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When is it Okay to Slash My Coverage For Better Auto Insurance Rates?

Would you say it's a good idea to be out driving on the roads with no auto insurance? No, probably not. Let's face it, people drive like maniacs these days! The last thing you want is to be out on the highways completely unprotected, and yet thanks to the current cramp in our economy that's exactly what hundreds of drivers are doing every day. Studies suggest that by 2010 the number of uninsured drivers out on the highways could hit record highs.

The question is, what are you going to do about it?

Nobody should ever have to choose between putting food on the table and having adequate auto insurance coverage for their cars, but that's exactly what's happening all across the United States as unemployment continues to climb and foreclosures dominate the housing market-although granted, not as badly as they did just a few short years ago. All that aside, it's vital that we find a way to bring auto insurance rates back down into the affordable cost range of the average driver.

And sometimes that means slashing through the fluff.

Don't get us wrong, you want to be insured. The more padding you have between your bank account and potential disaster, the happier everybody's going to be! That doesn't mean you should have to put yourself in the poorhouse to do it. If your auto insurance premiums are just a little beyond your reach, here's what you can do to bring your costs back down.

First and foremost, what are you paying for that you don't need? Almost all of today's auto insurance companies are operating on the assumption that more is more when it comes to your coverage. It keeps them ahead of the competition (who doesn't want to feel like they're getting more for their money?) but doesn't do a whole lot to keep costs down. Things like emergency roadside assistance, extra medical coverage and rental insurance are nice to have in a pinch, but they aren't necessities.

Coming up with the money for a tow truck is a lot easier than coming up with hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay someone's medical bills because you were driving uninsured.

Once you've wiped all that out of your budget, let's take a look at how high your coverage levels are. Most states have a minimum liability level they require you to have, and you absolutely, positively want to make sure you've got at least that much added in to your auto insurance policy. Most experts will tell you that just enough usually isn't enough however. With trips to the ICU starting at $5,000 a day, $15,000 in bodily injury isn't going to go very far. Raising your liability to $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident (with an accompanying $100,000 in property damage liability just for good measure, since you never know when you're going to hit a $70,000 Mercedes instead of a $5,000 clunker) shouldn't do too much damage to your auto insurance rates and will go a long way toward making sure you're protected when you're out on the highway.

With liability taken care of, let's take a look at your comprehensive and collision. If your budget absolutely, positively won't stretch that far you can legally drive without them, but if you can afford them they're nice to have. It's cheaper to pay your auto insurance provider to replace your car than to try and do it yourself! The same goes for uninsured motorist insurance.

Remember, not everyone out there is as safe behind the wheel as you. It pays to have your bases covered.