Posts Tagged ‘Maine insurance agency’
Maine Drivers: What’s Your "Third Number"?
Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010
Every so often, a local news article like this one appears. Something goes wrong, and a Maine driver finds their vehicle in somebody’s living room – or bank lobby.
This accident happened right around the corner from our office. At noontime today, the damage was impressive: two large (and no doubt, expensive) glass walls were completely destroyed. Equally impressive was the speed of the repairs, which were in full swing. Fortunately, the bank was able to open today, so there was no “loss of income” suffered.
Hopefully, the driver of this vehicle had insurance. And hopefully, he paid attention to “the third number”.
The Third Number
Maine auto insurance policies provide liability coverage. Maine’s minimum liability limits are $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident for Bodily Injury, and $25,000 for Property Damage. When you get a car insurance quote, the insurance company might quote those figures as “50/100/25″.
In the accident that happened last night, there was no Bodily Injury (thank goodness), only Property Damage. That means that the Third Number is what will pay for the damages.
I have no idea whether $25,000 would be enough to repair this building, but I wouldn’t want to find out the hard way. If a Maine driver doesn’t have enough insurance for the damage or injuries they cause, their assets are wide open to help pay for the other party’s loss. That’s why we never recommend buying State Minimum limits.
What’s Your Third Number?
When you get a Maine car insurance quote, pay attention to ALL the numbers, including the “Third Number” – your Property Damage limit.
For professional, personal insurance advice, call Noyes Hall & Allen at 799-5541. We’ll help you understand what you’re buying, and help you make informed choices to find insurance you can afford.
Tags: accident, affordable auto insurance, liability, Maine insurance agency, property damage
Posted in Car Insurance, News | No Comments »
Avoiding 4 Big Car Insurance Mistakes – Coverage Advice from a Maine Insurance Agency
Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
When you buy Maine auto insurance, you choose liability coverage to insulate your assets from damages you might owe to others after a car accident. Your policy also includes uninsured motorist coverage, usually at the same limits.
Here are 4 auto liability insurance mistakes our Maine insurance agency works hard to save you from – and how to avoid them.
1) Meeting State Minimum Limits.
Buying State Minimum limits is like getting a “D” on your report card. You pass, but just barely. Maine’s minimum requirements ($50,000 per person / $100,000 per accident for Bodily Injury, $25,000 for Property Damage) are comparatively strict – higher than every state except Wisconsin. That’s good, right?
Think about what that might need to pay for.
Bodily Injury coverage pays people you might injure for their
- Hospital & Doctor Bills
- Lost Time from Work
- Physical and Occupational Therapy
- Pain & Suffering
- Attorney’s Fees
Those expenses can easily top $50,000 for a moderately serious accident. What happens if you have a REALLY serious crash?
Maine's minimum property damage limit is $25,000. Still think that's enough?
Property Damage Liability coverage pays for damage you cause to:
- Other vehicles
- Property in their cars (computers, golf clubs, etc.)
- Buildings
- Utility poles, guardrails, etc..
2) Forgetting that Insurance pays to defend you.
insurance does more than pay for damage and injuries you cause. It also pays for legal expenses – unless your liability coverage runs out. As long as you have insurance limits left, your insurer finds, hires and pays an attorney to defend you. The beauty of this is that your legal fees do not reduce the amount of coverage available to pay injured parties.
Still think $50,000/$100,000/$25,000 is enough?
If you watch TV in Maine, you’ve seen lots of ads urging injured Mainers to call a lawyer so they can “get what they deserve”. If you get in an accident without insurance – or, if you cause more damage than you bought insurance for – you’ll have to hire your own lawyer to defend yourself. With your own money. And, if you’re found liable, you’ll have to pay the damages on top of that. With your own money.
3) Keeping the Same Limits Year After Year
Insurance is the only thing between your assets and a liability judgement. The higher your net worth, the higher your liability limits should be. When you bought your first car, your net worth might have equaled the contents of your pocket. But gradually, you got ahead of the bills, made a little more money, maybe bought a house – and your net worth grew over time.
If you cause more damage than you have insurance, guess where the court will look for restitution? Your home equity, your savings, investments, and so on. So make sure your liability coverage at least matches your net worth. Think about buying an umbrella policy to supplement your auto & home liability coverage. They’re cheap, and can be the difference between an unfortunate accident and financial disaster.
4) Ignoring the Danger of the Uninsured – or Underinsured.
Your car insurance policy also protects you against uninsured or underinsured drivers. If someone hits you – their fault – and they have no insurance, your policy acts as if they had the same limits you do, and pays for your bodily injury. Same thing if they had low limits, and you bought higher ones.
See where this is going now?
But wait. Maine car insurance is mandatory. The State requires it to register your car. So everyone’s insured, right? Not really.
An estimated 4% of Maine drivers are uninsured – and that’s the 2nd best rate in the country. The Insurance Research Council estimated that nearly 14% of U.S. drivers had no car insurance at all. And that doesn’t count the people who buy minimal limits.
So Mainers are relatively honest folks. But what about everyone else? What’s that nickname on Maine’s license plates again? Oh yeah…
Most of our out-of-state visitors are from the northeast, right? Click on the map below to enlarge it, and you’ll see that of the 10 states within an easy day’s drive of Maine, 2 do not require drivers to buy insurance AT ALL. Six more require per person Bodily Injury limits of $20,000 or less.
Think you might want to increase your car insurance? Talk to a good Maine car insurance agent – like us for example.
Tags: Maine auto insurance, Maine insurance agency, Maine umbrella insurance
Posted in Car Insurance, Law | 4 Comments »
Posts from the NHA blog:
07-02Avoiding Used Underwear & Red Cross Socks for $10 a Month
03-02What If You Are Hit by Someone With No Insurance?
03-02When Should I Drop Collision Coverage?
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@Bob_Hartwig good comments, but overwhelmed by article's context. Ins. agents must serve clients best we can in challenging environment.
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