RoughCollie Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Our car insurance went up $6,000 a year when we added DS1 to the policy! That is not a typo. When I called the insurance agent last spring, she said the amount would go up about $100 per teenager, per month. This is for one kid -- $500 a month. The agent checked 6 more insurance companies, and we are ending up with QBE, which is a subsidiary of General Casualty. That policy, which is the same in every respect, will be $2,132 a year, not $9,600! If you have heard of QBE/General Casualty and have had a claim, can you recommend them? Insurers are only as good as their claim-handling, much like stores are only as good as their customer service when something goes wrong. Nonetheless, we will have to buy this policy and pray nothing happens -- cannot afford the other one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 When I shopped around for auto insurance to reduce our rates a couple of years ago, I found that Progressive was the best deal. We had State Farm which would have gone up $80/month for our 1 teen driver. We didn't bother to get him his license because we knew we couldn't afford that increase in premiums. With Progressive it will only go up $30/month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 I changed insurance companies because of my teen driver too. We currently use esurance. It was significantly cheaper. A couple of companies wanted thousands more to insure him. He still costs as much and my and I together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth S Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 This is why we waited for our ds to get his license until he had an economic NEED for one (drive to work). Ideally the child should undertake or at least understand the additional financial costs. Good student discounts are common. Having old vehicles helps. (We are happy with State Farm's Safe Driver and Good student programs.) But it is not unusual for teen boys to have accidents and speeding tickets . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Wow, we never had an increase like that. Of course, we have USAA which is a fabulous company and my ds was 18 when he got his license and didn't have a car so just used ours occasionally. It did go up a bit when we had our sixteen year old and our 21 year old on it but still nothing like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denisemomof4 Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 (edited) When I shopped around for auto insurance to reduce our rates a couple of years ago, I found that Progressive was the best deal. We had State Farm which would have gone up $80/month for our 1 teen driver. We didn't bother to get him his license because we knew we couldn't afford that increase in premiums. With Progressive it will only go up $30/month. After we added a teen driver we switched to Progressive. Your quotes don't even seem believable to me. Ds was 17 when he started to drive and bought a sports car, a Toyota Celica. Nobody I know pays insurance like your quotes, not even friends who have had multiple accidents. Do you trust the person you spoke to? If your son is driving an older car, was everything but collision removed? I would definitely require him to pay the costs himself if he wants the privilege of driving. Edited November 1, 2012 by Denisemomof4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgiana Daniels Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 UGH!!! This happened to us, and ours was a girl with a good student discount. Needless to say, we dumped Farmers Insurance and ended up with Geico. Very cheap and always easy to talk to, make changes, and work with. The only claims we had were for windshield stuff and they were a gem to work with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denisemomof4 Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 I changed insurance companies because of my teen driver too. We currently use esurance. It was significantly cheaper. A couple of companies wanted thousands more to insure him. He still costs as much and my and I together. It is true that ds costs as much as dh and I combined. We pay $300 per month for a 2012 Honda Fit, a 2011 Pilot with every option, and a 200....... Maybe a 2000 Celica. I don't remember if we pay that for 10 or 12 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denisemomof4 Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 UGH!!! This happened to us, and ours was a girl with a good student discount. Needless to say, we dumped Farmers Insurance and ended up with Geico. Very cheap and always easy to talk to, make changes, and work with. The only claims we had were for windshield stuff and they were a gem to work with. Check out Progressive. We dumped Geico for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 We have State Auto (different from "Safe Auto") and our insurance went up $70 per month - that included the discounts for good grades and taking a certified driving course. Our homeowners insurance is also through them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 You're in PA -- I assume you checked with ERIE? (Or maybe the really high quote was ERIE.) That's crazy that it's so high for one teen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Have you tried Amica? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted November 1, 2012 Author Share Posted November 1, 2012 (edited) Nobody I know pays insurance like your quotes, not even friends who have had multiple accidents. Do you trust the person you spoke to? I have the actual policy that shows the rate increase. I found the policy online (part of our customer account). Here's what it says: AUTO 01 REVISED FULL TERM SUBTOTAL $ 5,123.00 AUTO 02 REVISED FULL TERM SUBTOTAL $ 1,999.00 AUTO 03 REVISED FULL TERM SUBTOTAL $ 2,804.00 FULL TERM POLICY PREMIUM $ 9,926.00 The insurer requires that all household members who have driver's licenses are insured to drive all vehicles. Thank heavens only DS1 has a license. We did find cheaper insurance already, and I called DH and told him to sign up for it today. It is only $2,132 for all three cars, has the same high level of coverage on all 3 cars, and is cheaper than our insurance was before the revision. It will take effect on 11/4. Edited November 1, 2012 by RoughCollie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denisemomof4 Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Well thank heavens you found cheaper insurance. Is there any way the other company is scamming you? It doesn't matter but it sounds likely that they are robbing other people. It's so incredulous. Thieves! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted November 1, 2012 Author Share Posted November 1, 2012 Well thank heavens you found cheaper insurance. Is there any way the other company is scamming you? It doesn't matter but it sounds likely that they are robbing other people. It's so incredulous. Thieves! I think the other company does not want to insure teen drivers, and this is how they avoid doing that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolt. Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Is there a reason that you haven't included these skills in your teaching and requirements for your teen to become a driver? Shouldn't the person who wants to do the driving be researching what insurance is cheapest for him/her, figuring out how to pay for it, and making a proposal / reccomendation to you if a change in insurance provders would be the best option? (I don't think parents need these headaches. A teen who wants to drive really needs to be responsible for every step of making their desire into a reality.