Author Topic: KNOCKDOWN-DRAGOUT FIGHT WITH CAR INSURANCE COMPANY  (Read 199 times)

230RN

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KNOCKDOWN-DRAGOUT FIGHT WITH CAR INSURANCE COMPANY
« on: March 08, 2024, 06:32:46 PM »
KNOCKDOWN-DRAGOUT FIGHT WITH CAR INSURANCE COMPANY

(Colorado)

I'm really tired of paying for the carelessness of stupid drivers!

Me: No tickets or accident claims for 25+ years, driving since 1955 or so, presently drive less than 1000 miles per year. (I did have a towing claim once.)

Been hearing things about new rules on low-mileage, no-tickets or accidents, senior citizen car insurance, so decided to 'net the subject.

Guess what?  The first company that came up was my own, inviting me to apply to get a quote.

Did so, using all the exact information that my company already has including name, DOB, address, car, annual mileage, etc. down to the last jot and tittle.

Quote came back for less than 2/3 of what I am paying at present.

WTC?  (What The Coitus?)

So far I've spent over 2 1/2 hours on the phone (to be fair, this includes the "your call is important to us" hold messages) and the upshot, the representative suggested, was maybe that it was an introductory rate for new insurees.  She would pass it up to others and they would call me back.

So maybe a good ploy would be to try to get new introductory rates with a different company every year that one's insurance expires with the old company.

We'll see what they have to say, but Heysus Aitch Kreist, I'm sure as soft wet turds tired of paying for stupid and careless anal orifice drivers.

I'd almost like to see a regulation that if you have a your-fault accident over $TBD amount, your license is automatically suspended for TBD months per thousand dollars.

Almost.

Terry, 230RN

(Edited extensively to remove expletivish words and phrases.)


« Last Edit: March 08, 2024, 06:55:13 PM by 230RN »

Cliffh

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Re: KNOCKDOWN-DRAGOUT FIGHT WITH CAR INSURANCE COMPANY
« Reply #1 on: March 08, 2024, 07:21:20 PM »
I'm interested in hearing their response.

That's the rate you were quoted, they should honor it.

Our insurance has gone up by ~50% over the last few years.  With no claims in the last 6 years, not even a windshield crack.  And we've been with them for over 30 years.

Nick1911

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Re: KNOCKDOWN-DRAGOUT FIGHT WITH CAR INSURANCE COMPANY
« Reply #2 on: March 08, 2024, 07:34:00 PM »
Neither my auto nor home insurance has ever had to payout on my behalf.

However, I've found I have to switch insurance companies about every two years if I want competitive pricing.  The business model seems to rely on consumers not shopping around and just eating the yearly increases.

If you've had the same insurance company for more than a few years, go get some quotes.

Bogie

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Re: KNOCKDOWN-DRAGOUT FIGHT WITH CAR INSURANCE COMPANY
« Reply #3 on: March 08, 2024, 07:40:11 PM »
I am paying $65/month on liability only for the '95 3/4 ton van and the 2000 (actually, I think it is a 1999, according to trim level, which didn't exist in 2000, but the VIN says 2000) Hyundai Tiburon, which is basically the automotive equivalent of a crotch rocket... In St. Louis City... Granted, I only drive 4 miles to work...
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Hawkmoon

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Re: KNOCKDOWN-DRAGOUT FIGHT WITH CAR INSURANCE COMPANY
« Reply #4 on: March 08, 2024, 09:18:12 PM »
It's not just insurance companies.

Many, many years ago, the United States effectively had one telephone company: AT&T (a.k.a. "Ma Bell"). Ma Bell was a monopoly, albeit a regulated monopoly. Then, in its infinite wisdom, the gummint deregulated telephone service and broke up AT&T. My father had spent his entire working life with an affiliate of AT&T so after the break-up I stayed on with AT&T, but my then lady friend jumped ship for lower rates (and worse service) from one of the start-ups.

A couple of years later, she mentioned that she had received an offer from AT&T to switch back -- for considerably less than what I was paying per month for the same plan. So I called AT&T, and I was informed that the lower price was only available to new subscribers.

