# [OT] I'm paying $350 a MONTH in Car Insurance!!



## Paul_Klein (Jan 8, 2003)

Does anyone else think this is... suspicious?

Here's my stats:

I'm a single, 22 year old male. 
I drive a 1990 740 Volvo
I have have full coverage

As for my record, I have never once been at fault in a car accident. I have been hit twice, both times totaling my car. I have also had a car mysteriously blow up on me, but I cannot recall wether or not the Insurance company gave us any money for it. I've also recieved 2 speeding tickets in my history driving, both resolved.

Does paying $4,200 a year sound right to any of you? State Farm kicked me out about 2 1/2 years ago, and now I go through Progressive. 

I'm considering dropping Collision coverage, but I cringe to think about that. But I can no longer afford to drive at this much a month.


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## Paradoxish (Jan 8, 2003)

That does seem suspicious to me. I'm 18 and I've been at fault in one accident and also have two speeding tickets (technically three, but one was dropped in court) and only pay $280/month on my '02 Nissan Maxima with full coverage. I was advised by Progressive that this would go up by nearly $80 if I were to trade the Maxima in for a 350Z or G35. It seems strange to me that an 18 year old with a poor record and a sports car would pay as much as a 22 year old with a good record and a luxury car...

Also, when I was on my parent's coverage I was barely adding an extra $200 onto their monthly payments.

You should talk to your insurance company, because that really seems outrageous.


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## Maldur (Jan 8, 2003)

It does sound like an aweful lot. Im not in the states but I pay only €30 a month for complete and full coverage!

Now I do drive the best car on the planet


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## Kamard (Jan 8, 2003)

Hi there.  I used to sell car insurance.  Bear with me...

How much you pay is decided by about fifty factours, and you, your car, and your age are only three of those.

You have to factor in where you live.  I see it says something about Illinois.  If you are anywhere near Chicago, expect to pay 10x as much than if you lived out in the sticks.

Did your car do poorly in crash tests? Has it turned out to be expensive for repairs since?  Car insurance companies hate cars like that.

Is your state well known for having poor drivers?  Many of the top companies won't even write insurance for New Jersey, for example, nor will they write for people who commute into New Jersey daily for their job.

As for your speeding tickets, you might think they've been resolved.  For your local DMV, they may've been.  But an insurance company can see back 7 years, and can hold those against you...

As for your mystery blow up on that car, insurance companies will give you another big red X for that too.

In closing, car insurance, and insurance in general, is a necessary evil that you will have to smile and bend over for... and have fun with the 4200 dollars a year.  At least you don't live in Arizona... I saw one kid's with a BMW happily sign his year away with one of the companies I used to represent.  His cost, a 19ish kid with a new BMW?  


20,000 a year.  Which was better than the 25 he was paying.


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## Kamard (Jan 8, 2003)

> *
> I'm considering dropping Collision coverage, but I cringe to think about that. But I can no longer afford to drive at this much a month. *





And don't be fooled into thinking that will *always* bring your price down... a lot of good companies want you to have MORE coverage, and charge less for it... shows you are more responsible.


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## Alzrius (Jan 8, 2003)

People ask me why I don't have a driver's license or a car. This thread is the answer.


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## hong (Jan 8, 2003)

An under 25 male with two total losses and two speeding fines to his name is pretty much doomed. I suggest taking out third party property damage cover, if available. Failing that, stick to public transport until you hit 25. Your group is basically the highest risk in the market, and premiums will reflect that.


Hong "works for an insurance company" Ooi


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## Horacio (Jan 8, 2003)

Car insurances are a bit... expensive... in USA, aren't they?


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## tleilaxu (Jan 8, 2003)

Paul_Klein said:
			
		

> *Does anyone else think this is... suspicious?
> 
> Here's my stats:
> 
> ...




i suggest getting PLPD and putting all that money in the bank. you can buy another car if this one gets wrecked!


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## Kamard (Jan 8, 2003)

Horacio said:
			
		

> *Car insurances are a bit... expensive... in USA, aren't they? *




Depends on where you live, really.  In rural areas, the insurance rates are pretty reasonable.  In some metros, they are atrocious, and in some entire states, again, like Arizona or New Jersey, the rates are abominable.

