Alright this might not be directly maxima related but it is as everyone here should have insurance. I just need to blow off some steam cause I got off the fone with my insurance agent today. As most of you know I wrecked my Corvette. And I was debating whether or not to claim it. But now they tell me that it is indeed true. Any combination of 3 accidents and/or moving violations in the past 3 years results in cancellation. Wtf is this? Baseball?

So this brings me to my personal situation. I have 1 ticket for burning out in the Maxima in May of 2001. Later that year I wrecked the motorcycle which was a single vehicle accident. 2002 was clean somehow. But this means I will have to go ALL of 2003 through most of 2004 WITHOUT getting ONE MORE ticket or crashing! Yikes! And I got 2 high risk vehicles to do that with. And 1 of those vehicles only has 2 wheels so its even more prone to crashing.

What really sux is that they will cover you hitting a deer as no fault/comprehensive, but sliding on ice or something like that they consider your negligence. What a load of crap.
What really really sux is that my violations are SOOO MINOR compared to some other people I've heard of. My burnout ticket is ONE point. It is treated the same as if somebody was going 130 in a 25. In addition, my motorcycle accident which was a ONE vehicle accident, NO injuries, NO other property damage, NO lawsuit, NO ticket is considered the same as if somebody caused a multi car pileup. Same thing with my most recent crash. Single vehicle, no injuries, no prop damage, no lawsuits, no tickets.

Oh yeah the company in question is State Farm. I'm sure many people here have them as they're the #1 largest company. I'm considering going car insurance shopping but I doubt they will be able to beat State Farm's rates. They are ridiculously low for a person my age (maybe this is why), and I get multi-line discount cause my parents have house and their cars on the policy. If anybody knows where I can find cheap insurance for a 98 Corvette AND a 2001 Honda CBR600F4i sport bike for a 21 year old let me know, particularly Maryland members. Right now the Honda runs $550 or so per year, full coverage, $50 deduct comprehensive, $250 deduct collision. The Corvette runs $1600/year, good grades discount, full coverage, $0 deduct comprehensive, $500 deduct collision.

 

If you're 21 and your insurance is $1600/yr on a 98 Vette with your driving record, nothing short of the hand of God is going to get a better rate. Do they raise your parents' rates based on all this? It sounds like you're on the same policy. Why do you have liability on a motorcycle? The only person you're going to hurt is yourself...

 

Eric. Why do you think State Farm has low rates? You complain that they should cover you(ie.. spend a wad of $ on you) but then you go with them because they have low rates. You can't have it all Eric. State Farm is one of the companies(I believe) that prefers to handle low risk policy holders. Thus charges low rates. Even though you might have had "minor" incidents, your young age + the motorcycle/Vette + the type of tickets = HIGH RISK. To them (and to me also), you're a major accident waiting to happen. That means State Farm thinks you're [ ] close to costing them a wad of cash. Believe it or not, insurance companies are a for profit business or more accurately an investment firm. You are a high risk, low profit investment. Thus they will dump you like you had "ENRON" stamped on your forehead.

Higher risk companies will insure you of course, but for that extra risk, comes extra compensation for them.

 

man thats cheap, i pay 1200 for liabilty but i have a 2 point misdomener (street racing) and im only 19. if your looking for a good insurance company check out 21st century i have the best expereinces with them.

 

I see what you're saying, but where I got beeef is the fact that they treat my 1 point burnout ticket ($50 fine) the same as if somebody was goin 130 in a 20 (5 points- $520 fine). I also dont like how one crash is treated all the same. I feel they should do it in a case by case basis. Like if you receive X amount of points, or if you cause more then X amount of total damage in dollars over a certain period of time.

 

I see what you mean. BUT, the insurance companies make more $ this way. And the way you suggest makes for more time and resources to look after individual accounts. You know they ain't gonna do that.

Here's the deal Eric. I'm pretty sure you will be involved in another "incident" before long. So if I were you, I would somehow resolve this Vette thing and start looking for another insurance company. Be prepared to pay though the nose or not be able to be insured at all. Young kids + Vette = not being able to be insured in many cases.

I think we have all commented on this BEFORE you got the vette?

 

First of all, I didn't know about the vette. Sorry to hear that you wrecked it. That is an awesome car that most men will never get to own in their lifetimes.

