If you were running low on money would you....
@beautyqueen26 (16030)
United States
July 19, 2007 5:45am CST
If you were running low on money, would you ever cancel your car insurance and drive without proper coverage?
In our state it's illegal to drive without auto insurance. In fact, if you cancel your coverage the insurance provider notifies the state and they ask you to surrender your car registration and tag. So, basically, you can't drive your car legally anymore. Unfortunately, we've often been in a situation where we could not simply afford auto insurance due to job loss. And, we had to go without. It was either that or go without food. Tough choice!
So, my question is this. If you could not afford auto insurance or had to choose between car insurance and buying groceries, what would you do? How would you handle the situation?
3 people like this
13 responses
@ladysurvivor (4746)
• Malaysia
20 Jul 07
Lol.. you talk as if you have done this before. As for me, yeah I would just drive on the road if I am short of money but I had to go someplace very important. But as soon as I have the money I would immediately go and pay for the road tax and insurance, I wouldn't want to delay it.
@beautyqueen26 (16030)
• United States
23 Jul 07
Yes! We have been in dire financial straights before. And, it is something we considered. However, after looking at all options, we cut the cellular bill, skincare, and started eating cheaper. When our daughter was born, diapers became so expensive that we switched to cloth diapers only. That saved us enough money for the important stuff like car insurance.
@cruisenut (11)
• United States
20 Jul 07
I would never cancel the insurance. In the state I live in, you lose your tags for 30 plus get a $50 fine. I would call and see if you can reduce your insurance, or find a cheaper company to go with.
@beautyqueen26 (16030)
• United States
23 Jul 07
Awhile back I was reading the state statutes about auto insurance requirements. And, turns out a judge can throw a person in jail for up to six months for not having auto insurance. Really it is better to have insurance than have that happen. And, you're right, there are always cheaper companies or other expenses that can be cut. Sometimes I think it is actually cheaper just not to drive if one doesn't have to!
@carlaabt (3504)
• United States
19 Jul 07
We wouldn't cancel our insurance, unless we absolutely had to. We would have to be pretty much completely out of food to consider doing it, and our credit cards would have to be pretty much maxed out. I could always get a job if I had to, to help pay for things. But car insurance is one of the things that we consider one of our most important bills, and one that we never skip. There are several other things we could cancel before getting to that point.
@beautyqueen26 (16030)
• United States
23 Jul 07
Good point about the stay at home mom getting a part time job to pay for it. That would be a very sensible solution. I think my spouse could watch our child over the weekend hours and miss out on a little TV watching if it meant I could work to earn money for the insurance. Very sensible advice! Thanks for dropping by.
@mummymo (23706)
•
19 Jul 07
Well here in the UK it is a bit different it is illegal to have a car on the road - even just parked on the road without insurance! Things have been and still are very tight financially but the only way I would leave my car uninsured is if I had it parked up off road and wouldn't drive it - it is just too risky! I can understand what you mean but I think the legalities of driving and car insurance etc are totally different between here in the UK and there in the US.
@UDDERONES (887)
• United States
19 Jul 07
I guess if those were the only two things you could give up I would give up my car insurance.
But right now we are in a tight situation with money. We have cut down on all of our expenses. We got our interneet lowered and we are thinking of cutting out the direct t.v.
I would do everything I could to not go without car insurance but when worst comes to worst if I had to I would.
@beautyqueen26 (16030)
• United States
23 Jul 07
We use Netflix ( http://www.netflix.com ) and it's less than $20 monthly. We get tons of movies to watch online and DVD rentals offline. And, there are never any late charges. If we watched everything and turned them back into the mailbox the next day we could easily have 20 movies monthly.
It might be something to think about if you let the Direct TV go.
And, I get to see all the cable shows like Rescue me, Project Runwary, Monk, Nip Tuck, Six feet under, Sopranos, etc. and all the other shows that are usually available only to cable or Direct TV customers. No commercials, either! I like that part.
I have heard they have a plan for $5.95 that gives you 5 movies or TV series discs monthly. I might try that one out. It's a real money saver.
Best of luck with your finances. And, thanks for dropping by.
@DanaMark (807)
• United States
21 Jul 07
I've never been in that situation, so I don't know what I would do to get by. We pay our car insurance 6 months at a time, so not paying when the bill came in would be the only option for that. I wouldn't want to go without car insurance. But I wouldn't want to go without food either. If I got that desperate, my son would help us out. He has already mentioned that years ago when I lost a job and didn't have another one on the horizon. Fortunately I got another job before we needed the help. But it was good to know he would have helped.
@beautyqueen26 (16030)
• United States
23 Jul 07
That's very sweet that your son would make such a generous offer to take care of his parents like that. You must have done a very good parenting job for him to be so responsible and caring.
@AmbiePam (91947)
• United States
19 Jul 07
If I couldn't afford the insurance, I would cancel it and not drive my car. It is illegal to drive without insurance here too. I have been in a car accident and it was the other person's fault and they didn't have insurance. It was horrible. I have lasting problems today because of that. I would be scared I would hit someone and be thrown in jail. Fortunately, if I couldn't afford insurance, I have family who would lend me a car that had insurance on it. And usually if a driver is a certain age, they are covered if someone borrows their car.
@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
19 Jul 07
If I couldnt get money to cover the car insurance for the year (might have to ask family) then I will do away with that. I would rather have food in my cupboards than pay for car insurance. I may not even drive the car or might have to look into selling it. Lots of factors would have to come into play but because I don't mind using public transport, I think the car will just have to go. Not sure my hubby would like that though.
@golfproo (1839)
• Canada
20 Jul 07
That is a tough question. The bottom line is that it is illegal to drive without insurance where I live as well. Also, if you were driving without insurance and you happened to get into an accident which was your fault, you could end up being sued and paying for that for the rest of your life. However, people have to eat as well. If there was absolutely no money for food, then the cash would have to go for this...however it is quite risky.
cheers,
@senthil2k (1500)
• India
19 Jul 07
Insurance are something more important nowadays and I wont touch them even though I dont have enough money with me. What I will do is that, I will try to work more, earn more and try to solve my money problem by earning more.
Also I believe that Hard earned money alone will stay with you. Easy money will go very easily. So I believe in working hard for the money, so that I enjoy every penny of it.
@marinarovi (1318)
• Argentina
22 Jul 07
No, definitely not, if I can't afford insurance I would sell my car, no question about it. It's too dangerous to drive without insurance, plus it's illegal, and besides, whether I like it or not, a car is not something primarily necesary like food or rent. So I would definitely sell it.
=)
