Auto insurance are we getting hosed?

So, I’ve been with the same insurance agent for a decade and my original one company was bought out by another one. No big deal. Everything remained the same and prices were the same or even better. Today I see something about how this guy was blacklisted and his website pulled down for exposing the insurance industry with the inflated prices due to agents etc. so I got to experimenting. I won’t mention the company but they are widely advertised and seem reputable. My son has used them for a couple years but no claims. I checked for now just my truck and it’s 1200 and change semi annually. Under this new company it would be 39 PER MONTH! That is just one of the 4 vehicles I have insured. 1 is just liability since it’s not driven but how on earth can this be accurate? I’m about to punch holes in walls that I’ve been overpaying for years! Yes my truck is relatively new and high priced but that’s ridiculous!

If it seems too good to be true…

No way is a legit company going to take the same driver from $1200 to $234 with the same coverage and deductable. Total fraud.

200/month seems crazy. I was thinking of finally getting a new truck and you scared me… I just checked and Progressive says adding a 2024 F150 to my policy would be 77/month. That’s for the coverages in image, prices there are for my old truck though which is 32/month. My wife’s newer car is 63/month.

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I have state farm, and was telling the lady we need to shop around. I’ve been with them for years. Only claim I’ve ever had was hail damage 10 years ago and a Honda wheeler I wrecked 3 years ago. My rates are way higher then I think they should be and I think state farm be scamming. I don’t trust most insurance companies, and even worse is the agents that peddle insurance. But your quote seems a little on the low side. What kind of coverage are you loosing.

Another way to save a little money is see if your provider offers a discount if you pay 6mo at a time instead of monthly. We have progressive and pay that way and we save a couple hundred a year.

Stanley wrote:

Another way to save a little money is see if your provider offers a discount if you pay 6mo at a time instead of monthly. We have progressive and pay that way and we save a couple hundred a year.

And if you pay for a full year, you save even more than paying for 6 months.

I don’t think anyone can argue that home and auto rates have gone up, and they will continue to do so. Even if you haven’t submitted claims in the past. The extreme weather across the entire country that causes damage to homes and cars affects everyone. Instead of just raising rates for those who have submitted claims or live in a zone where hurricanes frequent, they raise it for everyone. Which I think is BS. I haven’t submitted claims in the past, so mine shouldn’t be going up. Its like raising health care costs for everyone even if you’re healthy. Making everyone pay for the sick.

Best thing you can do is at least try to shop around. Just make sure you read the fine print on coverage.

yes.

the devil is in the details with insurance policies. All it takes is one little sentence (or lack thereof) to cause them to deny your claim and leave you high and dry.

Everyone is getting “hosed” on insurance. It’s a for profit business that many of the customers know very little about. It’s a “hope it works when you need it” type of thing, despite religiously paying premiums for years.

Things that definitely impact insurance:

-any moving violation whatsoever…is far more costly to you via insurance than any nominal ticket. Speeding tickets don’t cost much, but they will kill you via insurance

-DUIs are a guaranteed uninsurable for some companies, and those who will insure you will just hammer you.

-recent claims or multiple claims in a relatively short time period

As others have said, shopping around isn’t a bad thing. There’s really 2 approaches with one being shopping around regularly…and the other being trying to find insurance coverage through someone you know personally and definitely trust to keep you in the loop on policy changes and so on. If you didn’t have a personal connection with that person prior to them insuring you, than you’re just a customer/number to them in my opinion.

The extreme weather is hitting the midwest hard. I don’t understand people that live in hail zones down south getting new roofs every year and we get one storm and we have to fight for a complete roof and this is the first claim on a house. In case your wondering my parents decided against getting one becuase its not worth there fight.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

If it seems too good to be true…

No way is a legit company going to take the same driver from $1200 to $234 with the same coverage and deductable. Total fraud.

Do you think a company that has many of the same letters as Aggressive is a legitimate company?
I dont have any accidents in like 20 years. A speeding ticket in Kansas like 6 years ago and that is it. The coverage is exactly the same down to the T for what I currently have.
This new price is if I pay 6 months up front.
Here is another example of how I believe the agents themselves are taking a major portion of these premiums. So my son was getting insurance on his GTO, Fiero and the Vibe. He went directly to the Progressive website (there, I said it) and I went through my homeowners agent who is a broker and she provided costs for Progressive among others (Progressive being the cheapest) and my quote was over triple what his was. He had never even been listed as a driver before and my quote included a multiple policy discount because I have my house through them and not just auto.

