Inspired by reader experiences, I set aside an hour today to obtain auto insurance quotes from the major providers in my area. Insurance companies provide different quotes for “new customers” and “renewals”. Guess which one is usually lower? Also, many insurers choose to focus on specific types of customers such young, high-risk, or low-risk. Finally, I’ve also moved around a lot so I’ve noticed that my quotes change significantly based on where I live. The bottom line is that insurance prices vary for a lot of different reasons, and the only way to know which one is cheapest for you is to compare quotes directly.
It will help to gather the following information first:
- Personal information. Full name, birthdate, occupation, education level, accident history. None required Social Security Number, but others might.
- Car information. Many pull this from DMV records automatically. Year, model, date of purchase, own/lease/finance, and security system details.
- Driving patterns. Is the car primarily used for work/commute/pleasure? How many miles driver per year?
- Insurance details. Have your current bill handy to know your specific coverages, limits, and deductibles.
The Results!
The totals shown are 6-month premiums for two cars and include liability, personal injury, collision, and comprehensive coverage. Exact same limits and deductibles for all insurers.
- State Farm (existing) – $665 per 6-month period. This includes various discounts like accident-free, multiple-cars, etc.
- GEICO – $479. The cheapest quote by far, beating State Farm by $186 per 6 months, or $372 a year. This follows anecdotal evidence that GEICO is pricing their insurance very aggressively for new customers.
- Allstate – $693. Slightly more expensive than State Farm. I noticed that they have a lot of optional “bells and whistles” features like accident forgiveness. They also offer a discount for electronic bills and auto-pay from bank account. The price shown includes these discounts.
- Progressive – $849. Way higher than State Farm. Their claim to also provide quotes from other car insurance companies was also very disappointing. They couldn’t provide any other quotes at all. After changing my existing insurer, they said State Farm’s rate would be between $696 – $5,922. Not helpful.
- Liberty Mutual – $568. Cheaper than State Farm by $194 a year. Not bad but higher than GEICO for me.
- USAA – ???. I tried as I’ve heard good things about USAA, but I do not have the proper military affiliation to be eligible for their car insurance.
$372 a year is pretty significant. I’m definitely intrigued by this cheap GEICO quote, but I have to do some more research as I also have homeowner’s and umbrella insurance from State Farm and I’m not sure how the total package price would differ.
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In my case I had GEICO for AUTO (~1000/yr) and a different company for Home Insurance ($1400/yr). By switching to AARP Hartford I saved about $50 on Auto but $400 on Home Insurance.
Hi
I m doing same homeWork now. Geico does not has its own home insurance. That is not convenient.
Did you try AAA insurance and Ameriprise ?
I’ve been with Geico for car insurance for the past three years and I agree that their rates have been significantly cheaper than anybody else I’ve come across. I buy the full 6 months up front which saves a bit as opposed to the monthly payment. This means that around twice a year I go through a bunch of other big insurers and haven’t ever found anything near the same price.
It does concern me slightly that in paying so much less for insurance I might be paying for an inferior product, but the reviews for Geico don’t seem to be any worse than the other major providers. One thing I have read is that if you have an accident or make a claim with them, the premium shoots way up, more than for others. So, perhaps that’s one way that the costs are balanced. For now, and as long as I have an accident-free history, I intend to stay with Geico for as long as their rates are competitive.
Inferior product? I do see your point if something were to happen you would be fully covered but have you thought about how much more money you have to put out years after years if you never had any accidents?
You are paying an arm and leg for a product that you might never need.
I was accident and violation free for 2 years with Statefarm and they still increased my premium! so I said bye-bye
“You are paying an arm and leg for a product that you might never need.” … a.k.a. insurance. If you don’t need it at all, the product is working.
I would recommend checking out Esurance and, if you’re in California or Oregon, Wawanesa. They have some of the lowest rates, in my experience.
Esurance is great and they are owned by Allstate. Allstate is really the Cadillac of policies but it does come with more bells and whistles which is nice. With other companies always read the fine print.
