Need auto insurance help! What is the best option??

RockABye · November 2014

Hello! I'm jumping over from another corner of the Nest to ask a MM question regarding auto insurance

We're trying to lower all our monthly costs so as to save money and pay off some stuff, and auto insurance is next on our list to figure out. I need help!!

Currently, we pay $217 a month for 2 cars which I think is high. We have zero accidents and no tickets within the last 10 years. We are on a Platinum plan where we get unlimited accident forgiveness, and 5% back every 6 months (which comes to about $65). It's a pretty standard policy. We do have towing on it, but no rental car or anything. I'm tempted to see about removing the towing because we have two new cars (both 2013s) so breakdown is unlikely and if it did happen, we have family all over the place who could come tow us in a heartbeat.

Anyway, we can downgrade to the Gold plan, which is $203 a month, but we lose the 5% back and it's only 1 accident forgiveness. This is only about a $3-4 difference from the Platinum if we count the 5% back, so seems kind of silly to do.

Our third option is that we can go to the Value plan, which is only $172 a month, but it comes with no 5% back and no accident forgiveness whatsoever so one wreck and our rates would likely go up. Nothing wrong with this plan, and we've never had accidents, but all it takes is one ding-dong on the road to mess that up.

So, what is the best option here in y'all's opinion? Keep paying the higher rate to get 5% back plus unlimited accident forgiveness, just in case, or downgrade? I have been shopping it around and while I can find cheaper auto rates, the homeowners insurance quotes have been much higher so it negates any auto savings. I still have a few places to call though so hopefully I can figure something out. Just wanted to get some outsider input.

ETA: All options keep our coverage and deductibles exactly the same.

Thank you!

brij2006 · November 2014

Hey RAB, I'm a regular over here too.

I would recommend Googling an "Independent Insurance Agent" in your area and getting having them put together some quotes on both your home and auto (if you need to narrow it down, choose an agent that is certified at "Trusted Choice"). They have multiple companies to choose from and can shop around the best options for you.

I would definitely not take a cheaper plan if it means you sacrifice any coverages (mostly liability). Another option is to quote your existing policy with higher comprehensive and collision deductibles. That's usually where the most money is saved, but understand that then you would pay more out of pocket if you were to be involved in an accident.

Xstatic3333 · November 2014

Wow, those all seem quite high to me!

So much with auto insurance is location-specific. For example, in MA (where I lived until very recently) you only get points on your insurance after an accident if you are at fault. I was in two very bad (for the cars, not the people) accidents while on my previous insurance, but still kept a perfect record because the other drivers were 100% at fault. In a state like that I might be tempted to risk the Value plan. If, however, you are in a state where everyone gets points regardless of fault (I think this is called a no-fault state) I'd probably stay with the plan you're on. Because of those accidents, I'm pretty cautious about insurance. I also get rental coverage, because in both of those cases I was without a personal car after the accident for about a month it saved me over $1000 per incident. I'm not necessarily coming out ahead there, but for me the piece of mind is worth it.

I would really encourage you to keep checking other companies, however. When we moved to our new state, we got several quotes from an independent insurance agent for rates similar to what you're describing. It was on a call to our 5th company that we found out they had a Subaru discount and a discount for my alumni association that knocked the whole thing down to $105 a month. We're in a city with some crime, too, so that is probably incorporating some sort of break-in/theft risk metric. I've learned from this board that there are a few cities in the country (Miami, New Orleans, etc.) where insurance is always very high, but I'd tend to think that in most places you could get it down a bit with your good driving records.

RockABye · November 2014

Brij - I already have a message out to a local agent here who shops over 120 insurance companies for the best rates. Hoping to get back with them tonight. Like I said above, I've been shopping auto and home around. All of the plans I listed are with the exact same coverage and deductible ($500). The only differences is the accident forgiveness and 5% back so we would not be downgrading insurance at all.

Xstatic - I didn't think we had the points system here, but upon Googling, it looks like we do. Huh.. who knew lol. I'll look more into that tonight for sure. We don't really need the rental coverage because I can borrow a family member's car if absolutely needed. My parents live 6 minutes away and the rest of my family is easily within 10 minutes!

Thank you! I'm definitely going to look into the points thing because that could answer a lot of my questions!

ETA: I'm in Texas, if that helps anything!

hoffse · November 2014

I agree that they all sound pretty high. But I also agree with Xstatic that it can vary based on where you live. Not sure where you live, but there might be another poster on here who can compare rates with you.

We pay $109/month to insure both cars. My employer provides umbrella coverage if our primary liability limits are up to a certain amount (and it's fairly high). So we insure up to that amount to get the umbrella coverage thrown in. We're both lawyers and are highly likely to be sued if either of us is ever at fault in an accident, so the umbrella policy is very valuable to us.

