Smart Auto Insurance Blog

When comparing similar auto insurance companies such as Encompass Car Insurance and and Acceptance Insurance it’s important to be sure to understand exactly what you are comparing.  Bankrate recommends focusing in on four insurers to start off with.

Start off by picking four reputable auto insurance companies and visit their websites for detailed information.  Educate yourself on the companies and read through consumer reviews.  Although price is a very important part of an insurance policy, customer service is crucial and it’s helpful to know what you are getting into.

There is a lot of value to face-to-face business.  If this is something you think will bring you value in the long run, visit your local auto insurance offices and speak to an agent directly.  Developing a relationship with a local agent can help your chances of getting the best deal possible on your auto insurance rates.

Once you have locked into a new auto insurance policy, review it annually and ensure you are still getting the best rate possible.  Continue your search online to keep it simple and use comparison sites to help save you time.

According to the article “Who Crashes the Most?  Car Accidents By Occupation” by Kat Zeman on insure.com, doctors have the most auto accidents per year, at about 109 accidents for every 1000 doctors.  They also receive about 44 tickets per 1000 doctors on the road.  This information may cause their occupation to affect their auto insurance rates.  Here’s the ranking for the top 10 most accidents:

1. Doctors
2. Lawyers
3. Architects
4. Real estate brokers
5. Enlisted military personnel
6. Social workers
7. Manual Labor
8. Analysts
9. Engineers
10. Consultants

Other occupations that made the list but rank below the 10th ranking are nurses, librarians, insurance agents, dentists, accountants, politicians, firemen, law enforcement, and salespeople.  Occupations can already affect interest rates on certain loans, so it makes sense that it may affect your auto insurance.

A recently released report from Quality Planning Corp in San Francisco shows that auto insurance companies lost about $15.9 billion in 2008 from premium leakage.  Premium leakage is the loss of revenue because of the inability of insurance companies to keep track of their customers’ situations that influence rates.  This number is about 10% of the total $167 billion in personal auto premiums written.  This is according to the article “The 5 Biggest Lies Told to Car Insurance Companies” by Barbara Marquand on insure.com.

Lying about small information to get a better auto insurance quote may seem harmless but it could mean trouble for you down the road.  Some of the lies told to insurers include under-estimating the number of miles driven, not reporting all the drivers in the household, not giving the correct garage location, claiming discounts that no longer apply, and misstating how the car is used.

You should avoid misstating information when getting your auto insurance quote, not only because it increases rates for everyone over time, but the insurance company could very well find out.  According to Quality Planning every 1% reduction in rating error can cause a 20% profit gain.  This means that it’s worth the insurer’s time to do their homework and ensure their customers are being honest.  The information you give them may end up getting scrutinized so safe yourself the trouble and just be upfront from the start.

In these tough times, drivers are looking for any type of discount they can on their auto insurance rates.  Progressive Auto Insurance is happy to offer discounts whenever they can and their MyRate Discount program proves this.

Progressive’s MyRate discount offers savings based on how much, how, and when they drive their car.  With the newest version of MyRate, now offered with Minnesota auto insurance, customers can start saving in as little as 30 days, up to 30%.  Progressive now gets data for only 6 months to determine a customer’s auto insurance rate.  Once drivers sign up for the MyRate program they plug in a small device into their auto that measures their driving data.  After about 30 days they can let the customer know if they qualify for a discount.

Some examples of scenarios that will offer lower rates are business travelers who park their cars at the airport numerous days per week, families with an extra car they rarely drive, or safe drivers who rarely slam on the brakes.  Progressive may occasionally check in with MyRate customers to get another snapshot of driving habits to ensure nothing has changed, but if the safe driving habits continue so do the great discounts.

JD Power recently released Auto Insurance Provider Ratings report in the 2009 National Auto Insurance Study.  They ranked various auto insurance companies and State Farm Auto Insurance ranked very well.

In the category of overall satisfaction State Farm received the score of “better than most”.  This is based on how customers rate all aspects of their service experience with the insurer.  In the category of contacting the insurance company State Farm received the ranking of “among the best”.  This is great to know when shopping around since you need your insurance company the most during stressful times and you do not want to worry about not being able to get in touch with them.

In the category of policy offerings State Farm ranked “better than most” and they received the same ranking in billing and payment.  Billing and payment scoring is based on how customers rate the clarity, timeliness, and accuracy of their bills as well as the overall payment process.  Using this type of report when you compare auto insurance quotes can be extremely useful to see who is coming out on top.  It can save you a lot of time to have all the information on one useful chart.  Visit JD Power’s site for more detailed information on the rankings.

Auto insurance companies are getting more and more strict with paying out claims as the recession is forcing consumers to request more money to cover damages.  This is according to the article “Under-Insurance Hitting Thin Wallets” by Roeland Van Der Bergh on stuff.co.nz.