So Ma Bell rewarded the people who had bailed out by offering lower rates to win them back, while "rewarding" loyal customers by gouging them. Get used to it (if you haven't already done so). It's the American way. Corporations expect us to be loyal to them, but they feel no loyalty toward us.
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230RN

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Re: KNOCKDOWN-DRAGOUT FIGHT WITH CAR INSURANCE COMPANY
« Reply #5 on: March 08, 2024, 11:17:07 PM »
You guys are just making me madder.  It may take a couple of days to get a straight answer out of them but I'm willing to wait.  I quit paying the whole year in advance this year so I had them take it out of my checking automatically because I was thinking of switching insurors anyway.

Come to find out that if I get a bill and write a check and mail it in every month, no problem.  But if I have autopay, they charge me for their "inconvenience"! What balls!  And yet they still mail me a thank you every month anyway, so there's no difference in printing and mailing statements for them even with their terrifically "inconvenient" for them (!)  autopay option.

Snarl.
« Last Edit: March 09, 2024, 04:36:53 AM by 230RN »

HankB

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Re: KNOCKDOWN-DRAGOUT FIGHT WITH CAR INSURANCE COMPANY
« Reply #6 on: March 09, 2024, 09:29:25 AM »
My family had State Farm insurance - home & auto - from the time I was a youngster. About 12 or 13 years ago they jacked up my rates by over 30% in one year - and I'd had NO claims or traffic offenses. So I started looking around and switched to MetLife, saving at least 40% - for the same OR BETTER coverage. (I went over both policies line-by-line.) In 2015 I had a substantial claim for a hail-damaged roof, and MetLife paid it with no problem. My premiums DIDN'T skyrocket either, subsequent annual increases were generally in line with inflation.

A couple of years ago, MetLife sold their home & auto business to Farmer's Insurance. I kept the same policy, but in the next year it crept up a little, and then more the following year. Last year they nearly DOUBLED my premium! Even my agent was aghast - she agreed that it was a deliberate action by Farmer's to shed former MetLife customers who'd had the (very good) "Grand Protect" insurance plan MetLife had offered. So I looked around, and now I have equal or better coverage from AAA (the auto club) for less than Farmer's was charging me BEFORE their recent near-doubling of premiums. So far, so good.

. . . The business model seems to rely on consumers not shopping around and just eating the yearly increases . . .
Quite correct. Inertia is a powerful force, since change means effort. I have some bank CDs, and when they mature, I ALWAYS shop around. I've told more than one banker that they originally got my money because they offered a competitive rate, and if they offer a competitive rate in the future, they're likely to regain me as a customer. Even the branch manager understood that.

It's not just insurance companies . . . Corporations expect us to be loyal to them, but they feel no loyalty toward us.
QFT. This sentiment applies to employees as well as customers.
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K Frame

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Re: KNOCKDOWN-DRAGOUT FIGHT WITH CAR INSURANCE COMPANY
« Reply #7 on: March 09, 2024, 10:30:31 AM »
I shop around every couple of years.

I was happy with Erie for car insurance for many years, but around 2015-2016 they started really jacking up my rates even though I had never had a claim.

So, I shopped around and went with Geico. That shop around was a real eye opener for rates. I specced out the exact same coverage for each carrier. Some of the most expensive? They were the ones on TV claiming that they could save me the most money.

Geico has also been raising rates, it's now $103 and change a month, when I started out it was about $62 a month, but in the past couple of years everyone's rates have been going up because of the dramatic spike in car prices and associated costs during COVID.

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K Frame

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Re: KNOCKDOWN-DRAGOUT FIGHT WITH CAR INSURANCE COMPANY
« Reply #8 on: March 09, 2024, 10:37:51 AM »
OK, this is the thread from 2016: https://armedpolitesociety.com/index.php?topic=51303.msg1045752#msg1045752

I was paying less with Geico back then than I remembered.
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K Frame

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Re: KNOCKDOWN-DRAGOUT FIGHT WITH CAR INSURANCE COMPANY
« Reply #9 on: March 09, 2024, 10:48:26 AM »
Just got a quote for $110 a year for a $1 million umbrella policy from Geico.

Going to pull the trigger on that. I never did before.
Carbon Monoxide, sucking the life out of idiots, 'tards, and fools since man tamed fire.