Why do I need liability on all the vehicles I own?

[cokebottle10]

Can someone please explain why each and every vehicle I own needs liability insurance. If something happens no one is going to Sue my car, truck, motorcycle or trailer. They will Sue me! I can't say my car did it. Would it not be better and more practical if I had liability insurance tied to my drivers license. I can only drive one vehicle at a time. I fully understand that you need to have comprehendsive and collision tied to each of the vehicles. Because that is what it covers. That one vehicle. But the liability is just for me reguardless of how many vehicles I own.

End of rant.
David.

[JenniferandPups]

I don't know... that DOES make sense. But, then your vehicle wouldn't be covered by your insurance when anyone else drove it. I guess you would hope that THEY had suitable insurance...
With my insurance company, I get a substantial discount for more than one vehicle. We don't carry comp/collision for ANY of our vehicles, as all three are older than 10 years, and worth less than a couple years of the increased payments for full coverage. Our monthly premium for 3 vehicles is $59.

[8]

When you lend your car (in Florida at least) you lend your insurance. So, each car needs to be insured. Also, if you and your wife are both driving separate cars you have double the risk of having an accident. If you tied it to your license the insurance company could not cover the risk correctly. Keep in mind if you have a Dodge Ram you will do a lot more damage then if you had a Toyota Prius. Also think about a couple who share a single vehicle. Both would have to get insurance if it were tied to the driver instead. It goes both ways.

[rebapuck]

If just you were insured, then somebody would not be making as much money.

[cokebottle10]

The insurance for my 1973 ford 3/4 ton heavy duty truck (same as 1 ton) cost the same as my 87 toyota tercel. Even if they based it off of the vehicle that could do the most damage you should still pay for just one vehicle. The other vehicles will do less damage.

If you have two drivers and one car they could give you a discount for that. Bcause only the one car can be driven.

It does make a little sense that if you loan your car to another person your lability would still cover the damage, but if you tie it to your driver license then they would be covered under there own lability. As it should be. Because they caused the damage.

Also if you stop paying for your lability insurance then your driver license would be pulled.

Some states like FL do not even require lability insurance. They have PIP. This only covers personal injury. Not property damage. So if a guy in FL runs a stop sign and hits me with the legal PIP insurance it will only cover my doctor bills. Not my car. I will have to sue him to get my damages back. Most likely if he only has PIP then he has no money any way. To me this is a crime in itself.

Still I do not see why you need to have a Lability insurance for each of your vehicles.

Thanks,
David.

[godskid]

Oops -- thanks for the reminder. I've been forgetting to call my insurance guy, about the teardrop I just bought!

[JenniferandPups]

We get a more cars than driver discount, too... three cars, two drivers. It takes $15 or so off of each car a month. Not a lot, but it adds up.

The insurance for our big Dodge truck is WAY less than for our Subaru wagon... probably because it will sustain less damage.

I think every insurance company figures out how to charge people differently.

[8]

Yes, they do charge differently. That's why for some people it is cheaper to go with company A and others company B. Then again, many unscrupulous agents may lower your coverage to show a better rate than the competitor since half the population doesn't understand what most of the coverage means.

While I lived in PA, they changed the law so that they could no longer charge men more than women even though men are more likely to have an accident. But that was a state specific change. When I moved to FL, the same policy with the same company went from $75 to $125/month due to my driving record which was known in both states. So I switched to a hole-in-the-wall agent who would cover me for the state minimum which is almost like not having insurance. The guy told me once that 80% of the people who come in (to his agency) for insurance never make their first payment. They just do it to get a registration sticker for their plate. I'm told it's worse down in Miami. That's why you need under-insured and uninsured motorist coverage.

[cokebottle10]

Please keep in mind that "Uninsured Motorist" will only cover you and your passengers in you car for personal injury when someone hits you without insurance. It does not cover property damage. So if you only have lability with "Uninsured Motorist" and your car gets totaled you are out of luck and a car. The last time I checked many years ago this is how uninsured Motorist worked. That is why it does not cost that much to add.

Again this is why I think that it makes more sence to have lability insurance tied to your driver license and not to the car. If you are stopped without lability insurance then you loose your drivers license and they should take the car away even if you do not own it. The person that gave you the car to drive should have checked.

I'm a project engineer and I travel about 50,000 miles a year. I have done that for the past 21 years. I'm 50 years old now and have not had a ticket for the last 25 years. My wife of 31 years has never had a ticket. I have had a drivers license since I was 15. In the past 35 years of driving, the only two claims that we have made is for winshield replacements. I pay about $670 a year for my wife and I with 4 vehicles plus two trailers. They all have Lability and Uninsued Motorist and one truck also has comperhensive. With these driving records I still think I pay too much.

PS please keep in mind that the Auto Insureance Industry is a Highly Government Regulatered Insurance Industry that is designed to Cover Everyone that drives.

end of rant
David.

[Elumia]

nothing keeps you from purchasing personal liability insurance coverage (umbrella policy) over and above your auto insurance policy. Remember, if you are sued, you could loose other assets including your house.

Mark

[cokebottle10]

Personal liability insurance is a good idea. I do have my auto liability higher than what is required in my state mainly because I own my house.

I just don't know why the government requires me to have liability on each of my vehicles and not my drivers license. Would it not be better to have Personal liability that would cover home and auto?

Thanks,
David.

[PanelDeland]

I don't know the rules but at least in Tx you used to could get a policy(mostly used by mechanics) that covered everything you drove.You might check into it as it may be cheaper than your existing policy.It may also negate your comprehensive(theft and other).

[Alfred]

Would it not be better and more practical if I had liability insurance tied to my drivers license. I can only drive one vehicle at a time.
David.

That's how AAA does it with their emergency road service. It follows the person, not the specific vehicle.

AL.