What’s the minimum car insurance required in Colorado?
Not nearly enough to adequately protect either you or the other drivers on the road. But if you’re on a tight budget, here’s the bare minimum insurance you have to have in place to drive your vehicle in Colorado:
- $25,000 for bodily injury or death to any one person in an accident;
- $50,000 for bodily injury or death to all persons in any one accident; and
- $15,000 for property damage in any one accident.
Now, we all know that $25,000 doesn’t even begin to compensate a family for the death of a breadwinner or child if you cause an accident. It won’t even cover hospital bills if someone you injure in an accident needs surgery, or needs to take an extended amount of time off work.
And $15,000 doesn’t cover the cost of a totaled Ford F150. Or most other popular cars.
If you’re at fault in an accident, the insurance company will pay out up to the policy maximum. And then the victim or their family could sue you personally to recover the rest.
That could force you into bankruptcy. You could lose your savings, your property, have your financial accounts levied, and your wages garnished until you pay the amount of a judgement.
If you absolutely can’t afford any more than the minimum, you work a barely over minimum wage job, and you don’t expect your earnings to increase much beyond that, then so be it.
But if you can afford better protection, you should get it.
Especially if you have or will have income to protect against garnishment!
You may not be earning much as a college student or apprentice tradesman. But if you’re a student or apprentice learning a trade, presumably you won’t be at your current income level for long! You don’t want to have that future income garnished to the tune of tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars because you skimped on getting the insurance coverage that would adequately protect you.
The most cost-effective, efficient way to make great car insurance more affordable in Colorado isn’t to skimp on valuable coverage. It’s to increase your deductible. Even an increase from $500 to $1,000 can make premiums noticeably more affordable. So you can buy an extra $100,000 or $250,000 in liability insurance coverage, and a like amount in uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage!
You take on a little more of the risk yourself. But it’s a lot easier to solve a $500 or $1000 problem than a $100,000 or $200,000 problem!
And if you take the money you save by lowering your premium and put it in a savings account for a few months, you won’t have to worry about that deductible!
Here’s a video I did explaining how to use this advanced technique to save money on car insurance:
How To Save On Your Auto Insurance
Some other things you can do to improve your profile for car insurance carriers so you can afford a more appropriate level of car insurance:
1. Fix your credit. The best car insurance rates go to drivers with good credit. In many cases, your credit score is an even more important factor in setting your rates than your driving record!
2. Do well in school. Car insurance carriers often give “good student” discounts to people who maintain a certain grade point average. If you have children who are or will soon be driving you car, make sure they’re doing their homework!
3. Complete a safe driving course in Colorado. These may be good for discounts of 5 to 20% on your car insurance.
4. Finish school. Many car insurance companies offer better rates to people with college degrees, or who work in professional occupations.
Shop Around
Many car insurance agents are “captive.” That means they can only present and sell insurance for a single company. For example, they can sell auto, home, and life insurance for the ACME Insurance Company.
But is that the best policy available at the best possible price for your specific situation? Chances are pretty slim.
That’s why it’s always a good idea to work with an independent car insurance professional who can help you choose from among many different insurance carriers. Not just the one that your local captive agent happens to work for.
Insurance companies aren’t all the same. They all have to make money, of course. But they all have different ways at setting prices.
- Some carriers have better pricing for younger drivers than others.
- Some are more wiling to overlook a moving violation or two than others.
- Others reward years of safe driving more than others with lower premiums.
- Some carriers put less weighing on your credit score than others.
- Some carriers discount more than others if you own your home.
- Some carriers offer a bigger discount for completing a driver’s safety course.
- Some are more willing to take on drivers with an SR 22 insurance requirement than others.
No single car insurance company is the best match for everybody!
That’s why the single most important thing you can do to get the best value in car insurance possible is to shop around many different carriers. Do it every year or so. Especially after a major event that could affect your car insurance rates, including:
- A DUI or DWAI conviction
- A reckless driving conviction
- A speeding ticket.
- Getting married
- A substantial improvement in your credit score
- Adding a new driver
- Having a driver go away to school
- A change in your profession
- A new requirement to get an SR22 filing from your insurance company
- Expiration of an SR22 requirement (typically after three years, in Colorado).
Any of these events may have a material impact on your car insurance premiums at a given carrier. They may also provide an opportunity for savings, or to improve your coverage.
At the Select Insurance Group, we are appointed with many different quality car insurance companies doing business in Colorado. A single phone call or email quote request can generate quotes from many different insurance companies.
Are you ready? Just click here and fill out our brief online form describing your car and the coverage you’re looking for, and we’ll contact you to get you the best possible car insurance deals. Or call us directly at (855) 438-7353!
It just takes a few minutes. And you could be saving hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year on your car insurance!
See you on the road,
Steve “Mr. Insurance” Ludwig
For Further Reading
-
How Much Liability Insurance Do I Need?
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How Personal Injury Protection in Car Insurance Works
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The best work-from-home job with no college degree required: Insurance sales!
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Bad Credit Car Insurance: How To Get It, How to Fix It
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Is Comprehensive Coverage Worth It?
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Take a Safe Driver Course: Save Money on Car Insurance
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A Guide to Car Insurance Discounts
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High Risk Driver? Here’s Why Your SR22 Insurance Agent Might Suck.
