Question: I had some series of bad luck incidents last year, and was fined for driving violations. I also have not one, but two accidents! Now my insurance agent says that he can only sell me liability auto insurance and not comprehensive coverage. What can I do?

Answer: This is one of the ironies of insurance. The people who need it the most have to pay more, or do not get insurance. Because of your violations and accidents, you’ve become a high-risk driver for the insurance company. Since selling liability insurance to a customer who wants it is mandatory in most states, they will have to provide you that, but not comprehensive coverage.

According to the insurance laws in these states, an insurance company cannot refuse to sell you the minimum insurance cover made mandatory by law. However they can refuse to sell you the add-ons, or comprehensive cover. The insurance company wants to minimize its risk, that’s why it has refused to sell you comprehensive cover.

Some other insurance company may agree to sell you comprehensive cover, but you may have to pay a higher rate for it. I recommend that if you’re unable to get good rates for comprehensive insurance, get liability auto insurance now, and if you have an incident free year, you should have better luck with purchasing comprehensive coverage next year.