I had read that the Auto Insurance Rates were expected to go down in numerous (but not all) states, but I really expected the normal inflationary increase to only offer a “Premium Adjustment” with little difference… How wrong I was this year…
I pay our Auto Insurance twice a year and the last bill was almost $1,075 for our vehicles. I have full coverage with lots of endorsements… But the bill that arrived today was only $942. That’s a reduction of $133 or just over a 12% discount…
I checked all the endorsements and they are all still there with no major changes in verbiage…
We do qualify for the Multi-Line Discount, Multi-Car, Vehicle Safety, Accident Free, and Annual Mileage Discounts.
The included paperwork “Annual Report to the Mutual Policyholders” usually explains why the rates went up; instead explained that they were issuing $5 billion in cash back dividends and auto rate decreases…
I am so surprised that with all the Wildfires, Floods, Storms, etc… that the insurance companies consider this a good year and are willing to share and return some of those profits… Something I imagine the Big Oil Companies will not willing to do…
Lucky you. I pay our auto insurance every month because paying 6 months at a time is a big hit. Our policy renewed in Feb and it didn’t go up or down. That was a bit of good news here anyway.
We get all the multi-bundle-accident free-good driver discounts as well, but the bill is still $743 per month. And that’s without full coverage. 2 teen drivers is a real money drain.
When I turned 16 in 1966, I was assigned to an Assigned Risk Pool to Travelers Insurance… I had to pay a year in advance and it was just over $1,200 for minimum coverage for my 1954 Dodge Meadowbrook, that amount equates to like $12,000 today. Minimum wage then was $1.25… I had a very skewed perception of the value of money then but I scrimped and saved, worked two part-time jobs, took odd jobs (mowed lawns, shoveled snow, chopped wood, worked as a field-hand picking apples , and even collected soda and be-er bottles for 2 and 5-cents each…
The “hyphenated” word is “too” impolite to be allowed and would be blocked outby the Nanny vulgar word algorithm…
Mine and asemaster’s generation had to own our on vehicle(s) in order to do anything, I had both parents that worked full time, NO public transportation of any kind anywhere close, no Ubers etc etc friends all worked also, so if you wanted to go anywhere you HAD to have a vehicle, no city here only suburbs/country living…
I bought a 2nd car while still 18 and have always had at least 2 if not more vehicles, I was the go to for parents/brother when they needed a loaner… Should have seen mom (always in work dresses, an actuary for an insurance company) when I was rebuilding her car, driving my Black with twin Orange strips down the side and loud exhaust… She was NOT a hot rodder…
Overall ours has been going down just a little bit (other than me adding the truck) for the last few years, it should drop even more now that our daughter just turned 25… She reimburses us for it anyway, it just saves money having more vehicles on one plan…
Highly depends on your location. Mine didn’t go up much. I imagine the folks in minneapolis are getting a shock though with an all time high in car jacking and vandalism. I think two claims and you’re canceled. The guys in the AAA office used to just laugh when they’d quote someone the dairyland risk insurance rates. Cost more than the car.
A word of warning about multicar discounts… they are tied to multi vehicle discounts…
When we still had the '85 Toyota; we had all the endorsements on all four vehicles, the 2020 Honda, the 2019 Toyota, and the 2001 Dodge Ram…
Since we no longer used the Ram or the '85 Toyota for long trips, we decided to drop the coverage for the: $50 Deductible Other than Collision (D), $500 Deductible (G), Transpiration Collision Emergency Road Service (H), and Transportation Expenses (R)…these endorsements amounted to about $200 for these two vehicles…
But after they removed them the cost only went down about $125… As the Insurance agent explained, the multicar discounts are based on the multi vehicle discount…
For example, the $500 Deductible (G) for a single vehicle might cost $75, but it you have it on two vehicles, you get discount on each, and if you have it on three vehicles, the discount is even greater for all three vehicles and since we had it on four vehicles, we had a very generous discount on all four vehicles…
But once we stopped the endorsements on two of the vehicles, the discounts on the other two were not as great and the cost for each endorsement went up.
I put the endorsements back on all the vehicles and to he-ll with the savings…
We just use a company that finds the best deals and they take care of all that stuff, every time we have checked prices on our on, no one could beat their rates…
Many will remember back in the day, you normally went into the local insurance office to add/make changes to your policy. I was in my early 20s and already a wiseacre so I decided to mess around a bit with my latest addition.
Agent: what can I do for you today?
Me: bought another car, need to add it to my policy.
Agent: what did you get?
Me: 1969 Chevy, 2 door
Agent pulls down rate book and starts paging to section. Model?
Me: Corvette
Agent: Wrong book! and then reaches for a different volume- the one with the high rate vehicles…
When I bought my truck I emailed our agent lady and asked what the rate would be for VIN xyz123 and she shortly replied, I teared up a little bit lol, then said I will let you know, when the truck came in and after the test drive, while doing the paper work, I emailed her back and had ins before I drove off in the truck… lol
(yes I know I would have been covered anyway, not the point)
Like you, I know I am covered for 30-days (but some insurance companies on offer a 7-day grace period…) but who wants to take a chance, on some “new rule” or expired endorsement and have an agent say, “Gee, I wish you called me yesterday, before the accident…”
My insurance has a fantastic online presence where everything can be done online even faster than speaking directly to an agent. Including downloading the new insurance certificate before I drive off the lot. I haven’t spoken to a person there in many years now…
My insurance agent keeps a big bowl of candy on the Office Managers desk and I am sure it will have lots of Easter Candy in it soon… I think I’ll stop by and say Hello…
On a new car, we have 30 days to report the vin and transfer the coverage or initiate an additional policy. I usually don’t wait more than a day o4 two.
I really do not track it well enough. Got the new insurance cards and 3 policies told the amount due, with no date. Called my agent and he said the bills will come out later in april, you can prepay if you wish. So I did. Car for 6 months, home and umbrella for a year. think the 2 cars were under 600. Higher than min required, 300k, etc. 1k deductable.
I had a very good agent. They’d. Bake cookies every Thursday. But the last few yesrs he has been nowhere to b3 found. Instead a couple of trainees staffing the office. They are nice but I don’t rely on them. Once they build the agency up the semi retire.
Your agent is probably now enjoying and reaping the rewards of years of hard work…
Insurance agents are primarily paid through commissions, which are a percentage of the policy premium paid by the customer, usually ranging from 5% to over 100% depending on the product. Agents earn higher commissions on new policy sales, with lower residual commissions on renewals. The insurer pays this commission directly to the agency, which then compensates the producing agent.
Life Insurance pays the highest commissions in the beginning, often 40% to 120% of the first-year premium, with low renewal commissions of 1% to 2%.
If the agent works for an agency, the payments are Split. The insurance carrier pays the agency, and the agency splits that commission with the agent. (like a real estate agent gets when they are only employed by the agency…)
Finally, insurance agents often continue to receive commission payments after they retire, commonly known as renewal commissions or residuals. These are paid for policies sold prior to retirement that remain active, usually covering a period of four to ten years depending on the policy type.