Anyway, there are 13 states that are no-fault:
Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Utah

Basically it means that your insurance company PAYS YOU regardless of fault. The idea is you don't go to court to try to prove it was only 16% your fault and 84% the other party's fault, and pay out according to that ratio. It does not mean that you hit a deer and your rates will not go up. Hit a deer, experience a theft, get a speeding ticket, you will most likely get your insurance cancelled.

Insurance is just one of those things--with respect to auto, policy holders just plain lose. Keep a clean driving record for 6 years, never make a claim, and your rates go up. Why? Because of what's going on--other people are inflating claims, fraudulent addresses on reggies, etc. We all lose. Homeowners? How you gonna claim your house is somewhere it's not?

The risk is very predictable, ie $600 buys you coverage for 500,000 worth of coverage to rebuild your house (usually that number equals what you owe the bank not what you paid total). It's not just State Farm, how about Allstate deciding not to even offer insurance at all in MA because they don't like the state rates which are the same no matter which co? Good Hands my a**

And the example I always use, why do you think Hertz does not carry insurance on their fleet? You think they're dumb? Of course not, it's because they know the odds and spread the risk over a large number of vehicles.

 

You should also be aware that nearly all of the major insurance
agencies share information amongst themselves. They really do keep a
massive database with claims history and I forget the acronym/name they gave it but it may prevent you from getting on with many large companies for anything short of their highest-premium tier.

Nearly all companies have the same policy on dropping you. They are
getting particularly harsh on homeowners policies. Anyhow, their risk assessment of you will likely include some of your past claims history with a prior insurer as well as what their evaluation of the information you provide.

The Wall Street Journal had a cool article on this very topic just a
few weeks ago.

 

That's not good for Eric!

 

You could have said your dad drove the C5 into a curb. There was no other party involved to discredit your story. It's too late now since you already talked to your insurance agent.

 

I wish it was this way. But the other party to discredit me was the police. They were about 30 seconds behind me when I wrecked. Not to mention my parents are lenient but I dont think they'd be willing to go that far out on a limb to help me.

 

damn, that really sucks. I got my car in June of last year and had made two claims by October. My insurance stayed at about $145/month through December. Then I got my bill for January and it dropped to $84/month. Why, I have no clue at all. and I've received two ticket in the past couple of months. One for 61 in a 45 and the other for dailure to obey a traffic light. And my insurance rates are still the same. I'm going to take a driving class soon and turn the certificate in to my insurance company and see if I can get it any lower. I have Nationwide by the way. I'd say give them a try. Not sure how low of a rate they give you, a 21 yr old male, on a '98 Vette tho. Sounds like you have really bad luck with vehicles. Maybe you should sell the Max and the 'Vette and buy a Mopad? lol well, i hope everything goes well for you man.

 

how you can get full coverage on a 98 vette (or even afford the vette) for $1600 a year is beyond me, especially with your driving record.

jeff is right. the company considers you a high risk driver because of the type of tickets you have. my advice to you would be to resolve this issue and find another company before this accident is pushed onto your record. it took almost 6 weeks after i wrecked my max for it to be put on my record as a no fault.

 

How are some of you guys getting such low rates with so many violations and being so young. I'm 23 and I pay about $150 month. The only moving violation I've had since before getting the car was a running a red light (really yellow and I gunned, can't argue with a cop), but that got dropped to a non-point offense. I have since gotten a speeding ticket in NJ, but State Farm has said that they don't increase rates for first offense or soemthing like that. In any case, how is it that I'm getting ripped a new one and you guys aren't? Are you on your parent's policy still? If so I guess that explains it since I moved after getting a job. Its still BS though.

As for the Vette, well it sucks that that happened. However, I don't see how you can really complain. You openly admitted to being at fault, you knew State Farm's policy of 3 strikes, and you knew you had 2 already against you. No offense, but I can't really feel that badly for you since you put yourself in this situation. Also, I see no reason why the insurance company should cut you break. How much do you think the Vette is going to cost to repair? All of that is coming from other motorists who most likely drive along without incident. Why should they pay for your mistakes? I don't exactly want my insurance going up. You've got to think about this from everyone else's perspective. Higher risk drivers should pay more. I wish you luck with the whole ordeal, but this is going to be an expensive lesson.

