Help me lower my car insurance!!!

June 6, 2006 11:10 AM

CarInsuranceFilter: I'm getting shafted by my current (well, ex- now) provider, help me find a solution!!!

I'm a 22 (23 in ~2 weeks) year old male, no accidents or violations, drive a 2004 red civic (lowest model possible, but still have all the safety options) and live in wallingford, pa... i was paying $290/month with GMAC but since i very rarely go to the billing address anymore, i didn't get the last bill and forgot to pay them. I just called and they now want $360/month which i refuse to pay. when i was shopping around for insurance back when i first got my car, they were the cheapest by far... geico, progressive, etc were all $350-450 so i can only imagine what they'll be now.

i was hoping you guys had some suggestions for lowering that rate or maybe a list of other companies that aren't so rediculously expensive...

posted by hummercash to travel & transportation (15 comments total)

So you don't have insurance now? I believe that counts as a major ding in determining rates. You might want to make nice with your current guys and then go shopping.

I have State Farm and they offer a 10% discount if I take a defensive driving course [which I don't do since I have used defensive driving to get out of speeding tickets]. You can also get a discount if you get renter's insurance with them.

Another way to save a few bucks is to raise your deductible from the standard $500. You may kick yourself if you get in an accident and find meeting a $1K deductible impossible to pay.

As a male in your early 20s, there's not a lot you can do. I think my insurance declined by almost half when I turned 25 or 26 (whenever the cutoff). It goes without saying you should avoid tickets.
posted by birdherder at 11:26 AM on June 6, 2006

You are a bad credit risk, and you just proved it to them. Who says anyone's shafting anyone? Male, under 26, driving a red car, misses a payment...of course they're going to raise your rate. They didn't even raise it much above the previous lowest-bid you'd gotten. Basically, they gave you a chance and you blew it.

I think your best move is to pay, not get in any accidents or make any claims for the next year, and then ask for your rate to come back down to where it was, or else you'll jump ship.
posted by evariste at 11:28 AM on June 6, 2006

Yeah, they are not shafting you at all. You need to look to yourself here and change some behavior. Given your situation I don't think you will find any lower rates. And how are you driving around now with no insurance? Isn't that illegal? And, uh, unethical?
posted by xmutex at 11:30 AM on June 6, 2006

If you are carrying anything but liability park your civic and buy something you can afford to carry just liability on.
posted by Mitheral at 11:54 AM on June 6, 2006

$70 x 12 months = $840. Subtract that from the $290 that you inadvertently didn't pay, and you have a $550 higher insurance cost this year than you expected to. Consider it a very expensive lesson not to miss any payment of any kind that you've committed to making, ever again. Your word should be bond. Your credit isn't exactly going to look stellar in a few years when you're ready to buy a house if you just casually "miss payment" on things because you rarely "go to the billing address". These are things you're supposed to take care of as a grown-up; no one is going to do it for you.
posted by evariste at 11:56 AM on June 6, 2006

driving a red car,

I used to work in insurance, car color had nothing to do with your rates.

Age, vehicle type, driving record, job, credit record, gender, etc, do. A 22 year old single male, who missed a payment? Yes, you're going to pay more.
posted by SuzySmith at 12:07 PM on June 6, 2006

SuzySmith-so the color of the car thing is a total myth?
posted by evariste at 12:13 PM on June 6, 2006

evariste: My current car insurance people didn't ask what color the car was until after they gave me my quote, I'd say it's a myth

Go to an actual insurance consultant type company... I ended up saving almost $200 a year by getting Renter's insurance and car insurance from the same company, and another $200 because the company allowed my live-in girlfriend and I to get the marriage rate (it's one of the wonderful companies that give discounts to couples that live together, the discount is aimed at gay couples, but it applies to all)...

But yes, as said before, you'll be in big heap trouble for not having insurance, especially if it's been longer than 30 days.
posted by hatsix at 1:10 PM on June 6, 2006

I'd find an agent who represents multiple insurance types and companies -- my agent is also my parents' but they use a different insurance provider due to their homeowner's insurance and type of coverage.

