The Car Insurance Game----Shop Around for Free Auto Insurance Quotes
Posted: Monday, March 09, 2009
by Sandra E. Graham
My Books and Articles
As budget belts get tightened all across the country, everyone is looking for ways to trim-the-fat from necessary expenses. Auto insurance is one surefire way to cut away excess fat. This month I switched from Progressive to the lovable little gecko of Geico. And I truly did save a boatload of money. My car insurance dropped from over $1500 per year for two vehicles (one only covered by liability), to $784 per year with full coverage on both vehicles and a $250 deductible on each (all other coverage amounts remained the same). That is an overall savings of $716 per year.
Years ago when I had my last accident, my car slid on ice (Arkansas is notorious for ice), went off the road, and slammed the rear end into a tree. I wasn't hurt nor were any other vehicles involved, but my car sustained about $4200 in damage-the car was only a few months old. Naturally, my next insurance premium renewal jumped substantially. This to me seems ridiculous since accidents are what I have been paying coverage for over many years. So, why should I have to pay again for what I have already paid for???? Well, silly me-that's the name of the game-you pay and you pay and you pay again!
At any rate, while contemplating where to cut corners on our budget, auto insurance was at the top of my list. I checked around and Geico gave me the best estimate. After filling out all the forms and mailing in my first six-month's premium and waiting until I was fully covered and all forms had been approved, I called Progressive to cancel my coverage with them. Needless to say, they wanted to jump through hoops to get me back. They would lower my rates, they would fully cover both vehicles, matching Geico's quote and on, and on, and on-I was waiting for them to throw in a free trip to Hawaii! I finally had to tell the guy bluntly that it was too late and at last got him to hang up and leave me alone.
What confuses me in all this is that had I been the good customer that they assured me I was, why then did not they take the time to call me and say, "we can give you a better rate on your insurance." Why do they not take it upon themselves to go out of their way just a little to insure that they do not begin losing good customers in a time when they have to know that people have to start trimming their budgets? Instead, the guy says to me , "why didn't you call us first, we could have worked something out." Oh Yeah.
I also looked into health insurance coverage (for myself only-my husband is on Medicare) and found a group that gives me substantial coverage for $151 per month less than I was paying with my former provider.
After this, I now plan to take a closer look at my homeowner's insurance and see just how much I am over-paying there. If any of you out there are in the same boat, Happy Hunting.
This Article has been viewed 573 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)Sandra, Great article, and I am also with Gieco, ( I liked the gecko), but it turned out to be a great choice, they are highly motivated to get your business, and they offer most of the frills that other insurance offers at half the price!!! I 'm glad you went Geico, and I don't even work for them!!!! I am sorry I haven't been around for a week, I had to prepare to DJ a anniversary party for a couple who have been married for 60 years.....I wrote an article about the party...it was great, but I am back now and can read all of my favorite articles.....your pal, and friend in pen.......GaryThanks, Gary. Glad you're back. I'll have to check out your latest articles.Sandra
I had a similar experience with a telephone company. I have been with this one company for many years, but found a much better deal with another company. So I joined and then phoned the first company to cancel my service with them. It was then that they made me this great offer to try to keep my business. I asked the telephone representative why her company would wait until they lost a customer before offering this great rate. I knew it wasn't her fault personally, as I also worked in a call centre for many years and knew what restrictions were placed on us, but it seemed like such a poor company policy, instead of being proactive they were being reactive. The agent understood my position and wondered herself why her employer wasn't doing more to keep the customer. I have stayed with my new telephone company, which offers internet access, cable television and telephone with free long-distance calls. It was a good move and worth the effort.
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.