When a geico person hits another geico person, it can be a nightmare…
They just blatantly said 50-50 fault because no difference in payment for them even though the guy at the back hit me.
but then again, that was 12 years ago….maybe they are better now.
This is actually not a good Idea for Geico to do. First of all, if it is determined to be 50/50, no party is penalized for the accident since you have to be 51% or higher to be considered at fault. It is in their best interest to assigned fault correctly so they can charge the additional premium for the accident point to the responsible party. Having it 50/50 will not increase premiums for any of the parties.
Not exactly correct. Negligence laws vary from state to state. I would suggest doing some reading on them before spreading ignorance like this. If the person lives somewhere like Missouri, which is Pure Comparative, each side can only collect the portion that they did not contribute, so each party would be entitled to 50% of the payout.
Might I suggest you also get a quote from AIG. I got a policy from them a couple of years back that was half my existing policy. They seem to be very select in who they invite to be insured and only take good drivers. They dropped me after 2 years after the wife had an accident.
But half the next nearest quote!!! Same coverage!
It is not what you pay for the insurance, it is more when you need it. I have StateFarm as well and pay pretty good amount for that (being near NYC). I am more worried about what xmasy and Paul Redman said. DW had an accident and State Farm did not give any troubles. That peace of mind is more useful to me than saving few bucks.
Don’t forget the Hartford.
Check Amica, they are often the cheapest unless you can get USAA. Also they have great service.
Hey ya’ll don’t forget that if you have PENFED you get an additional 8% discount! I haven’t tried it yet, but I did get confirmation from CSR about that.
I got an auto quote from Safeco in January that was was 25-30% better then my State Farm rate, and then got even lower once I also got homeowners with them. I highly recommend bundling both with whatever company you buy from.
Recently, I was in similar situation, and ended-up buying auto insurance through COSTCO (Ameriprise)which provided better benefit-to-cost ratio. To my surprise, they automatically lowered my premiums by the first renewal.
I’ve had good luck with Geico over the last 5 years in IL. The only place I found slightly cheaper premiums was Liberty Mutual. In IL Geico acts as an agent for home owner policies with Liberty Mutual so I still get the multi-line discount like you would get with state farm. My parents recently switched as well.
I’m not sure if all the insurance companies do this but Geico’s free glass repair coverage has been a great feature after getting our windshield cracked 3 times. It’s been good for me but I’m sure a lot of it depends on your state.
Consider asking for quotes from an independent agent. Auto insurance is the one you are most likely to use, but home insurance is protecting more of your assets. Knowing (estimating from reading reviews) how easy/hard the claim will be is important.
Also consider, do you live in a part of the country with strong storms (wind and/or hail)? Travelers insurance gave me a new roof; that’s $10k in loyalty that they have from me now.
Have you checked out the Snapshot discount from Progressive? I save 30% on my policy by having had their device in there for 6 months. I believe now they will let you ‘test drive’ it so you can see what your discount would be without actually getting coverage.
Also it is important to make sure that the coverage you need is actually the coverage you are getting. I have my renter’s insurance with State Farm but I can’t have my auto insurance because I carry gap insurance on my car while I have a loan. State Farm only offers that coverage if your auto loan is through state farm bank. Progressive however wanted twice as much for my renter’s insurance.
I found that Safeco is by far the least expensive. I’m paying $529 a year ($100K/$300k/$50K) for a 2013 Honda Civic in Connecticut. That includes discount for homeowners insurance as well.
We get our insurance through AAA. They were the cheapest when I set it up years ago but I need to get new quotes like you’ve done.
When I do I will definitely have them quote auto as well as homeowners and probably term life (could use a bit more than I have). Historically I’ve found State Farm gives better multi-line discounts so maybe they will be cheaper for the bundle than just for a single product like auto.