Another downside to this economy from the viewpoint of the auto insurance company is the rising rates of insurance fraud according to the article “Recession is Fueling a Boom in Insurance Fraud” found on the Times Dispatch website.  This increase in fraud is keeping state regulators and law enforcement very busy across the nation.

A recent survey conducted by the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud of 37 state insurance fraud bureaus found that the down economy has had a significant effect on the amount of fraud.  The bureaus reported an increase in fraud referrals and new investigations in all 15 categories of fraud covered in the survey.  Other tough financial times such as the influx in gas prices a few years ago.  As gas prices went up, so did the number of automobile fraud cases where people fraudulently reported their cars as stolen, or destroyed just to get the insurance payout from the auto insurance company.  People will do extreme things when faced with financial adversity.

Auto insurance quotes vary greatly from state to state.  According to the article “Where Auto Insurance Is Most Expensive” by Jennifer Saranow Schultz on nytimes.com, Louisiana has the highest average auto insurance in the US and Maine has the lowest.  This data was accumulated by insure.com, which ranked the states based on average auto insurance rates.

This data was released this week and comes from a study completed by Quadrant Information Services which looked for the most and least expensive car to insure across the country.  The information determined average auto insurance quotes for over 2400 cars from the 2010 model year from 6 large companies across 10 zip codes in every state.  This also enabled auto insurance rates in general to be compared from state to state.

It’s surprising how dramatically auto insurance rates can vary from state to state.  Insure.com says the varying laws from state to state is partly to blame.    Regardless of how good someone’s driving record is, a portion of your rates are at the mercy of your states’ insurance laws.  Shopping around is your best bet at getting comparison quotes.  Even smaller companies such as Bristol West Insurance can offer competitive rates.

The company who is most well known for kicking off the compare auto insurance rates online trend has a unique and interesting way to promote their new commercial.  Progressive Auto Insurance held a try out session for someone to appear along side Flo, Progressive’s national ad insurance clerk who is very well-received by America.

There was a wide variety of people interested in the gig, from magicians to soprano soloists.  Thousands tried out for this once in a lifetime opportunity.  The semi-finalists were recently named and Progressive is leaving it up to America to vote for their favorite prospect.  According to the press release “It’s America’s Turn to Vote to ‘Insure’ Their Favorite Makes it to the Finals” found on marketwatch.com, Flo finds the turnout flattering and is looking forward to working with one of the semi-finalists.

To view the videos and make a vote go to HelpFlo.com today through May 3rd.  Once the polls closed the 3 finalists will be announced.  The winner will be announced later that month.  Chris Owen, the Marketing Business Leader for Progressive says that after 3 months, 3 cities, and over 2500 contestants it’s been one fierce competition.

There is some good news for those shopping for auto insurance quotes.  Rates are down about .5% according to the article “Average Price for Auto Insurance Down .5%” found on theautoinsurance.com.  Over the past six months InsWeb has shown that auto insurance premiums are down to about a national average of $702.

These savings are an average across the board, but certain demographics are experiencing even higher savings.  Women drivers over the past six months have saved 5% over what men drivers are paying.  Women paid on average $683/year while men paid $720/year.  This savings is typical since auto insurance companies view women as less risky drivers.

Over the next few years, drivers can expect to see some changes to the way auto insurance is offered.  Many states are currently considering, or have implemented pay-as-you-drive options which allow drivers to pay for auto insurance based on miles driven.  This can be a huge money saver for many who do not drive very much or drive a lot based on the season.  Consumers will still have the option to purchase standard auto insurance, but this new idea will provide flexibility and affordability to certain types of drivers.

It’s not always the best idea to automatically decline the auto rental insurance that rental companies offer their customers according to the article “Don’t Automatically Refuse Extra Rental Car Insurance Coverage” by Michelle Crouch on creditcards.com.  It’s important to do your homework and ensure that you are covered when you rent an auto.

In recent years auto rental companies have started adding extra fees for damages to the rental.  These are often not covered by the auto insurance companies or credit cards.  This is where research is important.  How much are the fees and are you covered.  Most major credit cards offer some form of auto rental insurance, but it doesn’t always cover the extra fees charged by the rental companies.  It’s important to look into.

Most auto insurance companies also offer some form of coverage for renting a car.  But again, it’s hard to tell if it will fully cover all costs associated with the damages.  If you rent an auto often it will be worth your time to shop around and compare auto insurance benefits.  They can vary greatly from company to company.  Bottom line, educate yourself.  Always read the fine print and be sure you are not paying twice for the same coverage.  But at the same time, ensure you have enough coverage.  It’s a fine line, but as a responsible consumer it’s in our hands to protect ourselves.