Question about car insurance.

[Dominus]

For the last 5 years or so, I'd been using this insurance agency that compares rates and give me the best options. I really thought I was getting the best rates with them. Been paying about $350/month for full coverage for a truck and a sedan 2 drivers.

A few days back, someone told me about Jerry. It's an app. I decided to try it out a few nights ago and holy cow I got an offer for the exact same coverages and deductible of $500 for $120/month.

I never thought I'd see this big of a difference in premiums for the same coverages.

My question is if it's possible to give the same coverages for $230/month less, how come the cheaper company hasn't taken over the insurance world?

 

[NotHardUp1]

Many factors come to play in car insurance and customer loyalty.

Collecting on claims and how companies treat insured once they make claims is a big one. And if you are insured by the same company that covers a party that hits you, it can be doubly disappointing, pun intended.

And then there are rewards programs that reduce premiums for good driving records and years of premiums, as well as other incentives for using the same company to insure your home, etc. They also have spying devices now that are pushed to get you to let your insurance company know too much about your driving habits. Many people take that bait.

Insurance companies operate quite a bit like internet and mobile phone providers. They will happily fuck over long time customers who pay entirely different rates than other customers who subscribed under different rates at a different time.

I have few insurance claims outside of medical insurance, so I've not had to be baptized by fire, so to speak, by having to wrangle with my insurer.

Listening to your rates, I wonder how expensive your cars must be. When I bought my Audi almost three years ago, it had 139k miles on it, a first for me, but I don't need it to last but until I retire in three years. It cost $13k then. I currently pay about $1200 per year on its policy. My pickup truck is a 29-year-old F150, and I pay about $600 yearly on its insurance. Both are full coverage, and each vehicle is worth under $10k apiece. So, I pay $1800 for coverage by one of the largest insurers in the country.

Your rates seem too high, but you previously had a very young partner, so that would certainly have been a factor before, aside from any accidents or periods of lapsed coverage. Do you know any reason your rates would have been high?

 

[Dominus]

Many factors come to play in car insurance and customer loyalty.

Collecting on claims and how companies treat insured once they make claims is a big one. And if you are insured by the same company that covers a party that hits you, it can be doubly disappointing, pun intended.

And then there are rewards programs that reduce premiums for good driving records and years of premiums, as well as other incentives for using the same company to insure your home, etc. They also have spying devices now that are pushed to get you to let your insurance company know too much about your driving habits. Many people take that bait.

Insurance companies operate quite a bit like internet and mobile phone providers. They will happily fuck over long time customers who pay entirely different rates than other customers who subscribed under different rates at a different time.

I have few insurance claims outside of medical insurance, so I've not had to be baptized by fire, so to speak, by having to wrangle with my insurer.

Listening to your rates, I wonder how expensive your cars must be. When I bought my Audi almost three years ago, it had 139k miles on it, a first for me, but I don't need it to last but until I retire in three years. It cost $13k then. I currently pay about $1200 per year on its policy. My pickup truck is a 29-year-old F150, and I pay about $600 yearly on its insurance. Both are full coverage, and each vehicle is worth under $10k apiece. So, I pay $1800 for coverage by one of the largest insurers in the country.

Your rates seem too high, but you previously had a very young partner, so that would certainly have been a factor before, aside from any accidents or periods of lapsed coverage. Do you know any reason your rates would have been high?

Ya. 3 years ago I had speeding tickets and an accident that was my fault. By accident, I mean something flew out of my trailer and hit someone's bumper.

 

[NotHardUp1]

Ya. 3 years ago I had speeding tickets and an accident that was my fault. By accident, I mean something flew out of my trailer and hit someone's bumper.

The tickets would have only just now gone off your record, I think, so have been affecting your rates.

The accident being your fault was likely much more influential, and the combination of that with your tickets would indeed make your insurance high.

It may not be so much that your new company is lower in rates as your sins have rolled off.

 

[LeicsDom]

Every year I go on a couple of comparison sites and a few direct sites to find the best quote
Almost every year I end up signing with a different provider
Car Insurance companies never ever reward customer loyalty

 

[Alistair]

Well you get what you pay for. Have you looked at the customer service ratings for the cheaper company? A lot of time you’ll see that they are difficult to deal with, make you use certain repair facilities and make claims difficult for the other driver involved in an accident, usually resulting in getting you sued.

 

[Dominus]

The tickets would have only just now gone off your record, I think, so have been affecting your rates.

The accident being your fault was likely much more influential, and the combination of that with your tickets would indeed make your insurance high.

It may not be so much that your new company is lower in rates as your sins have rolled off.

Is there someone's dick I can suck to get my insurance even lower?

 

[NotHardUp1]

Sorry, but it's not spelled "GUY-CO".

You might try Chubb.

 

[unloadonme]

Car Insurance companies never ever reward customer loyalty

On the contrary, they penalise loyalty.

 

[NotHardUp1]

I'm certain that they literally have actuarian tables to calculate what percentage of their long-term customers defect for cost savings and how much they make off them for overpriced rates versus what they'd lose if they simply priced all their insurance to the actuarian incidence and cost tables.

We were algorithm pawns long before Google was a twinkle in the eye of Page and Brin.

 

[lockeroomguy]

The price you see on a comparison app or site may not be real. The final price will take into consideration factors such as driving violation and accident history.
Go to an independent broker. They will do all the comparison pricing for you, with actual quotes. The broker costs you nothing.
Every few years, reshop for a better price. Insurance companies frequently will lure you in with a low price, then progressively increase your rate year by year.

 

[TickTockMan]

What everyone else as said is gold, but I want to add one thing. When shopping around check with regional insurance companies. They tend to be cheaper because they don't do many or any ads. Also since they cover a small area they know the numbers very well and they can hedge them. I also find they are usually higher in satisfaction than the big carriers.

 

[LeicsDom]

The broker costs you nothing.

That's not true
The broker has to make a living so he will charge you, either directly or indirectly

 

[unloadonme]

That's not true
The broker has to make a living so he will charge you, either directly or indirectly

Indeed. The broker will receive commission from the insurance company which will charge a premium which covers that. I wouldn't be surprised if some brokers recommended products carrying the greatest commission rather than what was best/cheapest for the client.