Auto Insurance, Renewal next month

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Hello folks,

I have been with Erie for 3 years now. The auto policy renewal is next month. Although I don't have much to complain abt Erie, I make sure to get quotes from other providers before renewal.

I wonder what criteria fellow users use while choosing the insurance company, other than the premium cost. Plus, who do you insure with and if you are happy with the cost and service?

Thanks in advance.
 
GEICO. They have paid the few claims I submitted. Even two marginal ones 1) rear glass for pickup cap 2) Jeep hatchback glass when defrost broke, glass had not broken.
 
I priced amica and the same coverage was $400 a year more expensive than progressive...
But wait they give you $50 back a year of your own money....

Like whole life insurance but for cars...

I pay $800 a year for 2 cars, 1 full coverage and 1 liability
 
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When I've shopped around, I went to my state (CA) department of insurance. They kept tabs on what they called a "justifiable complaint" per 100,000 customers (lower is better), and they had a list of dozens of insurance providers, ranked according to that metric. Perhaps there is something similar in your state?

My auto is through mercury. They were much cheaper than the previous provider. In fact, I get my car and home insurance for the same cost as Farmers was giving me car insurance alone--same coverage, same drivers. I've never had a real claim on Mercury, although every 9-12 months I need towing, and I get the reimbursement check within a week of emailing the form to them. So I'm happy enough with them.


Originally Posted By: MoneyJohn
Hello folks,

I have been with Erie for 3 years now. The auto policy renewal is next month. Although I don't have much to complain abt Erie, I make sure to get quotes from other providers before renewal.

I wonder what criteria fellow users use while choosing the insurance company, other than the premium cost. Plus, who do you insure with and if you are happy with the cost and service?

Thanks in advance.
 
I insure with Auto Owners via a local independent rep and pay about $700/yr for 3 vehicles. The Aviator is full coverage and 79 truck and 00 Honda are liability.

I would suggest finding a local guy and chatting him up to find who's the best deal. He can find you an A rated or better yet, an A+ rated underwriter for a competitive rate.
 
All you can do is call and email around for quotes. NY rates are going to be higher than some of the quotes I see posted in this thread. I'm with Allstate currently and pay about 1100/yr for the vehicles in my sig. The frustrating thing is, when I switched from Peerless a few years ago, 1-800 Allstate gave me a much higher quote than my local agent did.
 
I use an independent agent who shops around my coverage every year, or more frequently if I request. It really takes the work out of it for me. I would post her name and number but I think it would run afowl of board rules (they are not a paid sponsor of BITOG)

Right now, I'm using Mercury also because it was the least for this renewal cycle.
 
$700 a year???? I can only dream of that. Loozyana has the worst rates in the whole country, apparently. Even the cheapies like GoAuto can't beat AAA, and a lot of the companies that advertise here don't operate here, like General (you know, "Go to The General and save some time"?).

ETA: I checked with Mercury. They diverted me to Allstate, who quoted me about $10 or $20 a month more than I'm paying now. Yeah, no.
 
Originally Posted By: MoneyJohn
Hello folks,

I have been with Erie for 3 years now. The auto policy renewal is next month. Although I don't have much to complain abt Erie, I make sure to get quotes from other providers before renewal.

I wonder what criteria fellow users use while choosing the insurance company, other than the premium cost. Plus, who do you insure with and if you are happy with the cost and service?

Thanks in advance.



I quote every 2 years with major regional insurance providers. I also quote auto and home as a unit, because a plethora of discounts are commingled between the two.

Your situation in NY may be different, but I have been with Erie for 24 years and have been unable to beat them by any appreciable amount. Through my College Alumni Association, I was once given a quote through Liberty Mutual that would beat my Erie quote by fifty dollars a year. Besides the fact that that is such a trivial amount spread out over both home and auto combined, when I talked with several that made the move any savings were more than negated at renewal time. I am very suspect of those who ask who my insurance provider is, as it makes it very simple to come back 50-75 dollars cheaper and then go for the recoup upon renewal.

I have found several providers that can save a few dollars on the home but are several hundred higher on the auto. If I go with separate providers, it results in an overall hike in premium, because I lose the discounts. I have been impressed with Erie and their service, including a 7 year ordeal where my wife was sued as the result of a car accident. Even though the suit was proven frivolous, not only did our rates not increase during that period, they actually went down.

To me, they are the low key crown jewel of insurance companies.
 
