# Car Insurance: Tell Me Your Experiences? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 11, 2015, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-insurance-tell-me-your-experiences/727500 "2015-08-11T00:05:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-insurance-tell-me-your-experiences/727500/21 "2015-08-11T23:10:25Z")
I have state farm. My agent is useless. If something happens to a car I want to trade it for a rental somewhere and get it back when it’s done, not play musical body shops collecting estimates and figure out the rental on my own but be limited to replacing my eight passenger vehicle with a Yaris. When Budget tried to scam me for imaginary damage to a car I had rented three months earlier I want my agent to call someone who will send a letter saying “are you fucking high?!” in Latin instead of saying “we can pay them if you want, but I’m going to double your already high rates for the next three years.” The last three renewals whoever answered her phone tried to send me to the state farm website to pay instead of just taking my card number. Why the hell am I going to create (and remember) a username and password for a payment I make every six months AND pay a commission to your lousy miserable office for providing zero service? If you want my business even a little, at least act like it’s not a burden to take my money. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-insurance-tell-me-your-experiences/727500/22 "2015-08-11T23:20:10Z")
Had State Farm for 40 years. Had some claims for House and cars. Been totally satisfied. If it ain’t broke, why fix it? ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-insurance-tell-me-your-experiences/727500/23 "2015-08-11T23:39:43Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > I’m especially interested in how Amica, USAA, and AAA treats their customers. Last, if you’ve used TheZebra, do you feel it was accurate? Did you actually purchase through them? And, don’t you think they’re charging a “middle man” or finder’s fee? Fill me in! Been with USAA since 1980, love them. Slight nitpick, they don’t have customers as they are member owned. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-insurance-tell-me-your-experiences/727500/24 "2015-08-17T03:27:32Z")
After considering the opinions here, plus friends and family, and re-reading Consumer Reports’ (CR) recent Sept 2015 article with a magnifying glass…and fine-tuning online quotes, I found that (a) CR would rate Geico as their #3 choice\* (removing USAA from the equation because I won’t qualify). And, Geico’s quote from a real person (not just an online-estimate of a quote) will save us a bundle over State Farm (with whom we’ve had our insurance bundled for 20 years). It may be that State Farm is too large and has too much overhead. So, I think the Geico gecko wins, paws down. Ironically, all their crazy advertising did not influence us. Any closing remarks from the SD jury? \*Most ironic finding of all? Amica Insurance, of which CR would rate in the overall top three insurance companies in the body of this article DOES NOT even rank in the top 5 when you read the fine print! See p. 32, bottom left, in the margin. We found Amica to be a little higher than State Farm for an average, middle aged couple trying to add a new, female driver. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Angry\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b38774/32.png) [@The\_Angry\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Angry_Badger)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-insurance-tell-me-your-experiences/727500/25 "2015-08-17T08:45:39Z")
I chop and change my insurance every year (usually use a comparison site), I go with whoever’s cheapest that offers the level of cover I need. My insurance is due for renewal soon, based on the quotes I’ve had I should be able to save around £100 for the year over my current insurer’s renewal quote. I **never** accept the renewal quote either - in twenty years, I have always managed to make a (often substantial) saving by shopping around. Sometimes, I’ll go back to my existing insurer and they’ll match whatever the cheapest quote is. Here’s the funny thing, though: sometimes (it happened this year), I can put my details in to a comparison site and get a much cheaper quote than my renewal _from the same insurer I’m already with_. In other words, they get your business with a cheap quote and then jack the prices up the following year, hoping you won’t bother shopping around. For that reason, I have no qualms about changing insurers and have no loyalty to any of them. One other thing I’ve noticed; a few insurers claim that they can offer you cheaper prices because they don’t go through comparison sites. I’ve never found that to be the case; usually I’ll waste half an hour on the phone and end up with a quote way more than I can get on line. The last time I tried it (last week), their quote was the 27th cheapest on my list. So that was a waste of time… As for claims, I’ve never actually claimed on my car insurance so can’t really tell you anything there. > [@Jinx](#): > > However, the results seemed too good to be true based on my accurate inputs. If you haven’t changed insurers in twenty years, then I wouldn’t be at all surprised if you can make a decent saving. Your current lot probably don’t even bother trying to be competitive - why would they, if you’re clearly not shopping around? ---
