Car Insurance skyrocketing

[Oaktree]

Well, in my case I've have not seen much of any increase, from Progressive. It has stayed at around $540 a year for the car. How ever, the Progressive motorcycle insurance, for my 500 CC, 44 year old bike, has doubled in the last three years with no claims or tickets. And I only ride about 600 miles a year on it

Well, somebody's got to pay for all those tv ads. Are their auto and motorcycle provided by separate divisions of the company? The ads kind of imply they're separate, but I also see Flo and her crew on both ads.

I have State Farm, and while my rates went up a little a lot had to do with getting a much newer vehicle. What was interesting was that for similar coverage I'm paying ~20% less than my wife. She called the agent to ask why and was told that since I drive under 7500 mi/yr I get a lower rate. I have no idea how they know how much I drive, she said they implied they had DMV info. That's creepy, and certainly nothing I agreed to. Gonna have to investigate that further.

If people would use an independent agent rather than a captive agent, you would have a much better chance of lower rates. My independent agent will shop other companies he represents when my rates increase. I don't have to bother calling around wasting have a day, or more shopping rates

That's the marketing hype, real world mileage varies considerably. Most independent agents I've ever dealt with primarily work with small, obscure companies with widely variable levels of customer service. If you need to file a claim, you need to go thru your local agent who may or may not give a crap about you. My experience with them has not been good, either with pricing or service.
What's the incentive for these companies no one has heard of to provide good service? It's not like the big guys whose image is on the line every day. If Allstate, Progressive, etc. get a rep for being difficult to deal with, it's a news story, not so much for Broomstick County Firemen's Mutual. I see them more as a last resort for high risk customers.

 

[ruffdog]

. I have no idea how they know how much I drive, she said they implied they had DMV info. That's creepy, and certainly nothing I agreed to. Gonna have to investigate that further.

My wife's car has onstar and they can see how many miles it is driven. My truck has no onstar so they had me drive in to the agent to show them the mileage. We both drive <7500 miles and get the discount.

 

[Oaktree]

My wife's car has onstar and they can see how many miles it is driven. My truck has no onstar so they had me drive in to the agent to show them the mileage. We both drive <7500 miles and get the discount.

Well they are both GM vehicles, but neither of us subscribes to Onstar. Mine might be a bit deceiving since I've only had it since January, before that I had a Jeep.

 

[ruffdog]

Well they are both GM vehicles, but neither of us subscribes to Onstar. Mine might be a bit deceiving since I've only had it since January, before that I had a Jeep.

You don't need to be a subscriber for onstar to function for other uses like tracking of info. We never subscribed to onstar either but SF could still access mileage numbers on the wife's car.

 

[two_bit_score]

Wife just got a major increase with Pemco, I got a decease with Progressive this year. Then again, wife never tells me if she gets a ticket.

Why do you have different insurance companies? Her record?

 

[JasperFrank]

Why do you have different insurance companies? Her record?

Yes. It was very weird attempting to get her on my Progressive policy. Cause I though she had a clean record. The agent started looking stuff up. The wife was upstairs but I could talk to her while on the phone. "Hon, did you get any tickets in Washington in the last five years?" "Yes, I think I got a couple." The couple turned out to be six infractions. If she had gotten even one more, I think Washington would have pulled her license. And the agent said we can put her on your policy but there wont be any savings and gave me a quote that was higher than just adding her Pemco with my Progressive. The odd thing is adding me to her policy dropped her rate, after checked the box that she was now married.

 

[two_bit_score]

The odd thing is adding me to her policy dropped her rate, after checked the box that she was now married.

Sounds reasonable to me.

 

[kenmac]

Well, somebody's got to pay for all those tv ads. Are their auto and motorcycle provided by separate divisions of the company? The ads kind of imply they're separate, but I also see Flo and her crew on both ads.

I have State Farm, and while my rates went up a little a lot had to do with getting a much newer vehicle. What was interesting was that for similar coverage I'm paying ~20% less than my wife. She called the agent to ask why and was told that since I drive under 7500 mi/yr I get a lower rate. I have no idea how they know how much I drive, she said they implied they had DMV info. That's creepy, and certainly nothing I agreed to. Gonna have to investigate that furth

Well, somebody's got to pay for all those tv ads. Are their auto and motorcycle provided by separate divisions of the company? The ads kind of imply they're separate, but I also see Flo and her crew on both ads.

I have State Farm, and while my rates went up a little a lot had to do with getting a much newer vehicle. What was interesting was that for similar coverage I'm paying ~20% less than my wife. She called the agent to ask why and was told that since I drive under 7500 mi/yr I get a lower rate. I have no idea how they know how much I drive, she said they implied they had DMV info. That's creepy, and certainly nothing I agreed to. Gonna have to investigate that further.

That's the marketing hype, real world mileage varies considerably. Most independent agents I've ever dealt with primarily work with small, obscure companies with widely variable levels of customer service. If you need to file a claim, you need to go thru your local agent who may or may not give a crap about you. My experience with them has not been good, either with pricing or service.
What's the incentive for these companies no one has heard of to provide good service? It's not like the big guys whose image is on the line every day. If Allstate, Progressive, etc. get a rep for being difficult to deal with, it's a news story, not so much for Broomstick County Firemen's Mutual. I see them more as a last resort for high risk customers.

Travelers, liberty mutual, Safeco, etc, are hardly small LOL.
It really isn't marketing hype. they actually saved me over a captive agent.
I have had superior service from Travelers .
To each their own, but everyone should do a little research on Independent agents. A little education could save you some $$$