Would You Forgo Car Insurance To Save Money?

Discussion in Auto Insurance started by prose • Nov 2, 2015.

  1. prose

    proseActive Member

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    In the state that I live in, car insurance is mandatory. Drivers who are pulled over by police without proof of car insurance are ticketed and heavily fined. For safety reasons, I would never drive in an uninsured vehicle. However, I know people who do not have car insurance in order to save money.

    Would you forgo car insurance in order to save money? Do you know of anyone who has?
     
  2. GemmaRowlands

    GemmaRowlandsActive Member

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    In my country, it is a legal requirement to have car insurance, so therefore no, I would not want to go without it, because I know that it is something that needs to be paid. Even if I had no legal obligation to do so, there is no way that I would want to go without it, because any repairs would no doubt be much more money than the car insurance would have been in the first place.
     
  3. gata montes

    gata montesActive Member

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    Nope - as to be perfectly honest - apart from the fact that its illegal where I live to drive a vehicle on a public highway without insurance - and if caught - not only is your car immediately impounded but the hefty penalty - is huge and generally way, way more than a yearly insurance premium - it is generally considered totally irresponsible and also false economy - as its highly unlikely that not having insurance would save any money in the long run.

    In fact - bearing in mind that vehicle insurance is not only protection in the event of an accident, theft or damage caused to your car by other less careful motorists - but more importantly against liabilities that can arise in the event of an accident and especially if it involves physical injury or death - its way more likely that having no insurance would turn into both a legal and financial nightmare - rather than be a saving - particularly as those costs could easily run into thousands and thousands of dollars.
     
  4. missbishi

    missbishiWell-Known Member

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    It's totally illegal to be an uninsured motorist in this country and I think that those who do try and beat the system are utterly selfish. Not only do their actions push the price up for everyone else, what happens if they cause an accident?
     
  5. Krissttina Isobe

    Krissttina IsobeWell-Known Member

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    :oops:I don't know of any State that car insurance is optional. I think everywhere in America you have to have car insurance like health insurance is also required. I don't think it's a safe idea not to have car insurance. It can be deducted at tax time too so best to check that and shop at Walmart to save money or at sales. Car insurance is required here at Hawaii.
     
  6. xTinx

    xTinxWell-Known Member

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    My family has not purchased any car insurance over the last few years. It's something we don't consider as immediate or important. Although insurance in general is a necessary financial investment, buying car insurance is more luxurious than buying, say, life or

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    . Besides, in my country, car repairs are cheap and there are small-scale shops you can go to for minor repairs and all. As long as you know who to go to or if you established a friendship with one of the shop owners, you can snag a discount.
     
  7. Jasmine2015

    Jasmine2015Active Member

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    I would not go without insurance. My mom's car was recently hit by someone driving a moving truck. This all happened while we were in the store. The best part is that the person didn't have permission to drive the moving truck to begin with and had no insurance. I think it is more costly to go without insurance them it is to just go ahead and pay for it.
     
  8. Theo

    TheoWell-Known Member

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    I don't think it's legal to drive without insurance in most countries, most people opt for third party as the cheapest option that protects other drivers. Basically if you can't afford to run a car it's best not to have one I think. In the US states where it's not mandatory still require the driver to have liability insurance. I would imagine is a country where insurance is a hot topic people would need to protect themselves as much as possible.
     
  9. Corzhens

    CorzhensWell-Known Member

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    We have 2 cars that we bought in 2013 so they are still new. The insurance is quite expensive but that's the purpose of insurance, to give us peace of mind that somehow our cars are somewhat protected. I don't think I could sleep if our car insurance is not paid. My thinkiing is always the adversity like what happens when the car sustains a damage or worse, it is stolen? It happened to us in 1996 when we bought a car and after 1 month it was forced open, losing the car stereo and the spare tire to the thieves.
     
  10. Ke Gordon

    Ke GordonWell-Known Member

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    We
    Well in the United States, it is illegal to drive without auto insurance, and if you are caught you have to pay a hefty fine and buy insurance that is twice as much. I did go without auto insurance for awhile, years ago, do to economic necessity, but the insurance I have now is so cheap, I would be a fool to go without it. I will never get rates this low again.
     
  11. Pat

    PatWell-Known Member

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    Having car insurance is not about repairing the automobile if it gets damaged. Automobile insurance is to protect you and your life savings or things from someone that gets harmed while you are operating your vehicle and wants to take everything from you. Automobile insurance helps to restore that injured person back to the level of health or their vehicle before the accident. The other choice is to pay for it out of your pocket which can and has caused many people to be devastated for life financially.
     
