insurance company. Given the number of uninsured drivers, this is an important coverage, even in states with no-fault insurance.

How Much Coverage Do I Need?

You need enough coverage to protect you and the covered occupants of your car from bodily damages caused by an uninsured driver.

Depending on the limits you choose, you may be required to sign an Option Form after you purchase your policy. For your convenience, in some states you may sign the form electronically or you may choose to sign a paper copy of the Option Form which will be included in your new policy package.


********************************************************************************************
********************************************************************************************


What is Personal Injury Protection?

Personal Injury Protection covers you, your family, and your passengers, regardless of fault, if they are injured in an accident. This coverage is subject to the terms, limits and conditions of the policy contract.

Why do I need this?

No-Fault coverage, otherwise known as Personal Injury Protection or "PIP" coverage, pays for expenses incurred by persons injured in a motor vehicle accident. This coverage does not pay to repair damage to your automobile.

Basic No-Fault, which you are required by law to purchase, provides coverage of up to $50,000 per person in benefits for:

all necessary doctor and hospital bills and other health service expenses, payable in accordance with fee schedules established or adopted by the New York State Insurance Department; and
80% of lost earnings up to a maximum monthly payment of $2,000, for up to three years following the date of accident; and
up to $25 per day for a period of one year from the date of the accident for other reasonable and necessary expenses the injured person may have incurred because of an injury resulting from the accident, such as the cost of hiring a housekeeper or necessary transportation expenses to and from a health service provider; and
a $2,000 death benefit, payable to the estate of a covered person, in addition to the $50,000 coverage for economic loss described above.

No-Fault benefits will be reduced by other benefits that are payable under Workers' Compensation, Social Security Disability, New York State Disability, and certain employer "wage continuation" plans where an employee does not lose any future sick leave benefits.


********************************************************************************************
********************************************************************************************


What is Optional Basic Economic Loss?

Optional Basic Economic Loss is an optional coverage that will pay certain expenses up to $25,000, above the Basic No-Fault (PIP) limit of $50,000.

Why do I need this?

This is an optional coverage that is In addition to Basic No-Fault (PIP) Coverage. Basic Economic Loss (OBEL) coverage will pay certain expenses, up to $25,000, above the Basic No-Fault limit of $50,000. Optional Basic Economic Loss coverage is different from other coverage types in that a claimant can select the kinds of benefits to be paid under OBEL.

If you purchase OBEL coverage and if it appears likely that the claimant will use up the Basic No-Fault coverage, your insurer will send the claimant a form for the claimant to choose what expenses the $25,000 in OBEL coverage will be used to pay. Under No-Fault, a claimant could include you, family members, passengers in your car, or pedestrians, if injured in an auto accident (only pedestrians for motorcycle policies).

The claimant will be able to choose one of the following four OBEL options and thereby direct the insurer to pay expenses for:

basic economic loss, whether health care expenses, loss of earnings from work, or other reasonable and necessary expenses;
loss of earnings from work;
psychiatric, physical or occupational therapy and rehabilitation; or
a combination of options 2 and 3.

The additional $25,000 of OBEL coverage will be used only for costs incurred under the chosen option, which, once selected, the claimant cannot change.


********************************************************************************************
********************************************************************************************


What is Additional Personal Injury Protection?

Additional Personal Injury Protection is an optional coverage that increases the maximum amount of Personal Injury Protection to the limit you select. This coverage is subject to terms, limits and conditions of the policy contract.

Why do I need this?

This is an optional coverage that is in addition to Basic PIP (and OBEL if selected); you may purchase Additional Personal Injury Protection (APIP) in the limits shown below. This is excess over the amount of Basic Economic Loss purchased by you including OBEL.


********************************************************************************************
********************************************************************************************

 

Yes true to the above. Just happened yesterday. do y'all think it totaled?

 

@Buffet....
I just added my 2012 Prius to my policy two weeks ago, a friend did a rate comparison on the same car w/his company- but.. he used the 100/250 rate not the 250/500 rate I have on all my vehicles. When I mentioned to 100/250 rate to my agent she said that's the bare minimum, but if you own a home- you should have at least 250/500 coverage.

One day stay in a hospital can be $15k+

 

totaled ..........many time over.

ny_rob -- do remember that the 250/500 is not for your medical .. PIP is your medical. In many states you can purchase more then the minimum PIP.


An example: In 1993 I had an accident -- person ran a red light -- I hit them destroying my 6 month old Saab 9000 Turbo. He was at fault and had 15/30 insurance. I and my passenger were injured. My personal insurance covered my medical and my passengers medical and paid for my totaled car ... but in NJ you can only purchase 250k in PIP per person. Thankfully we did not need anywhere near that amount of medical. But I did have a legitimate liability claim against the driver as I had broken 6 teeth and had PT and restricted use of my left leg for almost a year -- worth 50k plus.

What happens is .......you put a claim into your own insurance company ... and it pays you the money that you should have received from the other party this under the "under insured" part of the policy - in my case 50k over the 15k he had in insurance and had already paid -- that is why you need UM.

I now live in another state and have purchased much more PIP -- as this state allows higher PIP limits.

I know all of this stuff is boring -- And I'm sorry for the long post ......but you have no idea how many people get into accidents and are injured and don't have the proper coverage to take care of them.

 

minimum coverage in TN is 50/100/50 so I'm higher than his NC state minimum but lower than your recommended.

Gotta consider cost of living in TN is half what it is in CA.

 

Car insurance people rarely give informed information why rates are what they are. I do not know if they are ignorant or just BS.

The three major costs for an insurance company are
* theft and vandalism
* repairs to your car
* at fault personal injuries to the other party (death is cheap.)

Prius drivers as a demographic (I suspect changing) are relatively fault free, and the Prius is rarely stolen. On the flip side repairs are expensive, and often the car is "totaled" for seemingly minor damage over worries that electric defects will manifest.

 

I know this is an old thread but thought I would add a comment for anyone else that found it. Your rates are not just based on the vehicle, they are also based on who is driving it and how they are using it. Vehicles with drivers with accidents and/or tickets, commuting vehicles, higher miles driven and youths will be higher. Vehicles with drivers with clean records, only used for pleasure, lower miles driven and no youths will be lower.

 

I too recently joined the prius family..and to my surprise, the rate for a USED prius is higher than what I paid for my 2014 sienna. Ameriprise citing the reason primarily due to the potential repair cost of the Prius....if only I knew....

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Yep same thing happened to me.. My insurance went up 7 a month on my 2012 prius over my 2010 cadillac Srx

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.