First time buying car insurance

[Sonikku]

I've never had to shop for car insurance in my life and have only been using what my mother had when she transferred ownership of her car to me when she could no longer drive. But the cost per 6 months went up from $600 to nearly a thousand over the past year which is beyond what we can afford and seemingly ridiculous considering the total lack of claims. My searches say to find a neutral agent but google is mostly turning up a bunch of links that look more like advertisements or scams. Where do you start?

 

[sdifox]

Talk to an insurance broker. Aren't you a little old to be asking this question?

 

[BoomerD]

Even though you had insurance through your mother’s coverage, YOU will most likely be considered a “first time” insured…you’re gonna get hit hard for a couple of years. No idea where you live, so different rules apply depending on state or country.

 

[Tech Junky]

I had some luck using clearcover which is based 100% on your phone. however, the insurance market as a whole right now is jacking prices up. My condo policy jumped from $600 something to almost $900 and the auto about the same.

Answer Financial is a good spot to get multiple quotes w/o having to fill out the same info over and over again. however, no quote is complete until you actually have them run your credit report to get your insurance score. Insurance is a racket until you need a claim paid. Then depending on the company it might cancel the policy after it's paid out.

Typically you'll want to get quotes when you get your renewal notice to see if there's a better price with another company if they changed their rates since the last quote. Most companies though give an additional discount on renewals to keep the policy on their books rather than show a churn to the stockholders.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Unfortunately due to inflation being so bad these days insurance rates have increased pretty much across the board. Also price of cars keep going up too, which affects insurance as well.

I'm with a group insurance plan through my company, so I save a bit by doing that but, it's still expensive and has gone up a lot in past few years. I shopped around and never found anything cheaper. Paying about $150/mo for house and truck.

Could maybe see if something like that is available to you. But if this is your first time having insurance you might have to bite the bullet and just pay it and gain "experience" and maybe you can then try to negotiate a better rate in a couple years from now.

 

[deadlyapp]

Progressive will still do quotes for several agencies I think. I'm back with progressive again as they have the best rate for me

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

It's all about where you drive, how far you drive, what you drive and how long you've been driving.

Rates will vary wildly between companies.

I hate Flo and her incessant ads everywhere, but she's giving me the best rates I can find right now.

 

[soulcougher73]

If you are a Costco member, check CONNECT (powered thru American Family Insurance). We just switched our home and auto to them. Saved a ton. Mostly on the house, but also a decent amount on the 3 cars as well.

 

[BurnItDwn]

At least get some quotes from Progressive, Geico, State Farm, and a few others.
If you are over 25 and have a good clean driving record, you will hopefully find something affordable from a reputable insurer.

 

[nakedfrog]

Annoyingly, this is pretty much something you have to talk to people on the phone for.

 

[Brainonska511]

Even though you had insurance through your mother’s coverage, YOU will most likely be considered a “first time” insured…you’re gonna get hit hard for a couple of years. No idea where you live, so different rules apply depending on state or country.

That's almost certainly not true. They only care that you were on some policy continuously for a few years, not that you had your own policy continuously for a few years.

 

[WelshBloke]

Annoyingly, this is pretty much something you have to talk to people on the phone for.

Are price comparison websites for car insurance not a thing in the US?

this sort of thing?

 

[nakedfrog]

Are price comparison websites for car insurance not a thing in the US?

this sort of thing?

Last I checked you could maybe get an estimate that way, and then a follow-up phone call from an agent. Been a while since I bothered since it's not likely anyone can beat my current rate through USAA.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

^^^ USAA was so high they weren't even worth a second look.

 

[WelshBloke]

Last I checked you could maybe get an estimate that way, and then a follow-up phone call from an agent. Been a while since I bothered since it's not likely anyone can beat my current rate through USAA.

Over here you just stick your details into one of those sites and they go through all the insurance providers then gives you a list that you can order by cost (or anything else). Then when you click on one it takes you to that companies website and you fill a few more details in and you're insured.
It's pretty handy even if you don't want to change providers but do want to argue the cost down.

