5 Ways to Save on Auto Insurance

As an insurance agent, a couple of things this article misrepresents:

1) You can't negotiate pricing on insurance- pricing is fixed and is based on several factors including driving record, credit, age, gender, etc.- that is a little misleading. You can shop around but when you do, make sure the company is reputable and they (and more importantly your Agent) will be there when you need them in case of accident or explanation of coverages and such. You can't "drive down" prices. If you want the cheapest insurance, you can go to a sub-standard insurance carrier and you will get cheap but don't expect them to be there for you when you need them. Every company and Agent is different.

2) Get to know and be nice to your Agent. A good Agent will make an attempt to get to know you and your family as well. If you get to know them and are nice, we will look for discounts or exceptions that may take a little more work and may not necessarily apply to you but we'll go above and beyond as much as we can. Example, if you have a huge rate increase at renewal, we will see what we can do with the company to find out what happened and help adjust your rate to what it should be if there is an error or if discount falls off on accident. If you hear "It is what it is" either your Agent office doesn't care about you or you've been a high maintenance customer in the past. Don't be annoying because we won't care if you threaten to go somewhere else- we will be relieved. No amount of commission is worth daily headache from one customer, especially if you have one car with liability only coverage (but it does apply with customer with more cars as well). Remember we're people and if you have a good Agent office, we will do what we can to make you experience as good as possible and fix any mistakes that the company or we may make.

3) When you drop extensive coverage, make sure your car is old enough and with so many miles that it's no longer worth having "full coverage" on. Some people do go on too long with full coverage when they should have dropped it several years back. Also, make sure you have money of your own in the bank in case your car is stolen that you may be able to replace it out of your own pocket. If you raise deductibles, also make sure you have cash to cover the deductible comfortably in case of an accident or claim (and if you have a good relationship with a good Agent, they may be able to refer you to a body shop that will help you pay the deductible in payments or even eliminate it). There are Agents that only look out for themselves so if you don't feel comfortable with them or their office, look around and transfer even within the same company. Remember, most companies' Agents are independent contractors- it is their business so only transfer if they are not doing a good job. Transferring because of location change, may not be good for you- most everything can be done over the phone nowadays.

Rafael of IL 2:54PM December 28, 2011