Potential FRS owner - query
 

Hi guys, hopefully I am posting this in the right place!

I just moved to the USA (Florida/West Palm Beach area) from England, I am looking in to getting a car / getting licence here and I just wondered, am I gonna get taken to town on the insurance over here?

I am 31 and married, I was driving 3 years back in England (didn't need a car much due to the availability of public transport and job/home proximity!).


Does anyone have any idea how much I might expect to be paying for insurance here on an FRS?

The best thing you can do is call an Auto Insurance agent (with a good rating/review) and get a quote

Shop around, for sure. Being young-ish and with not a lot of driving history, you might be facing higher rates. Being married, though, will help. Try Progressive Insurance. My rate with them went down when I got the FR-S.

Im 34, married.

My wife and I both have 2 incidences each on our records.

For my FR-S and her Lexus RX350 (both 2013 models) we pay $733 for a 6 month policy of full coverage with progressive. Mind you we pay in full and if we were to do monthly payments the policy would be $900.

http://www.runemasterstudios.com/gra...s/welcome2.gif ..... to the USofA, there, CoolHandLuc.

As forzajuve mentioned, best you contact a few agents to get quotes.

Any estimates, without knowing the specifics, could be quite misleading.


humfrz

Hey - thanks humfrz, and the rest for the help!

Still waiting on my SS number so I can't run any online insurance quotes at the moment, but I'm pretty set on getting an FRS now.... just hope I'm not paying over $150 amonth for insurance!

Cheers
Luke

I would be surprised if it were that much. I pay about that for 2 cars and I am not married and not 25. (I think the Fr-S alone is around $90 or $100 for monthly payments)

I recommend staying away from companies like geico, even though their insurance may be cheap.

As I understand insurance rates, the keys for lower rates are being 25+ and/or being married (and, of course, no tickets/at fault accidents). I don't think there's much of a discount for age beyond that.

I'm 41, married and no tickets/accidents in last 3 years. I pay about $65/month on the BRZ through State Farm.

I'm also an attorney who has handled a fair amount of car accident cases. Based on my experience, the two of the worst companies for not being reasonable in paying claims are Nationwide and Allstate (often referred to as "Allsnake" by Plaintiff's attorneys).

An example: 95 year old Allstate insured causes an accident which resulted in serious physical damage to a 63 year old woman. Woman goes to doc immediately complaining of neck, back, knee and other issues. Knee apparently hit the dash. On her next two weekly visits, she complains about most of the issues from before, except that she didn't mention the knee. On the following visit, she complained about the knee again. The GP referred her to an ortho who determined that she needed a knee replacement, which she then had. Both docs said that the knee replacement was related to the accident. She incurred about $83,000.00 in medical bills.

Allstate reviewed the case and determined that - because she didn't complain specifically about the knee for two weeks, therefore, the knee replacement was not related to the accident. As a result, Allstate offered $12,000.00 to settle the case. Allstate never increased their offer prior to trial. BTW, Allstate bases their offers on a computer program - someone enters the injuries into a computer program and the computer spits out a value for the case (i.e. the amount the adjuster should offer). Since the "someone" either didn't fully review the medical records or concluded that the knee replacement wasn't related, then the computer spit out the $12,000.00 number as the settlement value of the case. Apparently neither the attorney nor the adjuster have the authority to modify that offer.

We tried the case and the jury gave the woman $233,000.00 to cover medicals, past, present and future pain and suffering. The Judge found that Allstate's offer was not reasonable. As such, the woman was entitled to interest on the $233k back to the date of the accident (which was nearly 5 years before the trial). That resulted in another $70,000.00 in interest on top of the $233,000.00, for a total judgment of over $300,000.00.

If Allstate had offered somewhere in the range of $60,000.00 to $80,000.00 to settle the case, our client likely would have accepted it. But $12,000.00 certainly was not enough.

The other side of the case is the client. The most she would have gotten without a trial was $12,000.00. She hired us to handle the case and she didn't want to pay the hourly rate. We took it on the standard contingent fee agreement of 33% of settlement before trial, 40% of verdict after trial, with our office getting $0.00 in the event of a ZERO verdict.

