i have no idea how insurance works, cause my dad takes care of it, but i am looking at buying a new car. what kind of stuff gives you a lower rate, i heard from a friend that if your car has front airbars, side airbags, abs, traction control, seatbelts?, etc. you get a lower rate, true? oh yeah, are dealerships open on monday(MLK day)?

 

Tell them you have a driveway. That what I'm going to do next go round.

 

1) State Farm has a good student discount, really helps (if you qualify).

2) Multi-car discount (if you have a seocnd car)

3) Renters insurance (if you rent), further discount

4) No tickets!!!

5) You married? Best way to save $$$ (in insurance, but you lose $$$ in everything else )

6) Age above 25?


I know some of the .org members are insurance agents, so hopefully they'll post!

I'm paying $816 for 6 months ($100+ increase for calamity fund, one time ... normally $700+ for 6 months). I've got comprehensive+collison on my 95 Maxima, and liability on my 91 Escort, and renters insurance. Age 22, single male, no tickets or violations.

 

You're not saying to say that the car is garaged when it isn't? The insurance companies are very greedy. They are starting to crank it up with regard to fraud. All it takes is a wiseguy turning you in. This dude just got busted for registering his car out-of-state for the last 18 years. You wonder, why would a 60 year-old white collar person do that. White collar crime is still that.

Anyway, in NEW YORK a very easy way to seriously lower rates is to take a defensive driving course that costs $40-$70, takes 6 hours, and gives a discount for 3 years off of liability and collision. Unfortunately PA, being a conservative state, sides on the side of big-business ie insurance carriers. No shoes, no shirt, no discount, just high rates.

 

ok, i'm 19, turning 20 in may, no tickets and wrecks. i think i might be getting a new or used civic, if its new, it will be an EX with ABS and side airbags. since its a 4 cyl, i figure the insurance should be fairly low, whatcha think?

 

I find that what City you live in makes a huge difference. If you live in a rural area or a small town, it could be several hundred less than guys in a big city.

How much you drive is the next big factor, whether you use the car to commute to work, & how far that distance to work is.

Of course being over 25, married and no tickets helps keep it down too.

Maxima SE's are pretty pricey to insure though, you may be better off putting on your dad's name and be an occassional driver if you're younger than 21.

 

Whether it's a 4 cylinder or not, it won't matter. The value of the car, theft rates (rather high for Civics I think) and many other factors affect insurance.

They can only charge the 'age' premium on ONE car, so make the more expensive car your secondary vehicle.

 

There will be a drive way at the house I'm moving to. I'm not committing fraud.

 

I also believe that having an alarm reduces the rate slightly.

 

I'm an agent, and you guys have pretty much everything right.

I'd say the biggest factor is your age. If you are under 20, whew! don't be surprised. Another big factor is your credit rating. The better it is, the better your rates gonna be. Right now, only a few companies are using credit as a big factor, but in a few years, almost all the companies will.

Researched shows that people with good credits cause FAR less accidents. This is the new wave of the car insurance industry. I really don't think it's fair, but there's nothing we can do. Last week, I had to turn down a client for car insurance becuase the dude's rating was so bad, but his drivng record was ABSOLUTELY clean in 20 years!! The dude's rate came out ridiculously high! I was so ****ed cause first, I didn't get to make any money off of him, and second, it wasn't fair for him.

The statistics are true, but there will always be a few "causalties" in the group.

I believe Allstate and StateFarm is still using the old system. I'm not sure about Nationwide. My company(Metlife), was the first to adapt the new system. So, make sure you guys maintain good credit cause in a few years, when all the other companies make the transition, those with bad credit will be surprised.

 

I have insurance through USAA. When I moved to SC after having my car registered/parked on Marine Corps Base Quantico, my insurance went up $50 a MONTH!!! Grr...

 

Since you are an agent, can you help us to break through the insurance myths?

I had heard that one's first incident doesn't affect insurance rates. Is that true? Many of us have clean records for more than 10 years, yet we wouldn't even consider making a claim for less than a few thousand dollars because we don't want our rates to go up. What about this his fault/her fault thing, does that even matter or is it that every party gets their rates jacked?

Why would my rates have gone up by 30% over the last 4 years since my car has gotten 4 years older and my record is clean? My insurance agent claims it's due to the cost of replacement parts. I don't buy that, because everyone on this board owns a Maxima and would have seen the same thing.

I do believe the credit report argument though. People who have never paid a bill late are meticulous about keeping spotless records. These people would most likely not submit claims unless they were for a large amount. Accidents without claoms (off the books) are good for insurance companies.