 

Why does everybody think my record is SOOOO bad? In TWO years time, I've had ONE MINOR ticket (not even speeding at that-yet-), one SINGLE vehicle crash reported. This accident/mishap wont be pushed to my record since I'm fixing it outta pocket. I've NEVER totaled a car (yet) and the Maxima did not have one collision claim at all. Infact my car before that didnt have a collision claim either. And that was FIVE years of driving. I bet 3/4 of the people in here have records worse then me. If the company considered me a high risk driver, they'd be charging $3000 per year liability only, not $1600 per year full coverage. My point is they dont take into consideration what kind of violation it was, minor or major. I should deserve more leniency.

 

I realize you're trying to be my "reality check" here but whats BS is if you slide on ice (which would have been very possible that night), and you hit something, it is your fault. HOWEVER, if you hit a farm animal that is in the middle of the road, it is NOT your fault and it does not go against you. BUT if you SWERVE to avoid the deer/cow/alligator and you hit something, then once again it is your fault. Get my jist? I was hoping that they would cut me a break for no fault for sliding on ice/oil/slick stuff. Also, the police were there and issued NO ticket so that also says something about what happened that night.

The Corvette will probably cost a few thousand dollars to repair, HOWEVER it was just MY car, not my car plus somebody else's. Or worse, if I had hit somebody, they needed to go to the hospital, I caused property damage AND got sued.

Also you should not be offended that you think I'm the reason your rates should go up. If theres anybody to be mad about, be mad at the people who key up their own cars to claim comprehensive in order to get entire new paint jobs.

 

You have to take into account how many policy holders they have, and how many claims they recieve per day. You deserve leniency? Sorry, but your reaching a bit there... They recieve numerous claims, day in, day out, and have to make decisions about them, and the driver. They have a set of rules that apply to everyone, not just one individual, and unfortunately for you, you fall into that catagory. If they cut you leniency, then the next person will expect the same, and the next person, and the next person... where does it end? Pretty soon they won't be able to cancel anyone! Also, it's not that you ONLY have two violations (this one making it 3), it's also the fact that all this happened in a short amount of time (less than 3 years) and you are in the high risk driver bracket (single male, under 25), I still can't believe you get insurance that cheap on a Vette! I was quoted at $2k a year for the Max, and I have a PERFECT driving record! Did you know if you get in too many non-fault accidents, you can also be cancled? It's a high risk to them, and your costing all of their other clients money. I'm sorry for your situation, but nobody on here is going to be able to help you, sorry for your loss, better just be REAL careful for the next two years....

 

Eric-

Isn't the main reason why your insurance is so low is because you're still under your parent's policy (not the primary driver)?

I have State Farm and I've never had problems with them. My wife got her 94 Altima totaled by a drunk in 1999 then and then had her front and rear windows on her 97 Altima blown out by vandels in 2000. State Farm had us a check for the totaled Altima in 3 days and had the windows replaced 8 hours later. They never warned us about "3 strikes and you're out" policy. We both have perfect driving records though.

Dave

 

I am under the parent's policy but it is not the main reason its so low. The good grades discount saved about 20% off which is significant. I heard if you/I get a 4.0 it goes to 40%, but thats not gonna happen. However the car is listed as primary driver for me, and . I've asked about this before. The only thing I'd be skipping out on is the multi-line discount if I went on my own policy. And that really doesnt save THAT much. The motorcycle, is COMPLETELY in my name and that receives no more discounts (be it multiline, or good grades).

As for your claims. Vandalism is comprehensive, doesnt go directly against you . If you are hit by a drunk that goes under your un/underinsured motorist, also doesnt go directly against you.

Yeah I guess I am a high risk driver, my dad was telling me how he and my mom have been driving for 15+ years without incident. So 3 years really isnt that long in the grand scope of things.

Maybe one of the reasons the Corvette is not too expensive is cause not many kids have them. Put it this way, the Nissan Maxima is $1500/year with me driving it. Seems silly doesnt it?

 

This is what its really about... Most of us this learn this the hard way.. don't blame the insurance company for your mistakes.

Either way, this is going to cost you.

