Help me find a some good car insurance.

[IronWolf]

I've got Geico insurance, and have had it for about 7 years. I've been very happy with them. We also have our homeowners insurance with them, although the actual insurance is through Traveler's Insurance, but in partnership with Geico. I find their customer service to be very easy to deal with, very knowledgeable, and the few times I have had to get payments from them (when I was hit), they were very prompt.

Sweet! I didn't know Geico had a homeowners branch. It may just be time for me to shop around for some insurance!

 

[Old One]

I am not sure how old you are, but rates usually drop significantly after age 30...

A couple of things I always recommend to financial planning clients:

(1) Multi-line discount - Having all your property/casualty (P&C) insurance through the same company can save you 15% plus on the combined coverages.

(2) Deductible - Choose a reasonable deductible. Having a $100 or $250 may seem like a good idea, but it costs an insurance company ~ $450+ just to initiate a claim, so those policy holders with low deductibles pay more in premiums. Consider a minimum of $500 deductible for auto/$1,000 for home...you want the insurance for a catastrophic loss, not nickel and dime stuff.

(3) Shop around - Let your current carrier know that you are shopping your entire P&C and will go with the carrier that offers you the best combined deal. If you have a good claims/driving record, you will be amazed at how quickly they can come up with substantial discounts to keep your business (which begs the question "How come you are just telling me about this discount now?"). Also, a company's rates in a particular geographical area are largely driven by their claims history for that area. It is not uncommon for there to be a 25-50% difference in price for the exact same coverage between different companies in the same geographical area.

(4) Agree with what has been mentioned. USAA, if either you or a parent was in the military. Geico and Progressive are also good choices. If you have an Erie insurance rep in your area, they can also be a good choice. The "big" players - Allstate, Nationwide and State Farm - are often not very competitive pricewise, but it doesn't hurt to check. You can also check with websites such as www.insure.com to get additional quotes.

Good luck!

~ OO

 

[Xath]

I'll throw my hat in for both Geico and State Farm. While I was on my parents' plan, I used state farm for both car and homeowner's insurence. It's more expensive than Geico, but the coverage is better and our agent is very personable. He even sends us birthday cards. Their Renter's Insurance policy is very reasonable as well.

But Geico? Inexpensive (comparitively). And their customer service is very helpful.

I'd also look up Progressive. They supposedly give you their rates and the rates of their competitors. I looked at them before buying my own insurance, but Geico was cheaper, and I'm poor.

Also, Government Employees get an incredibly good discount from GEICO, which I recently found out actually stands for Government Employees Insurance Co. And here I was thinking that they had just misspelled the name gecko.

 

[kenobi65]

Look in your phone book for an independent insurance agent. They can do the "shopping around" for you; typically, they've got several, if not dozens, of insurance suppliers they can choose from, and get you the best deal.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Geico.

But then, I drive like a little old lady.

 

[Varianor Abroad]

What Old One said. All good advice on how to get the lowest price. However, you also need to think about what limits you want.

Everyone gets a $20/40K policy because it's the minimum. Bad move. Accidents nowadays can cost a lot more than that. If you and your wife are professionals with assets, you need higher limits. At a minimum, a combined single limit policy of $100,000 is good. Better yet is $300,000 or $500,000 CSL. An umbrella policy for anyone with dependants and high assets is a really good idea. (Most carriers require minimum $250,000 CSL before they write an umbrella.)

High deductibles are absolutely a good idea. They save you money in the long run. I also recommend that you check the type of HO coverage you're getting. Most properties cost a lot more to rebuild if it's a Total Loss from fire, or a near total loss. Even if your house has a sale price of $90,000 (which includes the land, by the way), it could cost double that to rebuild. Your carrier won't necessarily pay if you don't rebuild either. So make sure that you get Replacement Cost Coverage.

Another item that most people fail to estimate properly, even if your house won't cost a lot to rebuild, is Contents coverage. This is usually Coverage B on your HO policy. How much will it cost to get you a new computer, a new TV, furniture, clothes and (most importantly) new gaming stuff? Have you ever inventoried your property? Go ahead. Put tag sale prices on it all. You'll be shocked how much you own. So make sure to get a decent Contents limit as well.

It's these "premium" coverages that really just allow you to get back to where you were before a loss that drive up the cost. But you know what? It's worth it if it ever happens to you. I know some folks who had a fire in their condo. They had minimal ACV cover for the interior, and only a $10,000 contents limit. Life was very hard for a long time after, and the fire didn't even completely gut the place.

Good luck!