Lowering my car insurance coverage?

[greasypigarvin]

Inspired by the latest article on telecommuters and car insurance, I wanted to get the hive mind's opinion on my car insurance.

I bought a new car about two years ago, reliable with good gas mileage. Sure helped me a lot during the gas boom, and still a good deal now. I own the car, technically; I'm paying my parents back at a decent interest rate and I have no lien obligations.

However, most recently my business has been primarily from home, so much so that I'm only driving an average of 600 miles a month (or about 7000 miles a year). Lowering my mileage from 12,000 to 7,000 lowered my rate by only 100 dollars per year.

Currently, I'm paying for comprehensive and collision insurance, and a tiny amount for car rental. I'm paying for 25/50/25 liability, when California only requires 15/25/15 I believe (don't quote me on that; the point is I'm not just getting the lowest possible).

I keep my car in a garage, so it's not exposed to the elements.

Collision and comprehensive take up about half of my premium. Increasing the deductibles on these two produced diminishing results.

What would you do? Would it be wise to ditch the collision and comprehensive?

[USCGamecocks]

http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com...bs-early-show/

Take Ramit advice. Call and haggle with your insurance company. It works. I did it myself.

[the weakonomist]

I agree with haggling. Explain to them that you're not driving very much at all. It wouldn't hurt to get a quote from a competitor as well to see if they go lower.

I'm not sure how high your deductibles are, mine are $1,000. With a decent emergency fund in place I have no problem with the high deductible, so it saved me quite a bit of money.

[Philip Brewer]

Originally Posted by greasypigarvin

What would you do? Would it be wise to ditch the collision and comprehensive?

I wrote a post on exactly that topic a while back: When to drop collision coverage on your car.

Briefly, though, the answer is the same for car insurance as it is for all kinds of insurance: Bear the risks you can afford, insure the ones you can't.

Think about what you'd actually do if your car got totaled. Buy a new car? Buy a used car? (Maybe your family could get by with one less car for a while!) Whatever you'd actually do, suppose you had to do it without any insurance. Would it wreck your finances? If not, you don't need collision. If it would, then you do need collision--but adjust your deductible so that you're only buying enough insurance to protect your family.