Arizona's are so high due to the large amount of elderly drivers and the flatness of the land (aka high speeds), that crank the accident ratios up.


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## Larry Fitz (Jan 8, 2003)

Also bear in mind that insurance companies use straight statistics to figure insurance costs, whether you were at fault or not, statistically people who have been involved in accidents are more likely to be involved in more of them than people who have not been in accidents are likely to be involved in their first....  BTW, I drive a big Dodge Pick up, have full coverage (including towing) and pay $600.00 a year... of course I'm a wee bit older than you...


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## CrimsonScribe (Jan 8, 2003)

Wow!

I got pretty ticked off 2 years ago when the insurance companies here in Australia refused to insure me. (23, 1 at fault write-off, multiple other no-fault claims, loss of drivers of license for speeding - twice!).

However, because my car was under finance, it had to be insured under a comprehensive policy.  The bank who the finance was through had an insurance arm, jacked up the price and gave me coverage - all for $AU1200 a YEAR.

I'm now 25, haven't had an accident or ticket since those glory days and am now paying $AU900 a year.


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## Agback (Jan 8, 2003)

G'day

I shopped around among the insurance companies when I bought my new car a month ago, and got quotes ranging from A$380 per year to A$1,600 per year. Same driver, same car, same garage. Looking closely at the fine print, I picked a package that cost A$407.55 per year (comprehensive insurance on a car that cost A$33,690).

It pays to be old, to have a clean record, to live in an area with a low rate of auto theft, to keep your car in a locked garage, not to have finance on the vehicle, and to pick a cheap, safe model that is cheap to repair after typical accidents. It also pays to get on the 'phone and get a dozen quotes.

Regards,


Agback


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## InvaderSquoosh (Jan 8, 2003)

It also helps to have a degree in a "white collar" field like engineering, no assets (like a home, or kids), etc. Insurance companies look at every possible factor under the sun, and sometimes the outcome of their risk assessments are as ludicrous as the characters that come out of the smackdown threads.  No offense to Hong, but sometimes I'm convinced that rules lawyers end up working for insurance companies.

I get comprehensive coverage from Progressive at $80USD/month in California. Clean record, 25 years old, good education, a Lojack in my Camry, and no life. However, I hear that Progressive has a horrible track record, so I plan to change providers as soon as I acquire more assets.


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## Numion (Jan 8, 2003)

> *I'm paying $350 a MONTH in Car Insurance!!*





That's 1.5 times my rent!


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## Hand of Evil (Jan 8, 2003)

Also check to make sure your Insurance company has not change the way they base your cost.  It is a growing trend in the US at this time to base coverage on your CREDIT RATING!  

I kid you not, this is something that is getting ulgy fast and more states are allowing insurance companies to do it!


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## Drawmack (Jan 8, 2003)

You also have to consider where you live. I'm 28 and drive a 97 Kia Sephia with full coverage and pay $210 a month. However I live 1/5 of a mile from the three most dangerous miles of road in PA. You've got to remember that with progressive (whom I also have) you pay a baloon payment the first month, then less for the next four months and nothing the last month of the policy.


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## jdavis (Jan 8, 2003)

I have no better advice to add (good advice has already been given) but I thought the $65 or so dollars a month I spend for full coverage was rough. You made me feel a lot better. Lets hear it for rural living. (33 years old, no wrecks or tickets in 5 years, 98 Dodge Avenger ES). My liability was less than $400 a year, so the full coverage was a big increase for me.


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## Barendd Nobeard (Jan 8, 2003)

Definitely shop around.

We were once paying about $1200 a year for two adults (1 speeding ticket) and two cars.

We moved, and the company more than doubled the rate.  (The move was from the suburbs to the city, and our new zip code covered a lot of different areas--from the "low-crime" neighborhood where we live to some "not-so-low-crime" neighborhoods.)