I did auto insurance shopping over a year ago and I found it really goes by a case by case bases. some might find Geico the cheapest while in my case it wasn’t. I find the state and area you live in have a major impact. Jonathan and fellow bloggers what I would like to know is how much bodily and property damage coverage you carry? I carry 1,000,000 body and 500,000 property. I know it will differ depending on how much assets you have but i am looking more towards average people with a decent amount of assets.
It is good information for those who only requires Auto. It would be nice to see all three quotes compared together i.e. Auto, House and Umbrella.
Can you say what general area (city & state) you’re in? In my experience from moving around, the cheapest insurance varies wildly by state. For example the last state I was in GEICO was the cheapest at under $300 for 6 months but shot up to >$800 when I moved. Progressive then became the cheapest at ~$400 for 6 months. Also is esurance a thing? It’s never available anywhere I’ve ever lived.
My experience was very similar to George above. AARP/Hartford saved me about 15% on auto and maybe 35% on homeowners.
I do not trust Progressive, too many friends of mine have had accidents and trouble getting through the claims process. I had Amica for renters insurance before and they were wonderful, I’ve heard the same about their car insurance.
According to Consumer Reports USAA is the highest rated insurer, if you qualify for coverage with them. I do not unfortunately, so am sticking with State Farm. I’ve always had pretty good response from them after accidents. I also have an old policy I couldn’t replace elsewhere if I switched.
I used Melo Insurance (meloinsurance . com) and they did all the quote research for multiple insurances. I didn’t have to do anything [which is great!]…they handled all the paperwork and made such a smooth transition.
I was a long-term Liberty Mutual Customer and saved a lot of money by using Melo to switch to Met Life.
I have had amica for 5 years and their rates have been pretty competitive. And good claims experience. I am in Texas.
I’m in the same boat and find that Geico quotes are $300+/yr cheaper than my current State Farm Auto as well. HOWEVER, I found that losing my multi-line discount with State Farm would cause my homeowners w/them to jump enough to eat up most of that savings. So just switch homeowners too? That’s the problem, every homeowner quote I get including Geico’s partner is usually $300 more than I pay now with State Farm. So there is just no point in switching Auto.
@Shannon – You’ve got it right. Go with an independent insurance agent in your area. Obviously you’re in Tennessee where Melo is located. We use Salzberg in our area of Virginia. Same type of deal though and we are way, way happier than we ever were in the past when dealing with some national corporate outfit.
@Jonathan – I’m actually very surprised that you didn’t investigate independent agents as part of this. Maybe a follow-up post? Independent insurance agents exist for many of the same reasons that independent financial advisors do.
Ouch, I just got a quote from Geico after reading this (I have State Farm insurance as well). For two cars (one very crappy), I was quote a little over $2,000/yr. *sign* i did have an accident nearly 3 years ago but it was just fender bender. Can’t wait for this to be off my record!
Has anyone else have Allied Insurance (Nationwide) for their auto insurance? I am thinking about combining the auto insurance with my home owner’s insurance at Allied…maybe that mutil-policy discount might help.
I recently purchased auto insurance and also called most of the insurance carriers listed in the post. I found Geico to be the cheapest as well based on just the quoted number. However, when you peel back the onion and see what limits Geico quotes, it often is close to the minimum levels mandated by the state whereas I felt other carriers will quote higher limits. We wanted a bit higher limits than the minimums required by the state so State Farm actually turned out to be cheaper than Geico for a an “apple to apples” comparison.
@mymoneyblog Will you be posting a similar analysis for homeowner’s insurance and umbrella policy? If so, that would be awesome!
Avoid Progressive – I had an extremely negative experience getting through a claim with them, ended up in litigation. I had Country Financial for a while but their rates started creeping up each renewal. Currently with MetLife, their rate is competitive.
Shannon & Scott mentioned using independent insurance agent. Does anyone know of a good agent in MA/NH/RI area ?
As the OP (on another MMB item) who sent Jonathan down this rabbit hole, two things are very important to keep in mind as one comparison shops. The first is “YMMV”. Driving records, demographics, geography, credit rating all make it very difficult to extrapolate one person’s bargain-hunting results to our own situation. The second is that rate shopping is a point-in-time exercise. ABC company may be the bargain choice today, but one claim later or one catastrophe in your part of the country later (e.g., hurricane) and your carrier’s rate schedule may change wildly at renewal time.
