icyur2

Do yourself a favor and do NOT get Progressive...my a$$!!! I had it once, and when I found a better insurance company for waaaay cheaper, they (new insurance company - Farmers I think it was) didn't consider my X amount of years that I had with Progressive because it was considered a "high risk" insurance. SO, get anyone BUT them, and you can at least get a history with an insurance company that isn't considered "high risk" and can count towards lowering your insurance rate!

By the way, Costco auto insurance is THE best rate I was able to find. They said that they give the best rate because only Costco members can get them. Add that to an all or none type of package (you can't mess with I'll cover this car like this, and that car like that - like Farmers), and this lowers your cost. If you can live with that (like I can), then you might be able to save some $$. Mine is roughly $720/yr...

BunnyGirl

Costco got me a good deal for my car but not for insurance. I checked several different insurance companies. Costco was $270 a month. The one through AIG was $278. Allstate was $527. Farmer's was $403. American Family $309. State Farm $296. Mutual of Enumclaw $289. Geico $341. Then the other one that I can't seem to think of their name right now (Liberty?) was $469.

Progressive was $190. This was also for a higher level of coverage than the above mentioned places. At least at this time I will stick with them. I can't really afford to pay the extra premiums to have a "better" insurance company right now. Mainly this is because, even though I am 25, by the time my car gets here I will be deemed to have maybe four months of driving experience from the time I got my license. Plus, this is my first car so I have never had insurance on anything before.

I'm not sure what you meant when you said they didn't consider your Progressive years when you got a new insurance company. It is still having insurance, which, in Oregon you are required by law to have insurance. I know when I called some of the other places I was asked if I had a high risk policy or anything like that before. I asked what that was and they said it was for people who had gotten over a certain number of traffic tickets in a certain period of time or were speeding more than a certain amount over the limit, DUI people, people with serious accidents on their record, multiple accidents, under a certain age. No one said it was dependent on who your insurance carrier was whether or not you were high risk or had high risk insurance classification. It was your driving record. Certain court convictions also deem you to be high risk and you then require a special insurance coverage.

Maybe you had one of those above mentioned situations or whoever was BS'ing you for whatever reason. I don't know if there is a discount or something for having insurance for more than a certain number of years, which would be dumb for Oregon since it is required by law.. Everyone I talked to asked about speeding tickets and accidents and how long you had been licensed. I know some companies offer discounts the longer you stay with their company.

So, I have no idea about the whole "high-risk" and "not counting" thing you mentioned.

icyur2

Bunnygirl..believe me, they (insurance company) will not say it, but when you invest X amount of years with this company, and later find that there is a better one, the X amount of years you spent with the "higher risk" insurance company (aka Progressive) will amount to nothing.

Basically, when you are with an insurance company, and hop to another one, they look at how long you spent with the other. Based on whether you had any tickets/accidents, etc. this will add/subtract points and will apply on how good of a rate you'll get with said company. I found out, the hard way, that when I switched to another insurance company (I think it was Farmers), they told me that Progressive was known as a "high risk" company (basically, they will take in drivers who need insurance at an affordable rate, when others will turn them down), and as a result can not factor in that I had a clean history with them for X amount of yrs. It has been a long time, so maybe Progressive isn't known mainly as a "high risk" insurance company. I was just commenting on my experience to save you the headache of the time you spent on establishing a "history" with an insurance company, only to find that it amounts to nothing when you find a better rate at another company.

Anyways, this is your call. I'm just adding my 2 cents worth in this thread...

BunnyGirl

Okay. I wasn't sure what you meant by not counting. That makes a little more sense now. I would have done Mutual of Enumclaw since that is my mom and stepdad's insurance company that they have had for years, since there is a discout for how many in the household have policies. But I can't really afford to budget in the $289 a month for insurance unless I want to cut out some stuff that I do. The Drive Insurance is a newer program through Progressive. You get an independent insurance agent that has a little room in calculating your rates and risk assessment for your policy, which actually got me a better rate and coverage than when I called Progressive for their regular plans. At least with the local insurance agent I am going to get mine through, she said that through them I would get to start with a completely clean state, average risk motorist, which would lower my rate down since other companies generally consider you very high risk based on age and experience. I get the rate of an average risk 25-year-old with average driving experience through their office. She told me it would be this way until I proved otherwise, such as getting speeding tickets or at-fault accidents. She said their adjuster/supervisor rated my experience based off having my permit since I was 18 instead of my license at just under 25, which I was quite grateful for. They also took into account my high credit score as a measure of responsibility level along with length of time at job as well as length of time consistently holding work, which I was also grateful for.