We shopped around, and got the same coverage *plus* renter's insurance for $1400, much better than the $2500 the first company wanted.  We converted that renter's insurance to homeowners when we bought a house.  Also, we now get a 5% rebate check each year if we have no claims filed.

Also, check for discounts.  Some insurance firms will give discounts for being a good student (if you're in school), being a non-smoker, or having multiple policies (e.g., car + homeowners/renters insurance with the same company).  And, apparently, marriage makes for a cheaper rate.


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## JacktheRabbit (Jan 8, 2003)

Many states have laws that require you to have a certain level of car insurance. Unfortunately I have see very few if any states that have laws regulating how much companies can charge for car insurance.

You do the math.





			
				Horacio said:
			
		

> *Car insurances are a bit... expensive... in USA, aren't they? *


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## Pielorinho (Jan 8, 2003)

that's ten dollars less than what I pay _per year_!

Someone once told me that North Carolina has some of the best insurance laws in the nation.  Now I believe them.

Daniel


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## WizarDru (Jan 8, 2003)

Alzrius said:
			
		

> *People ask me why I don't have a driver's license or a car. This thread is the answer. *




If you're in Japan, isn't even more expensive, anyways?  Not to mention that Japan has, by necessity, a much better public transist system than most of the U.S., in general.  It must be difficult to function in the US without one of the most common forms of personal ID.


I pay roughly $150 a month, but that's for a family of four for two cars, house insurance and two life insurance policies.  No accidents, own a house, live outside the city and in a good neighborhood.  Someone I knew in college lived in a house in the city in a not-so-good neighborhood, was 23, had a full-time tech job and purchased a new Mustang (this was 6+ years ago), and was paying $500+ a month.

Many students I've known usually lie about their permanent residence, if they have to attend school in the city, to lower their payment cost.  My friends in NJ generally regard the insurance situation there as totally SNAFUed...and years of corrective legislation have only made things worse, not better.


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## Ashy (Jan 8, 2003)

Well, can anyone tell me about the rates for living in rural Alabama?  I figure they should be low, but according to my Insurance company - wooo wee!


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## Datt (Jan 8, 2003)

Progressive is very expensive.  When I as 22 I had a 99 Cobra Vert, Red.  I had 1 accident, and 1 Reckless Driving (132 in a 70) on my record.  But even with that Progessive was only going to charge me ~$300 a month and I live in the Dallas area.  You might try State Farm again if you haven't had any incidents since they kicked you 2 1/2 years ago. I switched to them from Progressive and got a policy for ~$240.


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## kkoie (Jan 8, 2003)

when I was working at an insurance company in Lexington Kentucky there was a client who was paying $700 a month for his insurance.  We were convinced he was a drug dealer... he was driving a limited edition jeep cherokee, lived in the worst section in town, and his mother came in the office and payed each month _in cash!_  Anyway, after a while the guy quit and went with another company.  he was also under 25 and had quite a few accidents.


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## demadog (Jan 8, 2003)

I don't know your family situation, but could you sign the car over to your parents and have them add you as a driver?  That certainly saved me a ton of cash in my early driving years.


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## Henry (Jan 8, 2003)

By far the best way for under 25 drivers is to have parents ride the insurance on them (if they are single). I pay a little less than $80 per month for my wife and I, and I have medical, collision, and liability coverage.


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## Dieter (Jan 8, 2003)

*GEICO?*

I had Nationwide for about 10 years until they decided to jack me for a reprehensible sum that amounted to extortion.

I switched to GEICO last fall and my rates were only a fraction of Nationwide was going to extort from me.

As for State Farm, I know they have had a ton of problems as late which has led to policies not being offered for renewal and higher rates.

I'd agree though that your age, mysterious exploding car episode and moving violations are a factor in your premium. Although I'd say you biggest culprit is the full coverage...that's a freaking killer.

Exactly how much coverage do you have and of what type?


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## Sixchan (Jan 8, 2003)

I lose less per year from the pickpockets on the Underground.  I'm within walking distance of the School where I work, and I can get into town through public transport.  I'm certain that that sort of figure is more than £1.80 per day.


