Quick question regarding insurance

[puckluck]

So I get my 6 month Auto renewal bill in the mail today and for the second time in a row there is a increase when I haven't had a ticket in 2 and a half years.

I call them up and ask my agent (who barely speaks english) why there was a increase, and he tells me because of my ticket in 09. I ask why there wasn't a increase before the last year and he tells me "I guess you got lucky"

I'm not too familiar with insurance, but to me it seems like they are trying to gouge me every renewal with a $30 increase a month because they can. Yes I did get a ticket in 09, but why was there such a delay in the prices effecting my insurance?

Also, who sets the rates? The agent or the higher branches? This agent seems shady, and I'm wondering if he sets the prices or has no control over it. I'm not happy with the explanation they gave me as I don't see how my already high premiums didn't take into account my previous tickets.

Thanks in advance.

[Yasa]

Before I read your post; no, you can not get abortion insurance.

[fredr123]

Find a decent insurance broker and get a bunch of quotes from them. I'm sure someone on the board is either a broker or could recommend someone who does good work.

The broker can provide you with quotes from a bunch of different companies with all sorts of options for coverage. Pick one you like or take that quote back to your current insurance company and ask if they can beat it.

I went through a similar hassle earlier this year when my professional organization changed insurance providers. The old provider changed their tune and did all they could to beat the new provider's quote to keep my business.

I don't pretend to know how the insurance industry works but the agent I dealt with gave me one quote and then, when presented with a lower quote from a competitor, went away to discuss it with her supervisor before coming back with a new competitive quote. There must be some discretion built in there somewhere.

[BigBrodieFan]

You should get a good broker who will quote you the lowest possible price from competing insurance companies. Check around, call as many as possible. The difference from one company to another can be huge. No reason you can't shop for insurance, you certainly don't have to settle for someone who is rude, incomprehensible and unreasonable!

[Scoopdogg]

I would shop around as well. There can be some pretty significant discrepancies between insurance company rates. We go through Costco and found them to be very reasonable.

[troutman]

A CP member (Insurancegal):

http://www.auviinsurance.com/

[Huntingwhale]

Shop around. I was getting gouged when I got my car brand new in 2008. After a lot of shopping around, I ended up going with MelochMonex and paying a rate that is almost 76% lower then what I was before.

Of course, turning 25 helped too...

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by puckluck

Yes I did get a ticket in 09, but why was there such a delay in the prices effecting my insurance?

Not to derail this thread, but it seemed needless to start another one on a similar topic.

Is one supposed to report tickets to one's insurance company? Or do the insurance companies have access to this information?

[GoinAllTheWay]

It make take a year or two before you start getting charged for a ticket. Depending on the person, they may not check for new tickets on your licence each renewal. No, you don't have to tell your insurer if you got a new ticket (why the heck would you?), they can find out all by themselves.

[puckluck]

Thanks for all the tips.

I found that the insurance companies I have dealt with (about 3) will give cheap rates when you first insure with them, but the prices go significantly up after that. I don't know if they do this on purpose to get people on board at first, but it's pretty frustrating that I'm becoming a safer driver with no tickets in 2 and a half years and my premiums are still going up.

I tried using a broker before and signed up with Economical Insurance and thought I was getting a fair deal only to have my premiums triple after about 6 months.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by puckluck

I tried using a broker before and signed up with Economical Insurance and thought I was getting a fair deal only to have my premiums triple after about 6 months.

I was just about to note that insurance premiums are like any other service and generally increase over time just like anything else, but that's a tad absurd.

[MoneyGuy]

If you belong to an association of any kind (trade, teachers, professional assn, etc.) check them as you can sometimes get better rates. We get ATA (teachers) rates.

[macker]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

Not to derail this thread, but it seemed needless to start another one on a similar topic.

Is one supposed to report tickets to one's insurance company? Or do the insurance companies have access to this information?

They have acces to this and will pull an abstract (shows convictions) or autoplus (shows accidents or claims) by using sites such as : https://rapidwebpilot.cgi.com/rapidw....aspx?portal=y
There is a small fee every time they pull history reports so they don't always want to do this and it is somewhat of a lottery system when renewal time comes up as they will pull for some and let others renew without checking for up to a year sometimes. If you are a higher risk driver you can count on having history pulled every year as you are likely surchargeable and there are extra fees and premiums associated with this type of risk.