You almost always have to fight hail claims in Minnesota. First adjuster refusal is all too common and almost predictable. Often the 2nd adjuster will agree with the homeowner if the damage warrants replacement.

State Farm (auto ins.) is great to work with when their customer is at fault. I will share that homes in our area with State Farm are the least likely to have roof replacements due to hail.

We moved from AmFam to Farmers on our home insurance about 5 years ago and saved $1000, but the premium has crept right back up over that time.

CaptainMusky wrote:

This new price is if I pay 6 months up front.

This is a no brainer. I don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t pay premiums 6 mo at a time (assuming your provider offers a lucrative discount and if they don’t I’d shop around). The 10% savings I get for paying 6 months at a time significantly outweighs the return you’d get for letting those same funds sit in a HYSA and paying monthly. If you end up getting rid of the vehicle or policy before the prepaid 6 months is up, you get a refund. You’re foolish not to be paying ahead and getting the discount

Reef W wrote:

200/month seems crazy. I was thinking of finally getting a new truck and you scared me… I just checked and Progressive says adding a 2024 F150 to my policy would be 77/month. That’s for the coverages in image, prices there are for my old truck though which is 32/month. My wife’s newer car is 63/month.

Reef that seems to be pretty inline with my quote that is a 2 year newer truck so I would expect it to be higher. Main difference is I added the loan/lease payoff which was like $5 for 6 months. I cannot recall the payouts though, yours might be higher dollar amount than I had, I will have to check again. My deductibles are $500.

In regards to rates going up for an auto claim I was talking to a progressive adjuster recently about a truck we had in the shop. The owner tried to miss a deer and hit a mailbox instead. I made a comment about how it might have been cheaper to hit the deer due to some of the parts costs and he said if he hit the deer it would have been a comp claim instead of collision and his rates wouldn’t go up because of it. I’m not sure how insurance companies decide to raise rates after claims but I was unaware there was a difference in the type of claim. I thought a claim was a claim on your record.

CaptainMusky wrote:

Do you think a company that has many of the same letters as Aggressive is a legitimate company?

Progressive is 2nd largest auto insurer after State Farm. I think I’ve only had one claim in the many years I’ve had them but it was no issue at all and got very fair price for totalled car without any fight.

If you do home insurance through them for bundle discounts it’s not really Progressive, it’s just a referral to a partner and they can be good or bad on their own. Mine is currently through ASI which has jacked the prices quite a bit. You have to ask Progressive to re-run it through their partners to get new options and have it switched.

Ive had State Farm for 30 years never been in an accident. I pay every six months last 3 times have gone up 25% each time. When truck was brand new July 2022 was 323. for six months. July 2024 was like 640.

Part of the problem is repair costs friend hit a deer with his 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee body shop estimate was $5,900 they are wanting to total it. We looked at it and for the replacement parts bumper, grill, and fender were $789 I told him let them total it buy it back for $400 and we will bolt on and repaint, the car is driveable the way it sits.

To many people think rates are based on their driving record, even some of you mentioned it in this post. Your in a pool with everyone else who has your insurance company, this why your rates go up. Storms down south, bad drivers they all cause the insurance company’s to pay out claims thats why your rates keep going up. That and greedy CEO’s making $10 million with a $7 million bonus.

CaptainMusky wrote:

Here is another example of how I believe the agents themselves are taking a major portion of these premiums