That said, two responses to posts above…GEICO does offer a multi-line discount if you purchase homeowners through one of its two partners (Liberty Mutual, in my half of the U.S.). You get the discount as soon as you sign up for the second policy, just ask the phone rep with the homeowner’s carrier. Secondly, expanding NM’s mention above, GEICO offers 5-10% discounts to members of select credit unions and other membership organizations, including many fraternities and sororities (college grads are better risks) PLUS they pay a small bounty to the organization when you buy. You’ll find the list on the online application form.
And finally, (I’m the OP, so I get to ramble!) I’m already going through a hail claim with my new best friends at GEICO and it’s going better than I feared. The estimate process was efficient (mostly online but for the inspection) and when the body shop found more damage, an adjuster came to the shop 3 days later and authorized 77% more money for the extra work. She called me with the news literally from the body shop lobby, so the promptness and communication was excellent.
I had Geico for a very long time. I met with an accident. On the highway piece of wood from a lawn maint vehicle came and hit my car. At a high speed, the wooden piece hit on the highway and then hit my car. When I said that they termed that as an at-fault accident and premium went up during the next renewal. 6 months later, when I was shopping for insurance my agent asked me to get the report from Geico and it clearly said that it is a not-at-fault accident. I was quite disappointed. I had high regards for Geico, Warren Buffet company. I had high regards on Geico on how they treated me during the accident. But the way they did this, I am not going back to Geico, as I felt cheated. This is rare but a point to consider. I am with Encompass now and so far it is good.
You may not be at fault for something and rates can still go up. It’s also worth noting that most companies are increasing rates due to weather, etc… Imagine if you have a weather-related incident at your home, and hail damages the roof… If you file a claim and the company pays out, you may not have done anything wrong, but the rates are still going to increase…
If you’re used to doing your insurance though an agent relationship (i.e. having someone you can email personally or call on their cell phone), you might prefer to go with Liberty Mutual over Geico.
Check Amica. Good rates as someone also mentioned above (unless you can get the better USAA if you are military). One other thing to seriously consider when selecting a plan is how they will be to deal with when you get into an accident. Sure a $100-$200 might sound great, but when you need to get your car repaired so you can get back to work, and it takes you 1-2 weeks to get paid (and if you need the money) then you are really screwed b/c you’ll miss work also.
I’ve been told that while GEICO (and Progressive and Commerce) have good prices, it’s like pulling teeth to process a claim with them. I had Liberty Mutual for years and while I’ve often found them to be high priced, they are FAST to get your claimed resolved so you can get one with your life.
I was suckered in by Geico’s low quote for new users. Once my first year was over, they hiked it up to match what others were quoting me. They figure that you won’t go through the hassle of switching just in spite. But I did!!!
I agree that you should always use an independent agent. Agents that represent only one company cannot compare and shop for you. I am in Illinois and use Erie. Well respected with JD powers, Erie is a regional carrier. Erie was 1000.00 less annually than Allstate per year for a 2 car quote. Their car policy has a rate lock available, and if you don’t get a ticket, accident or change cars, your premiums are locked in as long as you don’t change.
I’ve had State Farm for many years. My daughter totaled a leased car 8 years ago and I got equity back. They even paid for the state sales tax that would be required to replace the car. Last year I was rear-ended by another State Farm insured. My wife suffered some soft tissue injuries. They were very easy to deal with and gave a quick and fair settlement. I won’t be looking elsewhere for quotes.
Here is Southern California, Wawanesa can’t be beat. I have had them since 1995. If you have a perfect driving record this is the company to go with.
I had Geico and recently switch to Progressive, the service I received from Geico was terrible and even if Progressive is a little more I’m more than happy to pay the difference. Personally, I would recommend against Geico, however that is a decision everyone needs to make for themselves, just expect a hard time when making a claim and how they handle claims.