I'm thinking this type of plan is a little different than regular Progressive coverage since they are a little more subjective and personalized in how they figure the policy rates.

Detrich

i like AAA's service the best. their rapid repair centers have their **** together, do great work, and have the fastest turn-around.

unfortunately, when i bought my 8 last year, AAA quoted me double the price of insuring a single car- ie completely negligible multi-car discount and laughable discount for tacking on homeowners policy as well...

so, i ended up switching to mercury for my 2 cars + homeowners. for full coverage on both cars (100/60/30) i pay around $760.00 every 6 months. i have one "not-at-fault" accident on my record within the last 2 years. (some old lady who shouldn't have been driving to begin with lost control of her acura mdx, crossed the double yellow line from the opposite direction, and side swiped me slightly.) but, i'm 36- so age might have something to do with it...

i'm hoping to get a new quote from AAA again later this year and see if i can switch back. but, we'll see. they have great service.

icyur2

Bunnygirl..$286/month?? I'm only paying roughly $60/month! Granted, I also have a house insurance with them (Costco), so that will lower it a little..but, no-where near $286! I'm only 34 (will be soon), so I'm not that much older than you to account for the $200 difference..you sure you called Costco insurance? Progressive's rate is better than theirs?

Detrich..dang..is that price for BOTH car or only for the 8?? $760/6 month???

HolyCross05

Just got a quote from MetLife, 1300 a year full coverage for my 05

BunnyGirl

Positive it was Costco. They said the same thing as the other companies "You don't have any driving experience."

icyur2

Wow....they are getting pretty hard then...I would assume that at an "older" age and with your proven credit history that it should speak for itself..but apparently not

In your case, probably best to just use Progressive until you get those "driving experiences." BAH!! Stupid insurance companies...maybe call them again to see if they can "match" Progressive's offer? Attack them from the business side..afterall, better to get your business than to lose it to a competitor because a technicality on what is considered "driving experience."

BunnyGirl

Like the adjuster/supervisor for my insurance agent had said, they were basing my experience off my permit time instead of license time based on my credit history and job stability as a measure of my responsibility level. They said if I had my permit that long, then surely I had driving "experience," just not the industry standard of what "experience" is, but they would give it to me anyway based on the above.

dmp

~$600/year, full coverage, 500 deductable, thru USAA. I'm 33, married. No tickets last 5 years, one motorcycle accident Sep 04.

bascho

$4000USD!!!!! that is ridiculous. Are you sure someone wasn't killed in one of those 'minor accidents'?

jisoo26

I pay something like $720 every 6 months, good driving record, no accidents, no tickets. Through State Farm.

Detrich

yah- that's full coverage for both cars- ie annual total of around $1,520. i guess this is one of the few benefits of getting old... <lol> well, i'm still a kid at heart tho. for comparison, AAA quoted me around $1,900 per year for the same level coverage.

Les Smith

I'm new to this site. I took delivery of my 2004 GT on Aug. 01, 2003.
In Ontario, according to the Ministry of Transportation, my ownership describes my car as:
4 door 2 cylinder
My Insurance carrier has a copy of my bill of sale/purchase and a copy of my registration.
Thankfully, I have a "clean" driving record. As I am also rated for "business use".
I pay $ 2,200 (Canadian $$ ) for my full coverage which includes : $ 2,000,000 Liability, Accident Benefits, Collision ( $ 1,000 Deductible ) and Comprehensive ( $ 500 Deductible).
I'm not going to rock their boat. P.S. : I'm also an Insurance Broker.

