[moparman53]

As those of you who know me; I had a fender-bender last winter. I was trying to make a left turn from the median on a divided road and didn't see a Accord which subsequently lightly marred my right rear side and wheel. Her bumper cover came off. Anyway, I was paying $877 every 6 months for the RT and my '01 Silverado (full coverage on both). Now it's renewal time and the bandits want double. I got online and checked a few others and got one quote of $618.70. They asked what my payment was and I said $877. I disclosed the accident. Do you guys think I should go with them (the annoying little lizard Company)?

 

[SmoovC]

I would shop around; I checked the company you referred to, along with some other majors, & found a company out of Ohio to be the cheapest.

 

[MattRobertson]

A quote isn't a policy. Its possible that they are giving you a provisional rate and that rate will change once they run your driving records. Just disclosing the accident doesn't necessarily lock in that rate. Make sure you read the fine print.

The lizard company is infamous in the sports car world as they fund the purchase of police radar detectors in municipalities that cannot afford to purchase them (or some other circumstance). If they ever ask you if you use a radar detector, be advised that is an improper question to ask and the answer should always be 'no'. They will either drop you or raise your rates to the sky to scare you off.

Also I always recommend to people that they NEVER do business with a 'direct writer' -- a company that does business with you directly (or thru a 'captive' agent who only represents them) rather than thru an independent agent who represents many companies. An agent has a fiduciary responsibility to look after your interests first and foremost. If they fail to do that you can sue against their Errors & Omissions (i.e. malpractice) insurance policy. If you do business with a direct writer and they give you bad advice you are on your own as the company or its captive agents have no such black/white, cut/dried responsibility.

A real-world (and common) example would be if you have a $1 million umbrella policy that requires underlying limits of at least $300,000. That means your basic auto policy needs 100,000 for each person and 300,000 for each accident on Liability and a matching 100/300 limit on Uninsured Motorists. However all of us insurance guys lose our ass on U/M. There's no way we can charge enough for it to come even remotely close to the money lost there. Many companies put in place 'guidelines' that are never admitted to where U/M exposure is minimized to prevent this. In turn there are many laws out there designed specifically to counteract this, but if you sign the acceptance form that says "I'll take less" you are -- in a nutshell -- screwed.

How? You have a U/M claim and your U/M is TX's statutory minimum ($25/$50k, isn't it?). You are seriously injured and need lots of doctors and hospital time. No problem. You have an umbrella. But since you only have $50k U/M, and your umbrella goes down only to $300,000, you have to come up with 250 large on your own before the umbrella starts paying out.

If you use an independent agent you can sue them since they are supposed to review your coverages and not let something like this happen. s/he is supposed to advise you ... thats where the fiduciary responsibility comes in. No such animal when you deal with the lizard or his ilk.

They don't mention that on the TV commercials.

 

[Clutch-n-Throttle]

Very informative. I need to check my policy. USAA has been a great company for the past 15 years. So far so good.

 

[SmoovC]

Matt, thanks for a very in depth write up on the ins & outs of insurance. :thumbs_u:

 

[MattRobertson]

Very informative. I need to check my policy. USAA has been a great company for the past 15 years. So far so good.

The grapevine talk I have been hearing for the last 20 or so years agrees with that assessment of USAA. Since they serve only government/military employees they kind of are in their own league.

Shaggin if you want, we are in the same state and I know CA laws pretty well. PM me if you want me to go over stuff for you. I can take a fax at my office or a pdf at my official day-job email . what you really want to watch out for is the umbrella thing I described above where the UM-UIM limits do not go up to reach the Umbrella minimum. That one happens a *lot*.

Also Umbrellas will usually require a certain AM Best rating on a company. USAA is not going to have a problem with that.

 

[desquirrel]

USAA is a top rated company. I used to have them. I have NJ MFG now because they are allowed to get away with stuff in NJ that nobody else can. They pick and choose their customers, do not charge for tickets, and never drop anyone. I think they were number 1 in a Consumer Reports article several months ago (USAA was in top 5).

The lizard company and a few other heavy advertizers are notorious for arbitrary, capricious, and unfair practices, all legal, of course.

 

[MattRobertson]

New Jersey Manufacturing is another good company.

Oddly enough a lot of the practices you run into out there are NOT legal at all... but for example the CA Dept of Insurance has an approximate 2-year backlog on complaint investigations.

Results vary state by state. Some states are all over stuff. In CA I remember working on behalf of a customer and the state DOI guy I was talking to offered to write a scary letter for me but admitted that if the insurance company didn't back down my issue would sit essentially forever.

So you have to watch your own backside and just make sure you don't get talked into something that could be tragic down the road.