I gave Geico. GEICO offers Mechanical Breakdown Insurance (MBI) if a new car is insured before it hits certain mileage. It says it is like extended warranty up to 72 months or 100K miles.
Does anyone have any experience using Geico MBI? Is it worth it?
I had my car insured 3 years back and am also out of manufacturer warranty now. Statefarm is offering $400 per year. Tempting to switch, at the same time MBI is tempting to stay with GEICO. Any suggestions?
We have had Liberty Mutual for several years and been really happy with them. I’ve had to call a few times for claims and everyone was very nice and professional. We have them for auto and home.
Re: MBI, my take is that if it’s NPV-positive for them to sell it to you then it’s NPV-negative for you to buy it. Insurance that’s not for catastrophic events is generally a rip-off, IMO.
I got a quote through AAA and switched from StateFarm effective 7/25 upon finding out that moving auto for two cars, homeowners, and umbrella I would save $2714.32 per year. The quote I got from my AAA agent for the year for both cars was less than the 6 month quote for my 2013 Jetta. I told my agent when canceling that it was purely a financial decision, my claims experience had been very good but wasn’t worth almost $3000 for the 3 times I have needed to contact them over the 5.5 years we were with them.
I carried Geico for several years because it was the cheapest option but when it finally came time to file a claim (the only one in a decade) they basically told me I was lying about the severe hail damage to my car and rejected the claim. I ended up bundling my auto insurance with my home owner’s insurance through American Family…it costs a bit more but I think in this case you get what you pay for.
I just did some comparison shopping as well in the Phoenix, AZ area. GEICO was charging $273 for the same coverage I was paying $619 with State Farm. Needless to say, I switched right over.
I am no expert on insurance but I remember the agents telling me something about your rates are also determined by where you live. I would like to see how these rates would change if you changed your address.
I have progessive with the snapshot and nobody has come within $200 of the price i pay for a 6 month term.
I enjoy reading your blog.
If you live in NJ/PA, NJM (NJ Manufacturer’s) is by far the best. It is hard to qualify and you should have had no incidents for at least 3 years. At the end of each year, you can get several hundered dollars in dividends and the service was great. Unfortunately, I moved out of NJ and my current choices arent that good.
I have had progressive, allstate, 21st century, erie, statefarm, and geico. My #1 requirement is cost because they are all basically the same. I listed them in the order of how good the customer service was. I will NEVER go back to geico, even if it’s 1/2 the price. They treated me like total crap when I got in a minor accident the cop said was 50% each persons fault, they just gave me 100% fault, refused to fight it, and then dropped me as a client.
Allstate on the other hand my wife got in an accident, they gave tons of money, tons of help, accident forgiveness, etc. I only left because erie gave me a better price!
I also had poor experience going through a claim with GEICO. Even though they had cheapest premiums, claim service was also “cheapest” compared to a few other companies I had experience with. In my case a woman started entering main street I was driving on from a side street hitting my car in the side breaking my side mirror and leaving bumper to bumper scratch through the whole side of my car. GEICO was reluctant to fight for me and simply split the fault 50-50%. I was shocked by how easily they did that. To assess the damage I had to go myself to a “certified” body shop 10 miles away. The assessment was ridiculously low, $1300 vs. $2500 to repair, so if you choose to take the money and live with the damage, it will be very far from full compensation.
In my case I felt like I did not even get what I paid for with GEICO and switched back to Liberty Mutual. I had experience with them going through a very similar case many years ago – car entering from a side street in a poor visibility (darkness and rain) – very similar to case with GEICO. LM handled the case with no extra questions asked after initial phone interview, and it was in my favor as expected.
I’m sure there are many good stories about GEICO too, but I’ve excluded them from my shopping list.
