I'm beginning to think there's a scam going on with insurance companies... Aside from the rate hikes documented below, there's another thing I noticed: lowballing premiums then jacking them up on the renewal. I dealt with Allstate and they gave a nice low number for the car - until renewal time. (Note that I shopped for insurance for the car before making the purchase)

Now, after the car is purchased, the renewal saw nearly a 50% increase in premiums and double-digit increases every year after. When the Ins. Co. decided they didn't want us anymore, the replacement company gave us a decent rate (for the coverage, compared to Allstate) then upon renewal jacked up the rates nearly 30% (after we switched, of course).

Keep in mind that my location hasn't changed, and I've had no accidents (ever) nor tickets in the last 20 years. I also haven't made any claims on my insurace coverage.

2003 premium: $870.00 Allstate
2004 premium: $1271.00 Allstate (renegotiated down from $1600.00)
2005 premium: $1498.00 State Farm*
2006 premium: $1898.00 State Farm (and this is only good for the 1st 6 months)

Increases per year:
2004: 46%
2005: 18%
2006: 27%

This is plainly unacceptable for a 39 y.o. with a spotless driving record and a clean credit rating and decent credit score.

*Switched to State Farm, Allstate didn't want to carry us any more. They redid the renewal in such a way that I would have to get much more expensive coverage - after they disallowed all the normal discounts.

 

try wawanesa insurance.

I'm between 25 and 30 with clean driving record. I'm paying $996 per year with pretty good coverage.

 

I did give them a shot - but we need a full package of insurance (fire, quake, car, etc) and they won't do it.

The numbers above were for the car premium only. If I separated the cars out and got insurance for them on their own, the quotes I got were well over $2000. $2400-2500 IIRC for just the S2000.

 

I don't know what to say. My rate with State Farm went down about 10% this year and I just renewed. I pay about $1200 a year. Granted I've been with them for 13 years now.

BTW how's your credit look. You'll be surprised but credit status actually does play a role in car insurance.

 

uh...wow!!

For reference, I've got Liberty Mutual. Although, I live in middle-of-nowhere, NC aka Charlotte. But full coverage on my S and a 91 Accord wagon is $1200 / year.

Me thinks location has alot to do with your premium. Maybe tell the other drivers to stop hitting one another and stop trying to talk on their cell phone/ apply make-up/ read a newspaper (or book) while driving.

 

rowme,

Try Mercury Insurance. My second year rate went down from first year, the third year rate is the same as second year. I never had any claim so I do not know how good(or bad) their sevices were. But I did not hear many bad experiences from Mercury policy holders.

I have these insurance policies with Mercury: home owner + 3 cars

 

My Progressive policy has gone up somewhat but is still less than $1,000 per year although SF is going to have much higher premiums that where I live..........

 

I work for State Farm. I don't know your exact situation or why your rates were raised year after year, but part of the story is obviously missing. Our rates are calculated by a mathamatical formula that nobody in the office can tinker with. The agent pays the same for their auto insurance as anyone who calls with the same vehicle, record, and coverages. When you said "renegotiated from $xx.xx", you really were just changing coverages to get a new rate. The rate will NEVER go up just because it's renewal time.

The entire company will raise rates in a given state on occasion, but it's usually a single-digit increase. In California, we've actually had single-digit decreases each of the past two years. Any increase or decrease will take effect during your next renewal.

What changed in your household during the period of time you're listing? Did someone move into the household? Did you add or remove another policy (fire, life, health, ect?) with the company? Did anyone else in the household get a ticket? Anyone get their first license?

There are SO many reasons a premium can be changed, I need more information. I'm sure the person you spoke with about the changes gave you a reason. If Allstate "didn't want you anymore", I suspect it's because something else is going on. Insurance companies don't turn away business from households with clean records.

 

Here's the deal:

No tickets at all. No Accidents. No new household members, no new drivers. My credit score "over 700". Not a single thing changed since switching from Allstate to State Farm. Not a thing has changed regarding coverage except in early 2003 an S2000 was added to the policy.

Now I do know the insurance companies use a reporting agency much like the credit card companies do, and they will affect one's rates. Switching companies could have caused a hit, who knows?

What Allstate did was change the classification of our property. We have a rather large parcel of land with two homes on it. My folks have one, my wife and I the other. They refused to give coverage on one house (fire, IIRC) which disqualified the home for earthquake insurance. To get the house covered again, guess what? They can do it, but it'll cost more $$$.

State Farm assessed the situation and gave a rate more or less equal to the Allstate rate with slightly better coverage. Now that we switched, and renewal time has come, what do you know? The rates are all jacked up.

And our record is clean. No claims since the '94 Northridge quake. Since one of the two homes was 3' off it's foundation, I'd think a claim was warranted.

As for Allstate "not wanting our business", it's the agent that had the problem. Allstate just collected the money. When the agent decides not to answer calls or call back about premiums, it's pretty obvious there's something afoot. When we didn't bother to renew, neither he (nor anyone in the office) bothered to call and see what was up. Quite odd.

Oh, and the 98 Camry we have? It went up $360/yr too. We used to pay $600/yr to have it insured (up until 2004). Now I'll have to look it over more carefully, but it looks like $1000/yr (likely more) now. So the total increase for 2006 is about $760.00. I'd hate to see what would happen if some a-hole hits me and runs off.

In two or three more years, I'll have to consider getting rid of one of the two cars just to bring the rates down. Sooner if I get a ticket or hit by someone.

 

Get a quote from Progressive. 1898 for 39 yo with clean driving record is just ridiculous. I'm paying 1880 for full coverage and I'm 24 with an accident in the history. Also, if you give them your real name/SSN, Progressive will tell you exactly whether it sees any accidents, tickets or any other problems on your record. When I tried to add my wife to the insurance policy, they checked their database and found out about a small accident and two out-of-state speeding tickets she had over the past few years. They know everything!

I had my previous car insured with Allstate for 3 years, they lowered my premiums by 5-10% each year. I switched because their quote for S2000 was insane ( upwards of 4k ).