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## Shapermc (Jan 8, 2003)

Kamarad:  Woodstock IL is pretty close to the stix at points.  Soemwhat close to chicago as far as driving distance, but no where near the city limits.  And Paul I used to live in Lake Zurich so I know that Insurance can be a killer.  I think that the main thing is that whole "Exploding car" . . . Have you thought about lieing to the insurance company?


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## Tom Cashel (Jan 8, 2003)

*I second that!*

Check out Geico.


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## KnowTheToe (Jan 8, 2003)

Switching companies with bad marks on your record will kill you.  even with a single speeding ticket on my record rates at different companies were sometimes double what I was paying at State farm.  Luckily, when I got maried, I could join under my wifes name with Country Companies and that saved me 40%.  Shop around.


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## Paul_Klein (Jan 8, 2003)

Shapermc - And I used to live in New Orleans (born and raised there). Ironic, huh? 

And the whole "mysterious exploding car" happened on October 15 of 1999 -  almost 2 1/2 years ago (I remember the date, becuase it was the opening night of Fight Club  )

Anyway, I'm just going to drop the Collision coverage, as much as it pains me.


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## jgbrowning (Jan 8, 2003)

Paul_Klein said:
			
		

> *Does anyone else think this is... suspicious?
> 
> Here's my stats:
> 
> ...




yes it sounds right to me.  not meaning it sounds right (morally), but just that it sounds right according to insurance companies.

joe b.


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## MadScientist (Jan 8, 2003)

Dude I would totally shop around. Insurance rates for can vary significantly from company to company.  It doesn't hurt to collect a few quotes from a few different companies.  Just have your current policy in front of you when you are on the phone so you can be sure that you are getting the same coverage and are comparing oranges to oranges.

My recent experience was with switching from Progressive to Geico, I actually got *more* coverage with Geico and am paying ~$500/year instead of ~$900/year.  Now I don't have collision on my 91' Sentra, but thats still a savings of like 45% for basically the same coverage, same car, same location.  If you could do that well that would save you around $1800/yeear, that would be significantly more affordable, also your car is like 12 years old... whats the book value on it?  How much could you save by dropping collision?  It may not make any sense to have collision on your car.  Just save your money so you have enough for a down payment on a new one in case something bad happens.


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## maddman75 (Jan 8, 2003)

Auto Insurance is disgusting in the US.  I strongly feel that if the government is going to mandate that you MUST have this insurance, they should put price controls in place.  Many areas (like where I am) have little to no public transportation.  If you cannot drive you cannot work.  Having a car is NOT a luxury here.

And yes, they use an arcane formula that no one understands to figure what you have to pay.  Essentially anything is an excuse to bump your rates up.

For the record - I'm 27, stable, single, never had an accident, never had a ticket.  I pay about $1300 a year.  It should be criminal.


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## tarchon (Jan 8, 2003)

Paul_Klein said:
			
		

> *Does anyone else think this is... suspicious?
> 
> Here's my stats:
> 
> ...



Nope, that's just the way it is with young unmarried single guys with speeding tickets.   I'm not sure what you mean by "resolved," but it if the insurance co. knows about the tickets, you're SOL.

Having several BIG losses even if they aren't your fault probably doesn't help either.  3 total losses in (I assume) 4 years or less is more than anyone would be willing to write down to coincidence.  Like I've been driving 17 years (half of that in metro Phoenix and San Jose) and it's only happened to me once.  They quite logically assume that you're accident prone even if it's not exactly "your fault."  I mean, you yourself obviously think you're high risk for it, otherwise you wouldn't worry so much about dropping the collision insurance right?  I'd say figure out what you're doing that makes your cars prone to blowing up and getting totalled, stop doing it, and drop your collision coverage for a couple years at least until your record looks better.  At any rate, it sounds like you have no choice but to self-insure with the collision.  If you lose this car, get used to long hikes and taking the bus.