**Author:** ![aktep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@aktep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aktep)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-insurance-tell-me-your-experiences/727500/26 "2015-08-18T20:14:06Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > \*Most ironic finding of all? Amica Insurance, of which CR would rate in the overall top three insurance companies in the body of this article DOES NOT even rank in the top 5 when you read the fine print! See p. 32, bottom left, in the margin. We found Amica to be a little higher than State Farm for an average, middle aged couple trying to add a new, female driver. You’re misinterpreting that fine print. It shows a chart comparing Allstate, Progressive, Geico, State Farm, and USAA, then says > [@Consumer Reports](#): > > \*New-customer rate for male and female single drivers ages 25, 35, 65, and 75 with excellent credit and a clean driving record in AK, AL, AR, AZ, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, HI, KY, LA, ME, NH, NM, NV, NY, SC, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, the states where all five companies are market leaders. “Market leaders” is a measurement of sales, not a measurement of CR’s ratings. Allstate, for example, is in the bottom third of CR’s ratings. Their inclusion in this chart does not indicate that CR considers them a top-five insurer. ---
**Author:** ![jharvey963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/54ee81/32.png) [@jharvey963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jharvey963)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2015, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-insurance-tell-me-your-experiences/727500/27 "2015-08-19T23:52:51Z")
I’ve had GEICO for years and I’m very pleased with them. I’ve had several fender benders that weren’t my fault. GEICO has an auto body shop locally that has a GEICO adjuster ON STAFF. So all you need to do is drop off your car, pay your deductible, and drive it away when it’s done. Oh, they also have both Hertz and Enterprise cars on the lot for your rental car. Extremely convenient, and excellent repair work. Their rates are also extremely good. I have no qualms at all about GEICO. J. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-insurance-tell-me-your-experiences/727500/28 "2015-08-20T01:21:00Z")
I’m curious about people talking about people talking about the “level of service.” Are you interacting with the issuance company so much that this is an issue? ---
**Author:** ![aktep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@aktep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aktep)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-insurance-tell-me-your-experiences/727500/29 "2015-08-20T01:40:40Z")
You only need to interact with them once for it to be an issue. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-insurance-tell-me-your-experiences/727500/30 "2015-08-20T01:47:55Z")
It’s not the biggest issue in the world for me, but I do appreciate good service. Over my adult life I’ve had maybe… one major event each year that requires a non-trivial conversation with my insurer. Buying a car, getting married, moving to another state, minor insurance claims, detailed questions about coverage, etc. All things that could conceivably add hours of aggravation if I had to make multiple trips through a phone tree where I have to repeat myself several times to useless first-tier customer service. That, in and itself, is something I’m happy to pay a small premium to avoid. I also assume that the level of service I get in routine interactions is also indicative of what I’ll have to deal with for a major claim. There, I imagine the difference between good and bad service could easily be measured in days or weeks of aggravation, lost time, and many hundreds of dollars. All in all, I’d be willing to switch from USAA if there was another insurer with much lower rates (at least $100/year less) that still had decent customer service and claims ratings. So far, however, no vaguely reputable insurer has been able to beat my current rates. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-insurance-tell-me-your-experiences/727500/31 "2015-08-20T03:13:03Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Had State Farm for 40 years. Had some claims for House and cars. Been totally satisfied. If it ain’t broke, why fix it? But it very well may be broke (or at least bent) – if you don’t check around for quotes, how would you know? Car insurance companies have the insidious habit of raising rates on you once you’ve been with them a while. If you switched companies, you very well might get a significant discount simply because you’ve been with one company for so long–they figure you’ll stay put for a while. * * * Count me as another person who likes GEICO. They do tend to raise the rates every year, but so far they’re still cheaper than State Farm was. ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-insurance-tell-me-your-experiences/727500/32 "2015-08-20T03:23:30Z")
