My wife and I are paying over $1,500. annually for auto coverage. We are the only 2 drivers on the policy but there are 3 vehicles. (We use a pickup truck for towing the camper.) We have chosen fairly high deductibles, have not had a claim in over 25 years, a credit score over 800 and only one speeding ticket between us in over 25 years. I’ve had several different companies run quotes and they are all in the same general range of $1,400. to $1,600 per year.
Someone suggested that if we dropped to 2 vehicles we’d see almost a 33% reduction. My current company says that it would only cut about 5% from overall cost since the most expensive portion of the coverage is the liability for the two drivers on the policy.
Any dopers with inside info on various pricing models?
I don’t think I’d call $125/month for 2 people on 3 vehicles outrageous. I’d call that below average of what most people pay and I don’t think your going to find it much cheaper anywhere.
You didn’t say what company you use or where you live or how much you drive.
If you’re only getting quotes from Allstate, State Farm, etc., you’re missing out on other possibilities. Have you tried Farmers, GEICO or Nationwide Insurance? How about AAA? Also take advantage of all of the discounts you can, and some of them are pretty unusual. If you are a Berkshire Hathaway stock owner (the owner of GEICO), you’ll get a discount on your rates of about 5%.
Do you live in a busy urban area? That typically induces higher rates. Do you commute 40 miles each way to work? That raises your rates.
Have you asked other insurance companies if one of your vehicles is much more expensive to insure than the others? High performance cars typically cost much more to insure than family sedans.
When you call these other companies, ask them what you can do to reduce your rates. Maybe sell the pickup and rent one when you need it, if you only really use it twice a year, for instance?
Well the first thing I would do is contact my insurance representative, explain my situation and tell them I am looking for a way to lower my insurance costs. Car insurance is a VERY competitive field. More than likely they will find a way to lower your costs if they intend on keeping you as a customer. Make sure you imply that you are willing to switch companies at the drop of a dime .
If either of you have served (or are serving) in the armed forces, check out USAA. My step-dad served and is a member so I got in. The rates they offer beat everyone else’s and the customer service is great too.
When I moved from suburban Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, my car insurance rates skyrocketed. When I had the company that already insured my home, life, disability, etc also insure my car, my cost plummeted.
I have to agree with the several of the above posters, that rate is not high for three vehicles. You may get a slightly lower rate by changing companies, but in my experience that is not bad at all. The USAA suggestion is a very good one if you qualify, I’ve almost never seen a lower rate than they offer.
Yea, I just want to agree with what a couple of other posters have said and recommend that you look into USAA. In addition to having the absolute best customer service that I have ever experienced, I went from paying about $3,000 a year with Allstate to about $650 a year :eek:
If it’s not the location a big factor might be the deductable. I figure insurance is not to protect me against minor dings and dents that I can afford to pay, but to guard against catastrophic losses. On top of that who’s going to file a $750 dollar claim? After a $500 deductable you put $250 in your pocket, and they jack your rates for the next five years. No, thanks.
I raised the deductable on my insurance to $1000 and got big savings, several hundred dollars per year. I’ve got 4 vehicles covered and 4 drivers, two of the vehicles have both collision and comprehensive, and I’m paying less than you. Of course, I live in the sticks. Actually southwest Ohio, but you get the point.
If you live in New Jersey, good luck. My daughter lived there and I heard some absolute horror stories about auto insurance premiums.
Slight hijack, but you’d be surprised. The funniest I remember is someone who submitted a collision claim with a bill for $501.72. Their deductible was $500. I asked them several times if they were sure they wanted to file a claim where they would be getting a check for $1.72, they said that yes they were sure. Some people are just strange.
Just for the sake of another benchmark, I pay $110/month for 1 person on 1 vehicle and I am already getting several discounts (no claims history / “exemplary driver discount”, low mileage on vehicle, CA renter’s insurance discount).
I consider that quite reasonable considering the (truly) astronomical quotes I got from some other insurance companies.
Ever have a cracked windshield? It’s covered under the comprehensive portion of an auto policy. A new windshield will often run you about $150-$300 installed, out of pocket (unless you’re driving a high-end car). In some states (FL, MA, AZ, SC, and MN) comprehensive deductibles are waived for glass damage. If you don’t happen to live in one of those states many people have $100 $50 or even $0 comprehensive deductibles.
I agree with others that your “outrageous cost” is nothing of the sort. That sounds pretty reasonable. They might have to pay 100k up if you are involved in a certain kind of accident that may not even be your fault.
My best advise is to join AAA and see if they have a discount for that. They often do. Even if they don’t, still join. AAA is the best bargain in the universe and has saved my ass and my cash in so many ways in the past few years. Insurance companies often have a 10% discount or so for AAA which pays for itself.
I have had a cracked windshield. Well, actually a rear window, but conceptually the same. Exactly once in over 35 years of driving hundreds of thousands of miles, probably owning a dozen cars, and driving hundreds of rentals. You can’t tell me that the insurance premiums over that period of time wouldn’t have exceeded the cost of replacement.
If the insurance premiums didn’t cost more than the expense of repairs the insurance company wouldn’t sell it to you. That’s how the insurance companies manage to put up those really tall buildings everywhere. It’s a profit thing. Sell X insurance, pay out (X-N)repair costs = Profit! The only financial reason to buy insurance is if the cost of repair would be prohibitive. This usually applies when the event being insured against is so rare as to make it impossible for an individual to have a large enough data set to be statistically significant.
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