Saturday, February 22, 2014

Michigan Drivers: HELP ME HELP ALL


Michigan auto insurance has gotten out of hand. I have always shared ownership with my sons when they purchase a car so I can put the insurance in my name making it cheaper and affordable for them. My nineteen year old son recently bought a car. He tried to register it on his own. He is very self-sufficient. He was excited. He wanted to do it on his own. Then the call came. “Mom, can you put the insurance in your name?” Of course, I had done it for the others, it was his turn. I was in awe as to why. “Mom, they want $7,000 a year for no fault insurance. I’ve never even had a ticket.” I knew I could get it much cheaper, at least affordable. After all, my age, my driving record, low cost no fault, right? Boy was I surprised.
I called to get Austin an insurance policy. The first quote I received was $3,200 for six months. The absolute cheapest basic insurance I could find for Austin was through e-surance at almost $1,300 every six months. The next cheapest no fault I could find was at $3,610.00 a year. That was with, and I hate to admit this, an AARP discount (Which, of course, I would have to join before the discount could go into effect.)

Talking with many difference agents, I learned that Michigan has the highest insurance in the nation. It’s because of the Personal Injury Protection mandate in our required auto insurance. I learned that if you don’t have employer paid medical insurance, your auto insurance is higher. Health coverage, unless its employer paid, doesn’t cover auto injuries. So, by law, we have to carry two separate health insurance policies? It doesn’t make sense. To top of it all, there is the Michigan Catastrophic Claim Association PIP Premium. So below is the list of costs for the most basic no fault on a car that my son paid $800.00 for, a 1998 4-door Saturn under my name:

Bodily Injury Liability $20,000/$40,000 $324.00
Damage Liability $10,000 $9.00
Uninsured Motorists $20,000/$40,000 $10.00
Underinsured Motorists $20,000/$40,000 included
PERSONAL INJURY PROTECTION $3,078.00
PIP Catastrophic $189.00
TOTAL: $3,610.00

Without the Personal Injury Protection and Catastrophic insurance the cost would be a mere $343.00 a year. Payments of $28.59 per month is affordable. The people should be allowed to opt out of this high cost of insurance. Yes, Michigan says if you are hurt in an accident and out of work they will send you a check for the rest of your life, but nobody knows what that monthly payment will be. The catastrophic insurance will pay if you lose limbs. Why can't we take personal responsibility? This should be a choice, plain and simple.
I interviewed many insurance companies. One agent told me a twenty-eight year old woman moved from Michigan to Indiana. Her auto insurance plummeted $900.00 per six months to the reasonable $300.00 it should be. Another agent told me that they quit offering full coverage, because in Metro Detroit many policies exceed $10,000 per year and people just simply can’t afford it. Another agent explained a $200.00 policy, good for 1 week, just to obtain license plates, due to skyrocketing costs. All agents blame the state. They are suffering, too.

I began talking to people about this situation. A Lincoln Park small business owner almost hit the roof when he received his insurance renewal. Out of anger, he blamed his insurer and called another company. The agent came in and told him that everyone should expect a 25% increase in their insurance upon renewal due to…get this…”Obamacare.”

I talked to a young mother, 28, who just purchased a vehicle. There was no way she could afford $500.00 down and $500.00 a month for no fault insurance. The last time she registered a vehicle is was $130.00 down a little over a year ago. She had no choice but to opt for the $200.00, one week coverage.

A few said they would rather take the chance without insurance. The ticket cost is about $175.00. In Michigan, there is Drivers Responsibility through the Department of Treasury which demands payments of $200.00 for two consecutive years if you are guilty of driving without insurance. Sorry, but $575 in two years surly beats that same payment in a month. I still don’t understand driving isn’t a right, it’s a privilege. If that is so, how can the state mandate it? How does the Michigan Department of Treasury collect on a paid violation? By having a driver’s license we earn the privilege.

I say it’s time to put the brakes on imposing irrational costs by the State of Michigan. This is totally out of control and out of hand. While everyone else is falling into the smokescreen traps we can’t continue to allow ourselves to be sent to the poor house. Young people cannot bear this expense, especially when their parents carried them on insurance and they have never been insured on their own. This makes it impossible for many to follow the law and be law abiding when there is no way they can afford to drive legally. Have we become a state of people where driving is only a privilege for the elite few?

Uninsured motorists are referred to as dirty drivers. Filth is a much better word, not towards the drivers, but toward that state that mandates such ridiculous cost without the choice to opt out of their coverage. People are dirty because they can’t afford the insanity imposed, but people are filthywhen they impose such hardships on their people.
I am furious. I think it’s time that the people in Michigan stand up and take responsibility for what is being done here. I am willing to write the proposal if I know people will sign the petitions. There is only one way to change it and we all know where that begins.

Please contact me and let me know if I have your support in standing up against these absurd costs. I will try my hardest to make the change, but I need to know if I have support.
Till the next time,

Pam

No comments:

Post a Comment