I used to work for Progressive as a claims adjuster and trying to compare prices in a forum is pretty much useless. Location makes a big difference plus you have numerous other factors that are evaluated like: credit worthiness, # of accidents (bike & car), whether you own a home, and if your married.
One thing I took away from that job is
the importance of Uninsured & Under-insured motorist protection (UIM). Lets say you get hit by someone and are taken to the hospital in which you have to have some emergency medical work done and a couple nights stay. Your hospital bill can easily be $100,000-$150,000. This is not including physical therapy or return doctor visits.
The driver is at fault but he only has state minimum coverage. For Texas that is:
The minimum liability limits are $30,000 for each injured person, up to a total of $60,000 per accident, and $25,000 for property damage per accident.
That means their insurance will only pay for $30,000. So the rest of your hospital bill is left to you to pay. In this case it could be as much as $120,000.
Now you could take the guy to court but that takes more money and a lot of time. Plus if they only have state min. coverage, it is likely they don't have much in the way of assets, so you might not get much at all.
Now if you have Uninsured and Under-insured coverage those limits are what is used after the responsible party's insurance is tapped out. So lets say you only have $30,000 in your policy for UIM. Well that brings it down to $90,000. Still a hell of a lot of money.
But hey, I also have health insurance! Most people usually have a 80/20 policy; insurance pays 80% you are responsible for 20% plus your yearly deductible. Lets give it the best possible scenario in which everything on your bill is 80% paid for by your health insurance (not everything qualifies) that would still leave you with $18,000 in medical bills. If you didn't have the 30k in UIM they you could be looking at $24,000.
Having a low UIM, or none at all will make your policy price very low but I don't think it is worth it.
What we love to do is inherently dangerous and if you don't have enough coverage it can cost you a lot even if your not at fault. Having $100,000-$300,000 in UIM costs more but you will be glad you have it because most emergency medical bills easily exceed the state min. coverage of $30,000.
Also, If your state has PIP coverage it worth getting the maximum amount allowable. It is money that is immediately payable to you regardless of fault and is also used to take care of lost wages because of injury.
- Keep the Shiny Side Up!