Hyperborea

That's not a lot of coverage. If you own a home in LA then you have a fairly expensive asset (never mind others like investment accounts etc.) that somebody could sue you for. Add in the fact that a lot of people in LA (similar to the way it is in the SF Bay Area) drive some really expensive cars. With such a low coverage level if you rear end sombody's Ferrari and the highly paid driver claims a back injury your coverage isn't going to be enough. Low levels like that are fine when you are young and have not much to lose (easy to declare bankruptcy).

It doesn't cost that much more to up your coverage levels. Probably want at least as much coverage as you have net worth and maybe a bit more. Above a certain level (around $300K coverage) it makes a lot of sense to add umbrella insurance on top of the auto/home/etc. instead of increasing the underlying insurance coverage. Not an insurance agent just a software geek who likes to CYA.

EyeBall Fixer...(o)(x)

$75 a month through American Family.
Of coarse I get the good driver / old guy discount

$4K a year is robery!

marvin_rock

Geuss I'm getting the short end of the stick here myself as I'm paying 1330 every six months (2660 year) I REALLY hate insurance and the only reason I have it is because it's a required part of my loan. Hopefullly I can find either a new loan that only requires liability ($56 a month) OR find $20,000 buried somewhere in my backyard. I don't really see either happening so I'll just keep my fingers crossed I get to take advantage of my full coverage one day. Honestly, anyone else see insurance as highway robbery because the normal population is unable to take the same amount of money they WOULD be paying for insurance and put it into savings keep the money and have it earn interest on itself. I still do the latter and it's becoming one hell of a nest egg, but addind that $200 something a month would be great. There, that's my .02, or $200, whatever.

marvin_rock

Failed to mention I have one minor speeding ticket, no accidents, I'm 22, military, insured through USAA, been deployed the past year, driving since I was 16, and very minimal insurance coverage until now.

Animagix

i used to pay close to $4000 a year for full coverage with allstate. By switching to geico i saved half that. (28 yrs old)

toxin440

ouch -- 4K a year? im only 23 years old only one accident (got rear ended) so it wasnt my fault and it was before I got my 8, and I only pay $1980 dollars a year for insurance. The company I have is "Germania" though.


Shop around for some insurance man...

marvin_rock

Ha, you totally should have said "I just saved 15% on my car insuarance by switching to Geico" Seriously, it would have been perfect!!!

HolyCross05

I'm 23, pay 1100 a year, one minor accident. I got it at this insurance place down the street where I got my car, I think they use Fireman's insurance. I live outside of Boston.

Asmoran

I'm biased against Geico since they dropped my wife's policy (long before we were married, but still) without even notifying her.

I use State Farm, and pay $93/month (full coverage, $500 deductable) with a mult-policy discount (wife's car + homeowners). The policy on the civic I used to own was $91 / month.

And while I haven't had any claims in the past couple years, my record is anything but clean (at least 3 accidents and probably 8 tickets in the last 9 years, all of that at least 3 years ago). I even got a ticket (17 over, 1 pt on license) a year ago, and they never changed my rates.

I'm 25, btw. And didn't get any rate drop on my B-Day

Hyperborea

No, I don't see it that way. Let's look at a quite possible real life scenario. How would your little savings account (and it really is little in case of major accidents) cover the medical expenses for the family in the minivan that got totaled in your at-fault accident? To make it worse, but still quite possible, what about the lifetime care of one of the members of that minivan who is now a quadriplegic? What if it was the major income earner for the family who now can't work and you need to replace that family's income? Insurance is about spreading risk around a large group so that the effects of catastrophic accidents don't totally destroy an individual.

If you want to do so you can drop comprehensive coverage and only keep the liability coverage. It probably starts to make financial sense to do that when a vehicle is around 5 to 7 years old depending on the vehicle and your costs of insurance. Of course, if you borrowed the money to buy the car (i.e. it's not yet really yours) then you have to live by the rules of whomever loaned you the money.

You could even drop liability coverage to your state mandated minimums (as low as 15/30 in some places - perhaps even lower) but if you've got any assets at all that is a seriously risky move. Of course, at 22 with likely no financial assets it would be easy enough to declare bankruptcy and leave the family in the minivan with your your problem.