When we got the check, we cut her 60% of $303,000.00 and 40% for us. She complained that we were taking too much of her money.

Think about that. She would have gotten only $12,000.00 on her own... and she actually got about $180,000.00 with our help - and then complained that our fee was too large... even though she knowingly signed the fee agreeme

I can attest that Progressive pays claims well, easy, quick, and no hassle.

Wife totaled my truck last month. They had me a check within 2 weeks. Even after a $1000 deductible they still cut me more than I thought my truck was worth.

It was a 2007 Toyota Tacoma I bought new for $25k. I owned it just shy of 7 years and put 107k miles on it and kept her in immaculate condition. She had been in the body shop 3 time for minor work (2 dent and paint repairs, 1 repaint of a door).
Progressive cut me a $17k check (so they valued it at $18k if you consider the 1k deductible). Kinda hard to believe a near 7 year old truck depreciated only $7k dollars.

why not geico?

Geico is great if you don't get into a wreck. When you do, they can be painful. Not how insurance should work.

Sadly I will agree with this guy. I've had geico for 7 years now. In that time had a couple rear ends(other person rear ended me). Geico did fine, last week I was rear ended in my frs on the interstate. Other lady had geico as well, she claimed a 3rd vehicle hit her and pushed her into me then left. Geico told me "since the 3rd vehicle left, we can't charge anyone's insurance so you(I) will have to use my uninsured motorist coverage with a 250$ Deductible."

I kept trying to explain to them, SHE hit me, there's no proof of a 3rd vehicle and her rear had NO damage on it. They refused to charge her policy.

Lesson learned, will switch from geico as soon as my frs is fixed.

1. You can switch from Geico now. You were covered by them on the day of the incident. That's all that matters.
2. How much liability coverage you get makes a huge difference to price.
3. Your zip code makes a huge difference to price.

I'm 30. Married. 2 kids. Own my home. 4 cars total on the policy. I'm the primary on my FrS. One speeding ticket still lingering on my record. Full coverage, from Allstate is $1100/yr. for me. With my home and all the cars l think l'm getting a good %age off because 5 other ins companies were over $1400/yr.
Good luckz


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have Geico and have hit 3 deer and ran into the ditch a couple times in the last 3 years, all called no fault and they didn't raise my rates ( I guess cause I had no accidents for 20 years prior with gieco). I have never heard of a car with rear end damage being anything but the other guys fault, you should fight this.


I always wondered when you switch insurance carriers how do they know about accidents where no other vehicle is involved in ?

Before you buy insurance you should read up on the company and how they treat people when they have to file claims. Some companies may offer cheaper coverage, but when it comes time to make a claim, good luck with trying to get any service from them. Buyer beware, the cheapest coverage is not always the best!

"Because if you get cut-rate insurance your insurance may not pay for mayhem, like me"

http://www.commercialreviewtube.com/...e-gps-comm.jpg

I plan to fight it in small claims court simply due to the fact my vehicle now has an accident on the carfax, and believe I should at least be compensated for the depreciated value from having the accident. I have pictures of the other drivers rear as well front at the time of the accident that clearly show no signs of damage to the bumper cover. In my "unprofessional opinion". For a "truck or SUV" to rear end a chevy Malibu hard enough to push it into me, there should AT LEAST be a crack on the cover.

On a side note, body shop called yesterday and said I need a "trunk pan" rear bumper cover, reverse light, the styrofoam between the cover and bumper, and bumper.

Seems like a ton of damage for a car to have been pushed into me with no damage to her rear end, doesn't it?

On a side note, between the 5 members of my family, will say we have had a few accidents throughout the years, and geico was great on those claims. I strongly believe this claims nonsense is because both drivers had geico as their company.

I guess if I lost a knee due to another driver's negligence I would expect about a million pain and suffering including one of those doctors that keep you doped up on morphine the rest of your life.
You just can't say this lady got a good deal really, I'm sure you did all you could but she will live the rest of her life in pain.

