Car insurance

[Scott K]

I am just wondering what others do about car insurance. I have 3 vehicles, and now have 2 kids with drivers licenses. My son just got his DL, and my insurance practically doubled. All 3 of my vehicles are over 10 years old, my daughter is 19, and my son is 16. I pay more in a year for car insurance then I think all 3 of my vehicles are worth, not quite, but more then 2 of them are worth combined. None of us have had any tickets recently. My kids have never gotten one, and I dont think I have had a ticket in at least 5 years. I havent shopped around yet, but I am going to. I cant imagine what people do when they have 5 kids.

[harvey lee]

I know if the kid's are on the honor roll, that helps with a nice discount. I remember when our son Clint got his license and our insurance hardly increased, least not that much. Thats about 20 years ago also.

Kid's are expensive to add to ones auto insurance. If I remember correctly, boy's cost quite a bit more than girls.

I switched to State Farm a few years back and could not believe the money I saved switching to them. Kept the same coverage and my policies for the auto's almost got cut in half.

I also switched all our other coverage to State Farm for the added discounts.

Ticket's, wife is clean for 44 years and I believe I had a speed about 10 years ago. NO accidents to go against us either.

I would call around Scott and get some other quotes. Just let them know that if they get a ticket, they will have to help out with the car insurance costs. Any tickets or accidents will really kill you with increases.

[aanderud]

I am just wondering what others do about car insurance.

...

I pay more in a year for car insurance then I think all 3 of my vehicles are worth, not quite, but more then 2 of them are worth combined.

Take Tom's advice and shop around. But, be sure you're shopping for the right coverage and doing apples to apples comparisons.

One thing to consider as well, especially in the case where your vehicles are older and worth less -- it's often not worth it to carry comprehensive coverage. Go with liability only and you can save a bunch of cash. Even if you have an expensive vehicle, upping the deductible to $1000 or so can often make sense financially versus the low 250 or 500 deductible.

Also, you might consider the "snapshot" type devices (that's what Progressive calls theirs), where they make you plug a unit into your ODB port for a month or so to get a feel for your driving habits, and then set the rate based on that. My friend saved a lot with progressive using this strategy.

[Walleyehooker]

Kids have a lot of accidents and its not nesesarily what they are driving but what they can run into. Can pay to shop around and some give discounts for good grades. Either way its expensive for kids to drive.

[NEANGLER]

Basically your insurance will double w teens, is what it is- honor roll and drivers ed help for a little discount but we shopped everyone and all were about the same.

[Down2Earth]

About every three or four years I change. They get you in on the low rate and raise every year. We had our insurance double last year I called and it was because of the stuff out in New Jersey . It doesn't matter what company and we've had a ton of them but I'll guarantee our vehicles get older every year and the rate will go up. No tickets or accidents with me or the wife.

[harvey lee]

I have not had my rates change since I went with State Farm, not once so that does not carry through with every company or situation Down2Earth.

Many things factor into the rates for car insurance. One's credit worthiness will also effect ones rates for any type insurance.

[Tom7227]

The one thing you need to avoid are the pitches you see that claim you can set your own rates. You get what you pay for and low rates has to mean poorer coverage. Find a local independent agent or two and get your quotes from them. That way if something comes up you can call a real live person and get advice on what to do. Several times my agent as explained that a marginal claim is really going to end up raising my rates to the point where filing a claim would cost more over several years.

[fishingstar]

I 2 boy 16 and 18 it cost 1800 a year for liability for two cars. That is good student with no tickets or claims.

Dan

[gunner55]

Local agent,I was 1 of his 1st customers when he went into business with his dad right out of highschool so when I walk into his office I always get great service.I drive a 99 Chrysler so no comp coverage but extra liability.When I dropped the comp & collision it cut my rate in half.Saves me $300 a year.I know it's tough to drop some coverage but with that many kids driving it might be worth it to you.

[Dave S]

I'm paying almost $3k/yr for full coverage on 3 vehicles. Supposedly there's 4 dingers (2 speeders and 2 claims) dropping off in a couple months and my insurance is supposed to drop almost $1,000/yr. This is with a 19 y.o. on the policy as well.

