Auto insurance shopping

My current company, Liberty Mutual, has been raising my rates steadily for the past few years. My latest bill surprised me with a $160 increase for no reason. So now I'm shopping.

The two lowest quotes I got were from 21st (digidigidigidigi 21st) and Geico. Geico was about 10% lower than 21st. Now, Geico used to have a bad reputation for dropping you at the first hint of misbehavior. Is this still the case? What says this wellspring of knowledge and experience known as the GRM community?

jstein77 wrote: My current company, Liberty Mutual, has been raising my rates steadily for the past few years. My latest bill surprised me with a $160 increase for no reason. So now I'm shopping. The two lowest quotes I got were from 21st (digidigidigidigi 21st) and Geico. Geico was about 10% lower than 21st. Now, Geico used to have a bad reputation for dropping you at the first hint of misbehavior. Is this still the case? Was says this wellspring of knowledge and experience known as the GRM community?

I just switched to Progressive. I checked Geico but they were much more expensive.

I also work for Farm Bureau...

Joey

We shop them every year or so and every time the rate changes. If the rates are enough cheaper we call the current company and offer them a chance to match it. If they won't, we change.

I just checked Progressive, but their quote came in $530/yr higher than Geico; higher, in fact, than my current policy. I don't think I hit a wrong button anywhere - I'm trying to keep all the coverage the same so I have a direct comparison.

Geico was pretty good when I used them and my wife was in an accident. Rates were reasonable in PA. Service was as good as I had with State Farm.

CA however they were outrageous. They had me for 300 a month for both cars only one of which had full coverage. Dropped them and went to AAA for half the price.

If you're an SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) member, there are some pretty hefty discounts. I have Citizens insurance with an SAE discount and it is pretty cheap.

Progressive is pretty cheap for me, cheaper than Geico when I last checked. Even with a major violation on my record the rates didn't increase at all.

State Farm here.

I love getting the things in the mail saying you could save $450 per year by switching! I barely pay more than that for one year of full coverage on a 2011 truck.

Get a broker. Mine has me with a company that you never hear about because they don't drop big coin on tv ads. But they're less than anyone else. If I think I'm paying too much, I ask her to check for me. She's also solved problems such as obtaining unusual rally car insurance for Canada.

Plus, if I ever need to make a claim, I have someone who works for me on my side. The insurance company is not on your side, they want to minimize payouts.

Insurance is a very price competitive market. You can't make a truly useful observation on pricing living in a different area from jstein. Each person must shop around for what it will cost in their area. It is also essential that you compare exactly what your current policy is. I've seen any number of customers who have switched to 'my' company and saved money but wound up with deductibles that were too high or mediocre coverage as a result. This is not something that you only want to devote 15 minutes to.

Another thing to consider is what kind of service you're likely to get should you have a claim. An agent's job is to sell insurance, period. Planning on that nice guy/gal who sold you your policy to help get your car fixed when the time comes is a bad plan. They have really no say in anything even if they want to be helpful. Smaller, no-name companies do not have staff appraisers and rely on independents who are poorly paid, have mediocre training and rarely give a E36 M3. I should know; I was one. Ask your body shop which companies they like dealing with the most...they won't be shy about their opinions.

I had Geico for a few years, then switched to Progressive because I sort of shopped a few different places, they offered me a rate that Geico would not match.

6 months later they bumped the rate back up to exactly what Geico was charging me. WTF. Ye olde bait and switch.

Still on Progressive right now anyways. As little as I actually need to call them for anything, they have been fine, dare I say, friendly and helpful. Waiting for the last of my incedents to drop off and then will srsly be shopping insurance again.

SOON

FWIW i got a few tickets under Geico, and a few under Progressive over the years, never dropped. Ex got in an accident under Geico, not dropped. It was her policy so no idea what happend to the rate.

I had an incedent under Progressive where a sibling was borrowing my car and got into an accident, ended up my insurance had to pay out for it. Did not affect my rate at all, I believe some places call this accident forgiveness. Still on their record as an incedent though so currently waiting for that to drop off......

Toyman01 wrote: We shop them every year or so and every time the rate changes. If the rates are enough cheaper we call the current company and offer them a chance to match it. If they won't, we change.

Thanks for that advice! I called my current company, and boom - just like that they dropped their price by almost $600 per year. I'm going to have to keep my eyes on those thieves.

Keith wrote: Get a broker. Mine has me with a company that you never hear about because they don't drop big coin on tv ads. But they're less than anyone else. If I think I'm paying too much, I ask her to check for me. She's also solved problems such as obtaining unusual rally car insurance for Canada. Plus, if I ever need to make a claim, I have someone who works for me on my side. The insurance company is not on your side, they want to minimize payouts.

is that another name for a multi-line (company) agency ?

Its a big problem who to choose here in British Columbia. You can go to the Insurance Corporation of BC, or you can go to the......Insurance Corporation of BC. And if you don't like it, ride a bike. If you have a problem with your settlement, you can appeal. Appeals are settled by an unbiased board of........Insurance Corporation of BC employees.

wbjones wrote:

Keith wrote: Get a broker. Mine has me with a company that you never hear about because they don't drop big coin on tv ads. But they're less than anyone else. If I think I'm paying too much, I ask her to check for me. She's also solved problems such as obtaining unusual rally car insurance for Canada. Plus, if I ever need to make a claim, I have someone who works for me on my side. The insurance company is not on your side, they want to minimize payouts.

is that another name for a multi-line (company) agency ?

Possibly, I don't work in the business. My uncle used to work as a broker, that's how I found out about it. After watching a friend of mine get screwed over by her insurance company (lowball offer given with 6 hours to respond, etc) and seeing the difference in how I was treated, I vowed always to go through a broker. And it's also really easy.

She's got us with EMC right now.

I just go through USAA. The only time my costs went up was when I added my wife to my plan (she was found partial at fault for getting t-boned at a stop sign next to a blind turn). But aside from that my rates haven't changed much and I know they have good service.

Often insurance companies will give a much better rate if you have multiple policies, such as a home owners or rental policy and an auto policy with them. When I quoted auto coverage for a friend it was $1800. With a rental policy it was $1300, for both policies.

I can't help with the OP's question, but just for fun, here's here's a website that shows average car insurance premiums for states and cities so you can see how you stack up against the average.

The most expensive city: Detroit, with an average annual premium of $5941. This makes me wonder about the ratio of insured to uninsured drivers in Detroit. (After a little more reading, these aren't real averages, they're averages of estimates from different companies based on insuring a 2012 Chevy Malibu LS).

In reply to Schmidlap:

Detroit has much higher rates, due to the high percentage of uninsured drivers.

pilotbraden wrote: Detroit has much higher rates, due to the high percentage of uninsured drivers.

Talk about a vicious cycle...