Since you're converting your driver's license I think you'll pay more but not as much as someone who is a newly licensed driver. As another mentioned, call the insurance company first (I recommend selecting one with an actual agent office, sometimes it's easier to talk in person). When you talk to the agent, be sure to ask if you take driver's education or a driver retraining course in Florida if it will lower your rates. It may be worth it to take the $400 class if you save a decent sum for the next few years.

Umm... you apparently don't know how the court system works, dude. First, bear in mind that the example case I used was nearly 10 years ago. Today, the numbers would probably be closer to 500k than 300k.

Further, you can expect or hope for all you want, but the jury determines the amount the Plaintiff gets. The verdict form has sections for medicals, past pain and suffering, future pain and suffering, loss of quality of life. The jury writes in a number for each.

Her amount for future pain and suffering will be relatively lower than a person age 30 or 40 because she was 67 by the time the case got to court. The Defendant will, of course, argue that a person who is 67 has already worn much of their knee cartilage out, might have had arthritis or a prior injury, etc...

300k for a case with 80k in medicals is about as good as it's going to get unless it's 80k in meds on a 30 year old person who can no longer work their high paying job because of the injuries suffered. Heck, most of the time in a personal injury case, the initial settlement demand is about 3x's the medicals... which would have been $240,000... and the hope would be to settle at about 2x's the medicals.

Examples of other verdicts/settlements in knee cases (taken from a number of different sources):

"Tompkins v. Modafferi | 2012 $100,000 Settlement. A 43-year-old plaintiff is crossing the street when he is struck by State Farm insured defendant. Plaintiff receives fractures in both of his legs that require surgery to treat. He is advised that he may need two total knee replacement operations in the future. Defendant denies liability and claims that the victim was not on the crosswalk. Police who were at the scene placed 100% of the fault on plaintiff, but the parties still reach a $100,000 settlement."

"2010, New York: $10,000 Verdict. Plaintiff, 50, slows to a stop for an accident ahead while traveling on the parkway, when he is rear-ended by the Defendant. Plaintiff sustains a torn medial and lateral meniscus of his right knee, requiring two surgeries, as well as a C5 avulsion fracture. Plaintiff claims he will need a future surgery as well as a knee replacement on the opposite leg. He claims $6,700,000 for past and future pain and suffering and past and future medical treatment. Defendant alleges that the Plaintiff first struck the car in front of him prior to being rear-ended. Defendant’s experts claim that the surgeries were not related to the accident, and that any knee degeneration stemmed from preexisting diabetic neuropathy. The jury determines that Plaintiff’s damages total $10,000 for past pain and suffering."

"$215,000 Settlement. Arthro*scopic knee surgery and eventual total knee replacement due to dry wall falling on the client at a construction site.

"$250,000 Settlement, Slip and Fall - A 45 year old woman slipped and fell in debris in food store, causing need for total knee replacement."

If you want a million dollars, you're probably going to be looking at an amputation (or wrongful death).

"$950,000 settlement — below the knee amputation resulting from negligent orthopedic care".

"$1,250,000 Lawsuit Settlement - Defendants' failure to diagnose blood clots resulted in an above-the-knee amputation which could have been averted had defendants properly diagnosed him. Early intervention (including appropriate use of blood thinners) would have saved our client's leg."

"Wrongful Death/Medical Malpractice - $1,250,000 Wrongful Death Lawsuit Settlement - While undergoing routine knee surgery, defendant anesthesiologist somehow neglected to monitor our client's ventilator. As a result, our client suffered a gradual anoxic brain injury (inadequate oxygen to the brain) leading to his death. To its credit, the malpractice insurer for the anesthesiologist settled promptly after we filed a lawsuit and set forth the clear evidence against the anesthesiologist."

And sometimes a life is only worth 500k:

"Hospital Malpractice - $575,000 - Plaintiff's father went into the hospital for a knee operation. He was taken off his prescribed heart medication for the purpose of the surgery. Unfortunately the patient was never put back on his required medication and suffered a massive heart attack and died. The case was settled prior to a lawsuit being filed for $575,000."

Incidents, not Incidences.