Hey Jersey residents,

I've got a 2001 CL-s that is unfortunately spending some time in a body shop because some idiot rear-ended me. Really sucks. I had the thing 4 months and one of the guy's 6 kids in his minivan may have distracted him.
Anyways, I called his insurance company and they said he has something that is commonly called "A dollar a day" policy. It's something for people on Medicaid or with some disability.
Has any of you ever heard of anything like this? My carrier said it's no problem to fix it and they will treat him as an insured driver. And it will not mess up my rates, which for you fellow NJ drivers, are unfortunately high.
Thanks,

Ravi

On better days my car looked like this....

http://public.fotki.com/ravifos/

 

I heard of it but never actually knew anybody that had it.

 

yes, it exists and is very unfair to you and every other honest person in nj who pays for adequate insurance coverage. dollar a day policy covers the policyholders medical expenses up to $15000. it alos covers the policyholder for $10000 in case he dies in an accident. It DOES NOT cover damages the policyholder causes to other vehicles or property. Basically, it is almost like an uninsured motorist, since the purpose of insurance is to provide coverage for yourself as well as damage you cause to other people or property. Your insurance company will handle the damage to your claim under your collision coverage. Your rates should not increase because of this, but the system is unfair to even allow such a policy to exist. The reason the dollar a day insurance was created was to try to afford insurance to just about anyone. If you do not have insurance in NJ it is a crime, however this type of insurance does not even seem like real insurance since this person with dollar a day insurance damaged YOUR property and he is not reuired to have liability coverage to pay for the damage that he caused.

 

Yep, NJTypeS is absolutely right about the SAIP/dollar-a-day policy.

Claims with the SAIP-insured are covered under the other party's (read: YOUR) uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. So if you live and drive in the Garden State, please check your auto insurance's un/underinsured liability limits and make sure they are equal to your primary limits.

This dollar a day policy is really nothing more than a political device to say that auto insurance is now more affordable and available in NJ. As NJTypeS noted, it does not even qualify as real insurance as all it does is piggyback/pass the costs along to Medicaid and honest, fully insured drivers. It's like paying $300 for a phony insurance ID card that will get you past DMV inspections and police checks; just don't get into an accident.

There's some info on SAIP at the Department of Banking and Insurance website, if anyone wants to read more about it - http://www.njdobi.org/dollaradayqna.htm

 

the best thing is to stay away from immigrants with a lot of kids in the car.

 

Um,.................mkay

 

That's half the tri-state area buddy. And may I also say...."Holy thread revival, Batman!"

 

So, with this “dollar a day” policy…
What if you have an older car without collision coverage and someone with this coverage totals your car out?

You get NOTHING ???

 

The way it was explained to me was that basically the driver with that type of policy is only insured for damages to himself.

You pay a part of your premiums for damages done to you or your car by an "uninsured driver." This will kick in and your insurance company will cover all damages, BUT the deductable. I think this will apply even if you don't have collision on your older car. But I'm not 100% sure.

Your insurance company will then sue the other driver for compensation, including your deductable. So after a couple of years, you will get your deductable back. If the insurance company does not cover the damages, then you pay and they will sue to get all of it back for you. It will just take a really long time.

The whole thing pisses me off, and it is a scam.

I actually spoke to my claim agent today and she said they are in the process of getting my deductable back. We shall see.