Insurance

[TeamCaffee]

We have started a practice that has sure helped us save money. Every quarter I email the dealer we bought our truck from, I update him on the condition of the truck, extras we have installed, and the mileage and he then he gives us the approximate market value. We then talk to an agent with our insurance carrier and change the insurance market value of the truck. This has then lowered the premiums we pay each month. We have saved a substantial amount of money this way.

 

[JohnO]

Good sound business advise.
Thanks for sharing it.

 

[greg334]

>We have started a practice that has sure helped us save
>money. Every quarter I email the dealer we bought our truck
>from, I update him on the condition of the truck, extras we
>have installed, and the mileage and he then he gives us the
>approximate market value. We then talk to an agent with our
>insurance carrier and change the insurance market value of
>the truck. This has then lowered the premiums we pay each
>month. We have saved a substantial amount of money this way.

This is a really dumb question.

A long time ago I had a fleet of cube trucks, I actually forgot the exact number but anyway I would have new stereos spot lights and other nice things to make life easier. I kept really good records for the trucks, everything including the mileage when a quart of oil is added – yea some what a**n but what can I say.

So I had three trucks totaled out, the first one had all kinds of nice fun stuff added but the insurance company would only pay for the replacement cost of the vehicle – they would not pay for the accessories stating I didn’t have a rider and listed each item added on the rider.

Could this be the same case? you have to tell the insurance agent of each modification?

 

[TeamCaffee]

Good question I believe first thing Monday morning we will be calling our insurance carrier to see if all of our extras are covered. Sure glad you brought this up.

 

[LDB]

Many items in an expediter truck would be covered under a homeowner policy. They generally cover 10% of total home contents value away from the premises.

Leo Bricker, owner trucks 4958, 5447
OOIDA 677319
73's K5LDB
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
----------
Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.

 

[DannyD]

When I bought my vehicle, I was told about gap insurance at the dealership. This covers the difference between an insurance company paying you what your vehicle is worth vs. what you owe on it in the event you're upside down in your loan.

I called my insurance agent & was told that w/ a commercial policy, they'll pay you whatever you list as the value of your vehicle because they charge accordingly. This means if you have a $10,000 vehicle & you've got it listed as $30,000 if you get in an accident where it's totalled you receive $30,000. That's because you've been paying premiums based on it being $30,000. Therefore no gap insurance is needed w/ a commercial policy.

Hope this helped some,
Danny

 

[highway star]

I'd get another opinion on this because it really does'nt make sense. This situation would a bad position for an insurance company to put themselves in. You buy a POS for 5k and insure it for 40k. A lot of people would be tempted to take a crack at insurance fraud for 35k in their pocket. If you total the truck I'd be willing to bet it will be book price.

 

[Broompilot]

Insurance Comapnies are only gona pay what the wholesale value of any vehicle is regardless. If you fail to lower your value at least annually your out. When that vehicle depricaites 10K over a year your gona get the lesser never the value of what you stated so your paying for nothing when you fail to lower the value annually.

Welcome to the real world of business. Little guy always gets cheated if he does not stay on top of things.... Just the way of the business jungle out there.

 

[dhalltoyo]

I'm a little guy, but nobody cheats me.

Many years ago I stop whining about how unfair things seemed to be. Gee, my father was right, "Life isn't fair." Then he would say, "So get over it and make something out of yourself."

Of course life isn't fair! Who ever said it was going to be fair? For example, according to Ralph Nader, defender of the little guy, "big business never pays a nickel in taxes." But Ralph Nader represents a big consumer organization that never pays a nickel in taxes! That's just life.

Not everybody can be at the same level. Karl Marx would have you believe that everybody can have equal wealth, but Communism is a dismal failure. So is the Democratic mindset of redistribution of wealth.

The human race is faced with a cruel choice: work or whining.

 

[TeamCaffee]

I talked with out insurance company this morning to verify all the information and also if we need a rider for everything extra we have added to our truck. With our policy if we total our truck they will pay the least amount, be it market value or stated value. If you check with a dealer on market value of your truck you need to include everything you have added since purchase to the outside of the vehicle. Lift gate, tag axle, extra side boxes, aluminum wheels. Our contents of the truck is covered by our renters insurance. In our situation, every quarter we check the market value of our truck and let our insurance company know and the effective date. It does not matter if you owe more on your truck then it is worth the insurance company is only going to pay market or stated value.

 

[greg334]

My home owners insurance will not cover a thing in my truck due to the fact that it is a personal vehicle per my Agent as of this morning.

