Comments on: Auto Insurance Bill Got You Down? Here Are Seven Things To Consider

By: Macie S

Macie S — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 11:39:41 +0000

Thanks for the tips Trent. This is really very helpful. The car insurance is one of the insurance where you need to pay regularly if you own a car. The tips really help to reduce the car insurance. At temporary car insurance you can get the information of schemes/policies for car insurance for single day or for 28 days. It also provides the details of the benefits provided by the insurance company. carinsurancetemporary.co.uk

By: Ronald Belham

Ronald Belham — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 19:40:09 +0000

Great tips here but I have to warn everyone about this tip you gave:
“Look at a combination home and auto insurance policy.”

I thought this was always going to be the best bet as well until I decided to inspect other companies for our homeowners insurance. I was shocked that Erie was less than half of the cost of our Allstate policy even with the Allstate combo for home/auto with 3 cars!

Apparently Allstate and many others are having to recoup losses from Katrina whereas Erie has never insured beach property.

Disclosure: I am involved in the insurance business but have never made any money from either Erie or Allstate.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 02:03:36 +0000

These are all good tips on saving on auto insurance. Another thing to remember is what kind of agent you have. Among themselves, agents who only represent 1 company are called captive. Agents who represent many companies are called independent. I have found much more value having an independent agent. He always shops my renewals with all of his companies and usually finds me a better rate. This not only saves me money but I don’t have to spend time online or with a 1-800 operator trying to figure all this stuff out.

By: Roo

Roo — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 01:53:01 +0000

I agree with paying the premium upfront as you will save on fees. It also doesn’t make much sense to have full coverage on a vehicle that has a value slightly higher than the collision deductible. THis is throwing money down the drain.

By: Laurel

Laurel — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 20:43:00 +0000

@Trent – my insurer didn’t ask for our vehicles’ colors. If yours does so, it may be just for identification purposes?

I can tell you one thing – I was paying $360/6 months for liability on my older truck with Geico. My fiancé was paying $680/6 months for full coverage on his 2001 truck with USAA. We recently got married, and I just added my truck to his plan on USAA. Our combined premium is now $600/6 months – effectively insuring my truck for “free,” and giving us back $80 of what he was paying.

That multiple user discount pays off!

By: Minimum Wage

Minimum Wage — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 21:38:57 +0000

I wanna see some factual data on the “risky behavior” of people with “lots of credit issues”. I’ve always had an excellent driving record and I don’t believe I somehow became a bad risk just because I got sick couldn’t work and my credit went in the tank.

By: Minimum Wage

Minimum Wage — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 21:34:55 +0000

My credit went in the tank several years ago and I can’t get it out of the tank on a minimum wage income. So I don’t have a car any more.

By: Karen

Karen — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 14:59:14 +0000

I disagree with your guideline about when to drop collision. Insurance is supposed to protect you from an unacceptable risk. Which is why it’s absurd to buy insurance on something like a $15 answering machine or headphones.

If you are a careful driver and it would not be a disaster if you had to all of a sudden replace a car it’s time to drop collision. Anyone who has enough money set aside to buy the car they are driving fits this category.

I first read this concept in Money magazine.

By: Trent

Trent — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 13:16:16 +0000

That’s interesting that it’s a myth. If it’s a myth, I can’t comprehend why my insurer would ask for the color of my vehicle.

By: Kenny

Kenny — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 11:45:57 +0000

My brother, no lie, just went from $270 to $145 every 6 months by calling up different car insurance companies for quoted. He left Progressive and hooked up with USAA.

It pays do do your own legwork!

By: Chris Carpinello

Chris Carpinello — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 11:08:05 +0000

It’s not required that you have any points on your license in order to gain the auto insurance discount from a defensive driving course. It really is worth spending the time to complete the course every 3 years. YMMV, but for me the time spent taking the six-hour course in Georgia translates into making $48/hour.

I’d like to hear what online sites you recommend to obtain insurance quotes. It’s been 9 years since I shopped around for auto, home, life, umbrella and disability insurance and it’s time to make my local insurance agent sweat.

By: navid

navid — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 03:29:18 +0000

I think the #1 tip should be to shop around for insurance…for the past 12 years I had allstate and never thought about it. This past month I switched my condo/auto to statefarm and the bill is 50% lower with the same coverage/deductible! No matter what shop around. there is no loyalty in this business.

By: baker

baker — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 01:28:03 +0000

Ditto on the car color–that’s not true at all, but it is a common myth. The type of car also matters because it determines how likely the car is to manage well in case of an accident.

By: Kevin Spring

Kevin Spring — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 00:49:41 +0000

I got 10% off my car insurance by automatically having the money deducted from my checking account each month.

By: Mitch

Mitch — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 23:46:06 +0000

Renter’s insurance also often gets you the combination discount. In my case renter’s plus auto costs something like $30 a year more than auto alone, and the auto coverage was competitively priced.

In addition, if you move, change your job, etc., see if you drop below 7,500 miles a year. I just got a refund check on that myself.

Also run your own numbers on using annual vs. regular payments. With my old company, ten payments a year had a $1 surcharge each time, withdrawn electronically, and with my new company (one year now!), it’s more like $5 a payment if I don’t pay every six months and I write a check (so $5.41). With the old company savings interest and convenience fee were a toss-up, and the cushion of liquidity was important when I was first out of undergrad and had less of an emergency fund.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 22:21:34 +0000

Car color has nothing to do with insurance rates. This is a commonly held belief which is completely untrue.