When managing my my money I love finding quick victories that yield big results. Spending a few minutes getting quotes on car insurance turned out to save me over $530/year.
I thought I had a great rate already
From talking to buddies and asking what they were paying, I thought I had a pretty good rate. Honestly when I first searched around for rates I was making the assumption that maybe – if I were lucky – another company might be able to save me $50 a year.
To my surprise, the Geico commercials seemed to have some truth to them. After getting a quote with them (for the same coverages as my old car insurance company) they were able to save me $330 per year on my car insurance. From what I had seen of Geico through the signup process, they appeared to be very promising. But, I don’t think the truth really comes out with insurance companies until you actually have a claim.
My old insurance company
I was with AAA before and I would have been okay paying slightly more than the average for the sake of convenience. I knew my agent well enough that I could email her or call her directly, rather than talking to a random agent, like I would likely have to do with Geico.
For the same amount of coverage $330 was a bit too much to pay for my convenience. To add to that I haven’t had good experiences with AAA anyway, so I figured it was time to make the move.
If you haven’t shopped auto insurance rates in a while, you may be surprised at some of the price variances with car insurance. Some companies rate drivers on different criteria, so you may be able to save a few hundred bucks a year by switching.
Saving another $200 a year on car insurance
Six months later I got an email from my old insurance agent asking me if I would be open to her getting me a new auto insurance quote with a few other insurance companies. Of course, why not? So, she ran it and she seemed to be very excited to tell me that she could get me the exact same coverage for $200 cheaper per year than what I was currently getting with Geico.
My lesson learned
The lesson learned here is that I saved $530/year on my car insurance (keeping the same coverage and limits) over just a 6 month period doing very little work. I didn’t really think I was paying very much, but I am glad I shopped around.
Get Started Now!
If you are interested in getting some online quotes to see how much you can save you can use the ChristianPF Auto Insurance Quotes Page to get started.
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
My best tips are to raise your deductible and, more importantly, move to just collision coverage on old vehicles.
@Trent
I completely agree – if you have an emergency fund established it can save you a lot of money by doing those two things you suggested
My personal experience w/Liberty Mutual here in SLC has been poor. I ended up NOT going with them because the rep was non responsive. My fellow co-worker did, he totalled his car, and it took Liberty 8, yes eight, days to come out and look at his car. It took forever to get his check from the broker also. Don’t know if this is an ‘isolated’ incident, but I figured I’d share.
@Bill
thanks for sharing… Hopefully it was an isolated incident, but for as much money as I am saving it very well could be one of those situations that you get what you pay for… Time will tell I guess… I will be sure to write about any experiences I have with them…
I have worked in an insurance agency called AmPminsure for 5 years and by now i have understood what are in and outs of car insurance. I can guide and give some amazing tips to the readers on how to save money on Car Insurance.
1.) Always Request higher deductibles
2.) Forgo coverage you don’t need
3.) Make sure you Avoid duplicating medical coverage
4.) Please Purchase a low-profile car
5.) Always Opt for safety gear.
6.) Seek out discounts for teens.
7.) Pause before paying extra for roadside assistance.
It’s incredibly easy to let that happen — and if it has happened in your case, it might be high time to refresh your memory on just where your policy stands. You may be able to take a bite out of your insurance bill with a minimal amount of effort.
I have worked in UK insurance for some time but the points Katie makes are pretty true here too. Often you do not need a lot of the ‘add on’ products offered to you and these tend to be where the money making by insurance companies is really done.
Just as important is saving money is knowing what a company does with it’s earnings. I too am with Geico, but I discovered that they give a large portion of money to Planned Parenthood. So now I am looking to switch.
Nice! I might go with them, then.
I think I won’t ask for quote with Geico!!!
Just wanted Geico to know what I think of it’s latest add.
Do they not understand what our troops are going through? Gieco is the Jackwagon on this one. I wounder how many military people, or friends and relitives of military people buy Gieco.
Verniece Lennox
PS, please foreward this to Gieco if possible. Thank You!
Hi I love your article and it was so fabulous and I am gonna save it. I Have to say the Superb analysis this article has is trully remarkable.No one goes that extra mile these days? Well Done!! Just one more suggestion you shouldinstall a Translator for your Global Audience !
Nice points. Yeah, even the few hundreds of bucks are too much for the small inconveniences of big companies.
Thanks.
Why does “car insurance” have to always be the biggest issue in every car article when you one can be worrying about other issues involving their car like their monthly payment (for a new car), annual registration, and the pricey costs of overall maintenance that eventually add up in a single year? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was a car insurance that can help compensate for all those additional costs outside car accidents. If healthcare insurance can do something like that for individuals, then why not cars?!
My car insurance premium goes up every 6 months for no reason. Each time I call them to ask about it, they give me the same answer. “It’s not us, it’s not you, it’s your State laws!” I don’t know what that means, but that’s why I shop for new insurance every year.
An “unknown company” can beat everyone’s rates. A few years ago I ran my insurance through Net Quote and got a call from Erie Insurance, which I had never heard of. Their quote was much lower than anyone else’s.
Then I realized the connection: They Don’t Advertise!
So advertising isn’t built into their rates.
All of my calls go to Donna, my agent, who knows me and my life situation. This past fall she called me and told me I would be paying lower rates because I qualified for some discounts.
Initially I was very hesitant because I had not heard of the company, but now I have no regrets.
Credit ratings – I have heard – have an impact on insurance rates, so if yours goes up, you should run your rates again.
We did this and saved over $550 a year! Now we pay the car insurance every 6 months with a discount. Then recently we used the Progressive Snapshot and saved another permanent $50+ every 6 months. Thanks Bob! Great article.
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