Request for Auto Insurance Recommendations

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone.

I may be purchasing my company car after it goes off-lease. This, of course, means I have to insure it myself along with our current car, and I’ve been meaning to shop around for car insurance again anyways. I’m tempted to get quotes from everywhere, but as I understand it many of the car insurance companies pull “hard” inquiries on your credit report, which will hurt your credit. (Update: I’m not entirely sure about this. This link at Washington Mutual Insurance suggests something different. However, some people have had inquiries from car insurance companies show up on their credit report). So, I’m asking my readers to give me their personal advice and experiences. Which car insurance company do you have? Do you like it? Does it have a good multi-car discount? Which did you switch from? What website did you use to compare prices? Thanks!

I’m currently with State Farm, and I’m happy with them. I’ve had good experience with their claims department. However, if I can save hundreds of dollars a year… We are a late 20s male & female, good drivers with no accidents in 5 years. Anyways, here are a list of companies I’ve heard of, by no means all of them:

1. State Farm
2. Liberty Mutual
3. Geico
4. Progressive
5. Wawanesa
6. AllState
7. Farmer’s
8. Safeco
9. 21st Century
10. Costco/American Express

My Money Blog has partnered with CardRatings and may receive a commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on this site are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. MyMoneyBlog.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers. All opinions expressed are the author’s alone, and has not been provided nor approved by any of the companies mentioned.

MyMoneyBlog.com is also a member of the Amazon Associate Program, and if you click through to Amazon and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support.


User Generated Content Disclosure: Comments and/or responses are not provided or commissioned by any advertiser. Comments and/or responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser. It is not any advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

Comments

  1. We use Cotton States and have always had really, really good service and support. They use local agents, kinda like State Farm, but a little more cost effective IMHO.
    ncnblog

  2. i have heard AAA is good. (i don’t own a car) i heard state farm is good as well.

    also, raise your deductible to $1000 if you haven’t already. and try to not use it. (claims lead to higher rates over teh long term)

  3. I am in New Jersey where lots of insurance companies don’t offer online quotes.

    Only Gieco, offers me online insurance quote and they have fantastic web site. You can change various coverages and see how it affects your insurance cost. It’s all online and transparent. You have the option of getting e-Policy so that they won’t send you any papers! [I like that!] Till now, (thankfully), I haven’t had the need to process claim, so I can’t really say how good they are in that deparment.

    Also, I think you are unnecessarily worrying about credit hit. If you are going for loan/insurance and if different people query your credit history within timespan of few days (2 weeks?), it is counted as only one inquiry and not multiple inquiries.

    JD

  4. “Also, I think you are unnecessarily worrying about credit hit. If you are going for loan/insurance and if different people query your credit history within timespan of few days (2 weeks?), it is counted as only one inquiry and not multiple inquiries.”

    JD, do you have any other sources you could point me too to confirm this? If so, I’m going on an insurance spree 😉

    Also, this link states that “insurance company requests or “inquiries” are not considered by Insurance Bureau Scores and will not affect your score.” But what about your consumer credit score? Is it affected? Hmm..

  5. I use AAA. They are good, inexpensive, and, if you have the right agent (like I do), great on service.

  6. Hey there.

    My wife and I switched to Progressive about a year ago. The site was easy to use and they provided quotes from other carriers (just like the commercial).

    It was so low, I had to call to verify that it was covering both of us and both cars, which it did.

    Also, multiple credit hits during the same period are grouped as a single hit… or so I’ve heard.

  7. One more thing that was REALLY COOL, Progressive’s site is linked to DMV and car databases – so putting in the VIN brought up complete car info, and putting in my drivers license number brought up my personal info. All I had to do was select coverage, put in much checking account, and POW, we were covered.

    Don’t forget to explicity CANCEL your old policy. I thought it would just “run out”, but noooo, they get all pissy are charge cancelation fees, and try to prorate the policy. I had to call my agent and plead ignorance.

    -ws

  8. State Farm all the way. I have had State Farm for years, but I shop around occassionally. My fiance just switched from American Family to State Farm and saved about 50%. We are both mid-twenties, and have lots of speeding tickets in our past lives, many more that either of us cares to admit. As soon as we’re married, he’ll get another $15 discount per month from my multi-line discount (car, truck, house).

    When I was about 15, and my brother was 12, my parents received a letter from State Farm stating that they had been customers so long that State Farm would never, under any circumstances, drop them. My parents promptly put that letter in their safe deposit box, knowing they had two teen drivers coming up.

