Insurance Question

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Arrgh, I hate insurance renewals and worse is that now that it's competetive I actually have to care about shopping around for insurance. Enough griping, but I want to know, am I carrying enough insurance? Any insurance people out there, I'd love any help or anyone else too.

There are 2 drivers, 2 cars, and a townhouse.

Cars
Bodily Injury to Others - $20k person/40k accident
Personal Injury Protection - $8k
Bodily Injury by Uninsured - $250k person/$500k accident
Damage to Someone's Property - $100k accident
Optional Bodily Injury $250k person/$500k accident
Bodily Injury Caused by an underinsured Auto - $250k person/$500k Accident

No collision or comprehensive deductibles, our cars are old and worth I say $4k/each. We can live with one car if necessary and if we had to have 2 cars we'd want something bigger anyway than our 99 corolla and 00 focus.

Should I up my insurance coverage? What is the minimum we should be carrying? And I'm paying $1517/year if it matter.

The home, well I'm going to type everything on the paper because it's all foreign to me.

Coverage A dwelling - $31k
Coverage B other structures - None
Coverage C Persona Property - $36k
Coverage D Loss of Use - $14.4k
Coverage E Personal Liability - $500k
Coverage F Medical Payments - $1k

Policy deductible - $500
Form - 6
Construction - Vinyl
No Fam - 1
Prot Code - 02
Terr - I05

Umbrella Coverage $1million
Fungi/Rot/Bacteria Section 1 - $10k
Fungi/Rot/Bacteria Section II - $50k
Loss Assessement Coverage Total Liability - $100k

Total cost $458/year

I am also covered by our master condo insurance policy for the building and exterior. We have I think $1m in place or something for just the exterior. My condo policy should be for the interior minus the basics like stairs, tubs, cabinets, etc. Basics, upgrades we have to pay for.

Okay so hit me with what I need, now's the time to change my stuff.

[noppenbd]

I'm thinking you need to raise your Bodily Injury to Others. I have mine at $500K/$1M. You have to think about the possibility of injuring or killing someone in a crash. With coverage as low as you have I would be afraid my insurer would just pay up to the limit and then throw me to the wolves. With a high coverage the insurer has an incentive to fight for you (in court if necessary).

I would also look into raising your homeowner's deductible. Going from $500 to $1000 or even higher if you are comfortable could save you a lot of money in premiums. The reality is you don't want to be filing a homeowner's claim for anything that isn't catastrophic, because they will end up dropping you or raising your rates through the ceiling.

[Aleta]

What about using an umbrella policy? It would cover up to 1 million. They used to be around $300 a year. I don't know what they're costing now.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I have an umbrella policy for $1m in place, see above. Hmm..definitely going to talk to someone about body injury.

A higher Homeowner's deductible? I might have to do that as well, but my premium is only $400/year for homeowner's so I'm not sure about the large savings? It might be only $20.

[Daylily]

I'm confused on the homeowner's insurance. I only see a dwelling coverage of 31k. Is that correct or is that a typo?

My homeowner's insurance is around $1000 a year and I have $146k for the replacement of the dwelling.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Yep dwelling is $31k because it's condo and the majority of things are covered by our master condo insurance. It replaces everything in house except the paint and "upgrades."