My general feeling about collision coverage is that, as with all insurance, the best deal is not to get it unless you really can't tolerate the loss.  Like if you can afford to replace your $2000 car in the usually unlikely event of a total loss, you shouldn't bother with collision coverage.  The insurance company knows exactly what the mean rate of loss is and then they add on their overhead and their profit.  If you self insure, you can expect to save yourself however much that is.  The only way it makes financial sense is if you have high risk factors that the insurer doesn't know about, but in this case, they obviously know.  I've never carried collision myself, since I always drive cars that are cheap enough that I can afford to replace them.

When I first got my own car (a $500 disposable Chevy Citation) at 21, it took me nearly a month to find somebody even willing to insure me and after some begging and pleading (literally) with an insurance agent they finally got me for $250 for two months (no tickets, no collision coverage, rural Kentucky back in 1990 or so).   After I had those 2 months in, I got it down to less obscene levels, but it still hurt.  In an area with higher rates and your record, the rate sounds not unlikely.  
Shop some more, but don't expect much.  If you find a much better deal, be suspicious.  I once got a great deal with AzStar in Arizona, about 3 months before the state shut them down.  Took me a year to recover the remainder of my premium, though unlike many people I was lucky enough to get it all back.


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## WizarDru (Jan 8, 2003)

maddman75 said:
			
		

> *For the record - I'm 27, stable, single, never had an accident, never had a ticket.  I pay about $1300 a year.  It should be criminal. *




What kind of car do you drive?  That's a major part of the formula.  People are far keener to steal a Ford Mustang than a Ford Tempo, and insurance rates reflect that.  Just because the formulas are arcane, doesn't mean they have no basis in reality.  Mind you, I'm not saying insurance companies aren't criminal...they most assuredly are.  But you're not getting insurance just for you...you're getting it for me and my family, and every other driver on the road.


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## Tyrant (Jan 8, 2003)

Two options. Get married or move to florida and get "no fault" insurance. lol. Sorry to hear you're in such dire straights. Moving into the city where you can use public transportation until you're 25 might not be a bad idea either. All depends on your situation I guess. For the record, this married man of 30 pays a scant $18.33 a month for his liability only insurance on a V8 Chevy pickup truck and $50 a month for full coverage on his new Hyuandai Elantra. Of course, I havent had a speeding ticket in over a decade and Ive never had my car blow up under mysterious circumstances...


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## tarchon (Jan 8, 2003)

DocMoriartty said:
			
		

> *Many states have laws that require you to have a certain level of car insurance. Unfortunately I have see very few if any states that have laws regulating how much companies can charge for car insurance.
> 
> You do the math.
> *



Here's the math.  State sets price cap in accordance with unrealistic consumer demands.  Insurers can't afford to insure people for less than the price cap.  Insurers, not wanting to lose money, stop doing business and leave state.  (See also "California Energy Crisis")  State has to set up insurance program.   Government programs are typically horribly inefficent.  Taxes get hiked.  People end up paying more than they would have if insurers were allowed to set their own prices.  (See also "why centrally planned economies seldom work well.")

Price controls are usually only useful with state mandated monopolies (utilities are a common example).  Price controls applied to competitive markets usually have results that range from ineffective to catastrophic, even if the demand for the industry derives from a state mandate.  And in fact most states do regulate insurance companies in some respects.  They're fairly commonly required to be able to prove their solvency, for example, and I have personal experience with one case where the state of Arizona put an insurer into receivership after it was found to be incapable of meeting its likely financial obligations.

We pay ridiculous insurance rates primarily because of stupid reckless drivers (and fraud), not because of insurance companies.


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## mythago (Jan 8, 2003)

No-fault is eeeevil.

Do shop around. That aside--Jeebus Melmo, you have two total losses, an exploded car, two speeding tickets _by age 22_, and an insurance carrier that dropped you. OF COURSE you're going to be paying the big bucks. What do you expect?


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## lbcadden (Jan 8, 2003)

It's been my experience that Progressive is high. Collision on a car that is paid for, is a waste, unless you crack a lot of windshields or it is a collectors car.


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## Agback (Jan 8, 2003)

tarchon said:
			
		

> *We pay ridiculous insurance rates primarily because of stupid reckless drivers (and fraud), not because of insurance companies. *




Hear! Hear!

