It should also be pointed out that a lot of these rate differences being spouted out are regional. Most of you would have a heart attack if you saw the uninsured rates for new Orleans.

It just depends if you can afford to replace that car if anything happens. You also need to consider the coverage it gives for medical issues, and for the other drivers car (in case it is your fault). I have found the reward outweighs the risk in case something happens.

I should say that in my country you have to have insuranse that covers damage on others (cars, injury and so on). "Full insuranse" is therefore cover on my car regardless who is to blame.

In the US, liability insurance - which covers the damage you do to others - is also required. That doesn't stop people from driving without insurance. I was in an accident where the other driver was clearly at fault, but he gave me a bogus insurance card and even though I had his drivers license and plate numbers my insurance company never found him or a covering policy.

In another accident my car was parked while I was at work and the driver left without leaving behind any information. No witnesses came forward.

Also, full coverage includes things that you do to your own car. If the roads are icy and you slide off a cliff, your car gets repaired/replaced. Same thing if a tree falls on your car. You can also be covered if valuables are stolen.

That varies by state. The amount also varies by state so that even in a state that requires liability coverage, it may be nearly worthless in the even of an accident. Even if the other driver is at fault and has the statutory coverage it may not even come close to covering your losses.

Here are my rates:

Liability ($250000/$500000) $335/year
Comprehensive $50/yr
Collision $110/yr
Uninsured $20/yr
Underinsured $16/yr

This is for a 5 year old luxury car. The rates were the same when it was brand new, within $20 for the year. It never had a loan on it. Deductibles are $500 (I thought they were $1000). My wife's car is a sports car and the rates are fairly similar.

Obviously my liability limits are very high but that is required for our umbrella coverage and part of our overall risk mitigation plan.

But my point is, the comp and collision are simply not very expensive.

This policy has one "accident" on it from an incident I had where I was not at fault and there was no damage but tripped something in their system. There is also a claim under the underinsured motorist about 2 years ago when my wife was hit and had several thousand in damages paid under our policy. Those surcharges amount to about $20 total per year. There are also multicar and multiline discounts amounting to about $280 per year.

Obviously everyone needs to shop around for themselves. But I personally don't see any reason at those rates to drop C&C.

This is through state farm.

I should also point out that we live in southern Arizona where car theft is common because vehicles can be driven to mexico in less than an hour. Our comprehensive rates are supposedly higher than some states although we don't have severe weather so that drives comprehensive down.

In the US we have liability that covers damage you cause to others, comprehesive that covers damage or theft to your own car and collision that covers damage to your own car if you are in a wreck that is your fault.

In some states the police determine who is at fault when there is an accident and that person's insurance must cover everything. In other states there is "no fault" which means that each person covers their own damage regardless of who is at fault.

I think Sweden basically has "no fault" laws like some states have here.

But the question was about comprehensive and collision coverage. Those would not cover someone else's vehicle and usually would not cover medical payments. That would be either liability or separate medical payments coverage.

We have two fully paid cars. One is insured comprehensively, one we only have liability coverage on. Here is what went into our decisions on the two:

The liability only car is a 2001 beater that I use to get from A to B until I am finished with school. We paid less than $3000 for it over 2 years ago, and its worth almost nothing. Its covered in rust, the driver's side mirror is duck-taped on, many accessory things on it don't work (ie: the blower, the air conditioner, the hood release latch), and it is in overall poor shape. Its not dangerous, but we put the minimum amount of money into it to keep it road worthy. If it broke down or got totaled we can afford to replace it with a car of equivalent or slightly better value.

Our other car, the one with full coverage, is our more "go-to" car. Its a 2007, so still getting up there in years, but its in great shape. Its probably worth around $5-6k and if it became a total loss it WOULD put a large dent in our savings because it is our family car. We'd probably buy a newer car to replace it and while we are saving toward that goal now anyway, we are not where we need to be to buy a 10k+ car on our own. The 5-6k we would get in insurance would allow that purchase, though.

So there is our reasoning!

Wow, those are REALLY good rates. These are my annual rates:

Bodily Injury Liability ($100k/$300k): $162
Property Damage Liability ($100k): 138
Unisured Motorist ($100k/$300k): 53
Personal Injury ($10k): 51
Comprehensive: 120
Collision: 288
Rental Reimbursement: 37
Roadside Assistance: 12

Total ends up being $860/yr. We're both mid-30s with no accidents or tickets. We've filed no claims on the car, and have had only 1 call for roadside assistance when the battery died. Given the number of car accidents that happen on Oahu and that Hawaii is a no-fault state, maybe that's why collision and comprehensive are so high.

I am debating this as well. I purchased a used Corolla one year ago for 10,800 before tax. My comprehensive coverage costs me just over 800 a year. Would it be better for me to just save that amount for 10 years and be able to buy a new vehicle? I guess not if something happens. I just feel like my insurance is too high.

edit opps, I got confused. I guess collision is 834. Comprehensive is 66!

Guess I won't be dropping to save 66$ a year when I pay off my car in 3 months.

That seems awfully high. What is your deductible? Where do you live? What insurance company is this?