I have held USAA insurance for many years and their service is impeccable. They are no longer, however, a lower-cost insurer. I just ran a quote from GEICO and it came in at just over half of what I pay for the same coverage from USAA. :/
@Jonathan, great research and post. I think the key is whether Geico will jack up the rates after the first year. Also, how does your current State Farm car insurance compare (including the discounts with your home insurance and umbrella)? If it’s cheaper with home insurance discounts and Geico does not have home insurance, then it still makes sense to use SF if you have home insurance.
When I did insurance shopping years ago, Geico was not the cheapest for me. Maybe they’re more aggressive with new customers these days. I also have SF with home, umbrella. SF gives massive discounts when you start having multiple policies with them. I’ve been very happy with them. This past year, I rear ended another car. SF paid out > $20K, yet my car insurance only increased 10%. Also, I submitted a towing claim for $200, but they reimbursed me $300 to include the storage fees.
My auto is with Geico and home with travellers.
If I change my auto with traveller I am saving $100 for a year. Not a big saving but I will have both Home and Auto from same company.
Co-workers suggesting that I should not change because I am a Geico customer for long time (almost 7 years)
Is it benefitial to keep the same insurance for longer?
or it is better to keep both insurance from the same company?
Also I wanted to know about SAFCO? Anyone has it?
I am getting a good quote from them for both Home and Auto..
I have GEICO for auto insurance and have for many years. I recently noticed my premiums were getting much higher despite a perfect driving record. I called around to State Farm and Allstate and was surprised to find State Farm a litte cheaper and Allstate much cheaper. GEICO said they couldn’t match either. So much for the “save 15% or more.”
We’ve had Geico for over 20 years and have filed 3 accident claims. My latest one was this spring when I submerged my $40,000 fully loaded FJ cruiser 2012. I only had 18,000 miles on the vehicle and was cut a check for $33,000 but only owed $25,000. Geico is pretty fast with fender benders but totaled cars like mine may take a few weeks for insurance adjusters and mechanics to work things out. My insurance rates didn’t go up either which was surprising. We Love Geico!!
We now how Geico, NYC area and so far the rates and customer service is great, lost leased car during the hurricane and the claim claim process was smooth and no problems at all. Had State Farm for many years before and had one accident not by our fault but another party wad also SF so they split it 50/50 at first tried to fight it but than had glass broken at another car car the claim had been handled and we fixed the glass but the reimbursement got to us only a year later. Allstate gave us craxg sky high prices but now I heard if you say you have Geico they give you the lowest rate than you have. Strange to hear about so many people not being happy with Geico.
Having worked for several insurance companies, I will have to say that it goes case by case. For example, my current employer gives very competitive rates for drivers with a clean record, yet it heavily penalizes drivers with less than desirable driving records. Also it provides many multi-policy discounts such as homeowner or renters, motorcycle, and life. Another discount that it provides that some of my previous employees didn’t was good student discount for students under 25, new driver safety course that provides additional discount for brand new drivers, as well as a mature driver course discount for people 50 and older. It is always a good idea to check all the discounts you might qualify. Don’t be deceived by companies that say they are cheaper than the rest… it is always a case by case scenario… no insurance company is the cheapest for all.
In addition to getting quotes from major, national insurance companies online, I suggest contacting at least one or two independent agents in your area! There are some exceptional insurance companies represented solely by the independent agency system. My insurer, Auto-Owners Insurance, has been rated among the top five auto and home insurers in claims satisfaction for the last seven years. They’re based in Michigan and operate in 26 states (making them a ‘super-regional’ rather than a ‘national’ company). I have auto, home, umbrella and term life with them. I was with State Farm for more than 30 years and Auto-Owners saved me almost 35% and increased my coverage substantially! I’ve been with them for four years and I’ve had two claims, one for roof damage from a wind storm and the other for an ‘underinsured motorist’ who rear-ended me. Both claims were paid immediately and without question! My premium didn’t increase either since both were situations were beyond my control.