Lastly, why aren't insurance companies more careful? They seem to ask people to help them crack down on fraud, yet they don't take preliminary measures themselves. If fraud were destroyed, I think it would cost us all less money. You can't get away with lying on a US Passport application, why do so many get away with lying on insurance applications? Where the car is kept or how many miles one commutes are the two biggest lies imho. More people should get busted for that! Thanks for answering any of my questions, I'm sure they will be helpful for everyone.

 

your allowed one mistake w/in a set # of years.
if you get another one the first & second come into view.
where you live plays a big part. again your credit rating plays a big part. daytime running lights, window etching, and alarms help out your rate also. you can also say your married

 

If you have only one car on the policy, you must be clean in 3 years to get the best rate. Multiple cars, one or two incidents in the last 3 years, depending on the company. Driving record wise, if your license was ever revoked or suspeneded with in the last 5 years, that's bad.

Now, the controversial topic.

Incidents: It doesn't matter if it was your fault or not. If you had a claim within the past couple years, it is bad. Of course, it will not be as bad as if it was your fault everytime, but still, insurance companies want "clean" people.

My advice, don't make a claim on small stuff even though it wasn't your fault. You will pay more over the long run through higher rates.

Each company has their own criterias, some more strict than others. But still, they don't like to see that you've had claims before, even thought it wasnt' your fault. If somebody T-boned you at a stop and you had to get the car replaced, yes, the underwriters will know you had nothing to do with it and the rate won't be affected.
But if you have a "history" of getting T-boned, that is a different story. Bottom line, try to keep the claims to a minimum regardless of fault.

 

The only reasonable reason I could think of as to why your rates would go up is because the insurance company is experiencing higher than average loss in your area, in which case everyone else's rate would go up too. When your rate goes up, the agent should be able to tell you why, and I don't think it's becaue the cost of parts went up. If it is because the company itself raised the rate, then that is something internal and the agent can do nothing about it. Otherwise, the agent can fiddle with so many options to move the rate up and down. Here's an old saying. "Quoting is an art!".

 

What about this situation? I was in an accident this summer, where I called my company (Progressive) but didn't end up filing a claim. Instead I placed a claim with the other drivers company (don't recall the name).

Will my insurance company take note of this? I wasn't at fault and neither I or Progressive payed anything for this accident.

 

Yeah I noticed that before. Everytime I said a certain option or made another choice basicly it was like that will cost you xxx dollars or save you xx dollars. It is crazy how it all works.

SuDZ

 

In that case, it would depend on the insurance company. At Metlife where I work, you are given 2 "not at fault" incidents in the last 3 years. More than that, you are toast. I'm not sure about progressive, but if you didn't file a claim and if it wasn't your fault, then I say it should be okay.

 

You will get ripped off by they big name companies.

 

My experience is the opposite. I used to live in NY and went to a shady insurance sales office that was a "broker." They actually had the nerve to charge a fee of $35. Then I got web insurance for much cheaper and the broker's co. would not let me cancel when I wanted. Then this cheesy broker dude had the nerve to call me to ask me why I wanted to cancel. I'd rather deal with an 800 number 1st, the web 2nd, and an authorized agent 3rd. Those broker/independents charge more imho. They're for people who can't get legitimate insurance me thinks. We get dvd's, pc's, banking/credit info over the web, we certainly can add insurance. I did have a nice agent once who sent me birthday/Christmas cards, and his assistance was drop-dead gorgeous. I kept them for 5 1/2 years and I didn't mind them getting the residuals because they were nice people. But times have changed since 1992.

 

You might consider buying an older car and only getting liability insurance. This will make big difference in your rates.

You then would effectively be self-insuring for theft and collision (when you are at fault). Self-insuring is easier if your car is not worth a lot of money.

 

don't get insurance with some no-name company. the brokers and internet companies have good prices, but in the long run you will be sorry. after a few years w/ them you will want to move up to a better company but you will not be put into the tier you want because you were not with a first rate company.

 

esurance is pretty cheap. save a friend a few hundred $$$.

Problem is, nobody I know has ever filed a claim with them so who knows how painful that process is. Has anyone ever filed a claim with esurance or any other online insueance company?

btw, at least for my insurance company they charge more for how much HP your car has. The more HP, the faster/more agressive you are to drive, therefore more accidents and higher rates. It blows, but then again you aren't going to see a Saturn or Kia tearing up the highway.