Car Insurance

Same with Geico for me.

fifey_sl said:

The problem with progressive/geico/state farm is they love to use aftermarket parts.

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FYI, everyone does. Your state insurance laws dictate at what age a vehicle can be repaired with aftermarket parts. Here in MO it's over 3 years old and aftermarket parts can be used. Every insurance company follows the laws of whatever state you are in. No company is going to pony up for new, manufacturer parts on a 10 year old vehicle.

Allstate recently dropped their rates lower than most companies, which is really weird.

Eyashusa_sl said:

Never pay your insurance monthly. Always do twice a year or one lump sum. For me it basically saves me 1 month of insurance cost so it's like I'm only paying 11 months.

I know most people here are probably doing this but everyone talks about how much they pay monthly which made me wonder.

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Yeah, we do the lump sum, too. Twice per year we get a bill, and pay the full amount. I just took the amount we pay for six months, and divided it by six. That's the monthly cost to which I referred. Pay it all at once, don't pay interest. That'll save you a lot.

Had progressive for 6 months, no issues. Switched to esurance because it was cheaper, again no issues for a year.

I get married, and tell esurance I got married, got a cheaper rate (yay!) when my year is up I get a notice of non-renewal even though I had no claims, no driving violations and always paid in full; I inquire and turns out when I got married they had sent me a driver exclusion form that I never 'returned', In reality I never got such form or notice and I asked them to show proof that they had sent it or that I had received it (certified mail or the like) they couldn't. Their twitter shit apologized to me and they wanted to give me a new rate (higher though). Told them to fuck off and switched to mercury through my credit union.

Fuck insurance companies.

Mercury would cancel you for it too. They're assholes about stuff like that.

Hatorade_sl said:

Allstate recently dropped their rates lower than most companies, which is really weird.

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Allstate has a reputation(at least around here) of being a yo-yo with their rates from year to year. One year we'll lose dozens of customers to Allstate because they take some huge rate decrease, or come out with some new discount that is crazy cheap. Then next year everyone comes back when they get hit with a 40% rate increase. I've known a few Allstate agents as well, and that company just seems...odd. They came through and laid off/fired like 1/3 of their agents in our market a few years back. Said they were consolidating and streamlining. Then a year or two later they hired dozens of new agents and opened new offices all over the place.

In a few of the Zip codes around my office(where most of my customers are) Allstate literally had a 100% rate increase on homeowners insurance a couple years ago. Yes, the rate fully doubled in 1 year. That was a great year for new business on our end

Allstate has to be about the most unstable insurance company I've had contact with.

joeboo_sl said:

Allstate has a reputation(at least around here) of being a yo-yo with their rates from year to year. One year we'll lose dozens of customers to Allstate because they take some huge rate decrease, or come out with some new discount that is crazy cheap. Then next year everyone comes back when they get hit with a 40% rate increase. I've known a few Allstate agents as well, and that company just seems...odd. They came through and laid off/fired like 1/3 of their agents in our market a few years back. Said they were consolidating and streamlining. Then a year or two later they hired dozens of new agents and opened new offices all over the place.

In a few of the Zip codes around my office(where most of my customers are) Allstate literally had a 100% rate increase on homeowners insurance a couple years ago. Yes, the rate fully doubled in 1 year. That was a great year for new business on our end

Allstate has to be about the most unstable insurance company I've had contact with.

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I find this very interesting. I've used Allstate now for years and years. My rates have been incredibly consistent for all the policies. My Allstate agent is a guy who has been operating since about 1990. I wonder how much it differs from agent to agent?

bixxby_sl said:

Mercury would cancel you for it too. They're assholes about stuff like that.

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I'm not saying no, but at least I'm doing it through my credit union which would give me more leverage to raise better hell.

It could easily be vastly different from state to state and even district to district. A lot of how agressive an insurance company is depends on their market share in a particular state. One little trick of the trade is to find out what(if any) insurance companies have their home corporate office in your state. Chances are, they have AMAZING rates in that state, because they want to be the #1 insurance company in their home state.

