Originally Posted by Boiler (Post 10888222)

Sounds like you are not an insured party on the original policy.

Originally Posted by TimFountain (Post 10889072)

Maybe true, but the plane is still insured. Why do I need separate insurance on something that is already insured?

Originally Posted by Boiler (Post 10889701)

OK then how can you come to a conclusion missing out a very pertinent element?

Originally Posted by Just Jenney (Post 10886338)

If your insurance is with a major company (Progressive, State Farm, etc), they probably have an online tool where you can tweak your deductibles and see how it affects your bottom line.

For years I followed the "get the biggest deductibles you can afford" approach in order to keep my insurance rates as low as possible. This approach was fine until Mark's car was damaged in a parking lot by a hit-and-run driver. Our insurance company, USAA, categorized it as a collision, for which we had a $1,000 deductible. Because the damage was superficial, it wasn't worth it to fork out $1,000 for the deductible (which we couldn't easily afford anyway) and we never pursued it.

(It wasn't until a year later that my brother, who worked as a Progressive claims adjuster for several years, told me that he felt it should have been put in the uninsured motorist category, and our policy only required a $200 deductible for that. Mark and I had split up by that point so it was up to him whether to pursue it; he never did.)

Because of that situation, and also because I am now single again, living on one income and owning a 12-year-old car, I went into USAA's website and used their "Change Coverages and Features" tool. It let me play around with hypothetical options, including increased/decreased coverage AND deductible amounts, and then calculated a quote depending on those hypotheticals.

I ended up drastically slashing all of my deductibles -- they now range from $100-$200 per category -- but my premium only increased by $6/month. While that means I'm paying $72/year more for my insurance than before, I have peace of mind knowing that I'll be able to afford the deductibles should something happen to me. I had always assumed that I was saving HUNDREDS (plural) per year by having super-high deductibles, and I was surprised by how wrong I was!

Now, that's with USAA -- great company. Other insurers may be different. But look into it. If your insurance company doesn't give you the flexibility to adjust your insurance policy to fit your needs, then you might want to look at another insurance company altogether.

~ Jenney