Am I bugging my auto insurance company by...

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... making fairly frequent changes to my policy?

Renewal is in December. I do all my business online, direct, no agent. I have an email from a few weeks back quoting me $XXX. Since then, I changed a Saturn I wasn't driving into a Firebird then parked the Firebird and changed back to that same Saturn. Nothing else. Figuring I "locked in" what my cars were going to be in renewal, I logged in and they now want about $40 more for a year than they quoted me in email.

I have a great driving record, no wrecks, etc. Carry liability only but above state minimum. I don't cost them time with their telephone representatives by doing everything online and apparantly my state doesn't require them to mail me new insurance cards anymore-- click, print. Also, my state doesn't "mesh" electronically with companies; my town clerk merely peeks at a current paper insurance card at registration time.

Is there something I'm doing that could be showing up on their radar as a risk or expense? I have four cars insured at present; they won't allow five, so I dropped one to add my new Firebird.

Is it time I switch away? I've had this company more than a decade.
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino

Is it time I switch away? I've had this company more than a decade.



Never hurts to take a look. Last time I had a company do what you just described, I shopped my insurance and saved $500./year.
 
Shop around just so you dont have to keep that company on blind loyalty.

I always shop at least once a year, just to see whats out there. So far in the last 5 years or so, no one has been able to beat my current overages and premium. I check though because if there is a better deal out there I don't want to blindly keep paying what I am now.
 
Make sure all of the cars are specifically recorded by VIN and description on your policy. Do not have an unlisted vehicle. When accidents happen, coverage questions are not good.
 
Couple of questions -
Was it a quote a few weeks ago or a bill? Did you have to call out safety features, specs for all discounts and could have missed something? Have you done anything else over that time period like new loan, new CC?

Not that pricing other places is at all bad, but IMO there is some value to a relationship with a company, even if it is only amount of time, in the event you need coverage, it gives a little more backup to a complaint - at least it did in the case of Hurricane Sandy here.
 
Yes, Cristobal, my cars are all recorded by VIN. My policy has a provision that newly purchased cars are good for a month before they need the vin or even to know about it; however, I needed a temporary plate to get the Firebird home and the DMV won't give me one without a card with a VIN on it. Besides, I feel better this way.

A few weeks ago I got an email saying "hey your renewal is up; we'd love to have you, log in today, and pay $XXX". My renewal date is now approx a week out; I wonder if they are penalizing me for potentially having shopped around.

Both price quotes include a 10% paid in full discount.
 
No questionaire. I've got the multi-car discount, homeowner discount, married discount. They probably run my credit and driving record when they feel like it; both are great. My homeowners insurance is half as much with someone else so even multi policy discounts with both would lead to me losing. They have a discount-central section of their website, each discount is worth 1-2% but hey it's coming to me.

The thing they can do better is a steeper multi-car discount but I have a feeling if I switch to someone else, the wife and I will find the perfect two cars and I'll be back where I started.
 
They do not run DMV checks of your license all that often as it costs maybe $10. At least in NY. DMV figured another way to make money. So under certain conditions they will check your license but that may vary company to company and state to state.

I do not see any credit inquiries from my insurance company when I look at my credit reports. I would hope if they do, it would be a soft pull.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
I do not see any credit inquiries from my insurance company when I look at my credit reports. I would hope if they do, it would be a soft pull.


I have seen it, though to be fair, the inquiry could be because of a CC they are trying to get me to apply for. Always a soft pull though.

I only mentioned it above because from what I know inquiries are typically frowned upon from insurance companies and deemed to mean someone is more risky.
 
Business is business, take your business elsewhere. My aunt has an Allstate office and I left her because she couldn't keep her price competitive. Usually the better places are USAA (if you qualify) or Amica. Amica won't even quote you if you are not carrying 100k/300k with your current insurer. I usually run quotes once a year but they are pretty close to Amica each time.
 
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