BY DALE GRIBOW
1: Do not buy insurance for the market value of your home. Instead buy only for the home’s reconstruction cost (materials and labor and not for the land).
2. Red cars do not cost more to insure but get pulled over more because red color attracts an officer’s eye. The more you get pulled over and ticketed, the more likely your insurance company will raise your rates.
3. If you cause a serious crash your auto insurance company will not cancel you immediately (though it will count as 2 points against your DMV record). They must wait for the expiration date.
4. Small cars are not always the cheapest to insure.
5. Comprehensive auto insurance does not cover everything. It only covers narrow portions of possible problems, including car theft, storm/sand damage, animal collisions and vandalism etc.
6. Thieves do not prefer to steal new cars as it is more lucrative to steal old cars and sell them for parts.
7. If a friend borrows your car and crashes it, your insurance covers it, not the insurance for the driver of your car. Insurance always follows the car… not the driver.
8. Out-of-state speeding tickets will be forwarded to DMV.
9. The penalty for tickets is as follows:
4 Points allowed in a 1 year period
6 Points allowed in a 2 year period
8 Points allowed in a 3 year period
An accident counts 2 points against the at fault driver.
10. California’s financial responsibility law specifies the minimum insurance needed is $15,000/$30,000. This insurance limit covers the driver of the at-fault car for up to $15,000 for any one injured person, and $30,000 total for all the injured people in the other car… with no one person getting more than $15,000.
11. Someone who loans their car to another has personal exposure for $15,000 minimum or the limits of their auto insurance policy.
12. If damages to the not at-fault driver are valued at more than $15,000, the at-fault driver (not owner) is still responsible for the additional amount. The victim can decide not to accept the money offered and to sue, attach wages and assets. The plaintiff can renew the judgment every 10 years with bankruptcy the only out.
13. The best protection is to purchase Uninsured Motorist (UM) coverage and Under Insured Motorist (UIM) coverage. Here in the Coachella Valley it is a must because of all the uninsured cars on the road. The UIM kicks in when the at-fault driver has inadequate insurance. For example, if the at-fault driver has a $15,000 policy and your injuries are worth $100,000, you would make a claim against the at fault driver and collect $15,000. Then you would make a claim against your own UIM policy for up to your policy. This is the difference between the policy amount of the at-fault driver and your maximum UIM policy amount. If the at-fault party has NO insurance, you would make a claim against your UM policy.
14. If you want higher limits you do not have to purchase a $1,000,000 policy. A trick is to find out what limits your insurance company requires that allows you to purchase an UMBRELLA policy. For instance, I bought a $250,000/$500,000 auto policy and then purchased the $1,000,000 Umbrella policy… for a few hundred dollars a year. The Umbrella policy only kicks in when there is not enough insurance.
DON’T DRINK AND DRIVE, CALL A TAXI OR UBER………IT IS A LOT CHEAPER THAN HAVING A DUI ARREST OR ACCIDENT AND CALLING ME ………SO DRIVE SOBER OR GET PULLED OVER
DALE GRIBOW
“TOP LAWYER” – Palm Springs Life (DUI/ACCIDENT)2011-2017 (California’s Prestige Magazine)
“TOP LAWYER”- Inland Empire Magazine Nov 2016
Perfect 10.0 AVVO Peer Rating