One of our cars is also new - a 2014 accord. We have a loan for that car, and our lender requires a stupidly low deductible (which annoys me, but I get that it's standard policy), so the 2014 is extremely well-insured... it has better coverage than I would normally go for if I had any say in the matter. Our other car is a 2007, and we have a very high deductible for that car because it's not that valuable anymore and frankly, the damage would have to be pretty bad for me to make a claim on insurance. I'm much more likely to go out of pocket in the case of damage, unless we're talking about many thousands of dollars.

I do not have towing, etc. because H and I are AAA members with towing included in our subscription. I can't remember how far we can be towed, but as I recall we could break down at any point between the triangle of Nashville, Birmingham, and Atlanta and be able to be towed to whichever city happens to be closest. We pay about $100/year and it covers any vehicle we are in, not just our personal cars. I once used it to have my law school roommate's car towed while I was with her. Plus, AAA gives us enough travel discounts through the year on hotels, etc. that the membership more than pays for itself. So towing is essentially free.

I don't have car rental either. Car rentals aren't terribly expensive if you use a coupon or a club membership (like Costco). Plus, H and I work a block and a half away from each other and our hours are pretty similar, so we could get away with one car if we had to.

blondie42107 · November 2014

We pay $160 for two cars.

formerlyGDaisy09 · November 2014

We pay $175 for two cars, unfortunately I have one accident and h has two... So that rate sounds high to me. We're in NH

jessica490 · November 2014

We pay $218/month for 10 months of the year but that includes our condo insurance as well. We have Amica. We also get a dividend check back every year as long as the company does well which is has been for many many years now. I live in CT so costs are high here anyway.

brij2006 · November 2014

I wouldn't worry too much about the accident forgiveness and reimbursement check. Yes, they are great perks, but if you can find it cheaper somewhere else without those, then go for it.

Also, credit score does come into play with almost all insurance companies now. So if that isn't the best, then that can also affect your rate. As far as the points, if you do not have any tickets or accidents, then you shouldn't have to worry about that. However, keep in mind that small glass claims and a comprehensive claim does factor into those most times. Many people say they don't have any claims but then they forget they had a rock chip repaired on a windshield or had hail damage to a vehicle 2 years ago. Those types of claims usually don't affect the rate, but it does factor in when it comes to shopping around for a new company.

As far as the towing and rental car coverage. I would go ahead and take the towing off if you could easily have someone help you out if something were to happen. I know in our area the towing coverage on most insurance policies is $15-$30 every 6 months. However, having a vehicle towed costs anywhere from $60-$125. So in 2 years or less of not needing the towing, you have saved up enough to just pay it out of pocket if you need it. For rental car coverage, this is actually one I recommend to have on a policy if you only have 1 or 2 vehicles. However, if you have a vehicle you could quickly and easily borrow from someone else, then I would save the money on the premium. We have it on our policy, but H drives 100 miles/day and I drive 45. So if we were out our vehicles we would need something to drive. My parents have an extra farm truck we could borrow, but it gets such bad gas mileage that we wouldn't be able to afford to drive it.

I would definitely still call to a few more independent agencies and have them put together some quotes for you. The one may have 120 companies to choose from, which is great, but honestly (as an independent agent myself) that just means they don't focus on one thing and provide the best coverage and company they can. The agencies with only 5-15 companies are usually better ones because they only write with a few companies for a reason (they believe in and back up the product they're selling rather than just trying to get the business).

Erikan73 · November 2014

Those prices might seem high depending on your ages, types of cars you have, where you live & coverage limits that could be the norm. I work for an insurance company and my advice to you, is to start calling around to other insurance companies to get quoted for a new policy. Make sure the coverages they quote you are exactley the same as you have now. You may find that you have the best rate already, or you can end up like my husband and I and find out that you can save a lot of money by switching. We switched our homeowner's & auto together & ended up saving over $500 a year between the two policies. Yes it can be time consuming to shop around, but saving money is worth it.

Now if your current company still has the best rates, I would skip the middle plan, doesn't make sense to save $3.00 a term. Now going to the lowest plan, I'm not sure how comfortable I would feel about that either. That's a hard call to make. I would probably look at other options to try to cut expenses first, but that's just me.

RockABye · November 2014

Erikan - we're both 33, driving a Wrangler and a Ram 1500. I'll definitely keep looking! I think we're leaning towards keeping the platinum if we can't find a better rate. It's so hard to plan for the unexpected lol

Brij - our credit scores are both in the "best" range. No issue there. Definitely don't need rental car coverage so that will for sure stay off, but thanks for the input there! This independent agent is one of the best in our areas and comes highly recommended from quite a few people I personally know, so I'm going to stick with that one for now. If he can get us anything better, then I'll find another one

Need auto insurance help! What is the best option??

Re: Need auto insurance help! What is the best option??

Choose Another Board

Search Boards