It was that time of the year again… time to renew our auto insurance. I've stuck with the same company for the past couple of years, and since we added AJ (our twenty year old son) to our policy I figured they were giving us the best possible deal.
While visiting over at Bucksome Boomer's I read her post Shopping for Car Insurance… Again and thought maybe I'd better do the same. I mean, what could it hurt, right?
Armed with the renewal cost and the contract listing our terms from my current company I started first by checking with AAA. I actually earned a $10 gift card by asking them for a quote. They were able to beat my current rate by just a few dollars. I told Mr. A that I was checking around for auto insurance and he asked me to check the company which holds his business insurance.
I scanned the renewal quote and emailed it to them, again, thinking what could it hurt, and it might be even a few dollars cheaper than the AAA quote.
Was I ever surprised when the quote came back with a savings of $318! I called the agent who sent me the quote, wondering if she'd made a mistake. Like… didn't put AJ on the policy, who is a 20 year old male driver? Nope, he was on there. We corrected the miles driven for each vehicle, and the usage (personal, commute, business) and there was only a few dollars difference. I was stunned at the amount of money we ended up saving.
We put 1/6th of the amount into savings every month so when it comes time to renew we can pay in six month increments. One of these days we'll be able to pay one year at a time! I had AJ pay his portion, and that left $458 for my and Mr. A's portion of the insurance.
I haven't had a chance to pay bills yet, so I'm not sure if we'll have any of that $318 to apply towards debt. It will probably go to cover expenses incurred on our recent vacation to Washington, DC.
So do you shop around for better auto insurance rates regularly?
Receive free auto insurance comparison quotes and you may save up to $450
I shop around at least once a year, whaddya got to lose. (btw- I do the same thing with cable and cell phones whenever i’m not under contract)
Congrats Mrs. A!
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Auto insurance companies that do not have agents [Geico] seem to be significantly cheaper than companies with agents [State Farm]. I find switching phone/cable/internet plans is a much bigger hassle for a much lower payoff
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Dang, you’re doing a lot better than I am! I’ll have to try again. If M’hijito gets hired at USAA, maybe he can get me in there. Price is supposed to be right, if you qualify.
Last time I checked around, the agents I spoke with said they couldn’t compete with the Hartford through AARP. But lately I have come to feel that I do need to cut the costs of car and homeowner’s insurance. Was thinking of raising the deductible and dropping the umbrella, at least.
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I’m glad I inspired you to check on rates. A rate hike motivated me, but I agree with car negotiation coach that we should check at least annually.
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I am in the process of switching my car insurance. I have had State Farm for 4 years and when the renewal notice came I decided to check around. Only got a quote from one company actually – MetLife because my employer has a group rate with them and we get another discount for using payroll deduction. It ended up being $140 a year cheaper. Not life changing, but I’ll take it. Plus, this has better coverage (3x more liability). I may shop around again next year, but I don’t expect another big win until I drop collision/comprehensive once my car gets to be worth less than $5000. That should be another 2 or 3 years, I think.
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