Not All Car Insurance is Created Equal

When sitting behind this desk in Lafayette, Indiana, talking with people about their car insurance, nine times out of ten people tell me their biggest car insuranceconcern is the cost.  Which is a reasonable concern, however the biggest message I have for clients is not all car insurance is created equal.

When it comes to car insurance most people want it cheap, and to know their car will be fixed after an accident.  But what many don’t understand, or think about, is probably the most important coverage, liability.  Liability insurance is just one portion of a car insurance policy but it is what can keep a person from facing financial ruin.

Take for example, the H family.  They came to me for a quote for car insurance back in 2011.  They wanted it cheap and needed “full coverage” because they had a loan on their vehicle.  Mr. and Mrs. H are in their late 50’s and like many families on a tight budget.  After discussing their situation I recommended 100/300/100 liability coverage.  This means in an at fault accident, the insurance company would pay $100,000 per person for injuries, $300,000 for the entire accident for injuries and $100,000 in property damage.  The H family heeded my advice and purchased this car insurance policy.

Flash forward another year, and Mrs. H got into an auto accident in an intersection here in Lafayette, Indiana.  There was damage to both vehicles, but luckily both parties walked away without injuries, or so we thought.  Shortly after, which happens often, the other driver sought medical attention due to neck and back pain.  In the end, Insurance paid out more than $60,000 in medical bills.

Had Mr. and Mrs. H chosen to purchase cheap car insurance, with state minimum coverage, they would have paid out of pocket more than $35,000 for those medical bills.  Legally they were responsible.  For the H family this would have meant financial ruin; getting a second or third job, not retiring when planned and seeing wage garnishments until the debt was paid.  Thankfully, Mr. and Mrs. H took my advice and purchased the right amount of coverage.  The insurance company paid the full bill, and the only thing Mr. and Mrs. H paid was their $500 deductible to get their car fixed.

The moral of this story is simple. At Isch Insurance Services, we are trusted advisors who work hard to make sure our clients are taken care of.  We take the time to review coverage for new and current clients and never assume they had the right coverage before talking with us.  We ask additional questions, and explain why we are making the recommendation we suggest for car insurance.

At the end of the day not all insurance policies are created equal, and what you don’t know, or what the person at the other end of the 1800 number, or online, or even across the desk, doesn’t know, or care to ask about you, can hurt you. 

Contact our office today for your no-obligation car insurance review.