Car Insurance

The Critic · Jan 31, 2006

So, as many of you know, I'm 16. I do not have a Driver's License nor do I have a learner's permit.

Right now, my plan is to wait until I'm 18 before I learn how to drive. This is mainly because there's no need for me to have a car; I rarely leave my house (except for school), and I can ride my bike just about everywhere.

With the current plan, I won't be obtaining my driver's license until 18 or 19.

Now, all things being equal, will the insurance be lower for a new, 18 or 19 yr old driver (with zero exp) compared to a new, 16 or 17 yr old driver?

Lastly, just curious, how much does insurance typically run now days for a person of my age, driving a 96 Saturn...(older car).

Thanks, Michael

JHZR2 · Jan 31, 2006

nope.

Insurance is the #1 worst, most unfair, freely stereotyping, judgemental, etc., etc. entity that has existed.

For some reason, its unfair to stereotype people based upon race, age, $ex, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc... unless youre an insurance company.

Even now that I turned 25, I didnt get a very nice insurance break... Supposedly if I get married, Ill save a lot of dough. My recoord has always been clean, no issues, but I certainly hoped Id get some more $$$ off as the years have passed. I dont know if its because I carry high levels of coverage or what.

JMH

Master ACiD · Jan 31, 2006

i have never been in an accident. never had a driving infraction. my driving record is spotless. insurance is a ripoff.

i use to pay $801 every 6 months for car insurance in palm beach. this was the cheapest insurance i could find. when i went and bought a house out in sebring with cash i changed insurance companys to the cheapest one i could find, which dropped my insurance bill to $180 every 6 months.

do the math. its a huge savings, and its not because of my home ownership. i asked the insurance lady about that and she said that sence i had just bought the house it wont show up yet so give it 6 months and my insurance will probably drop even more. the only reason my insurance rate changed was moving to sebring.

sebring is only 100 miles from palm beach. how can there be that much of a rate change?

Quattro Pete · Jan 31, 2006

Master ACiD, they take crime/theft statistics into account. So, even living in a next town over could make a big difference as far as insurance rates.

Also, be sure to compare apples to apples, i.e. same coverage levels, same deductible levels, same add-ons (car rental coverage, lost wages insurance, etc.).

Quattro Pete · Jan 31, 2006

Michael, get your license as soon as possible, even if you won't be using it. That's because for the first 3 years of being a licensed driver, the insurance companies will charge you much higher rates, just because you'll be considered an "inexperienced driver".

It's practically impossible to tell how much it'll cost you to buy insurance. There are just so many variables, including where exactly you live. Just call around to find out. Some companies also have on-line insurance rate calculators, like Allstate for example.

thooks · Jan 31, 2006

Lots of factors with insurance.

Age, credit rating, driving record, location, company, car, coverage, etc.

The only advatange you will have starting to drive at 16 versus 18 is you are losing two years of driving record and your length of insure will be shorter.

Give you an example- if you will start out with a Premium company (State Farm, Allstate, etc.), the longer you are insured with no incidents with them, the better your discounts get.

I'll give you some advice about insurance companies today and jumping around for the best rate-

Find one you like, find an agent you like and stay put. Keep your record clean. Don't make a claim unless absolutely neccessary.

Let's say you plop down with el cheapo company 1. You have a wreck at 4 months and it's your fault. You help tear up a 2006 BMW. Guess what? At your month of renewal, you get a cancellation notice.

Now you are done. You get to pay through the nose at the next company because you have been canceled. As in 300-500% more in premiums.

And make darn sure you get enough coverage-
100k in property and 300k in medical.

moribundman · Jan 31, 2006

quote:

I rarely leave my house (except for school), and I can ride my bike just about everywhere.

Yikes, you live in a micro cosmos. Get out more often!

vairox · Jan 31, 2006

quattro is correct, but check this out... you live in CA so you get reamed like me, but if you live in, say...Los Angeles (pick a zip code) and pay $140 a month for full coverage and then move to say Orange County (pick a zip code) and the orange county zip code has more car thefts than the LA zip code, they raise your insurance accordingly.... yes this should be illegal but it isn't in CA, the insurance commissioner keeps claiming hes gonna do something about it but he does nothing.... so just to give you an example my girlfriend was paying $140 or so a month for full coverage on her car in san diego, we move to fresno and she lets them know that she moved so they can send her bill to the new address....well, new bill came alright...at $410... yep, call them up (infinity insurance) and the rep tells her it's because she moved... not because of anything on her record, mileage, years of driving experience....just cause she moved... well it turns out that it really is ILLEGAL to base someone's insurance rate on their zip code, the guy made the mistake of admitting it, they all do it but they don't admit it, he did...and after talking to his supervisor, who said in no uncertain terms that the rep she spoke with in fact DID NOT SAY THAT she was told that her rate went up because the insurance company incurs more losses in this area... yeah, a city of 500k as opposed to san diego's 3 million...go figure... thats a huge rate increase for moving... watch it man, insurance companies are evil....very, very evil...

so it's illegal to base your rate on your zip code, it just isn't enforced...