 

[boggart]

Personally, I'd drop your current Co. and change in a heartbeat. Another company to check out would be Progressive. If you go to progressive though find a local agent and sign up thru them so you have an actual agent to talk to. They give you the same rate as the internet rate. I pay $828 yearly for full coverage on my Magnum and an 06' Ridgeline. Called another "well respected" agent the other day and they were $1800 a year for the same coverage. It pays to know all of your options.

 

[desquirrel]

Another thing you have to be careful of is to actually compare the policies at the given price. Most people here use the term "full coverage" and most of it would be referred to in NJ as "a joke". NJ used to make the news for having sky high insurance rates, but a major part of this was that we are required to have real insurance at a minimum.

 

[Eric300C]

Great info Matt!
Thanks for the write up!

 

[lukeinva]

Jesus $877 every 6 months???? Damn!!!! Thats freakin cheap!!! I pay $3500 for the wife and I for a year!

 

[LowGo]

Good info here. I may have to do some shopping around again at my next renewal.

 

[Super T]

"The annoying little lizard company" was the cheapest of six companies I shopped. I haven't had to file a claim yet (knock on wood) but I know people who have and swear by their service. I'd say give 'em a chance. Other than some paperwork, there's no cost to switch if you're dissatisfied.

 

[vinny68]

Just be careful shopping on price alone. You have to compare coverages and make sure your quotes are all based on the same limits or else you are comparing apples to oranges.

Also make sure to look at insurer's service rankings. My parents have had State Farm all their lives and advised me to use them as well when I got out on my own. I ignored them and went with a less expensive insurer and felt I really got screwed on an auto claim I had. At best, it took much much longer to settle and was far more hassle than I expected.

I have since switched to State Farm myself and while I haven't had any major claims, I have been happy with the service I received on a couple of smaller auto and homeowner claims.

 

[Hemi31]

Wow,I pay that for the SRT for a year!

 

[MattRobertson]

Another thing you have to be careful of is to actually compare the policies at the given price. Most people here use the term "full coverage" and most of it would be referred to in NJ as "a joke". NJ used to make the news for having sky high insurance rates, but a major part of this was that we are required to have real insurance at a minimum.

You absolutely have to compare coverages. Soooo important and really, to properly do that you need a copy of the policy and applicable endorsements, which you can bet is a PITA to get hold of, but your agent gets a request like that once every month or so if they have high volume so they know how to make it happen.

The reason I say "read the policy" is because the actual contract is not the Declarations Page that shows your limits. Thats just the limits of the contract. The contract itself is that long multipage thing that, frankly, the layman is going to have one hell of a time comparing one vs. the other, or realizing where a fast one has been pulled. Insurance policy language is regulated, but the regulation is not perfect. I actually am involved in writing policy language for our nationwide auto program so just trust that statement as coming from experience. It would take a book to explain it.

You should not only read your policy, but compare it to another one. If anyone is interested I can provide copies of your state's "baseline" policy -- known as an ISO form -- which you could use to see if you can find material differences in your own. Usually something is hiding in there if your insurance company took the enormous effort on of rewriting the legally approved form into one of their own, and then getting *that* one approved.

New Jersey has some oddball laws -- that only people in PA have to also worry about -- that are actually in the opposite direction of what I would call "superior" coverage. Their "tort threshold" stuff (sometimes called "lawsuit/no lawsuit" or "threshold" and "no threshold") are sold as "cost reducers". What they are doing is cutting insurance coverage down from what people in other states ordinarily get. So with NJ on a limited tort threshold you get, if I remember correctly, a specific list of injuries you can sue over and thats it. Otherwise you have to rely on the state's no-fault coverage option that you signed up for. Now, the overall PIP limit is 250 grand, which is a lot (and the only unusual increase in coverage in NJ), but I would argue that its insurance most people have no concrete use for since in most states Medical Payments /PIP is a supplement to health insurance coverage they probably already have plenty of.

This will teach you guys to say "auto insurance" when I am in the room

 

[moparman53]

Personally, I'd drop your current Co. and change in a heartbeat. Another company to check out would be Progressive. If you go to progressive though find a local agent and sign up thru them so you have an actual agent to talk to. They give you the same rate as the internet rate. I pay $828 yearly for full coverage on my Magnum and an 06' Ridgeline. Called another "well respected" agent the other day and they were $1800 a year for the same coverage. It pays to know all of your options.

It's kind of funny you mention Progressive because they're the ones that's trying to stick it to me. Thanks to everybody for their very informative info, especially MattRobertson.

 

[Rev.Hammer]

Jesus $877 every 6 months???? Damn!!!! Thats freakin cheap!!! I pay $3500 for the wife and I for a year!

You need a cheaper spouse!! AHAHAHHA
Only kidding!!!

My wife is so frugal I asked her for gas money the other day and she handed me a can of beani-weenies!