Here in Australia we have trouble with the insurance companies going broke. Despite insurance rates that make me wince, profit margins are not exploitative. The problems are:

1) Stupid reckless drivers

2) Arsonists and other vandals

3) Thieves

4) Fraudulent claims and fraudlently inflated prices on 'insurance jobs'

5) Juries handing out insurance companies' money with both fists on personal injury and emotional upset claims, many of them with ridiculous bases of liability.

Settle the blame where it belongs.

Regards,


Agback


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## jdavis (Jan 9, 2003)

I have been told that if you are ever dropped by a company (for pretty much any reason) every other company will view you as high risk. I don't know if that is true but it probably is.

Yes insurance rates are outrageous but the insurance companies are not making any money. So it has to be going somewhere, and that is normally to pay for higher claims and repair bills, and to cover fraud cases and car theft. Don't blame the insurance companies, the fault lies with greedy people (the whiplash lawsuit is so prevailent it has become a joke) and the fact that it cost a arm and a leg to repair a car these days. I hit a pole in a parking lot going less than 5 miles a hour, just barely rolled into it, the damage bill was $1500, it was only a $4000 car (my wife's I paid it out of pocket to keep it off the insurance record.) That minor repair would of cost the insurance company much more than she had paid them for a whole year. Car insurance just isn't a very profitable buisness anymore and it's getting worse.


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## Tyberious Funk (Jan 9, 2003)

Agback said:
			
		

> *
> 
> Hear! Hear!
> 
> ...




Pisses.  Me.  Off.

I have 10 years driving experience with no accidents, claims or tickets.  My partner has 13 years driving experience with no accidents, claims or tickets.  We own a '98 Mitsubishi lancer *stationwagon* with an agreed value of $10,000 and the best insurance I can get is over $900+ a year.  I'm paying almost 1/10th of the car's value just for coverage!  I'd self insure except I'd lose my (recently acquired) Rating One.

Agreed that part of the problem is frivolous claims and reckless drivers, but insurance companies themselves don't help with some of their attitudes.  A co-worker of mine, with approximately 2 months driving experience and only recently off her L-Plates can get insurance for her $25,000 Honda Civic for less than me!


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## mythago (Jan 9, 2003)

I can't speak for Australian companies, but here in the US--yes, it is also the insurance companies.

When I lived in Michigan, with Satan's Own No-Fault Insurance Laws, nobody claimed anything on a car unless it was pretty much a total loss. Because there was no other party to collect from (no fault, right?) if you made ANY legitimate claim, you could be expecting to pay it back in spades when they jacked up your rates next chance they got. So everyone had very high deductibles; you didn't dare report an $800 loss anyway, why not have a $1000 deductible?


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## ced1106 (Jan 9, 2003)

Tyrant said:
			
		

> *Get married or move to florida and get "no fault" insurance. lol. *




Move back into the house and have the car under the parent's name!  New cars are bought and put under the parent's name. The oldest car is transferred to in child's. Works for us, although I loathe the thought of driving an SUV in a few years... 


Cedric.
aka. Washu! ^O^


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## Shapermc (Jan 9, 2003)

Tyrant said:
			
		

> *Two options. Get married or move to florida and get "no fault" insurance. *




Also you can get no fault insurance in Michigan I think, and it is closer to IL (I lived there for a bit as well). 


*Paul:*  I am not here in NO by choice (well it was 6th on my list) and I was Born and raised in Palatine, then moved to Unincorperated Barrington (technichally Lake Zurich cuz the kids down the street went to Lake Zurich and I went to Barrington, but that was only like 5 blocks of us in the middle of no where :Shrug: ) Anyways, I'll look you up in 3 years when I move back


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## DWARF (Jan 9, 2003)

Huh. I don't remember them mentioning car insurance in the BoVD...


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## Krug (Jan 9, 2003)

Maldur said:
			
		

> *
> Now I do drive the best car on the planet *




Yeah dude those Mini Coopers are jst awesome.


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## Jimmy Taylor (May 14, 2017)

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http://bestlowinsurance.com
Do you had business with this list of firms and whether there was a negative experience?


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