It's time for some insurance churn...

[Klackamas]

A couple of interesting blurbs from Consumer Reports:

MYTH: You Get a Loyalty Discount for Staying With the Same Company a Long Time   

HIDDEN TRUTH: You might actually be charged a loyalty penalty   

Many companies, including car insurers, reward their most loyal customers with discounts or other incentives. It's a smart business model. But our study found that while some insurers give a sizable discount, others give a small one, and still others offer nothing at all. Some insurers even salute your allegiance with a price hike.

It's common for consumers to stay with the same insurance company for a long time. Fifty-three percent of Consumer Reports subscribers have stayed put for 15 years or more, according to our most recent survey. But that kind of complacency can cost you. In Washington State, for example, seven of 15 insurers didn't give a discount to our married couples who had been steadfast customers for at least 15 years, including Amica Mutual and Farmers.

Trusted name brands were no guarantee of anything: In Washington, State Farm Fire & Casualty offered no discount; State Farm Mutual provided $182, or 15 percent in savings. Geico General and Geico Government Employees didn't offer a discount; Geico Casualty actually charged a $689 loyalty penalty, or 17 percent.

Discounts also varied by state. USAA offered a nice savings of $197 in Kentucky but a meager $14 loyalty discount in Washington, nothing in Colorado and Michigan, and a $28 loyalty penalty in New York.

Geico Casualty gave us whiplash with its $3,267 loyalty penalty in New Jersey and its $888 discount just across the state line in New York for longtime customers. State Farm Mutual consistently provided discounts of a couple of dollars up to a few hundred dollars; Allstate Fire and Casualty and Allstate Property & Casualty tended to prefer penalties.

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How your credit score raises your premium

Your score is used to measure your creditworthiness—the likelihood that you'll pay back a loan or credit-card debt. But you might not know that car insurers are also rifling through your credit files to do something completely different: to predict the odds that you'll file a claim. And if they think that your credit isn't up to their highest standard, they will charge you more, even if you have never had an accident, our price data show.

Cherry-picking about 30 of almost 130 elements in a credit report, each insurer creates a proprietary score that's very different from the FICO score you might be familiar with, so that one can't be used to guess the other reliably.

The increase in your premium can be significant.  Our single drivers who had merely good scores paid $68 to $526 more per year, on average, than similar drivers with the best scores, depending on the state they called home.

And your credit score could have more of an impact on your premium price than any other factor. For our single drivers in Kansas, for instance, one moving violation would increase their premium by $122 per year, on average. But a score that was considered just good would boost it by $233, even if they had a flawless driving record. A poor credit score could add $1,301 to their premium, on average.

[Morris Minor]

We use USAA. Have been with them a long time & have no complaints. hey seem to be consistently highly-rated by CR.

(USAA Bank was the only institution that would give me a credit card when I immigrated here, & so allowed me to build up a credit score.)

[Speed_Racer]

We use USAA. Have been with them a long time & have no complaints. hey seem to be consistently highly-rated by CR.

(USAA Bank was the only institution that would give me a credit card when I immigrated here, & so allowed me to build up a credit score.)

I have USAA as well for insurance and a handful of other products. My price is comparable to other quotes, but their service (and customer service) are what keep me with them. I've heard horror stories from my friends with their insurance providers.

[dazzleman]

I have found it necessary to switch car insurance carriers several times because they jack up my rates after I have been with them a while.

[GoCougs]

I have had everything with the same company since age 16 - currently home, auto, life, umbrella, professional - so I get discounts (or so they tell me). They also tell me my "risk" rating which is some sort of convoluted alphabetized ranking, and is based on at least education level, career, credit, and payment history. I am in the top tier for that but have no idea how much it saves me.

[AutobahnSHO]

I've been USAA for almost 15yrs, called for a geico quote last summer, it was much more for less coverage.  ...

[ifcar]

I've been with Geico for car insurance for four years. My rate started fairly low and decreased over time. When I bought my house, I shopped homeowner's insurance as a bundle with car insurance, but the best deal was to stay with Geico for car and get Hartford for the house.

[Rupert]

My rates have never really gone up (unless I add a car ). My renters insurance is bundled, too.

[mzziaz]

I shop around every 2-4 years.

[Raza]

I jumped around for a while, but Geico has been consistently dropping my rates for the last four years or so. 

[RomanChariot]

I was with one carrier for about 15 years and when my daughter turned 16 they wanted to boost my auto insurance by 40% to add her. I checked Geico and they quoted me less with my daughter added than my previous company was charging before adding my daughter. I ended up going to Bear River for about the same price as Geico because I wanted to be able to keep my house, a rental house and my cars all on the same policy. Plus, Bear River has a really good reputation.

[Morris Minor]

I was with one carrier for about 15 years and when my daughter turned 16 they wanted to boost my auto insurance by 40% to add her. I checked Geico and they quoted me less with my daughter added than my previous company was charging before adding my daughter. I ended up going to Bear River for about the same price as Geico because I wanted to be able to keep my house, a rental house and my cars all on the same policy. Plus, Bear River has a really good reputation.

I vaguely remember reading that, contrary to popular belief, young females are higher risk drivers than young males.

This is borne out by my personal experience; good driving is not among my daughter's many virtues, & her insurance rates reflect that. My son drives well.

[ifcar]

I vaguely remember reading that, contrary to popular belief, young females are higher risk drivers than young males.

This is borne out by my personal experience; good driving is not among my daughter's many virtues, & her insurance rates reflect that. My son drives well.

