You’ve seen the ads everywhere. Car insurance for $29.99 per month or even as low as $19.99 per month. This can look very attractive, especially if you’re short on cash. But what these low prices don’t tell you is the kind of coverage that you’re getting for your money. A very wise man once said, “There ain’t no such thing as a cheap car.” While you might be paying very little at the start, you could end up paying a great deal later. With the car you can look up the VIN number and get an idea of its history, you can take it to a mechanic and have them run tests to make sure that everything is in good shape, but with insurance a lot of people will only look at the premiums instead of the coverage before making a decision.
Dumb Idea
Understandably, there are certain cars that you don’t want to pay a very high insurance premium for covering. However, your driving record has a tremendous amount of weight on how much of a premium you will pay, as well as the make, model, type, or year of car that you will be driving. Age is also a factor whether you are very old very young. Florida’s minimum insurance requirements are $10,000 in personal injury protection, and $10,000 in property damage liability. This is generally all that those cheap auto insurance policies cover.
Let’s break down a few truths about minimum insurance requirements – they often will not cover the expenses that are incurred in an accident. That is the hard truth about cheap car insurance in Florida; you could be left on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars in excess expenses. Kiplinger, a trusted financial source, has some guidelines for choosing your liability coverage.
- Bodily injury coverage of $100,000 per person or $300,000 per accident.
- A minimum of $50,000 in property damage coverage.
You might be saying to yourself, “But all I need is a minimum policy. I’m a very good driver!”
The thing is, auto insurance is only partially about how good a driver you are. The other part is about how bad a driver the other guy is, and what your odds of meeting him are. If you can afford high medical bills for yourself, or people injured in a crash where you are adjudged to be at fault, for replacing your automobile and damage property, and replacing the other parties’ automobiles and damaged property, then by all means you can go with a minimum policy.
If you don’t have that kind of money on hand, come in and talk to an independent E & L agent. We can look at your car and your driving record, then tell you exactly what kind of insurance you need. We even offer uninsured motorist, comprehensive and collision policies, and policies that cover rideshare company drivers who work for Uber and Lyft. Give us a call and let’s get started on getting you covered.