Insurance Companies

It’s marketing, but the rates are not always 100% accurate. Just for fun, I put my car into progressive to see what they would give for competitor’s quotes. My company was one on there and it was $400/ 6 mo. higher than I actually pay! I don’t think it included any discounts. Anyway, point is don’t trust’em, the best way to get a quote is contact an agent and let them create a quote for you.

I understand that a 2nd violation within 18 months appears on your public record. I was told that even though after taking 12 hour traffic school and my violation appearing as a dismissal….insurance companies can still legally raise my rates.

Then I see people refer to a CA law that states that even if a violation appears on a public record, if there is a dismissal insurance companies cannot legally raise your rates.

Sorry the violation doesn’t actually disappear it goes into limbo. Nothing changes the fact it happened, the traffic school erases the points from the DMV records, but insurance companies have their own point system. Whether or not the insurance company raises your rates depends totally on the points they rate the original offence on their scale.
It is also highly dependent on how many years you have accumulated accident and conviction free on your record before the offence.

I understand that insurance companies use credit scores for this purpose, but I have been unable to get them to tell me which credit scores result in a specific numeric rating. Since the price of my insurance policy is tied to this information, I believe this information should be made available to consumers.

Some insurance companies have their own credit scoring models while others base theirs off your FICO score. Many companies consider their actual rating models to be proprietary although they do have to disclose a large amount to state regulators in order to get their rates approved and to demonstrate that their credit-scoring method is not discriminatory.

If you call your insurance company and they use credit, in part or in full, to determine your premiu, in all states (I believe) you are entitled to a copy of the company’s decision and what it was based on. For example, this decision might look like this:

* Your credit score was lowered because you had too many accounts opened
* Your credit score was raised because you have no accounts in default
* … [you get the picture]

In auto insurance you will find that the big guys like GEICO, Progressive, and Allstate will be only too happy to provide you with this information. As you move down the food chain to smaller and smaller companies though the chances are that they don’t have it or don’t use credit. Building a credit model is expensive (think millions of dollars) so not every company uses credit.

I am looking to buy a new car. It is a 2005 Pontiac Sunfire. I live in Wisconsin, am 29, and have an excellent driving record. I need full coverage, and called my insurance agent (Progressive- which I’ve been with for over 12 years) and they said, for an average, about $500 every 6 months. Is this a little high or is this about average. Are there any other car insurance companies that might offer better rates?

if it was me I’d call 10 insurers before accepting the one quote, sometimes more than that. Let’s say I’ll spend the whole of TWO hours calling around and it is always well worth it.

Please help me! What Insurance companies have the cheapest insurance. ( male )

There are many factors involved in rating auto insurance. In my area, Nationwide is one of the cheapest, but they are not the cheapest everywhere. Don’t be afraid to get out the phone book and call some agents in your area to see which company has the best rates for you.

Amazing. Obama cuts deals with the insurance companies but the kool aid drinkers blame the Republicans.

Highest to lowest would be a good way to list them for me.

Actually the primary factor an insurance company rates on is your driving record and years experience. The secondary factor is annual mileage that you put on the car in a year and your zip code. The 3rd factor is the year,make, model and body style of your vehicle.

If I were you I would get a list of cars you want and have your agent send you the rates in writing so you can compare.

I know Massachussetts and Pennsylvania are among them.
What are the other states that have this policy?

Hi,

If you are looking for the best auto insurance, check out this site

http://best-auto-insurance-usa.info/

Here you can compare auto insurance quotes from all companies in your area. It’s free and fast.

Hope this help,

I’m insured through state farm and I anticipate having 2 points placed on my license on Thursday (traffic court date). Do insurance companies generally raise rates for 2-point speeding offenses or should I expect this to not be a problem? (I reside in the state of GA)

Depends on the State Farm. Some companies raise rates for this, some don’t

Due to an illness/ disability in our family, despite having health insurance, we still owe thousands in medical bills. Those that would not work with us turned them into collection. They now show on our credit report.

Despite being insured for both our auto insurance and our home insurance for 20+ year with the same insurance company, we got a notice saying our auto insurance had gone up hundreds of dollars per year based on a credit report they obtained. We have never had an accident, ticket, etc. and the amount automatically comes out of our checking each month. Plus, last year, prior to this, they switched us to a preferred group within the company and gave us a discount when we threatened to switch.

How can I find out which insurance companies base your insurance rates on your credit report and or score? Will they tell you outright? This is the first I have ever known that our company did this and was wondering if all of them do it, or do you just know about it when you get a notice like we did?

I get their reasoning but it seems like such a rip off when so many are in our boat- insured but with insurance that is starting to pay less and less and cost more. Plus, they have our checking account and if we were not to pay, they wouldn’t be responsible for us if we had an accident anyway. Seems like a double whammy to me. Can anyone help?
I am in the state of Indiana. Previously they switched us to a preferred group by sending us a letter saying we qualified and the new lower rates. We went in and signed up and the new rates went into effect at renewal..until this latest renewal when they went even higher than our original rate they lowered.
Sorry ED, but American Family is who we have had for all these years and who is doing this credit report thing.

Allstate or American Family are the most likely to ignore the credit (i don’t work for them)..