  12. MrsJones

    MrsJonesActive Member

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    No I wouldn't forego having car insurance especially knowing the consequences without it. I've lost two vehicles from someone else not having insurance and my insurance company states should those claims for restitution will remain open until recovered. I'm not holding my breath for that day just a check for my deductibles will be fine.
     
  13. Brenda Barnousky

    Brenda BarnouskyActive Member

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    They are so strict in my state that you get in trouble if you don't have an up to date insurance card with you, even if your insurance is in effect. I would not dare drive without insurance, not even down the street. It's just too risky, and you can lose your license.
     
  14. Diane Lane

    Diane LaneWell-Known Member

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    Insurance is mandatory here, and you have to show it to get the car inspected. You have to show the inspection to register the vehicle, so you will most likely be caught if you try to do without insurance. I've never not had insurance, even though paying for it is a hardship for me. I have a friend in another state who did without auto insurance for several years, like @Ke Gordon@Ke Gordon, out of hardship, but he got caught, and ended up with the much higher cost insurance, although he's now safely ensconced in the State Farm family.
     
  15. clairebeautiful

    clairebeautifulActive Member

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    My husband is an attorney who deals, among other things, pretty heavily with petty traffic violations.

    He could tell you that time and again, going without auto-insurance is NEVER a pursuit in saving money. The very concept is laughable. (But this is the very foundation of thinking that keeps him and other attorneys in business. Lots of dummies who think they don't need to pay for something, end up paying MORE in the long run.)

    In many ways, it's like saying, "Do you think I should drive around without a seatbelt on because it is more comfortable and I'm not going to get in an accident anyway?"

    But. I get it. People, on the whole, are irresponsible. Irresponsible for themselves AND others... on the whole.

    This is the same principle driving Obamacare - this notion that everyone should have health insurance, and if we make it affordable, everyone will get it. Well, "affordable" and "free" are not the same, and America proved that they'd rather be uninsured than pay for something they don't think they will ever need.
     
  16. Lushlala

    LushlalaWell-Known Member

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    I don't have a car, but if I did have one, I'd absolutely buy insurance. In Botswana and the UK you're legally bound to have insurance, or you could find yourself on the wrong side of the law. In as much as I hate how expensive car insurance can get, there's no way I'd try to avoid it just to save money. It's not worth it. Yet people will still drive without it, but then they end up paying a lot more, and not just in monetary terms.
     
  17. Ke Gordon

    Ke GordonWell-Known Member

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    @Diane Lane@Diane Lane, I didn't go several years without insurance. I am not crazy lol!. It was maybe two years tops. I was lucky during that time period, but I would not do it again. The risks are simply too great. My sister one time had to have some of that high dollar insurance, because she had too many speeding tickets..and it was something like 900 dollars a month. This was like 25 years ago...so I don't even want to think about what it would be today.
     
  18. Diane Lane

    Diane LaneWell-Known Member

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    It's not always a matter of being irresponsible or trying to get out of an obligation, although of course there are many scofflaws who go without auto insurance for those reasons. These days, many are having to make tough choices, and if it's a choice between housing, food, utilities or car insurance, obviously the car insurance is going to go. Not everyone lives where public transportation is available. If you don't have to make tough choices, count yourself fortunate, and realize that not everyone has the same lifestyle, income and abilities.

    I can't imagine paying $900/month, that's ridiculous @Ke Gordon@Ke Gordon. In that case, I'd have to do without, since I wouldn't be able to pay my other living expenses.

    Back home in Massachusetts, we knew Rhode Island drivers weren't mandated to have insurance, so we'd avoid cars with that license plate, the same way we tended to avoid drivers here in Texas with license plates from Mexico. I think both situations have changed. I've heard that drivers from Mexico now have to show proof of insurance (or purchase it) to drive across the border, and I think perhaps Rhode Island has now made insurance mandatory.
     
  19. Ke Gordon

    Ke GordonWell-Known Member

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    As far as I know, insurance is mandatory in all 50 states, however, auto inspections aren't. I just had to fork over a huge amount of money to get my car inspected..since there were so many things wrong with it. I was not happy, and I wish in retrospect I had sold the car..and put the money toward a better one..but oh well. At least the car is safer now..so I can feel more comfortable driving it. I can't help but feel, I was penny wise and pound foolish..but I didn't have the right info.
     
  20. explorerx7

    explorerx7Active Member

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    As far is I know it's a universal requirement that motor vehicle should have motor insurance. If someone is caught in without motor vehicle insurance, whether in an accident or otherwise,they are live to face some really serious sanctions and hefty fines. There no escaping this cost, however, some people do take the risk of operating without the insurance but this can be a very costly affair because if caught, they could end up paying more in fines than the actual cost of insuring the vehicle