I remember it being that young male drivers are likely to be more skillful but take more risks. Maybe females have caught up if the risks include texting.

[AutobahnSHO]

I remember it being that young male drivers are likely to be more skillful but take more risks. Maybe females have caught up if the risks include texting.

This.   Chicks= more fender benders, d00ds= car upside down in flames.

[RomanChariot]

One study I saw said that guys start out high risk and their risk decreases as they age. Girls pretty much stay at the same risk level as they age. I guess that means that if your son wrecks your car as a teen you have hope that he will get better. If your daughter wrecks your car as a teen you might want to consider getting her a bus pass.

[dazzleman]

One study I saw said that guys start out high risk and their risk decreases as they age. Girls pretty much stay at the same risk level as they age. I guess that means that if your son wrecks your car as a teen you have hope that he will get better. If your daughter wrecks your car as a teen you might want to consider getting her a bus pass.

I read somewhere that 37 is the age at which male drivers become lower risk than female drivers.

[AutobahnSHO]

I read somewhere that 37 is the age at which male drivers become lower risk than female drivers.

sounds about right.   I've mellowed over time, and crazy nuts going 20mph faster than everyone else are starting to get on my nerves

[Cookie Monster]

Speaking of insurance, I just switched my car yesterday. Geico was charging me a lot more for far worse coverage. Jumped ship and went to State Farm, who is already insuring my motorcycle (for dirt cheap as well, I should add).

I'm not a fan of insurance companies, but at least so far, my State Farm agents are doing everything right. Great prices, great service, etc. The agent actually remembered me insuring my bike with them two months later when I wanted a quote for the Miata.

[FlatBlackCaddy]

I have all 3 of my cars insured through grundy. My daily beater truck has a minimum liability policy that costs me about 30 bucks a month.

I think my grand total for all 4 cars is less than 100  bucks a month. The only thing cheaper for me would be no insurance.

[Byteme]

I've been USAA for almost 15yrs, called for a geico quote last summer, it was much more for less coverage.  ...

I've often checked with GEICO and they have never been competitive.  IMO, you should check with Progressive, State Farm, the Hartford, and call an agency that represents multiple insurance providers.



I was with USAA for years, all the cars and two houses.   Suddenly about 7 years ago the rates went up.  I switched to the Hartford under AARP's plan.  they were competitive for a couple of years and then wanted to jack the rates when we moved.

Before we moved from Texas to Arkansas I called and then sent a spreadsheet with our driver, car, house and current coverage (omitting price) information to about every insurance agency in this town.  Only 3 companies bothered to reply with quotes.  The local Brown and Brown agency got our business.  Our carrier is State Auto.

Every year I spend a few hours checking with other insurance providers, verifying our rates are competitive.  Last may USAA, I've been a member for 45 years, offered an auto insurance rate that was within $100 dollars of what we pay annually now.   Trouble was it was only for 6 months, so USAA was about double what we now pay.   

When we bought the F-150 all I wanted was liability.   I got a quote from my agent and then decided to call my neighbor's State Farm agency and get a quote.  Their price was about double what I pay.

[Byteme]

I remember it being that young male drivers are likely to be more skillful but take more risks. Maybe females have caught up if the risks include texting.

When I started driving, back in the mid 60's, most insurance companies charged nothing to very little to add teenage girls to the family policy.  Adding a boy, on the other hand, was expensive.

[AutobahnSHO]

I've often checked with GEICO and they have never been competitive.  IMO, you should check with Progressive, State Farm, the Hartford, and call an agency that represents multiple insurance providers.

I was with USAA for years, all the cars and two houses.   Suddenly about 7 years ago the rates went up.  I switched to the Hartford under AARP's plan.  they were competitive for a couple of years and then wanted to jack the rates when we moved.

Before we moved from Texas to Arkansas I called and then sent a spreadsheet with our driver, car, house and current coverage (omitting price) information to about every insurance agency in this town.  Only 3 companies bothered to reply with quotes.  The local Brown and Brown agency got our business.  Our carrier is State Auto.

Every year I spend a few hours checking with other insurance providers, verifying our rates are competitive.  Last may USAA, I've been a member for 45 years, offered an auto insurance rate that was within $100 dollars of what we pay annually now.   Trouble was it was only for 6 months, so USAA was about double what we now pay.   

When we bought the F-150 all I wanted was liability.   I got a quote from my agent and then decided to call my neighbor's State Farm agency and get a quote.  Their price was about double what I pay.

Kills me how much it can vary like that. And I'm assuming your record hadn't changed much...

[Byteme]

Kills me how much it can vary like that. And I'm assuming your record hadn't changed much...

All the drivers here have a clean record for the past 7 years, one no fault accident 5 years ago.


I had a co-worker who had all his insurance with an agent he knew and had been with for years, I forget the company - State Farm?  His agent always told him he was getting sweetheart rates so my friend just renewed annually and never shopped.  We convinced him to shop around and he wound up saving about $800 a year.  My friend was quite angry at the agent; he felt he had been lied to for years. 

[sparkplug]

All the drivers here have a clean record for the past 7 years, one no fault accident 5 years ago.


I had a co-worker who had all his insurance with an agent he knew and had been with for years, I forget the company - State Farm?  His agent always told him he was getting sweetheart rates so my friend just renewed annually and never shopped.  We convinced him to shop around and he wound up saving about $800 a year.  My friend was quite angry at the agent; he felt he had been lied to for years. 

well, you have to wonder who the agent was referring to as the sweetheart.