How to Know When Comprehensive Car Insurance Makes Financial Sense
At Jason Ridley Insurance Agency, we love helping clients in Colleyville, TX make smart financial decisions for their families. Customers often ask us about whether or not comprehensive automobile insurance makes sense for their situation. When is it safe, or even wise, to drop comprehensive auto insurance and save money on your yearly premiums? When do you really need it? Here are a few guidelines to help you determine whether or not you need to carry comprehensive insurance.
When You Should Carry Comprehensive Insurance
Generally speaking, there are three situations that make carrying comprehensive auto insurance a good financial decision:
When You are Leasing or Financing Your Vehicle.
In this case, it’s not only wise to carry comprehensive insurance but also required! Lenders will typically require borrowers to have comprehensive insurance, because this protects their interest in the car in case it’s severely damaged in an accident or stolen. If you skimp on comprehensive insurance and your car is damaged, you could find yourself owing more than your car is worth and unable to buy a new vehicle until you get your loan paid down.
When Your Family Relies on One Car.
Between working from home and car services like Uber and Lyft, more families than ever are choosing to be one-car families. This can be a great decision for your wallet, but if you are depending on one car, you should definitely protect that car to the fullest.
When You Don’t Have at Least a Down Payment Saved for Your Next Car.
If you’ve paid off your car and you’re looking to purchase a new one in the next year or two, it can be tempting to drop comprehensive insurance to save some money. However, this can lead to disaster! Take it from our clients who dropped comprehensive insurance 6 months before they planned to buy a new car. During a windstorm, a neighbor’s tree fell on their car just a few weeks before they were going to trade it in for a new car. They lost all their trade-in value and had to finance the full cost of their next car—$8,000 lost trying to save 6 months of insurance premiums.
Of course, residents of Colleyville, TX are always required to carry liability insurance, and any decision to drop comprehensive coverage also depends on your personal financial situation and your ability to absorb a loss. If you’re wondering what coverages make the most sense for your specific situation, talk to your insurance specialist at the Jason Ridley Agency.