SuzySmith might have left out another key thing, though: location. If you don't live with your parents, find out what it would cost to insure your car if you lived at their address. If it's already at their address, try your current one. The insurance company will probably be pissed off if they find out, but you could claim you had moved temporarily and forgot to update the policy. The rate does change based on urban/suburban/rural conditions and locale.
posted by mikeh at 1:43 PM on June 6, 2006

Red cars may not be a higher insurance risk but they are as sure as hell more likely to get speeding tickets and be in accidents.
posted by TheRaven at 3:38 PM on June 6, 2006

While it's true that your rates do change with the area that you live in (or really, where you drive/park your car most of the time - your "garaged location"), it's a really bad idea to try and scam the insurance company by giving them an address where you're not actually driving your car. Insurance companies have to rate for the risk presented, and when people rate jump and then file a claim, the compounded effect is that rates are eventually raised for everyone. In fact, if your insurance company finds out that you're not living where you say you are (and it's easy for them to find out - the post office sends bulk notification to many insurance companies on a regular basis), they will adjust your policy without warning, and you can expect to have a (possibly hefty) payment due immediately to make up for it, and increased rates to follow.

Additionally, your insurance company can drop you if they find out you're doing this, which also looks really bad on any future insurance applications. When you live in a city (or if your current policy is rated as such) where the probability of an accident is high, you're going to pay higher rates for auto insurance than someone who lives in the 'burbs. It's one of those things that people don't really factor in when choosing a place to live, but there it is.

You're male, under age 25 - you haven't mentioned your driving record, but that can be a huge factor, as can marital status (married people tend to pay less). With your current premium (as indicated by your payments), it sounds like you're probably pretty low in company placement (preferred policyholders get better rates), which is also impacted by your payment habits, education level, and current job. Unless you end up going with a really cut rate insurance company that would likely end up welshing on a claim, you'll probably just have to suck it up and make your payments. Change to online billing if you can to avoid anymore accidents.

Also, if you're making car payments, you're going to have to carry Comprehensive and Collision coverage with a maximum deductible of $500 (unless your finance company is ok with higher deductibles/not carrying physical damage coverage). Your lien holder wants to protect their investment, too.

And it's true, the color of your car has nothing to do with your rates.
posted by mewithoutyou at 5:15 PM on June 6, 2006

Are you in the military? Is anyone in your family in the military? If yes, you absolutely must use USAA for all your insurance/financial needs. Absolutely, hands-down, the best thing going.
posted by frogan at 7:05 PM on June 6, 2006

Check out Progressive Drive insurance (if it's available around you).

I am a 25yo male in NJ (gasp!) with a very bad driving record. No accidents, but I did have 15pts (I know...I'm not as bad as it sounds). Anyway, I was paying well over $3000/year for only liability insurance. This was with Liberty Mutual.

When it was time to renew this year I was quoted for $2800/year. When I went to make my inital payment the lady was unusually happy to see me. She said she had quoted me with the newly available Progressive Drive insurance and it was a good deal. A really good deal. $1200/year to be exact. This is with me still have 9-12pts on my license. All the women at the office were literally shocked at my quote. They gathered round and ooh-ed and ahh-ed. It was nice.

So yeah, maybe check out Progressive Drive and see if they can hook you up too. The lapse in insurance could affect you like others have said, but who knows.

Good luck!
posted by jahmoon at 1:42 AM on June 7, 2006

Oops. I see you mentioned Progressive in your post. I'd check it out anyway, because my deal is seriously unbelieveable. All of my friends were quite angry that "somebody as bad as me is paying less than them!".
posted by jahmoon at 1:47 AM on June 7, 2006

Find an independant agent. Call around those in your area since they likely can offer different rates. Ask them if driving more/less affects the rate, or better, ask them what you can do to lower the rate.
posted by kc0dxh at 7:24 AM on June 7, 2006