  9. blog reader says

    I once had a State Farm policy and they were really good when I filed a claim due to an accident. Of course my rates skyrocketed after I was found at fault, but they were very great when it came to repairing the other guys truck, covering the tow, etc. They were also fair when negotiating the value of my car after it was totalled. I stuck with them for 2 years after that until I checked Progressive who offered the same coverage with a much better premium. I suspect that they’re able to offer better rates because they don’t primarily work through bring-n-morter agents who require a piece of the action (sounds alot like internet banks). They also gave me a multi-car discount when I included my wife’s car to the policy. So far I have not made any claims, but I feel good knowing that I’m paying a good price for the coverage. I’ve been with them for 18 months now and definitely intend on renewing the policy when the time comes. Happy policy shopping, but make sure to do it all in a 14 day period so as to not have your credit score dinged too much.

  10. Geico.com… Just transfered from Allstate to Geico, and I’m saving almost $50/month and I have what they consider an SUV – 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee… Yes I have full coverage. The only deal was that I take it to a local inspector to assure that there was no prior damage… I own the Jeep – purchased it off lease from my employer…. To make matters worse I live in Vegas…

  11. I have Geico in NY which I really like – they make things very easy to do over the web and generally communicate well. I used their site to get information and compared it to what I was being offered from my then-current provider. The rate is very low and the customer service was brilliant about answering all of my questions before I had decided to opt-in.

  12. Thanks for all the comments y’all! I need to find out what coverage levels I need first and then go out and get me some quotes.

  13. Another vote for Geico. Being able to do everything online is a huge plus. I’ve got one accident on my record in the past 3 years (will be 3 years in October) and my rates did go up with that, as well as a rate jump when I bought a new vehicle. Somehow going from a 2-door Dodge Dakota to a 4-door Dodge Dakota put the vehicle in a different risk class.

    I shopped Liberty Mutual and whoever Chase Bank uses for other quotes and they came up double what I’ve been paying for Geico.

  14. Talk about a counter-opinion, but I have a vote for Allstate over Geico.

    My wife and I were with Geico for 3 years, when they started randomly increasing our premiums by about $50 every 6 months (no tickets or other behavior to justify the increase). And this was despite us having both auto and home through Geico (they use Traveler’s for home)

    I decided to get a quote for Allstate and I about fell out of my chair when they quoted a rate that was $250 cheaper for a 6-month premium. I jumped on it and moved everything to Allstate.

    I’ve also found their homeowner’s to be significantly cheaper (~$150 a year), unless you have a jewelery rider. Allstate quotes by the individual piece for that rider…and they can add up.

    Caveat: This is for a husband and wife in their early 30s with no accidents or tickets. I will say that Allstate is notorious for sending rates vertical if you start demonstrating risk or file a claim. If I ever got there…I’d definitely rethink my options.

  15. I have Geico as well — for Auto, Motorcycle (just switched from Progressive), and Home.

    I am going to get a quote from an independant insurance agent to see if I can do better, especially on the Motorcycle.

    My question to this group — has anyone filed a claim with Geico? I have heard that they are easy to deal with when they are taking your money — but more difficult than other agencies when doling it out.

    Also — go with the $1000 deductable.

    Thanks,

    Jake

  16. I am an agent for Farmers in Indianapolis.

    The credit check is a soft hit. It should not affect your credit in anyway.

    I don’t think Farmers is in New Jersey.

    State Farm is a great company IMO.

  17. I am an agent for Farmers in Indianapolis.

    The credit check is a soft hit. It should not affect your credit in anyway.

    I don’t think Farmers is in New Jersey.

    State Farm is a great company IMO.

  18. Just a comment on the credit history question – most insurance companies look at your credit, but it is a “soft inquiry” so it doesn’t show up on your credit report as an inquiry.

    I don’t think you can use credit as a rating variable in CA, so it probably doesn’t matter there anyway.

  19. I got a speeding ticket in Colorado, the state trooper said it would not affect my California DMV points only Colorado’s. Well that’s cool but guess what, Gieco checks nationally and I was hit. So remember Gieco checks your records in all states and will increase your rates if you have a speeding ticket anywhere in USA. Also received a letter from Gieco that they have checked my credit file and DMV records. Please note that I had a clean records for 35 years and got this ticket driving to Florida going 8 miles over the speed limit. It’s no wonder that there spokesman is a cold blooded reptile 😉

Speak Your Mind

*