They won't come take my car, so I'm taking it to them!

[outsidetool]

Well, I'm not going to "personally" attack Mr. Debtmonster. I find it unique that all his advice to others could be just slightly re-phrased and aimed right back at him.
He's in the same boat we're all in here: he filed a BK.
I'm a bit leery of seeking and/or internalizing the thoughts or suggestions of pretty much anyone in "the boat."

[freshstartfl]

Oh, it's unique all right....

[DaisysMom]

That's RIGHT, Daisysmom! We all pay uninsured motorist coverage on our policies. I had forgotten about that. So essentially, how does that work? I'm assuming that if a non-insured driver hits an insured driver, and it's the non-insured's fault, that the insured driver has to make a claim on her own insurance, thus raising her own premiums? If so, that's just delightful. It's fun to have to pay the price for other people's willful negligence.

I don't think it would raise your insurance for a non-a-fault accident. But your insurance would pay and then GO AFTER the uninsured driver, sue....get a judgment....garnish....attach....you get the drift.....and ruin their life for a long time. And from what I have read.....judgments from lawsuits such as these cannot be discharged in BK.

Driving without insurance is just a risky thing to do.

D...

[bcvw]

It is just irresponsible to not have automobile insurance. To advocate that others follow suit is poor advice and poor judgment. If your choice is to break the law and leave others unprotected because of your lack of civic responsibilty, then you deserve to be admonished.

[freshstartfl]

He has no homeowner's insurance, either.

[DaisysMom]

He has no homeowner's insurance, either.

That is risky also.

But that being said, my real problem is not that he chooses to be uninsured.....it is that he advises others to do the same. There are many people who come to this forum for advice when they are in dire circumstances. It is hard to think clearly when your world seems to be collapsing. We need to be sure that when we give advice, that it is not going to possibly make things worse for someone.

Advising people that it is OK to drop your car insurance is irresponsible. There are too many bad outcomes that could result from that choice! Also, there are other alternatives....reducing the amount of coverage, switching to a policy with just liability (if you don't have a loan on the car), etc.

We need to be sure what we are advising other folks to do is in their best interest.

D...

[debtmonster]

He's in the same boat we're all in here: he filed a BK.
I'm a bit leery of seeking and/or internalizing the thoughts or suggestions of

Just to be candid, I have not officially filed yet. I am still paying my attorney the retainer. That was step #1. For months I battled not going bankrupt.

My payments are about 1/2 way done. I have queued up the remaining payment in my electronic bill pay to the attorney to go out next week. So I will be able to go there, pick up all of the paperwork and then give it all back to them so they can file at the courthouse.

My primary reasons for wanting to file is a $40,000 medical bill and the fact that I am foreclosing my house and I don't want some huge 1099 that I will owe mega-thousands in taxes once the bank sells the house. It's cheaper to pay the lawyer now to wipe all that out and then clean up my entire past in the process.

[debtmonster]

It is just irresponsible to not have automobile insurance. To advocate that others follow suit is poor advice and poor judgment. If your choice is to break the law and leave others unprotected because of your lack of civic responsibilty, then you deserve to be admonished.

Nobody ever says it was responsible. It's called "SURVIVAL!" Food is more important than insurance. You only do this for a very short time and then once you get back on your feet, you go back and get it again.

However... One recommendation I can make: If you've had a policy for a very long time, such as 5 to 20 years or so, I would not recommend closing this policy. Once you drop your insurance and you go to renew it, your rates could possibly sky rocket. A lot of times an insurance company will give you the lowest rates possible once you've been with them for a very long time.

I've had my current policy with GEICO for almost 15 years. I have called many other insurance companies and some of them charge double, triple or quadruple what I am paying now. Progressive, Liberty Mutual and eSurance were all a rip off. Allstate was the only one that came close, but was still more expensive to start a new policy. I'm also leery of Allstate. They give you a lowball price when you start and then sometimes in a year or two they can raise the rates. Geico has never done that to me in all this time.

Example of Allstate raising their prices:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/16/AR2008021600180.html