AAA auto insurance is getting crazy expensive. Suggest alternatives please.

[jamesbond007]

I have been a AAA norcal customer for over 10 years and the rates have gone up significantly. I have my HO, DWs term life through them so I never bothered to pay attention to the price of my auto insurance. But it is getting out of hand. Here is what they plan to charge me for the next renewal that starts in about a month:



Edit: This is for San Francisco bay are. East Bay to be specific.
Car: 2014 Mazda CX-5 Touring AWD - The car has been paid off. Annual miles are about 10,000 miles maximum.
Current coverage for 2 drivers is as follows (DW and me) - No tickets, no accidents. Just two claims in 10 years recently where DW barely grazed a BMW and she gave the insurance detail for the paint job. Nothing major. Also one windshield change due to a crack 1 year ago.


Bodily injury: 100K (Each person), 300K (Each occurrence) - No deductible. $179 premium
Medical payments: No coverage
Uninsured Motorists: 100K (each person), 300K (each occurrence) - No deductible, $74 premium
Property damage: 100K (each occurrence) - No deductible, $306 premium
Comprehensive (Actual cash value less deductible) - $50 deductible, $594 premium
Enhanced transportation expense ($25 per day/$750 aggregate) - No deductible, $28 premium
All risks - No coverage
Vehicle loan/Lease protection endorsement - no coverage
New car added protection endorsement - no coverage
OEM endorsement - no coverage


Total premium for 1 year: $1408. (This is after good drives, multi policy discount)


Is this reasonable? Can I change my coverage that I don't need? If so, what do you recommend? Are there better alternatives?

[terran]

Car insurance is very location based so I don't think seeing what others pay will help much unless they also live where you do, but Geico would be one obvious one to try, which only sells direct to consumers. I would also have an independent agent get some quotes as that's a lot easier way to get more quotes at once from the companies that sell through agents

[jamesbond007]

Do I even need this kind of coverage?

[skuzuker28]

Is your Comprehensive deductible really only $50?  I'd imagine you could save a good bit by bumping that up, or you could drop it entirely and self-insure since it isn't financed.

For comparisons sake, I have 4 vehicles (two liability only, two with full coverage) and pay about $1,200 annually in total.  Currently through Progressive, but I work through an insurance broker and have hopped companies a few times over the years.

[chemistk]

Yeah none of us here can really comment on whether your premiums are typical for what other companies would charge you. You'll be bombarded by junk mail/email for a couple months but your best bet is to go price out similar coverage at other insurers. It's a mild annoyance to change but financially very worth it.

Looking at your specific coverage options - I would absolutely, positively change your comprehensive coverage to the $250 (or even $500) range. You'll probably see at least a 15% drop in your premium just doing that.

As for the other coverages - you have to go with state minimums, and then consider what you would personally feel was "too much" to pay out of pocket. In the unthinkable scenario that you are injured or that you injure someone else in an accident, would you be financially prepared to pay an extra few thousand over the top of your coverage limit for medical care? Some people are and are willing to take that risk, and that too can lower your rates.

But despite all this, it never pays to remain loyal to one insurer. We (me, my wife - 2 cars, 28k miles a year combined) changed our insurance last year and our premiums dropped by a little over 40% for what amounted to better coverage. When i called to cancel our previous coverage, the rep asked what our new premium + coverage would be - when I told her, she flat out told me that they (our old insurance) would not be able to match that and that I should call them in a year or two when I'm looking to switch again.

[iluvzbeach]

The claims you’ve made definitely don’t help but the real problem is with your deductibles. You must increase them to at least $500 or $1,000. Would you really make a claim for something less than that? If so, you will have to pay a premium for such coverage.

I would suggest doing some comparison shopping but absolutely consider increasing deductibles and adding where there are none.

[diapasoun]

My numbers added up to 1181 from what you wrote. What am I missing that puts you at 1400?

From what I understand, California has generally seen some significant rate bumps this past year or two. This was certainly true for me (I have State Farm). If I were you, I'd get your insurance agent on the line and ask them to explain these rates to you; bring quotes from other companies if they're cheaper and you can get your agent to finance down.

As a fellow California, I do the 100/300k coverage too. Between the vehicles people drive (how many effing Jaguars have I seen around here?!) and how expensive healthcare is, I don't feel sufficiently insured otherwise.

Re comprehensive, I'd raise your deductible too. $50 deductible is insanely low! Think of what amount of damage you'd be willing to self-insure, and go for a deductible in that range. I personally let go of my comprehensive coverage once I paid off my loan, because I knew I had enough in savings to buy another car outright if I needed to without a loan. So, I'm self-insuring for that.

[jamesbond007]

Thanks for the pointers. I will check with my agent to see what happens if I raise the deductible on comprehensive. Thanks.

[Sibley]

Go get quotes from multiple companies, including at least one independent insurance broker. Only way you can find out.

[Chris @ Saturday Financial]

I second that. Get multiple quotes using an “apples to apples” comparison for deductibles, etc. An independent broker can work their magic on your behalf. Also check a couple of companies on your own, including Geico.