I can tell you that a Agent has no control over premiums or their commission rates at all. Sure wish they did. A agent doesn’t like it when rates go up any more than you do. As far as commissions goes, most agents commissions have gone down in the last 5 or so years. If you think that being in a state where there is still many options for insurance is a bad deal, Just ask those who are now living in a few states where most Major carriers have pulled out of the state. This is most likely going to be happening to more high claim states in the future. Having only a few companies to chose from or worse yet needing to rely on the government ( State Pool Insurance ) Is not good for homeowners. Most people don’t understand that Minnesota is a high insurance state for a reason. We are year in and year out one of the highest claim states in the nation. High in Hail claims ( really highh the last 3-4 years ) High in deer collisions ( One of the highest in the nation ) High in auto collisions ( Long slippery winter roads ) Snow and ice damages to roofs and other structures, Ect.
There are some reasons why various companies ( Think Lizzard and Ditzy Brunette ) are cheaper on auto policies. They are most often putting the majority of their clients at State Insurance Minimums ( 30/60/10 ) this really limits their risk in a case of a bad accident. Most good agents will not even write policies at these limits. For those who don’t understand those limits I’ll clarify them. That is 30,000 and 60,000 for bodily injury. If you or a driver in your auto is determined the at fault driver they will only pay out 30,000 for injuries if only one other person is injured and up to 60,000 total in more than one is injured. With todays medical cost 30,000 is not going to cover much. worse yet that 3rd # is the property damage damage. That’s 10,000 of property damage. Once again if you or a driver of your car is determined the at fault party they will only pay out 10,000 for the damage to other parties property. I’d say 75+% of cars on the road have a higher total loss amount than 10,000. This is not to mention other property that could also be damaged ( you would be shocked to find out what a city charges insurance if a city stop light is damaged in a accident ) The company has meet their obligation at those amounts. The damaged party is not going to stop there. The at fault party is going to most likely end up in court and end up with a judgement against them. These companies don’t even want to or even sell sell home insurance, They often pass that off to a different company that sells rather poor home coverage insurance. Insurance is no different than other things. You often get what you pay for. the cheapest car made will get you from point A to point B but most buy a more expensive car – Why ??? my guess is they think some of the additional features are worth the extra money. Why should your insurance purchase be any different. If you are going to base your insurance choice simply on the lowest cost, fine. I just hope you someday don’t find yourself in a a bad situation where you end up finding out why that insurance was so cheap.

bigcrappie wrote:

To many people think rates are based on their driving record, even some of you mentioned it in this post. Your in a pool with everyone else who has your insurance company, this why your rates go up. Storms down south, bad drivers they all cause the insurance company’s to pay out claims thats why your rates keep going up. That and greedy CEO’s making $10 million with a $7 million bonus.

Your driving record absolutely impacts your insurance rates, along with all of the things you listed.

Brittman wrote:

State Farm (auto ins.) is great to work with when their customer is at fault. I will share that homes in our area with State Farm are the least likely to have roof replacements due to hail.

If you want to find out what insurance companies fight people the hardest on home claims, Just ask several home contractors. The contractors I know all give me the same 2-3 companies who they have the most issues with.

buckybadger wrote:

Things that definitely impact insurance:

-any moving violation whatsoever…is far more costly to you via insurance than any nominal ticket. Speeding tickets don’t cost much, but they will kill you via insurance

-DUIs are a guaranteed uninsurable for some companies, and those who will insure you will just hammer you.

-recent claims or multiple claims in a relatively short time period

in other news, water is wet.

bigcrappie wrote:

To many people think rates are based on their driving record, even some of you mentioned it in this post. Your in a pool with everyone else who has your insurance company, this why your rates go up. Storms down south, bad drivers they all cause the insurance company’s to pay out claims thats why your rates keep going up. That and greedy CEO’s making $10 million with a $7 million bonus.

I agree, but its still bullshit. Why should someone who is a safe driver, doesn’t have a record, and doesn’t submit claims pay the same premiums for the exact same policy as someone who is aggressive, has moving traffic violations, and has submitted claims?

Certain clients should be paying less based on their history and driving habits, and certain clients should be paying more. Bundling everyone into the same group of drivers just because they use the same insurance company is crap.

It should be the same with home insurance too. While I do agree that extreme weather events cannot be controlled, if you need a new roof from hail, you should be paying more in the future than someone who has not filed a claim like that.

I bought a used truck and in 2019 and got financing with local credit union. The agent said they had a insurance division and would I like a quote, said sure why not. Was knocked off my feet at the savings. Was with Farmers for 30 or so years thought the agent was looking out for me and would have stayed with him if he could have closed the gap to a reasonable amount. When I brought it up to the agent the huge price difference said he would get back to me. What a surprise that Farmers had another insurance company that could get closer to the price from the Credit Union but not close enough. Went with the credit union as the savings was to good to pass up and believe I have spent thousands of dollars more than I would have needed over the years. Also when I did put in a claim for hail damage in 2008 all my neighbors received new roofs, Farmers denied. I will never go over 2 years without checking prices again.