 

[DannyD]

Hiya,

First off I'm not digging myself in to deep in terms of sayin they'll pay the value of the truck. I don't know that for 100% sure. I simply know it's what my agent told me when I called about Gap Insurance as I was buying a new truck. The agent told me that Gap insurance was a good idea for new vehicles but that a commercial policy paid whatever the value you stated was because you were paying your insurance rates on the value you stated. So basically I'd say call your agent for sure & find out what your exact situation is.

Having said that, I agree w/ Bob & Linda about lowering the stated value of your vehicle every few months. I'd think most of us are honest & not gonna whack our vehicle to get an insurance claim. That being said, there's no sense paying for more insurance than ya need.

I'm not big on insurance anyways. Workmans Crock I think is something forced on us because some politician or something got bought out by the insurance companies. I understand the need for insurance in catastrophe situations, but to get it for every lil doctor visit or ding in a truck or what have ya, I think it's a long term money loser for everyone except the insurance companies. IMO being self insured, or as close to self insured as you can be, is the way to go.

I make enough bad financial decisions in terms of vehicle purchases. I'm gonna run w/ Bob & Linda on this one & agree to lower the value of your truck every few months. Wise choice & money well saved.

Be well,
Danny

 

[highway star]

Danny, good idea on lowering value. Gap insurance is a good idea for anyone that's upside down in a loan. But, if what your agent said is true, you would'nt need it as you would be setting a value they would accept. Could you have misunderstood something the agent said?

 

[Broompilot]

>I'm a little guy, but nobody cheats me.
>
>Many years ago I stop whining about how unfair things seemed
>to be. Gee, my father was right, "Life isn't fair." Then he
>would say, "So get over it and make something out of
>yourself."
>
>Of course life isn't fair! Who ever said it was going to be
>fair? For example, according to Ralph Nader, defender of the
>little guy, "big business never pays a nickel in taxes." But
>Ralph Nader represents a big consumer organization that
>never pays a nickel in taxes! That's just life.
>
>Not everybody can be at the same level. Karl Marx would have
>you believe that everybody can have equal wealth, but
>Communism is a dismal failure. So is the Democratic mindset
>of redistribution of wealth.

So whats your point? Are you trying to prove me wrong, if so than read the next two threads after my post not including yours. Just a fact an insurance company will never ever ever pay more than the lowest value no matter what one pays or over states its value at. Who cares what Karl Marx or Ralph Nater has to say facts are facts and what you wrote has nothing to do with the subject at hand.
>
>The human race is faced with a cruel choice: work or
>whining.

Kraig Allen

 

[TeamCaffee]

I have heard that when you purchase a new truck you can buy Gap insurance are no depreciation insurance for the first two years of vehicle. I believe these people have the policy through OOIDA. I don't know what is costs. I imagine it is not cheap.

I have also called our house insurance to verify what is covered on the contents of our truck. It has been harder then expected to get the insurance companies to get a definite answer on this subject. With every question I have asked they have had to call me back because they have to talk to a supervisor. Once again I am waiting for a call back to see exactly what is covered in our truck. I am sure we will be a lot better informed about our coverage before these posts are over.

Thanks for all the great replies and I am sure several people have found out more about there insurance coverage.

 

[DannyD]

>Danny, good idea on lowering value. Gap insurance is a good
>idea for anyone that's upside down in a loan. But, if what
>your agent said is true, you would'nt need it as you would
>be setting a value they would accept. Could you have
>misunderstood something the agent said?


No, I stated it wrong. The insurance agent told me that when buying a new vehicle (like a car or non commercial vehicle) that Gap Insurance was a good idea. For a commercial policy, it's not needed because you get paid for what you state the value of your vehicle at.

So if I buy a new truck & state the value at 38K, if my truck is totaled that's what I'd get. Even if it depreciates 10K. The reason for this is I'm paying rates based on 38K. This is how it was explained to me anyways. We didn't get into insuring a 5K truck for 30K or anything like that.

So you are right in that Gap Insurance isn't needed for commercial vehicles. That's what the agent told me. I simply stated it wrong.

Take care,
Danny

 

[highway star]

I'm really skeptical of this based on stories I've heard about what happens after an accident. Every accident I've heard about has involved values being determined.

 

[dieseldoctor1]

I'm not going to get into who is right or who is wrong here but having been in business for many years and dealing with insurance companys for myself, my businesses, and my customers I know one thing for fact: No matter what you have been told, by no matter who, if the insurance company won't give it to you in writing it doesn't mean anything. Period!


Dieseldoctor

 

[romoore245]

When we wrecked our fist rruck, it was insured for what we payed around 11,000. I told the insurance what I had paid and made it clear that was less than value and was not market replacement value. He tried to pay us less than what we payed, but in the end gave us 7000 more. Which turned out to be a little more than market value. Never underetimate the value of a firm lawyer.