I have been a customer with Geico for 6 years now and decided to find out what the cost difference was between a new customer and my renewal. I was “shocked” that it was almost 50% less for a new customer for the same exact vehicle and location. This was confirmed when I spoke with Geico customer service. They stated that the difference was due to the new customer rates vs. a renewal rate. I suggested that I might leave Geico and come back later to get that low rate but the rep. said I would have be away from Geico 6 months to be considered a new customer. If that is the only way to play the game, so be it!
Mitch, it really isn’t fair, but that is the way the “game” works in the world of auto insurance! Existing customers usually see an increase of at least 5% (often 10% or more) at each renewal. It usually isn’t enough to cause them to shop around. But over the period of several years, the increases can really add up to a substantial amount! In reality, the long-term customers who are paying higher rates are subsidizing the low rates offered to attract new customers. The new customer rates usually represent little to no underwriting profit (and some companies even lose money for the initial six or 12-month policy period). But the rates that existing customers offset that and most of those new customers will renew and become a source of profit in the future.
I work in the commercial insurance industry now, but I was an agent at an independent agency (representing more than a dozen companies) until four years ago. As an independent agent, I could quote rates from multiple different insurers for customers to find them the best rate. In situations such as yours, if they were happy with their current insurer except for the rates, I could issue a new policy each year with the same company at the current new customer rate! A few companies frowned on the practice and some have since stopped allowing it, but a lot of them still do. It’s just a matter of finding an agent who wants to make you happy and help you save $$$. I highly recommend contacting at least one independent agency in your area for a quote if you decide to leave Geico. You may be surprised at the rates they can offer because they don’t spend tens of millions of dollars (or even hundreds of millions for several of the largest) on advertising! Both as a professional in the industry and personally, I can recommend a few companies to check out with an independent agent- Auto-Owners (operate in 26 states, mostly in Mid-West, Southeast and Eastern US), Erie (12 states, most on the East Coast) and Cincinnati Financial (operates in almost all states). I also highly recommend AMICA which is a direct writer (or ‘captive’ in insurance-speak) even though their rates aren’t always as low as the other guys. Their claims service and overall customer service is second to none and their new customer vs. existing customer rates are the same. I was insured with them for over 10 years and only changed to Auto-Owners when I became an agent. I got a 25% discount as an agent and it cut my annual premium by 40%. I’ve been with A-O for over seven years now and I have only good things to say about them. =)
I had been with Geico in the late 90s and early 2000s. After annual rate increases for just minor speeding traffics every 3-5 years (I never got 2 tickets per every 3 years) and ZERO accidents in my life, I tried Ameriprise from American Express and it saved me like $500 a year. I stayed with them for a few years. After they kept increasing rates too (as most insurance companies do, as to entice new customers and they jack up rates silently on their existing customers), I started shopping again (in 2009). I tried State Farm, Allstate, Progressive and Geico. I had $250 deductible, $100k and $300k coverages, basically their max amounts, full collision/comprehensive etc. with Ameriprise so I did the same for Progressive. I called Amerirprise with what Progressive quoted me and they just could not match it. Guess how much I saved annually? Like $1,200+ no friggen joke. Geico came in a second with the price, just a little bit more expensive by a few bucks, however, their coverages were much less. I’ve been with Progressive for 6 years now, and they haven’t jacked up my rates. I’m paying $100 a month (if I pay monthly) or $84 a month if I pay a lump sum each 6 months. They give a $100 discount or so if I pay every 6 months as opposed to month by month. I’ve since had two speeding tickets while with Progressive and did a hydroplane where I had fortunately corrected myself and regained control. If there wasn’t a huge embankment, I would have flew off the cliff and died… Anyways, the total cost for repairing the car was like $8,000+. I ended up with more money back because my tires were damaged and since I have an AWD system, they paid the difference. So when I picked up my car, instead of paying $250 deductible, I got a check for like $400. Wow.. Then, I expected my rates to be jacked up. I got my statement about 3 months after that. No rate jacking!!!!!!! I’m just like wow…. So, it’s Progressive for me. Anyways, Progressive wants to make sure you are either 30+ years old and/or own a house and that you have a good credit score. Basically, they want to make sure you’re a responsible person.