 

900$ a year for my max. i am 19... not a single violation on record. neither ever been pulled off on a charge.

erm good grades saved you on insurance? i really need to look into that.

 

That won't work here in Maryland though, Jeff. Being uninsured means you have to give up your registration.

 

Am I missing something still? In your other thread you said you had TC off and that we all should know what that meant by the videos you had made previously. Basically you are admitting to fooling around with your car and you got caught out and subsequently burned. The fact that the cops didn't issue you a ticket doesn't really mean anything other than they didn't have enough evidence to contradict your story, it doesn't mean your story is true though. Why should the insurance company be lenient with you? Everything I see here points to bad judgement. I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything since I know you've got to feel pretty bad about this already, but 3 accidents/violations in 3 years is a lot, believe it or not. Also, insurance is a for profit business, not a non-profit lets-help-people-out-who-get-into-multiple-accidents-where-we-spend-more-on-their-claims-than-they-bring-in-thus-being-an-expense-to-us business.

As for talk of good grades, well, I had that discount when I was in school and NJ was my home, and it was only worth 10%. I'm not in school anymore so a good student discount won't do anything for me. When you are your own, under 25, male, you are going to get ripped a new one by the insurance company unless you live in the middle of nowhere, which I, unfortunatley don't. I'm pretty sure I would give my left arm for $1600/year while being considered a risk.

 

Ok first of all, you're an idiot for having $0 comprehensive deductables, those usually cost a lot, mine is $1,000.

Second, an accident is an accident. If you act unresponsibly and get a ticket then they raise your rate because they feel your a greater risk due to your negligence. Second, I don't care if you crash into 100 people or just crash into a curb. The insurance company doesn't care, they give your points based on how many times they had to pay out due to your fault. If you tell your insurance company that you just got in a wreck, they won't file a point or raise your rate UNLESS they pay for it.

Finally, yeah we all know you just slipped on some ice and that's why you crashed. Well most accidents are caused from incliment weather and poor driving conditions. When it's foggy and you rear end someone you can't say, "I couldn't see them it was too foggy." It's still your responsibility to drive safely no matter the conditions.

You act like it's the end of the world, I know that if I really had to I could drive day in and day out without getting tickets, it's not impossible to drive legally. They're not pulling your license just giving you your last shot so don't blow it.

Finally, you won't beat state farm's rates, I also have state farm and priced a C5 when I almost bought one and it was dirt cheap, only liek $20 / month then the Maxima and that was mainly because it was a newer higher valued car. Most insurance companies won't touch someone under 25 with a vette. You make it out like State Farm is the enemy. They're following protocol perfectly, it's you that are creating the problems, either get new cars, change your driving habits, or start using your brains (ticket for burning out, I mean c'mon if it was my choice I would've dropped you after that, that just shows total iresponsiblity).

 

Forgot to mention that all of us have insurance, but this is no where near ON TOPIC. All of us have legs, should I go post something about whether people have hairy legs or not?

 

The fact that your premiums were so low in the first place baffles me. I work for State Farm. We rely on statisitcs and equations factoring in everything from your age, race, driving record, living area, grades and even credit history to determine your rates. The bottom line is, statisitcs and equations are all we have...and unfortunately, you are a statistic. We sell promises. If you drive a certain car at a certain age, our promise to you is going to cost you more because, as you have proved, it costs us.

 

Uhh oh he said race, that's why they're screwing you Eric.

 

Traction control on/off who cares? How many cars do you know that dont even have traction control. Ontop of that they dont give
additional discounts for having traction control or anything like that.

Let me ask you this- if you get a ticket for going 90 in a 55, what are you going to do? Pay it out of pocket with a huge fine and get the points while your insurance also goes up, or go to court and ask the judge for mercy? Don't say "that doesnt apply cause I'll never do something that stupid", I dont care who you are everybody has done dumb things, we're human not Gods. The state/court system can technically be called a for-profit business. They tax the F outta you, get $ from you anyway they can by installing redlight cameras. Yet we still go to court, ask the judge for mercy. So why can't the same thing happen with insurance????????

As for good grades discount, if you graduate with a cumulative grade of 3.0 before you are 25, then it follows you (at least with State Farm). Then 25 is the next age group tier.