 

[manly]

Recently shopped my insurance...wow.

I currently use nationwide for home / auto. My costs are $1600 and ~$3500 / year respectively. I started to first shop for collector car insurance for my viper. Which would have reduced my yearly cost on that car to ~$820 from ~$1550. I then decided to shop my entire policies and I wound up...

forums.anandtech.com

Over here you just stick your details into one of those sites and they go through all the insurance providers then gives you a list that you can order by cost (or anything else). Then when you click on one it takes you to that companies website and you fill a few more details in and you're insured.
It's pretty handy even if you don't want to change providers but do want to argue the cost down.

You can get some quotes online, but generally not as conveniently as you've described it. The insurance carriers most likely prefer it that way.

 

[BoomerD]

That's almost certainly not true. They only care that you were on some policy continuously for a few years, not that you had your own policy continuously for a few years.

If the policy isn’t in your name…you weren’t insured. You may have been covered under a policy in someone else’s name…but that’s not the same.

 

[sdifox]

If the policy isn’t in your name…you weren’t insured. You may have been covered under a policy in someone else’s name…but that’s not the same.

I don't know what op meant, but if his name was on the policy as occasional driver he was insured and it would count.

 

[repoman0]

Annoyingly, this is pretty much something you have to talk to people on the phone for.

I’ve managed to make it happen with my agent using the chat feature on their website and a couple emails. But yeah smaller insurance companies through my agency have been more competitive than the usual big names. I use Hanover now for home and auto, and they’re also cool because they underwrite policies for race track days which is rare.

 

[BoomerD]

I don't know what op meant, but if his name was on the policy as occasional driver he was insured and it would count.

Maybe…might depend on the insurance company.

 

[sdifox]

Maybe…might depend on the insurance company.

I have worked in auto and property insurace for a decade, as long as you are named on the policy, even as occasional, it counts. Obvioulsy different insurance companies have different actuarial tables.

 

[Brainonska511]

If the policy isn’t in your name…you weren’t insured. You may have been covered under a policy in someone else’s name…but that’s not the same.

I saw this both with State Farm and AllState when I first picked up my own auto policy years ago: if you were on were a named driver on a policy, even if it wasn't in your name, you were considered as "having insurance" for the purposes of the shopping for your own policy.

In fact, it's a nice loophole if you have a younger adult in your family you want to help out when they are looking to potentially get a car and their own policy: you can put them on a policy as an occasional driver for <6 months to avoid them having to pay the "no previous insurance" fee.

 

[pete6032]

Are price comparison websites for car insurance not a thing in the US?

this sort of thing?

They are. Insurance prices vary significantly by state since different states require different levels of coverage.

 

[WilliamM2]

Are price comparison websites for car insurance not a thing in the US?

this sort of thing?

Yes they are. But I have always got far better rates by calling my local insurance agent, that handles many companies. Including those that do not do online quotes.
One of the best things is that the company they have me with lets you renew auto rates for the whole year, not this 6 month crap with the opportunity to raise rates twice a year.
I have used their services for car and auto since I bought my home, over 30 years ago.

Progressive will give you a great rate with a new customer discount, but the rate will usually double when you renew. I used them for motorcycle insurance, as my auto insurer didn't cover motorcycles. But I got sick of their games.

 

[sdifox]

I saw this both with State Farm and AllState when I first picked up my own auto policy years ago: if you were on were a named driver on a policy, even if it wasn't in your name, you were considered as "having insurance" for the purposes of the shopping for your own policy.

In fact, it's a nice loophole if you have a younger adult in your family you want to help out when they are looking to potentially get a car and their own policy: you can put them on a policy as an occasional driver for <6 months to avoid them having to pay the "no previous insurance" fee.

It's not a loophole. You are paying for the coverage of the occasional driver.