Liberty Mutual has been the cheapest for me, I have full coverage on the cars in my sig besides the Audi, which I sold. runs about 230 a month for full with $1000 deductibles. The M is really what drove it up, when I had the Audi on there instead of the M it was about 600 less a year.
 
I've been with Erie for 40+ years. When one of my kids had a wreck at 16 we were sued for a lot of money. Erie went through arbitration and paid the claim. I was sure Erie would cut us off the next year but they kept us and our premium actually went down the next year. I will stick with them as long as I have insurance. I never check prices as they have been so good to me with claims. I won't be specific as I don't want to jeopardize my relationship with them but I can't imagine being treated better by another company. You may say, "Of course, you can say that. You've never been with another insurance company." That would be an accurate statement but when a company gives you more than you expect you deserve, why change?
 
I use a independent agent and price it out every 2 years. He gave me quotes and nationwide was the cheapest, this is my second year with them. $1150/year for three vehicles with 250k/500k limits and $500 deductibles, full on the F-150 and Focus(highest), liability on the Taurus.
 
Thank you, everyone, for the comments.

Erie is charging me ~$2400 per year for Bodily injury $250K/$500K per accident and $100K per accident property damage. I think that is a reasonable amount for where I live. Our deductible this year will be $300 ($100 off each year for no claim.) Do you guys think this much coverage is too much? We are not aggressive drivers and always drive defensively. I have not checked how much it will cost me for $100K/$300K/$100K but this year, I am trying to reduce the cost of insurance a bit.
 
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I had Erie years ago fresh out of college. Then kept them for years afterwards. Never filed a claim with them and I liked how friendly they were and easy to deal with. I moved out of their coverage area and went with Allstate. Nothing bad to say about Erie and they rank very high in a recent Consumers Report issue on auto insurers.
 
Originally Posted By: Tdbo
Originally Posted By: MoneyJohn
Hello folks,

I have been with Erie for 3 years now. The auto policy renewal is next month. Although I don't have much to complain abt Erie, I make sure to get quotes from other providers before renewal.

I wonder what criteria fellow users use while choosing the insurance company, other than the premium cost. Plus, who do you insure with and if you are happy with the cost and service?

Thanks in advance.



I quote every 2 years with major regional insurance providers. I also quote auto and home as a unit, because a plethora of discounts are commingled between the two.

Your situation in NY may be different, but I have been with Erie for 24 years and have been unable to beat them by any appreciable amount. Through my College Alumni Association, I was once given a quote through Liberty Mutual that would beat my Erie quote by fifty dollars a year. Besides the fact that that is such a trivial amount spread out over both home and auto combined, when I talked with several that made the move any savings were more than negated at renewal time. I am very suspect of those who ask who my insurance provider is, as it makes it very simple to come back 50-75 dollars cheaper and then go for the recoup upon renewal.

I have found several providers that can save a few dollars on the home but are several hundred higher on the auto. If I go with separate providers, it results in an overall hike in premium, because I lose the discounts. I have been impressed with Erie and their service, including a 7 year ordeal where my wife was sued as the result of a car accident. Even though the suit was proven frivolous, not only did our rates not increase during that period, they actually went down.

To me, they are the low key crown jewel of insurance companies.


+1000 have been with Erie for 30 years, great rates, great customer service, can't think of a thing bad to say about them.
 
I have been with Erie well over 15 years now. I searched again this year and Erie was still the lowest for me when I combine Auto, Ho and Liability. Some had cheaper auto but the HO was much higher etc. Overall erie was the lowest and unlike many majors they do not cancel you after an accident etc. After so many years now I have lifetime accident forgiveness at no additional cost. Also, most people do not realize that most ins companies define replacement cost for HO ins as a percentage of the replacement value that is assigned when the policy is renewed. If you exceed that percentage you are out of luck, Erie is different, if they agree on the replacement cost and your actual is way over they still pay, most people do not read the terms or fine print on these policies.

Anyway, Erie is also picky in who they will insure so it depends on everyones individual situation. One does have to shop around and see what is best. Lowest price, though a major factor is not always the best way to go. You also need an agent that will go to bat for you should the need arise. Online companies etc may not provide any help when it comes to a claim.


If you want to reduce the cost of insurance then look at deductibles, this can have a significant bearing on cost. Do you need catastrophic coverage and can afford a higher ded or do you need that low ded because you have no cash in the event of an accident.
 
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