Car insurance....

[Duke03]

I've been a happy Geico customer for the past 8 years, but it seems like every renewal they keep jacking the rates up $40 to $60.  Each time I shop the quote, but they still come out just a hair bit cheaper than anyone else.  Does anyone have any recommendations of insurance companies that can and will beat Geico?  A while back someone mentioned another company within the Geico family that is cheaper, but I can't remember the name or find that post.

[katsiki]

Did you already check Progressive?

[Duke03]

Yes I use to be with them and Geico blew them out of the water. Just checked and they are $320 more per 6 months than Geico.

[katsiki]

You might try a local insurance broker.  They should be able to get a bunch of quotes in 1 shot.  Also might be able to tailor the quote more to your needs.  ie higher deductibles or less coverage of certain types, etc.  I find you just have to shop it around...  It is a pain.

[Arbitrage]

We've been with Mercury for a long time.  I periodically check, and haven't found anyone to beat the rates so far.  Geico sometimes (including last year) purports to beat the rates with an initial estimate, but the final quote mysteriously rises by a couple hundred dollars by the time I get to the end.  Really didn't understand it last time - I reported an old fender-bender for the initial estimate.  In the final quote, nothing had changed except they eliminated the accident from consideration, yet the rate jumped 20%.  Mercury ended up being cheaper after that.

I subsequently got the rate dropped quite a bit further when I started biking to work.

[Brother Esau]

Not sure if you qualify but we've been happy with USAA for many years.

[therethere]

I rate check every 6 months with the online companies. It usually saves $50 to switch or at minimum it prevents the rate increasing.

I usually find Progressive to be cheapest.  To keep the $50 online quote/new customer discount I will rotate the primary driver for a new policy. So sometimes I start the quote with DH then add myself or visa versa.

I also wouldn't assume no deductible is cheaper or that keeping the minimum limits is cheaper. I have found that upping to 100/300k limits is usually negligible (~10-20/6 months), and sometimes actually cheaper than 25/50k limits. Actuaries think you are more responsible by choosing higher limits and therefore a lower driving risk. Along the same lines, this past go around it was cheaper to have a 2k deductible than to have no comp/collision coverage.