Gitchi Gummi wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>buckybadger wrote:</div>
Things that definitely impact insurance:

-any moving violation whatsoever…is far more costly to you via insurance than any nominal ticket. Speeding tickets don’t cost much, but they will kill you via insurance

-DUIs are a guaranteed uninsurable for some companies, and those who will insure you will just hammer you.

-recent claims or multiple claims in a relatively short time period

in other news, water is wet.

Not so fast. Bigcrappie just told us that driving records do NOT impact insurance rates.

Maybe water is in fact, dry?

Brittman wrote:

You almost always have to fight hail claims in Minnesota. First adjuster refusal is all too common and almost predictable. Often the 2nd adjuster will agree with the homeowner if the damage warrants replacement.

Keep in mind that insurance companies have to do their job and make sure the claim is valid. They owe it to their customers to make sure they limit claims to those situations that have actual damage. If not and they simply put a new roof on every time a customer or contractor feels like they have damage, the cost of insurance that everyone is now yelling about would be even higher. Home owners often assume that just because others around them have roof damage they do as well. they often take the word of a storm chaser knocking on doors after a storm in a area ( these people often stand on the ground and look up and say I can see damage from here, I don’t even need to get on the roof and looks. Keep in mind. A roofing contractor only makes money if they replace a roof. I know several contractors who would say there is damage on a roof that was replaced a few days ago and its been sunny without any bad weather since. Not saying all contractors are bad or dishonest, but like most business there are good and bad. Never trust a door knocker. Good local companies don’t need to knock on doors to get business’s. I could not tell you the # of times where a customer was told they have hail damage and they did not. I always tell customers to have their contract plan to meet the adjuster on the day the adjuster comes out. That way they can be on the roof together and go over what each is seeing. many times I’ve had a adjuster meet a person from the contractor and when getting up on the roof have the contractor say ” I’m not sure what our employee was seeing, There is no damage here ” During covid years most insurance companies stopped having adjustors review claims and took contractors word for damage. that is not the case these days. Insurance companies are now making sure a claim is valid, They owe that to all their customers to try and keep insurance cost down. The days of people having old worn out roofs that they should replace at their expense and just waiting for a storm to file a claim and hope they get a new roof for only the cost of their deductibe is over.

Stanley wrote:

I made a comment about how it might have been cheaper to hit the deer due to some of the parts costs and he said if he hit the deer it would have been a comp claim instead of collision and his rates wouldn’t go up because of it

This is generally true. Generally comp claims are not held against you while collision claims are. The thought is one you can control and the other you can not. Often people in Minnesota carry a lower deductible on Comp. than on collision. This is due to the fact that two of the most common claims in Minnesota are Hail and deer collisions. People feel they can control the collisions but can not the hail and deer.

fishthumper wrote:

I can tell you that a Agent has no control over premiums or their commission rates at all. Sure wish they did. A agent doesn’t like it when rates go up any more than you do. As far as commissions goes, most agents commissions have gone down in the last 5 or so years.

FT I believe you and I appreciate you commenting since you are in the field and was hoping you would reply.
How do you explain the specific example I got with Progressive where my son went to the website and I went through my agent and quoted me something significantly higher for exact same coverage? The ONLY difference is one was through an agent.

gim wrote:

I agree, but its still bullshit. Why should someone who is a safe driver, doesn’t have a record, and doesn’t submit claims pay the same premiums for the exact same policy as someone who is aggressive, has moving traffic violations, and has submitted claims?

Certain clients should be paying less based on their history and driving habits, and certain clients should be paying more. Bundling everyone into the same group of drivers just because they use the same insurance company is crap.

Gim, It may seem like those with more claims are not paying more than you but they are. Just because your rates went up does not mean theirs went up the same. I can verify that those with claims are paying more than those without. Yes everyone rate goes up due to more overall claims, but those who have claims are truly paying more than you