Questions About Shopping For Car Insurance
My car insurance is coming due next month. I’ve been with the Auto Club for a few years now, and they’ve been pretty good to me. However, last week, they sent me a quote for the upcoming year, and it was just over$2,500!
Let me go back for a second. Last year, I was living at home, in a much nicer part of LA, and I had about a 5 minutes commute to work. My premiums were $1,500 for the year. When I moved to my apartment in September, to a much less desirable neighborhood only 30 minutes away, they sent me a bill for $300. (It’s not a bad or dangerous neighborhood, but just not as nice) The $300, by the way, was only for the 4 months or so remaining on my policy. If you break that out to a yearly figure, they charged me $800 for moving 30 miles. I couldn’t believe it.
Anyways, my premiums are now up to $2,500 because, in addition to the move, I’m now also driving more miles per year. So that dangerous combination led to a $1,000 increase. That figure was absolutely absurd, so I called up AAA to see if I could lower my premiums.
They guy I talked to was really nice, and he was actually shocked my premiums were so high. He couldn’t really explain the jump in price, other than the move was actually that expensive. He worked with me over the phone for awhile, and the only way to lower the premuims was to lower the coverage. My coverage was almost maxed out with pretty low deductibles, which is probably much more than I needed (could I realy cause $300,000 worth of damage in one accident???), so I figured it was in my best interest to lower them.
After playing around with the coverage and deductibles for awhile, I found a set of numbers I was comfortable with. The new premiums are going to be just under $1,900. While it is over $600 less than before, I still think it’s a bit high. So, I’m now going to be shopping around for a new auto insurance company.
So, my question now, is what’s the best way to go about it? I’m planning on getting quotes from various company’s websites, but does anybody have any better ideas? Any tips for getting the best price and discounts? Do insurance companies match prices? Any help is much appreciated!
Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 @ 7:08 am by BudgetFreak
Filed Under: Expenses , Insurance , Tips
Post to: 
del.icio.us • 
Digg!
on 29 Mar 2007 at 8:35 pm 1.B Schwartz said …
Check out http://www.comparisonmarket.com they search a few of the top insurers. Also check with a local independent agent and see what options they can get for you. Of course savings isnt everything when you have a claim you want someone to handle it efficiently and properly.
on 02 Apr 2007 at 3:24 pm 2.Melissa said …
Try Mercury. Not sure if you wanted to find a local spot near you or your parentals – but most are just a small place with one or 2 people in charge. So they give you a lot of quality time on the phone, and you deal with them all the time.
When I switched, they ask lots of questions, and also respond well with great answers to my questions. I wanted to know more about the discounts for good driver, which is a combo of age & history of tickets/accidents. They’re all for finding you the best deal. I’m not sure if they match prices, but at least they’re helpful in making sure you’re getting the best possible deal!
on 02 Apr 2007 at 6:34 pm 3.Auto Insurance Quotes » Budget Freak said …
[...] I recovered from the shell shock after getting my renewal bill from the Auto Club, I decided it was time to shop around for new insurance. So this past weekend, I shopped around for [...]