I’ve talked quite a bit about how much I’ve saved by shopping regularly for lower priced insurance. To me, insurance seems to be a commodity. That means they’re all mostly the same, we’re shopping for the best price.
I know folks who rave about companies like Amica. While I’ve never been insured with them, I’ve had Geico (twice), Progressive (twice), Liberty Mutual, Mapre (twice), and a few others. I pay premiums and they pay claims. It’s mostly automated these days, but I can’t say any one has been any better than another.
I’m currently dealing with Vermont Mutual. Their policy-holder hit my wife’s car while it was parked. They’ve been a delight, however, I will say they denied the claim initially and asked me to contact my insurance company.
This seems to be a common practice – deny and see if they complain. Spoiler alert – complain and be persistent.
Quotes
I said that I shop annually. That’s partially true. I shop at least annually.
I’ve shopped twice in the past 2 weeks. Once when I got annoyed with the price increase on my policy and again today when AARP sent me mail offering a lower quote for seniors. It pays to be old!
Multiple Vehicle Trick
My wife and I have 3 vehicles. We’re both retired so you could make a solid case that we have 2 too many. But in any case…
Online quotes are super-easy. Insurance company websites have gotten good at retrieving info about us and our vehicles from the registry so there is a lot less to enter.
It takes about 10 minutes for an auto quote at both Geico and The Hartford based on recent experience.
But Here’s the Sneaky Trick.
I get my quote. It’s enticing.
I look through the details and when I get to the 2nd and 3rd vehicle, I notice that the 2nd does not have comprehensive, and the 3rd does not have collision or comprehensive.
I don’t know about you, but I can’t afford to pay for repairs after an accident. No one fixes anymore. They just replace. Prices are sky-high.
Is it an oversight? Is the system making an assumption based on vehicles 2 and 3 being older vehicles?
Both Geico and the Hartford did it, but both a little differently.
Is it intentional to make us switch? And either we don’t notice and get screwed at our next accident, or we catch it after we’ve switched and then our price balloons higher than our old policy?
Seems suspect to me.
Wrap Up
I was able to make adjustments online and then saw that the quoted price was equal to or more than my current coverage.
The Hartford was going to be $4,300 for my 3 vehicles v. $3,600 from Mapfre.
$3,600 seems like a lot and makes me angry. $4,300 is nuts, though in their defense, I’m not getting any bundling discounts. Mapfre also has my home and umbrella policies.
But, on the other hand, The Hartford is partnering with AARP. Who needs bundling when the AARP customers are all coming over?
Old folks take it on the chin again.
Be careful.