> [@lazybratsche](#): > > Over my adult life I’ve had maybe… one major event each year that requires a non-trivial conversation with my insurer. Buying a car, getting married, moving to another state, minor insurance claims, detailed questions about coverage, etc. All things that could conceivably add hours of aggravation if I had to make multiple trips through a phone tree where I have to repeat myself several times to useless first-tier customer service. Much of this doesn’t even require interacting with a human. Maybe it’s an age thing. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-insurance-tell-me-your-experiences/727500/33 "2015-08-20T13:14:37Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > After not having a car (or insurance) for several years, I bought a car and I started with GEICO. After 6 months, my renewal rate jumped 10%, and Progressive quoted me 10% lower than my previous rate with GEICO for the same coverage, so I switched. After 6 months, the same thing happened, but with the companies reversed. I switched back and forth this way every 6 months for 5 years, and my rates kept going down every time I switched until they stabilized at about $450, give or take twenty bucks or so. > > Last year I got married and we combined our policies; together we pay significantly less than we were with individual policies (about $650/6 months, for 2 cars and 2 drivers). I read the Consumer’s account, although it doesn’t apply to me (we have mandatory no-fault through the province) but they mentioned that one thing that triggers the insurance company to raise rates is if you never change companies. It’s called what-the-traffic-will-bear rating. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-insurance-tell-me-your-experiences/727500/34 "2015-08-20T13:20:26Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > I’m curious about people talking about people talking about the “level of service.” Are you interacting with the issuance company so much that this is an issue? When there’s an accident you want to know that your company is going to take care of you. There were times when I’d call the person my insured was involved in an accident with just to follow-up with stuff. They would say things like, “I hear from you more than my other guy. I would have no idea what was going on without you.” Some companies are just always swamped so you won’t get the attention you need. Some comp[anise are going to put you on hold every time you called (I personally hated putting people on hold. I prided myself on regularly having the most calls answered in the entire office). I use USAA, although I did not work for them. I like knowing that if there’s any issues I can call them up and get things fixed quickly. MA has some stupid laws regarding insurance and registering your vehicle, so they were able to walk me through the process and answer any stupid questions I would have. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-insurance-tell-me-your-experiences/727500/35 "2015-08-20T13:33:34Z")
> [@Ruken](#): > > Much of this doesn’t even require interacting with a human. Maybe it’s an age thing. Maybe, I’m a lot younger than the average doper but my mom always told me I was a cranky old man on the inside… In general I actually don’t like talking to people on the phone if it’s not necessary. I’m baffled by an older co-worker who prefers ordering things over the phone instead of through an online store. That’s like 20 minutes of waiting, talking, repeating yourself because of a bad connection, and asking someone else to type things in for you! But if the situation has even the possibility of being more complicated than I know how to handle, I find that talking to a competent professional is easier than trying to puzzle through it myself. For example, let’s say I want to know how a particular detail of my insurance coverage works. (In one specific case, several months ago I bought an expensive tablet PC that is exposed to a lot of spill risk, and wanted to know whether I should buy accidental damage coverage from the manufacturer, whether my renter’s insurance covered accidental damage, or whether I should buy “additional computer coverage” from my insurer.) I’ll start by reading the policy, but it’s not written in plain english and I’m not an expert. I could spend hours digging through the insurer’s website, trying to see if Google knows more about my insurance than my insurer has on their website, etc. Or I could pick up the phone and (with good customer service) get a thorough answer within 10 minutes. They might even volunteer additional information and options that I didn’t even know about! TL;DR: Talking to a competent and empowered human being \> online self-service \> talking to a minimum-wage drone who can’t even follow their useless script. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-insurance-tell-me-your-experiences/727500/36 "2015-08-20T13:47:07Z")
I recently renewed my car insurance. Normally as soon as the renewal notice arrives I simply pay it. This time the notice ended up in the car and whenever I sat down at the computer to do banking stuff I would think, “Next time.” A few days before it was due the insurance company rang me and checked all my details and asked if I had any complaints. I half-heartedly said I was surprised that the premium had risen so much. The woman put me on hold for a few minutes and on returning offered me an $80 reduction. So I will never again be promptly paying an insurance renewal. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2015, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-insurance-tell-me-your-experiences/727500/37 "2015-08-20T14:09:18Z")
I am in a position to be familiar with the business practices of a number of the larger companies, and I would never switch from where I am. Run-of-the-mill claims could be handled better here, but if the shit really hits the fan I can’t imagine better protection. That said: > [@aktep](#): > > You only need to interact with them once for it to be an issue. So true. If you’re pricey, you’d better make damn sure a competent person picks up the phone every time. If you’re cheap, well, you give the level of service you’re paid for. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/car-insurance-tell-me-your-experiences/727500.md?page=1)