Car insurance shopping

Apr 15 19:11 UTC 1996

I'm having trouble with my car insurance company, USAA.  I don't know if their
rates are any good.  I don't know how to shop for car insurance.  I guess a
good thing to do would be to take my existing policy to a sales person and
say ask if he/she can beat it.

What is your car insurance company?  How often do you change car insurance
companies?  

I guess I'll be shopping for a new renter's policy while I'm at it, as USAA
currently insures the apartment as well.

response 2 of 17:

Apr 16 04:16 UTC 1996

I had to get insurance when I bought my truck a few months ago, and ended up
just calling around to a few places and seeing what rates they were wiling
to give me.  I actually started out planning on just using hte the AAA agent
that my parents have been using for years, but the rate he quoted me was more
than I could afford.  I then called aroudn to a few other places and ended
up picking AllState, which was more than $200 per year less than AAA.

response 4 of 17:

Apr 16 19:43 UTC 1996

I'm going to check out that Consumers Reports article, sounds interesting.

I'm with AAA, have been for >15 years.  For a while I went to a cheaper policy
(which I think was AllState) with the same coverage.  No complaints, but I
like the AAA road service (which is available even if you don't insure with
them) and I get AAA Plus service which includes up to 100 miles towing if
disabled (rather than the usual 1.5-3 miles).  Also have home insurance with
AAA.

I like the convenience, and being able to walk into a AAA office anywhere in
the US or Canada (haven't tried Mexico yet, heh) and getting info/assistance.
When I had an accident in Cleveland (semi made a right turn from the left
lane, with me in the right lane <groan>) my Michigan AAA took care of all the
towing and repairs with little hassle, even though Ohio dodn't have a no fault
law (at least not at that time) and the other driver had some funky insurance
company I never heard of.  That's what made me a loyal AAA member, even with
the higher rates.  Of course, I've heard plenty of the horror stories too,
just never happened to me.

Might want to check with an _independant insurance agent_ that can sell you
policies from different companies.  S/he makes the most money by getting you
the best deal and giving you the best service, rather than by pushing any
particular company.

response 6 of 17:

Apr 17 06:28 UTC 1996

I've still got an AAA membership as well, for the road service.  The road
service is great, and works not only in the US, but in lots of other countries
as well.  I wish I could get the road service without being an AAA member.
I really don't agree with their political agenda, and would really prefer not
to be counted in their number of members when they're trying to impress
people with what a big organization they are.

My experience dealing with AAA's claims people wasn't very pleasant, to put
it mildly.  A driver made a left turn right in front of me as I was coming
back from a bike ride on a Saturday afternoon, and I had a race the next
morning, which I needed the bike I was riding for.  After finishing dealing
with the police (who not only ticketed the driver, but also said they'd
recommend that she lose her license) I headed straight over to the bike shop,
where I had to have $300 of repairs done on it so that I would be able to race
on it the next day.  Then I called AAA, who insured both the driver who turned
in front of me and my parents, whose policy I was a secondary driver on at
the time.  They wanted to see the mangled bike, and when I why that was
impossible and offered to bring them parts instead, that wasn't good enough.
They ended up putting me through so much paperwork that I ended up just giving
up.

response 8 of 17:

Apr 17 16:49 UTC 1996

Scg, you say you wish you could get road service without AAA.  Of course you
can.  I know that discover card will find me a local tow truck if I call
1-800-DISCOVER.  Of course the $50 or so for the tow will be charged to my
card, but I can only think of one time I've had to be towed in the past
several years since I dropped AAA.  So I've done ok on the self-insurance 
plan.  How often do you need to be towed?  I'm sure a lot of credit 
cards, car insurance companies, and car manufacturers provide service 
similar to what AAA does.  And free maps like you get from AAA shouldn't 
be that hard to come by either.  Try asking hotels and government funded 
tourism offices for them.

The other claims I made to AAA were for locking keys in the car, but I've
figured out a way to prevent that.  I lock the car by turning the key from
the outside, rather than pushing the button from the inside. 

Anyway, thanks for your suggestions about regular car insurance.  Keep 
'em coming, I'm planning to shop Friday afternoon.

response 10 of 17:

Apr 22 03:08 UTC 1996

I've found Farmers Insurance (my agent is at Wastenaw and Platt/Huron Parway)
was the best deal and the most helpful agent, too.  Interesting.  I see a
pattern developing here, maybe.

response 12 of 17:

Apr 23 17:16 UTC 1996

I'm quite happy with state farm.  You can call an independent agent, tho,
and get the lowest rate of all the companies he/she represents.

response 14 of 17:

Apr 24 13:37 UTC 1996

I haven't gotten around to doing anything about my insurance yet.  Hopefully
tomorrow.  It's near the top of my list of things to do.

response 16 of 17:

May 6 04:26 UTC 1996

I was happy with State Farm until I had an accident. Then I was disappointed
with their claims people. Admittedly this was 14 years ago. I switched to an
independent agent.