I'm currently with Progressive and did the snapshot thing. What a pain in the arse. Constantly had to be reset or replaced because they malfunctioned. The last straw was when the car my son was driving lost all power, mechanical and electrical, while driving 65 mph down the highway. Not sure how or why but the snapshot was taken out and never had a problem with the car again. Progressive tried telling us they needed more information and requested us to keep the modules in the car longer (it was supposed to be a 6 month period). We ended up doing almost a year with their monitoring before I told them enough was enough. Stick to the terms they initially requested or we take our business somewhere else.

[low277]

I think it is wise to shop around every few years and when you do this let your current insurance agent know that you are shopping.

[echotrail]

If you use an independent insurance agent they can get you quotes from several different companies as they are not committed to any one provider. This can save you a lot of time. They will also know which companies are going to be more competitive with young driver rates.

[nofishfisherman]

An independent agent will make shopping around a little easier. He'll do all the leg work of comparisons, or at least he should.

When I worked for an insurance company we sold only through independent agents and I found it pretty common that agents weren't comparing rates as widely as they claimed. They all had their favorite insurance companies to work with either because they paid the highest commission or because they were fast and easy to quote and allowed them to service more customers with less work on their end (that's why progressive gets so much business). It was pretty common to find agents only quoting the 2 or maybe 3 companies that paid them the highest commission, the companies paying lower may have a much better rate for you but you'd never know.

Now I say this knowing that not all agents are like this. A good percentage will quote honestly and based on what's best for the customer. But its worth keeping in mind that not everyone does. Just make sure to ask questions about who they quoted and why. Also ask to see if there are maybe other insurers that they could have quoted.

[not_nuf_time]

I second echo trails advise, go with a broker. I have five cars insured. And not as high as yours. They will probably like to see you combine house and other things in your policy to save you over all more money. I have AAA right now with progressive on my baot and camper. So check out the independent agent.

[schmoe147]

I have AAA and couldn't be happier. I love the roadside assistant perk. Cost me $50 a year but saves me $75 every 6 months on my vehicle insurance.

[not_nuf_time]

Your right, the roadside is awesome. So far had to have two cars jumped, keys locked in car 100 miles away from other set of keys and battery replace. Well worth the extra money per car.

[ozzie]

Give service a big consideration...you can always find a cheaper insurance but what kind of service are you going to get when you need your insurance most? All insurance companies premiums will have ebbs and flows with their rates...Find someone you can trust that is with a good company and review your coverage every few years to make sure everything is insured properly. Kids are expensive to insure and statistics show they will have an accident and cost the insurance company money.

[ozzie]

oh and roadside assistance is a cheap coverage....my company it runs $1 a month per vehicle!!! Can't beat that for the coverage!!!

[Down2Earth]

I have not had my rates change since I went with State Farm, not once so that does not carry through with every company or situation Down2Earth.

Many things factor into the rates for car insurance. One's credit worthiness will also effect ones rates for any type insurance.

Well if your rates haven't changed then you are getting raked over the coals still. Unless you are driving vehicles that are so old they really can't lose any more value or you are really driving old vehicles and they are becoming collectors and gaining in value. We have had State Farm and that was back in.....lets see I think it was your rates have increased because of Hurricane Katrina, blah blah blah. Black out the names and dollar amounts on your current policy. Mail it out to five or so other agencies so you can compare apples to apples and I guarantee you will get a cheaper rate somewhere else with the same coverage after being with the same company for 5 years 95% of the time.

[ozzie]

If an insurance company decreased your premium for a vehicle with comp/collision coverage as it got older the upfront premium for that vehicle when new would be crazy expensive!!! That is why your premium can remain the same for years if the base premium doesn't increase or decrease for a company.

[ozzie]

I guarentee you that 100% of the time you could reshop your insurance and find a cheaper insurance company!!! Why because they are always changing their rates and discounts and there are 1000's of companies that are licensed to sell a policy in the state so by the time you find the cheapest and sign up I am willing to bet you could redo it and find something cheaper. But you get what you pay for with insurance in more than one way!!!