Car insurance rates just had their biggest annual jump in 47 years.
 

And Florida is the most expensive state with people paying an average of $3,183 a year.

Car insurance rates just had their biggest annual jump in 47 years. This is why | CNN Business

I was so outraged at my rate hike this year, I decided to cancel everything except the legally-required liability insurance. My car is paid for, and I can afford to replace it, so why was I paying an insurance company 10% of the replacement cost every single year?

And that's when I discovered the problem. Liability is no longer a tiny fraction of your insurance bill. It's now three times the cost of your collision and comprehensive.

This is what happens when the lawyers run your state for their own amusement. In Texas, we put a stop to it with tort reform. But that was Texas, where laws actually mean something. Florida recently passed fake tort reform and then refused to enforce it, the same way they did with the fake roof insurance reform bill.

You will be able to afford your car insurance on the day you can watch your TV without being blasted with "Bogun, Munns and Munns" ads promising you "more".

My liability insurance coverage is less than half of my total premium with State Farm, and I have $1 million in liability coverage. I have no uninsured motorist because it is optional in Florida, and I would never file a claim under that coverage.

Why not file a claim?

Many experts recommend buying it.

Uninsured Motorist Coverage in Florida

Uninsured Motorist Coverage in Florida: The Truth About Uninsured Motorist Coverage

I have plenty of medical insurance to cover medical expenses. I also have liability, collision, and comprehensive auto insurance to cover my property and a lawsuit. The only other reason to file a claim would be for "pain and suffering", which would require a significant amount of coverage and, most likely, high attorney fees. $10K in coverage would basically be worthless. I would rather save the premium cost. The experts who recommend it are attorneys and insurance companies who benefit from it.

I guess if you drive a Rolls Royce you might manage to get a bill from State Farm where a million dollars of liability would be half your vehicle coverage.

Here in my world, these are the actual figures from USAA for a 2020 Kia Sorento and $150K of liability insurance:
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Total 6 month premium $618.65

Comprehensive $29.44
Collision $91.89
Total vehicle insurance $121.33

Bodily injury ($150K) $211.33
Property Damage ($50K) $77.39
Work loss $53.81
Total liability insurance $342.53

% liability compared to comprehensive/collision: 282%

Uninsured motorist $154.79
% Uninsured motorist compared to comprehensive/collision: 128%
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I would be very tempted to drop the uninsured motorist if we never carried any passengers. But my wife is always driving her quilting buddies to some "retreat" or other boondoggle, and with all the illegal "migrants" on the roads in Florida, that just seems like a sucker bet to me.

But I'll call a State farm guy, just to make sure USAA isn't picking my pocket. USAA has been the cheapest every time I've checked, but who knows? It sure would be interesting to see the numbers on your Rolls, though.

To clarify, here are my actual State Farm rates. I did forget to include the property damage liability premium in my original post. I drive a 5 year old Ford Escape, not a Rolls.

Bodily injury liability, $1 million - $180.25
Property damage liability, $500K - $56.93
Comprehensive, $500 ded - $43.24
Collision, $500 ded - $82.30
No fault, mandatory - $33.68
Total 6 month premium - $396.40

Note that my premium would be a lot less if I reduced the liability coverage. Regarding uninsured motorist coverage, if I drive someone around in my vehicle and they get injured by an uninsured motorist, I consider it their problem. But, if I cause an accident, I have liability insurance for my own liability. Good luck.

So your liability for 7 times the coverage is a third less than mine, and only 46% more than your vehicle coverage -- even though your vehicle coverage for a smaller, older vehicle is more than mine. Something's off here, but the insurance industry is so filthy with totally made-up numbers that I would never accuse you being the one who made them up.

I just find it a little hard to believe that a million dollars worth of liability from State Farm is a third less less than $150K from USAA. But I'll check and apologize profusely here if they offer me that deal.

By the way, State Farm is famous for their teaser rates to get you to switch. Could that be the answer? How long have you been with them? Or is your agent your brother-in-law?

I have a 12 month policy.

Bodily injury liability, $250/500 - $362
Property damage liability, $100K - $129
Medical Payments - $20
Uninsured - $250/500 - $227
Comprehensive, $500 ded - $54
Collision, $500 ded - $173
No fault, mandatory - $83
Extended no fault - $16
Extended Transportation - $20
Roadside Assistance - $22

Total $1106.00

It looks like I could save $263 by dropping med pay, uninsured, and extended no fault. Do most people have those coverages??

I don't have a brother-in-law. I switched from Allstate about 2 years ago because they raised my premium by 32 percent on renewal after being a customer for 27 years. I found that some companies would not provide more than about $250K in liability coverage. I feel like a million dollars is needed to have any real protection against lawsuits. My numbers are accurate and I didn't make them up.

You make a lot of sense, until you discussed 10K in un insured motorist coverage. That is the bare minimum you can buy. Agree more coverage cost more. If you have a bad claim or a family members death, you might second guess your choice to have good un insured motorist coverage.

Who is your agent? These #s seem to be too good to be true. Our umbrella policy(2 mil) is $225 alone for 6 months.

No fault(AKA PIP) is mandatory. Florida is one of the few and maybe the only state that still has this coverage(10K limit) Check your med pay limit. Bet $20 pays up to 2K. Policy is reasonable

Nathan Thomas with State Farm

I think it depends on your financial situation. I don't need to sue anyone for pain and suffering regardless of what happens. Most uninsured motorist claims are for medical bills, which, to me, is redundant with my medical insurance.

In my opinion, I would drop those and the extended transportation and the roadside assistance. I could be wrong, but I have heard that filing a claim for something like roadside assistance can affect your overall premium. Why not just buy AAA? I think most people have uninsured motorist insurance because they moved from a state where it is mandatory, and many people don't even know what it does and doesn't cover. The most common misconception is that it provides liability coverage, which it doesn't.

