Insurance for vehicles.... how do they work? I just got my yearly renewal note. The insurance jumped over $400 dollars in the year. I now my wreck last year and ticket from it should have jumped it last year, but it jumped almost $800 in two years... the wreck was a screwed up deal, rain... and I also got hit from behind on it too. Anyways... is this normal? My agent says so... I'm not into switching insurance like some.... maybe I should... but I kinda of don't like the hassle of all the stuff of switching... I've got the house, and two other liability only vehicles on it. Any advice?
$800 in 2 years...I would definitely be price shopping other companies. Insurance companies pizz me off!!
I shop every two yrs. Usually just asking for the deck sheets on my policy is enough for my current agent to find some better rates.
That is nothing short of ridiculous. I'd be shopping for sure. btw, it does sometimes pay to shop even if no jump in insurance. We thought we had the best deal and probably did on our car insurance. However, when we found out from a different company that the car insurance would be over $100 higher we almost choked until we found out our house insurance would drop over $300. Needless to say, we switched. Good luck on this.
It does make one wonder why we pay insurance sometimes. All is well so long as you do not have a claim. Then they pay out the claim but want you to replay them in the form of higher rates. True greed and bull.
Car insurance through SF for about 30 years. Had a couple claims w/o a bump, at least not that I noticed. If they had, I'd be shopping. They've gotten over $30,000 (just did a rough calc) of my money in those years....no way the premium should jump.
I heard am radio talk show years ago, cannot find the article, sorry. But this guy is a "consumer advocate". He called it creeping premiums, rates go up every year regardless and add up. 11 years is a long time for creeping and this large increase? Time to shop. I recently pulled auto from my home/auto policy and switched. The discount I lost on the home/auto duo was negligible, and I am saving $400/year on auto with identical coverage. ALSO Chvymn99 , when I googled for new car insurance companies, CRAZY, the bigger companies are hooked up to the DMV now electronically, and if you put your address in they pull vin#'s etc automatically! No running around finding registrations and vin#s and all that mickey mouse now Worth it!
Multi policy with auto and home should give you some discount. There may be an article online regarding rate increases. Here in MA., it went up between 3 and 9 percent from last year. It has been quiet as far as rate increases for a few years. They cite lower gas prices, more people out driving, more accidents. Vehicle repairs costs going up because of more sophisticated cars on the road. Medical costs for the injured and lawsuits for compensation can hike rates. Larger companies with a larger market share can offer lower increases as there are more drivers in the "pool". I'd shop around, but look if you look at the company with the lower rates, they may not offer the best service.
i shop around every year,because they just dont look after you.if you shop around you will all ways find some one cheaper.
I'm always afraid cheaper means more loopholes and less customer service when you need 'em...anybody found this to be true?
Nah - when it comes time for them to pay they're all the same; at least in my experience. It's why they're in business - the "adjuster's" job is literally to make sure they do not pay you any more than they absolutely have to. And if you did something wrong, you can forget about it. You're just a number when the rubber meets the road. No reason to stay loyal in my opinion. How much money are they saving you right now?
Almost hate to shop around...I know I'm gonna find cheaper...been with my guy since I was 16YO, no BS kind of guy, really like him but I just know staying is costing me money...guess I really just need to go shopping. Car/bike/HO ins...
When it is time to pay, estimates are all in the ballpark. I worked for one of the big three auto carriers in MA several years ago as an adjuster. The big three had very good agressive adjusters in my opinion. Dealing with them every day, there was no question they defended their drivers, investigated losses very thoroughly and we're good negotiators. These companies may have been a little more premium wise, but they knew their stuff.
I mean to each their own and I don't fault anyone who works in that industry. Insurance is kind of a necessary evil or else we'd have to sue each other anytime there was an accident. I mean if I could put that money in an account instead, I could probably just buy a new car if anything happened. But you just can't trust everyone to do that. That being said, in my opinion the amount you have to pay over time compared to what you will receive in any claim, on average, you're going to pay more than you will ever receive. So anytime my rates start going up, I usually start shopping around.
I endorse shopping around as well. I have Allstate bought from my neighbor, who is an agent. He knows every 3 or 4 years when I walk in his office, that I have lower quotes. He always seem to be able to match or at least get close. Makes you wonder.
Same here, every 2-3 years. I don't use an agent, but shop online. Funny thing is, the last two times I did this, I did save money, using the same company I was already insured with. They will raise the rate, hoping you will just keep paying. Reshopping will lower it again. My dad had incredibly high rates. I reshopped his, and got a new policy with the same coverage, for less than half what he was paying before. Same company, same policy terms. They will stick it to you if you don't shop.
If your agent isn't offering to shop around for you - s/he needs to be fired. My agent sends out a notice every couple of years that she will be happy to look into getting me cheaper rates if I want. Larger companies, as a rule, may offer better rates, but I am currently with a smaller company and their service was good when I got hit by someone last year. Bundling with home insurance may save you money, but I unbundled mine to save several hundred $$ per year and now have 3 different insurance companies; my home has one (a local company thru my agent), my car & truck carried by another (a VT company thru my agent), and the bike is carried by a third (National toy insurer - not thru an agent). Rates can go up not just from having accidents or tickets, but if your credit score has fallen or if dependents are added. that may not be pertinent to you, just an observation.
