Author Topic: Car insurance cost increase?  (Read 3779 times)

ZiziPB

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3417
  • Location: The Other Side
Car insurance cost increase?
« on: August 05, 2016, 07:10:38 AM »
Has anyone else seen any significant increases in their car insurance premiums?  I just got my renewal information for September and my premium is going up around 25%.  I have been with my current company for 4 years, had no claims and my driving record is 100% clean.  My credit is excellent.  I have a question about this out to the insurance agent but wanted to see if this is a general trend in the industry or if anyone knows of anything else going on.

FIREdancer

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 138
Re: Car insurance cost increase?
« Reply #1 on: August 05, 2016, 07:19:19 AM »
I just got my 6 month renewal and my premium went down.

If you personally didn't have any claims or anything that would have increased the premium, my guess is it probably has more to do with how many claims the company had overall, and thus they had to raise rates for everyone.  They will probably give you some very generic not helpful answer if you ask them.

If I were you, I would shop around a little.  New customers often get a better deal than old customers, loyalty is not always rewarded anymore.

Or you could also just check in and make sure you are getting all possible discounts with your current provider.  Perhaps you are no longer getting a discount.  For example, I get a discount for driving very few miles and verifying my miles, if I go over a certain amount, my discount would not be not as much.

Melisande

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 284
Re: Car insurance cost increase?
« Reply #2 on: August 05, 2016, 07:22:48 AM »
I noticed that ours went up significantly for no apparent reason (no new violations, same cars). I called our agent to inquire. She said that certain insurance companies had lobbied our state legislature for the right to raise rates across the board. I decided to shop around for a policy with a different carrier and easily found one that was even cheaper than what we paid last year (for exactly the same coverage).

We probably aren't in the same state, but maybe there is a similar explanation & remedy in your case?


Choices

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 516
    • ChooseBetterLife
Re: Car insurance cost increase?
« Reply #3 on: August 06, 2016, 04:50:54 PM »
Ours went up too, and the explanation was that they had paid out a lot of claims in this state last year (USAA in AZ). We went through all the specifics of the policy and found that I drive fewer miles than they had on record. After the adjustment, the price went back to where it was last year.
Hopefully this will work for you too.

Tjat

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 570
Re: Car insurance cost increase?
« Reply #4 on: August 06, 2016, 09:25:03 PM »
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/27/auto-insurance-rates-rising-at-fastest-rate-in-almost-13-years.html

Auto insurance prices are generally rising pretty significantly as industry costs are increasing at 2.5x historical norms. When you combine people driving more, massively increased healthcare costs, distracted drivers, and expensive repair costs on auto technology...higher insurance prices are inevitable.

Monkey Uncle

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1740
  • Location: West-by-god-Virginia
Re: Car insurance cost increase?
« Reply #5 on: August 07, 2016, 04:47:31 AM »
Sounds like it's time to do a little shopping around.  I've pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I'm going to have to switch (or threaten to switch) insurers every few years.  I suggest you get several quotes and then ask your current insurer if they can match or beat the lowest quote.  If they can't, you need to be prepared to follow through on your threat to walk.

mathjak107

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 558
Re: Car insurance cost increase?
« Reply #6 on: August 07, 2016, 04:55:25 AM »
no increases here . in fact we are dropping in costs since we just got a discount for retiring .

did you have any other claims such as on your home ?   any changes in the area like increases in theft ?

many times population density in your area growing can get your rates increased .

i would check my CLUE  report . perhaps it has mis-information on it .CLUE is the data base used by insurers . it contains every claim that was paid out on home and car no matter who's fault .

like a credit report it can contain errors . you are entitled to one free report a year . run home and auto . there are two separate reports .

just google CLUE report . it is generated by lexisnexis .  .
« Last Edit: August 07, 2016, 05:00:11 AM by mathjak107 »

BlueMR2

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2313
Re: Car insurance cost increase?
« Reply #7 on: August 07, 2016, 08:51:17 AM »
Ours is up again too.  Number of crashes and cost per crash is up significantly in my state (Ohio) for last year.  Still, our insurance in a fraction of what many of my coworkers pay, so I won't get too worked  up about it.  I pay about 10% more for 3 cars and a motorcycle combined than one coworker pays just for his motorcycle...  :-O

Rubic

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1130
Re: Car insurance cost increase?
« Reply #8 on: August 07, 2016, 03:34:12 PM »
At least with GEICO, the problem appears to be higher accident rates due to people who text and drive.  This has reversed a long term trend in declining accidents. :-(

Also, when fuel prices drop, the average traveled miles tends to increase, which in turn increases accidents.

ZiziPB

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3417
  • Location: The Other Side
Re: Car insurance cost increase?
« Reply #9 on: August 08, 2016, 09:27:24 AM »
My agent says the company did an "across the board" increase in CT to reflect their actual experience.  They are now closer in the level of premiums to other companies active in the state, but still slightly lower.  It looks like premium increases are happening everywhere to reflect people driving more, having more accidents due to distracted driving and the high costs of repairs. 

I got a lower quote from Progressive but they only do 6 month policies.  While their initial pricing is lower, they made it clear that it includes some kind of an introductory discount that will go away after 6 months.  They also allow Daughter to be on the policy as a "student away from home" only until she turns 23 (which is in December), after that she needs to be fully rated which will be more expensive as well (she has a clean driving record but as a "student away from home" the rate is cheaper than including her full time).  And their rate for umbrella coverage is slightly higher and the condo insurance is significantly higher.  My current insurance company does 1 year policies, so I know what my pricing will be for the full year.  At most, I will be saving something like $150 by going with Progressive, and I have to go through the hassle of doing all of this again in 6 months.

At this point, I have asked my agent to shop around for me, but it looks like I may be just sticking with what I have...