Well I finally shopped for car insurance

hoffse · December 2013

And I'm kicking myself for not doing it earlier. I had been paying $118/month for both H and I. I finally spent some time this afternoon shopping around online, and I got the best quote with esurance (for the same level of coverage I have now): $295 for 6 months. That amounts to $826 that we should save in 2014 just on car insurance!

The best part is I have a bit more than that left in my December budget. Now that the holidays are over, I can anticipate my expenses for the next few days. So I just paid the whole thing and won't go over my spending allowance for the month. They gave me a 10% discount for paying it in 6-month installments instead of every month. Sweet!

I wish I had done it earlier, but lesson learned. At least I'm starting the new year off with some savings! H and I are hoping to have our downpayment fund complete by early December 2014, so my largest New Year's resolution is to work on cutting the fat from my budget. I think we can live on the cheap for the next 12 months, since it's a relatively short-term thing. This was a super easy way to get started!

Mom987 · December 2013

Glad you were able to save some money! I love paying every 6 months too because then it's gone and I'm not reminded of it every month.

vlagrl29 · December 2013

yea! I switched us to state farm a couple years ago and saved us 1k a year with all the stuff we have insured with them. I always pay every 6 months...it pays to budget

MommyLiberty5013 · December 2013

Awesome! Do you get road side assistance?

vlagrl29 · December 2013

road side assistance is awesome! I've already used it a handful of times. My car does this stupid thing where it automatically locks if your car is left running and you are outside of it. I've accidentally locked my dog in it, had to stay late at work, and DH locked his camera equipment in it. We had to call a locksmith every time and it's so annoying , but at least we don't have to pay out of pocket for it at the time.

hoffse · December 2013

No I didn't get road side assistance. We have AAA, and I had already paid for 2014 before doing car insurance.

But overall, I'm still really happy with it!

Xstatic3333 · December 2013

I know I should try shopping around, but I'm pretty loyal to my car insurance company since I've been in a couple of bad accidents and they've always been a dream to work with. Maybe this is the year to make myself do it, if only to be armed with the information.

jessica490 · December 2013

Congrats! We just did the same

smbenevides1989 · December 2013

Is esurance really reputable though? I was always wary of online insurance. I just feel like it's too good to be true.

hoffse · December 2013

Yep it's reputable - it's through Allstate actually. They just don't have offices they have to maintain, so their premiums are lower.

I also got a discount for having a paypal account (?)

brij2006 · December 2013

smbenevides1989 said:

Is esurance really reputable though? I was always wary of online insurance. I just feel like it's too good to be true.

I'm an insurance agent, and unfortunately there are many differences between insurance companies. Some are considered "preferred" companies, and others are considered "standard" companies. Preferred ones are for people with great driving records, credit reports, and no tickets/accidents. Standard companies are for people with low credit, tickets, accidents, etc. Unfortunately a lot of the online companies are considered "standard" insurance companies. Their rates are amazing for someone with a clean record (face it, the amount of good drivers needs to out weigh the bad ones), but if you were to ever switch out of that "standard" company back into a "preferred" company. Then you could possibly have a hard time doing so, or you will get a higher rate because you had prior insurance with a standard company. Even if your record is clean, it shows that you were with them, and that's usually for a reason (ie past accident history or bad driving record).

Also, the claims are handled much different than that of a preferred company. Most have certain body shops they have contracted with to do the work, and you can only get your car repaired at that shop.

Although I will say that I've seen good things out of Progressive online. However, their rates are actually cheaper through an agent than if you went online yourself to get their insurance. So you're better off searching for an Independent Insurance Agent in your area, and having them quote it for you. They are able to quote with multiple companies at the same time, and find the best rate with a reputable company they stand behind.

As an insurance agent, I will just say that there's a reason why those companies are "online only." Because no agent wants to write their product.

smbenevides1989 · December 2013

Thanks @brij2006 for the info.

Xstatic3333 · December 2013

@brij2006 if my insurance is through an independent agent does that mean it's "preferred?" I have Commerce if that rings any bells.

brij2006 · December 2013

@xstatic3333 More than likely it does mean they are "preferred." There are some agencies that specialize in writing standard insurance, but they're usually in LCOL areas.

I looked up Commerce in the A.M Best system, and they're rated as an A+ in the insurance industry. So it's considered a good company.

hoffse · December 2013

Eh it doesn't bother me though. Neither H nor I have ever caused an accident, and we drive cars that aren't worth much. Frankly, if we were in a wreck that totaled our cars we probably wouldn't even claim it because their value is so low - especially on his car. I buy high-deductible insurance because I want to use insurance for it's intended purpose, not as a way to pre-pay for repairs. I think the insurance company MIGHT give us $500 for his car if it got totaled after our deductible was used up - and then our premiums would probably go up more than that. Our goal was really to find something that would cover hospital bills in case of an accident, and it seems to do that sufficiently.

Now with a newer or more valuable car, we would consider it. But ours have hail damage, dog damage, and my H's car has been hit at least 3 times in the last year in tight school parking decks without anybody ever stopping to give him their insurance information. It's not just worth it to us right now.

That's interesting to know about the preferred vs. standard companies, though - I had never heard anything about that before. We do show a 0 claim history, so if we ever want to switch back perhaps they will see that we did esurance for the low premiums.

Xstatic3333 · December 2013

brij2006 said:
@xstatic3333 More than likely it does mean they are "preferred." There are some agencies that specialize in writing standard insurance, but they're usually in LCOL areas.
I looked up Commerce in the A.M Best system, and they're rated as an A+ in the insurance industry. So it's considered a good company.

Thanks! I may just stay loyal. They've been wonderful to work with (extending rental coverage free of charge, quick delivery of checks, etc.) and that's so huge after an accident.

brij2006 · December 2013

@xstatic3333 I agree that the claims process is a huge thing! We have Allied Insurance, and have had claims on both our home and H's car for hail damage. Their claims process is worth the extra couple hundred dollars a year to us, but we've also had to use it.

hoffse: If you're just looking for liability only coverage or liability plus comprehensive (that's what covers hail, wind, acts of God), then you are probably fine where you went to. Just be aware that the claims process may not be as smooth sailing as you were used to, and when you get vehicles of value then you may want to shop around again. There's nothing wrong with having an insurance policy to only cover large events. That's what it's for anyways. Not maintenance.

Also, every state is different, but make sure you have "Medical Payments" coverage on your policy. If you are looking to have coverage for your health insurance deductibles in the state of an accident. Some people are lead to believe that the liability portion covers them too, and unfortunately it does not.

Well I finally shopped for car insurance

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