State Farm and Allstate have amazing rates in Illinois, as both are headquartered there, and the competition to be #1 in that state is pretty fierce. My company is headquartered in Wisconsin and our rates there are WAY cheaper than here in Missouri. Agents in Wisconsin, on average, write 2-3 times as many policies per month as average agents do in my state. Out of the top 100 agents in our company, over 1/3 are in Wisconsin alone. It's pretty crazy.

Another good thing to look for, is regional insurance companies that expand into new territories. My company is only in about 30 states right now, but everytime we go into a new state and expand, rates are dirt cheap to establish a foothold in that new marketplace.

I'd go with USAA. So if you are somewhat connected to the military go to them.Ratesmy vary but their customer service is amazing for me. I'd never had a claim unresolved since I have them for couple of years now.

Pretty sure I remember when I was young( like before car young 30 year+ back ) Allstate was a part of Sears. They have been buying companies like Ensurance awhile now and trying to gain market cap.
I loved them for property/auto claims back in the 90s by far hands down, but I was never able to have them as an insurance due to the fact they or used to if not still based rates on credit score. No tickets since 91, no accidents since 88( and only 1 no fault then) no property claims ever since 86 and Allstate last time I checked wanted $280 a month for liability on a 96 GMC Safari and a 98 ttop Firebird.

I use Farm Bureau and it is $77 a month.

Edit but ya, if I was to pay monthly it adds a $4 a month service fee.

How many accidents do you have to have to make your insurance $200/month?

Borzak_sl said:

How many accidents do you have to have to make your insurance $200/month?

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Don't have to have any if your credit is terrible. At my company, your credit score gives you anywhere from a 30% discount to a 200% surcharge. That typical, $50 a month auto insurance could go down to $35 if you have great credit, or up to $150 if you have bad credit. And unfortunately, most companies penalize you for bad credit much more than they reward you for good credit.

Borzak_sl said:

How many accidents do you have to have to make your insurance $200/month?

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Ya read it again. No Accidents, no tickets( in over 20 years ), no claims.
Just have bad credit. I've had one loan my entire life, and I use exactly 1 credit card for everything.
Direct TV fucked mine up when I told them to go fuck themselves 3 years ago, but it shows how flawed and stupid that system is for insurance. Anything for a extra buck while dipping a dick into your ass.

joeboo_sl said:

Don't have to have any if your credit is terrible. At my company, your credit score gives you anywhere from a 30% discount to a 200% surcharge. That typical, $50 a month auto insurance could go down to $35 if you have great credit, or up to $150 if you have bad credit. And unfortunately, most companies penalize you for bad credit much more than they reward you for good credit.

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Where the hell do you get $35/month car insurance? I have a credit score of 780 and no tickets or accidents on my record, and I still pay $130/month for car insurance.

Ho. Leeeee. Fuck.

That is rough, Tarrant. The kind of shit you see in a movie, not in real life. Hope things go smoothly for you!

I'm sure it'll buff right out.

Xequecal_sl said:

Where the hell do you get $35/month car insurance? I have a credit score of 780 and no tickets or accidents on my record, and I still pay $130/month for car insurance.

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A lot of it is the zip code that you live in. I've always heard that here in Missouri we have fairly reasonable insurance rates to begin with, but just in Kansas City, the pricing going from inner-city to the furthest outlying suburb can easily cut a rate by 3/4 or more. Just working up a rough quote on my 2005 Ford Escape, I live in a normal 'burb, not the closest to the city but not the furthest either. I pay $72 a month for full coverage, $500 deductibles(and extras like road service, car rental, etc. as well as good 100,000/300,000 liability limits). If I put in an inner-city KC zip code, that bumps up to $154 per month, and if I put in a zip code 10-20 miles further out from the city in a more rural area, it drops to $47 per month. The liability-only prices are all about 1/2 those prices, so yeah, $20-$25 a month for liability coverage is feasible if you're in a more rural area, you have good credit and a good driving record.