Check back at annual renewal time. . When would that be?

That would then tell you comparative figure to the articles headline, for a year over year annual renewal rate.

Due to all accidents and law suits dan N wins I bet?

My six month rate with USAA is $1180. Only had one accident on 1/2017. Is there a certain age when rates are higher? From this post I expect my rates to increase. I have a new Hyundai Tucson.

Kind of unfair for those with USAA to compare their rates with others.

Fifteen years ago when I moved here, my car insurance was $500 and is now over $3000. Something HAS to be done

Uninsured motorist coverage essentially buys liability insurance for the other driver if they caused the crash. The amount of coverage it buys for the other guy is equal to the amount of your own liability insurance. If you or someone in your automobile is killed by an uninsured motorist (and the are not all “illegal migrants”, by any measure), your family would receive no compensation.

Suggesting that extensive medical insurance will cover all your losses, even though the other driver is uninsured, is not very smart. “Pain and suffering” from a crash includes permanent disability, as well as the medical costs. As an attorney for many years, and having seen many seriously injured clients resulting from uninsured and under insured drivers, I would never go without uninsured motorist coverage.

Can you please explain your second sentence? I have $1 million in liability coverage. Are you saying that any uninsured motorist coverage I buy would provide $1 million in liability coverage for an uninsured driver? Wouldn't the premium be extremely high?

Well, we have the Allstate experience in common. But I dropped them 15 years ago when they showed up at a house closing to inform me that they were pulling out of Texas over a hurricane that ruined a bunch of houses on the beach and then passed over my house 80 miles away without so much as loosening a shingle. After leaving me hanging at a closing, I wouldn't buy Allstate today if it was free.

I checked State Farm and did not see any million-dollar liability offering, but their 100/50 coverage was much less than USAA, even though their collision/comprehensive was slightly higher. Since liability now comprises most of the coverage, it looks like I can save about $400 per year by switching, since Statefarm's liability is a mere 1.79 times the vehicle insurance.

Thanks for the tip. Since you've only been with them a couple of years, it's probably just a loss-leader and I'll wind up going back to USAA, but $400 is still real money to me. I'll take it.

I had a million dollars in liability with Allstate, and now I have the same amount with State Farm. Several other companies I got quotes from would only offer $250K, which I think in inadequate if you have a personal injury lawsuit against you.

There are online driving tests that take about 3-4 hours because of the mandatory time in between questions. I have taken it a couple of times and do something else in between questions to make the time go by. It reduces your premium a percentage for 5 years. Then another test. It cost $15-20 to take it but is worth it..... If you are inclined to bother with the test.

No UM coverage is a mistake. There are a lot of uninsured & underinsured drivers in Florida. This is an injury coverage and is needed.

Statefarm??
 

Is this a Statefarm quote?

Travelers. Got it through the Villages insurance when I moved here.

Do you have an umbrella? I have 250/500 and a $1 million umbrella. After seeing all of the billboards, I agree that $250,000 is not enough.

I own a 2005 Pick up truck and a 2009 SUV and a 1996 Airstream. I pay Allstate $291.00 a month. It breaks down to Truck 769.47 every 6 months. SUV 794.75 every 6 mos. Airstream - 177.85 every 6 mos. They don't even buy me dinner.

That may be the average, but some people live in Miami and other areas where there is a lot of car theft or a higher risk of damage, and other people don’t. My car isn’t new, but my State Farm insurance is just under $1000 a year.

What type of coverage do you have? I was shopping for coverage earlier this year and I could get really cheap insurance if I bought the minimum liability coverage which is 10/20. I paid for the higher coverage.

I have had umbrella policies in the past, but I don't have one now. I would rather get the liability coverage as part of my auto and homeowner's insurance as long as it is available. I think that the largest risk for liability is driving a car.

My usaa policy is $59 a month . Plus since I installed their app to monitor my driving , I will get a 19% discount come January. I have all the coverages except car rental .

A 2023 study (msn.com/en-us) estimated 20.4% of Florida drivers are uninsured (or underinsured). If you are involved in an accident with an uninsured motorists your only recourse for recovery is through your uninsured or underinsured motorists coverage. The lack of uninsured motorists coverage, combined with the fact that bodily injury coverage is NOT required in Florida, could be a financially devastating consequence.

I have medical insurance that has a $6,000 catastrophic limit. Anything above that is covered 100 percent. Why would I need a redundant policy for injuries? I am not going to hire a personal injury lawyer to sue my insurance company for "pain and suffering" when the lawyer would take 40 percent of the settlement after paying expenses. What limit of UM insurance can you buy that will prevent a financial devastation, and how much would it cost? I would guess that most people with UM insurance don't have enough coverage to even make a difference in their financial situation. For example, $150K in coverage would be woefully inadequate, and the insurance company probably won't sell you much more than that. In my opinion, it is just not worth buying.

You are 100% correct. It is the cost of legal defense against lawsuits many of which are inflated. Florida has more attorney ads on TV than any other State. On top of that Florida has terrible drivers. Add the cost of repairing newer cars is crazy high. Still it is the lawsuits that is driving the price up the most!

Umbrella insurance is a lot cheaper…. Just saying.

The last time I checked, it was more expensive. Also, to be eligible for an umbrella policy, I had to max out my auto and homeowner's liability limits. But, since I already have $1 million in liability coverage on my auto insurance, what would be the point of buying an umbrella policy, unless I needed more than a million? I have $500K liability coverage on my homeowner's policy, which I consider adequate. Also, what happens to the umbrella policy if you switch companies for either your home or auto policies? When they raise my rates, I shop around.