 

Geeze what the hell is this? Bash on me day? I posted this on the C5 forum too and I didnt encounter near as much resistance.

First before you go around calling me an IDIOT for having a $0 deduct comprehensive, I've thought about this before. It doesnt cost that much more over $500 deduct comprehensive and the piece of mind I get is worth it knowing if my car is vandalized I dont have to pay a cent out of my pocket so keep your comments to yourself.

Second answer me this, if you swerve to avoid a deer which is a human reaction and you hit something (and arguably trying to avoid a collision), it is YOUR FAULT and goes against you. But If you keep on driving like you were asleep and hit the deer, then it is NOT your fault even though we are responsible for controlling what our car goes into. Is that fair?

Third regarding the hairy legs post, that was completely uncalled for. Did I press a wrong button cause you seem to have alot of beef with me??

 

My cat's breath smells like Kev's turbo.

 

Yes, statistically, Asian people are bad drivers. Especially those little Asian ladies in their big SUV's!

j/k

oh, and yes, I am Asian.

 

No don't take things personally, the off topic thing was just in regards to all my struggles to prevent things that are on topic from being locked, that wasn't directed towards you.

It costs me like $20 more per month to go from $1000 deduct to $500 on comprehensive, so I don't know what deal you're getting at $0.

Also about your dear thing, the only reason it's like that is because people aren't honest and if people would get away with it everyone wold blame accidents on swerving from deer. Since you seem to love this analogy and are so concerned about losing control then this is the answer:

If you see a deer in the road and can avoid him in a safe manner then do so, but if you risk losing control of your car and causing an accident then just hit the deer.

 

 

whoa you obviously haven't had experience hitting a deer have you? those animals can really **** you up. You are MUCH better off trying to swerve and either way if you can't see the deer on the road in time you can either A) hit the deer and risk injuring urself... by alot, B) u swerve outta the way safely and continue driving, or C) swerve, lose control and hit something. Basically, when you're out on the road, u aren't gonna think about ure insurance in that last 3 seconds and to just decide to go ahead and hit the deer is a suicidal idea IMO.

This is a good thread... i didn't know of the State Farm 3 strike policy... time to drive even more conservatively!

 

No kidding....................

If you dont like your high insurance rates or are afraid your wreckless driving will cause the carrier to drop you, dont drive any more.

Who pays your insurance?

 

Probably the most pertinent question asked during this entire thread.

 

Let's see, goijng 60 mph see a deer. Swerve out of the way spin off the road fall into a ditch, hit a tree, fall off a cliff, or slam on brakes and hit dear at 30 MPH. Something tells me both you and your car will fare better if you just slam the crap out of the deer. Unless the deer magically got airborne and a hoof went flying through the safety glass windshield and struck you in the face, other then that you'd be more likely to survive a collission with a deer then the unknown.

 

Glad someone else thinks so.

 

It's also a good reason to ban you, as these shots are known about and discussed on way too frequent of a basis on private forums here. It's a colossal waste of everyone's time.

Getting over your bitterness and simply posting your opinion on the actual topic rather than the bitterness diatribe will garner more respect for you.

 

I don't think anyone hear is trying to bash on you, I'm not at least. I'm just trying to get you to understand how insurance works and why their treatment of you is more than fair. I'm not saying don't try to work something out with them, but just know why they will probabaly respond the way they do. As another poster mentioned, the deer analogy is handled by the insuarnce co. in that manner b/c of fraud. Trust me when I can say I also get aggrevated by all of the taxes, etc. Insurance is just one of those things you have to have and I know its sucks to pay for it. Without insurance, driving would be chaos, since in this day and age you can't expect many people to take responsibility for their actions. When it comes to money, anything goes, just look at corporate America. Nobody ever said life was fair, in fact my parents told me it wasn't, repeatedly.

As for cars without TC, well, my Maxima (to at least make this thread partially Maxima related) doesn't have TC, nor could I have purchased it. Also, insurance co. shouldn't have to give a discount for TC since the benefit of TC is the discount you recieve from not having to file a claim and recieve a higher rate, b/c it kept you out of an accident. Also, unless it was an always on, how could they prove you had it off, fraud again becomes a concern.

Like I said before, good luck with the car, I hope everything works out for you.