JayhawkRoy · Jan 31, 2006

It is generally cheapest for you to be added to your parents' policy, as a 49% or less driver of a car, compared to having your own policy. The financial arrangement of reimbursement is between you and your parents. Go ahead and get my license even if you don't use it much, rather than wait a couple of years.

Quattro Pete · Jan 31, 2006

But if you cause an accident while on your parents' policy, your parents' (and yours) insurance rates will go up. And being a relatively inexperienced driver, your chances of getting into an accident are rather high.

Kestas · Jan 31, 2006

When I was in high school, it was pretty much an unwritten rule among my friends that you get into an accident within the first year or two of driving.... not that we tried!

97f150 · Jan 31, 2006

Even now that I turned 25, I didnt get a very nice insurance break... Supposedly if I get married, Ill save a lot of dough. My recoord has always been clean, no issues, but I certainly hoped Id get some more $$$ off as the years have passed. I dont know if its because I carry high levels of coverage or what.

JMH

quote:

When I was married and my wife and I combined our insurance, my rates went down by half. Cant wait till I am 25 to see what kind of reduction happens than.

kanling · Jan 31, 2006

quote:

Insurance is the #1 worst, most unfair, freely stereotyping, judgemental, etc., etc. entity that has existed.

LOL, you say that because you fit the "expensive" profile.

If insurance worked a different way, and you were a 45 year old married woman, then you would be saying the same thing.

If an insurance company has good experience with you, your rates will go down in time.

The only "fair" way for an insurance company to charge you is to install a camera and black box in your car so they can see directly how much you are likely to cost them. How many want that?

9296D21B14 · Jan 31, 2006

5+ months post Katrina/Rita has given me a whole new understanding about all types of insurance. I have had car (8 total) and HO coverage with Allstate for over ten years with only two very minor claims (hit a deer, limb fell on car while parked). Still no settlement on minor wind damage HO claim. Premium company? Try allstateinsurancesucks.com. You'll laugh and cry. Other big players are no better for the most part. The terms lowballed, stonewalled, and bad faith are now etched in my mind. Buyer beware. Rant over.

[ February 01, 2006, 11:47 AM: Message edited by: 9296D21B14 ]

uconn1150 · Jan 31, 2006

Ah the "golden" carrot. I started driving at 16 and was told at 21, 26, 30, (and married) my insurance would go down. NO wrecks, or tix, and I have yet to see it go down (even just liability).

kanling · Jan 31, 2006

There are states that don't require auto insurance?!?!

What are they? I'm staying away.

Not having insurance is only an option for people who have nothing to lose. And they are the ones I worry about because they don't care because they have nothing to lose. It's like a free pass for irresponsibilty. I wish they could give prison time for civil cases.

Quattro Pete · Jan 31, 2006

quote:

There are states that don't require auto insurance?!?!

What are they? I'm staying away.

http://info.insure.com/auto/minimum.html

quote:

Not having insurance is only an option for people who have nothing to lose. And they are the ones I worry about because they don't care because they have nothing to lose.

Some people just overextend themselves. They'll buy a nice car with their last dime and won't have anything leftover for insurance, maintenance, new tires, etc. Remember that thread last week about the guy who bought a Vette and had it stolen? He had no insurance.

kanling · Jan 31, 2006

So that table proves that ALL states require auto insurance. Good, what a relief. I don't know where Dan is getting his information... it did sound quite a bit unbelievable.

Liability insurance is what I'm concerned about. If you buy a Vette and don't have insurance against theft, that's your problem, not mine. If you hit me and destroy my car and put me out of work for a year... that's as much my problem as yours.

Quattro Pete · Feb 1, 2006

The table lists 4 states that do not require liability insurace (NH, SC, VA, WI), but if you opted to get it, there would be some limits (x/y/z) below which you couldn't go.

I'm just surprised about VA because I used to live there a few years back and I'm pretty sure I had to show proof of insurance when I went to DMV to register a car there.

quote:

Liability insurance is what I'm concerned about. If you buy a Vette and don't have insurance against theft, that's your problem, not mine. If you hit me and destroy my car and put me out of work for a year... that's as much my problem as yours.

There could also be a problem of insufficent liability insurance of the person that hits you. I mean, some of those states have their limits as low as $10K on property and $10K on injury. So, if you have a nice new car that gets totalled in the accident or have to spend some time in the hospital (we know how much medical bills can be), you're still out of luck, unless you have some "underinsured motorist" insurance on your own policy. Of course you can try to take them into court, but it's not a guaranteed nor perfect solution.

kanling · Feb 1, 2006

Oh, I missed that "No" in the column on those four states.

I used to live in VA a while back, too, and I don't recall that insurance was optional.

You would have to be crazy not to have liability insurance. Because, like you say, if you are underinsured for the damage (property and medical)... the injured party can come after your other assets in court and take everything you own.

It works fine for people with no assets, I guess. And yes, there is uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage to protect me from those people. (Isn't it nice of me to pay for insurance to protect me from someone who didn't bother to get enough on their own?)

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