A Split Second Could Cost You Everything!
A Split Second Could Cost you Everything.
How often have we all heard the popular slogans on TV and Radio, “15 Minutes Could Save you 15% or More on Your Car Insurance”?
It’s a slogan that gets your attention. The famous saying is probably very accurate in many cases. Saving money on Car Insurance is a big deal in today’s insurance marketplace.
Everything goes up
With the cost of everything increasing, from bread, milk, clothes, shoes, tires, haircuts, cell phones, gas, cell phone plans….. the list goes on and on. And it’s well known that car insurance prices are no exception. So why shouldn’t folks shop their car insurance for the best pricing? The answer is that they should.
As Paul Harvey famously said, “And Now the Rest of the Story”.
Kicking tires at the car lots
The other week, Kristy (my better half) and I decided to take a look at some new cars. Our vehicles are getting some age on them.
Mine is a 2013 Honda Accord and hers is a 2010 Honda CRV. Yes, we like Honda vehicles. We went to the local car lots in our small town Dunn, NC. The places we went to were just your basic car lots, Ford, GMC, Chevy. Nothing fancy, nothing crazy. Just normal cars and SUV’s. However the “Nothing Fancy” cars and SUV’s we saw had price tags ranging anywhere from $45,000 to $99,000. I’m still in a type of disbelief. I’ve always driven just average vehicles. You know the type, $25,000 to $35,000 vehicles. You know, Honda Accords and CRV’s.
Insurance agent brain kicked In
As we walked around to the different vehicles, my Insurance Agent Brain started to kick in to overdrive. I started saying to myself, how many folks on the road have enough car insurance liability? How many folks are putting their life’s savings on the line every time they leave their driveway. It’s sad to say but many people are driving around without enough insurance to properly pay for a total loss for a vehicle that is valued over $50,000. But here is the kicker. The value of a vehicle shouldn’t be the biggest consideration to liability limits on a car insurance policy. Bodily Injury Liability is the one that can keep you up at night.
Here’s a scenario to consider
It’s not a wild exaggeration. It’s not an unbelievable event that could never happen. This could happen to any of us. It could happen today.
You’re driving down the street. You look down to check the radio and run right through a Red Light. You T-bone a brand new 2018 Chevy Yukon with a family of 3 inside. It’s bad…. real bad. The Yukon is destroyed and the family is hurt. Ambulance, Life Flight and the Fire Department is on the scene. You’re okay. Shaken a bit but okay. Now what?
A call to your insurance company to inform them of the accident and to start an insurance claim. 
You call your insurance company to discuss what has happened. Are you going to be financially okay? Is this split second accident going to change everything that you’ve worked your entire life for? You swallow real hard, compose yourself and hang up. Do you have enough Car Insurance Liability or did the 15 minutes over the phone to save you 15% or more just cost you more than you could ever have imagined.
The collision cost can be staggering
The numerous cost associated with a Auto Collision can be staggering. Here is a list of just a few of the costs that can arise out of a Major Auto Collision:
- Air Ambulance: $15,000 – $30,000
- Ambulance: $1,000 – $2,500
- Emergency Room: $2,500 – $10,000
- ICU per day cost: $1,200 – $2,000 (5 days = $10,000)
- Lost wages/Pain & Suffering
- Nonfatal disabling injury: $61,000 (Average)
- Death: $1,130,000 (Average)
Yes, You Can Save Money and Have Good Coverage
Like I had mentioned earlier, saving money on car insurance is a big deal to our clients and to most people. Money can be tight in a family budget and cutting back on expenses is often times a necessity. But consider this for a moment. At what point does saving a couple of hundred dollars a year on car insurance put you in a position to not have enough insurance protection should a large auto accident occur? Not having enough car insurance liability can put you at risk. At what level of risk are you willing to take? Lawsuits are an everyday thing in our society. Medical Bills, Pain and Suffering, Lost Income, Permanent/Partial Disabilities or even Death, are just a few of the things that can arise out of a major car accident.
Car accidents happen everyday. None of us are immune or exempt from ever having one. But to have the piece of mind that your Car Insurance policy has higher limits of liability can be the difference between being having adequate protection versus not having adequate protection. The time to discuss this with us isn’t after a major car accident, it’s before.
Making insurance decisions that matter
Often times my insurance agency is asked to shop and compare insurance rates with other car insurance policy quotes. We like to do it. It’s what we do. There are many ways to offset the cost for higher limits of auto liability. Here are just a few:
- Increase Comprehensive/Collision Deductibles
- Remove Physical Damage Coverage on older and less valuable vehicles
- Bundle Car / Home / Boat / Motorcycle / Seasonal Residence
- Bank Draft your payment
- Many more discounts can be yours. Let’s talk!
The young/inexperienced driver conversation
The one thing that seems to be a common conversation is when a child gets their drivers’ license for the first time. It’s sometimes a knee jerk reaction to start cutting corners on your car insurance policy to help offset the increased cost of adding the new driver to the policy. The cost for adding the new driver will increase substantially. There is a reason why insurance companies increase the premium for young/inexperienced drivers. They are statically more likely to have an (at fault) auto collision. As you’re aware, insurance premiums are based on the Law of Large Numbers and the fact is, young and inexperienced drivers get in more accidents. This is not the time to decrease your auto insurance liability limits but it’s actually a time when you need the most liability insurance protection you can afford to buy.
You have choices. Let us help.
As you can tell I’m passionate about insurance liability protections. The costs associated with a major accident can be mind blowing and the average family can’t plan or prepare for something like 
we discussed earlier. But you can protect yourself the best you can by having good liability limits on your car insurance.
Give me a call anytime @ 910-891-7081 and let’s discuss your individual situation. With a few questions and a little time we’ll be able to help you determine if you need better liability limits of car insurance.
This call of 15 minutes could save your financial future and might even save you 15% or more on your car insurance.