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjzimmer1 Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 If you have heard of QBE/General Casualty and have had a claim, can you recommend them? Insurers are only as good as their claim-handling, much like stores are only as good as their customer service when something goes wrong. . Well I can at least say I've heard of QBE. My MIL just retired from there a couple of months ago and a homeschooling mom I know works in accounting. I can't say how good they are at handling claims but I do know there are very popular around here. If there were total junk I wouldn't think they would be as big as they are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milovany Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 When we added 18yos to our policy, with Progressive, our insurance only went up by $50/month ($600/year). Eek, your total is high! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dobela Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 If your state has an Insurance Commissioner (it would be someone in the state capital and a state office of sorts) I would call them and ask what their experiences are with them. The commissioner in our state gets involved in situations where companies don't pay when they should, or as well as they should. They also investigate individual agents and agencies and can give you their impressions and ratings for them. Some companies are great, with terrible agents. Some agents are great but have contracts with lackluster companies. And so on... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim in Appalachia Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 I think the other company does not want to insure teen drivers, and this is how they avoid doing that. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Wow! When we added our first ds, it only went up $70/month. With Liberty Mutual. It went up a lot more after he totaled a car but it still wasn't anything like you were quoted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Yell Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Is there a reason that you haven't included these skills in your teaching and requirements for your teen to become a driver? Shouldn't the person who wants to do the driving be researching what insurance is cheapest for him/her, figuring out how to pay for it, and making a proposal / reccomendation to you if a change in insurance provders would be the best option? (I don't think parents need these headaches. A teen who wants to drive really needs to be responsible for every step of making their desire into a reality.) I understand your reasoning, but I don't think even the best 16yo (15 ofr a permit, in some sates) should take on that responsibility. There are so many factors to insurance- some even I don't fully understand- no way would I entrust that to a teen. I absolutely intend to walk them through the process, compare quotes, and so on...and perhaps have my teen make calls for information or sit around on hold :D but if I'm going to double-check everything and make the final decision I'd rather just do it myself- perhaps present them with the top 3 options and have them evaluate them. For something as important and complicated as insurance I would not have my teen start from scratch and be overwhelmed by too many choices. (going to hide my head in the sand and pretend that we'll be able to afford a teen driver. Everybody please tell me how unbelievably cheap it will be to insure a 99 Subaru & an '03 Caravan.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted November 1, 2012 Author Share Posted November 1, 2012 (edited) Is there a reason that you haven't included these skills in your teaching and requirements for your teen to become a driver? The teen does not own the car. It is our car insurance, and they are DH's cars. We just found out about this yesterday, and the next payment is due soon -- major time crunch. There is no way I would trust DS1 to do the research in a timely manner anyway. We have an well-respected insurance agency who does the research for us. It is great to have a third driver in the family. Today, DS1 is going to take DS2 to the doctor and pick up dog food at Agway. This errand would take me 2.5 hours, most of it driving time. Edited November 1, 2012 by RoughCollie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bolt. Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 (edited) I understand your reasoning, but I don't think even the best 16yo (15 ofr a permit, in some sates) should take on that responsibility. There are so many factors to insurance- some even I don't fully understand- no way would I entrust that to a teen. I absolutely intend to walk them through the process, compare quotes, and so on...and perhaps have my teen make calls for information or sit around on hold :D but if I'm going to double-check everything and make the final decision I'd rather just do it myself- perhaps present them with the top 3 options and have them evaluate them. For something as important and complicated as insurance I would not have my teen start from scratch and be overwhelmed by too many choices. I'd rather guide-and-double-check... it seems to me that, while difficult, it's best to do it for 'your' first time with oversight. If I do the leg work, that leaves only that simplified expereince as the foundation for a young adult's first solo foray into this realm. I'd rather they have a complete walk-through at least -- and probably a complete guided walk through in the phase of 'do you want to become a driver?' followed by actual implementation of the plan. I'm all about doing hard things as early as possible -- with a total safety net, in order to gain experience and confidence. I wouldn't allow the teen to do more than make a researched reccomendation, then follow thrugh with approval and oversight. (Unless, maybe, the total package is entirely theirs: sole ownership of vehcle, sole driver, own insurance in their own name... and even then, I'd do a lot of background work in case I need to give them a heads-up on some aspect of their endeavour.) We just found out about this yesterday, and the next payment is due soon -- major time crunch. There is no way I would trust DS1 to do the research in a timely manner anyway. Wow, that's quite a time crunch. Do they start charging as soon as the teen is lisenced, whether you like it or not? Edited November 1, 2012 by bolt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WagsWife Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 UGH!!! This happened to us, and ours was a girl with a good student discount. Needless to say, we dumped Farmers Insurance and ended up with Geico. Very cheap and always easy to talk to, make changes, and work with. The only claims we had were for windshield stuff and they were a gem to work with. We had Geico for years, but when my Dh called to see how much it would be to add our oldest DD, the increase was enough that he decided to call around to other companies. He ended up going with State Farm. For the same amount we were paying Geico--we have the same coverage and the policy includes DD and even renters insurance. He was so surprised, he even called a couple different SF agents to make sure he was getting the correct quote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 The price has to do with how many cars to how many drivers you have (and the age of drivers). We stayed with 2 cars when adding ds 4 years ago, so premiums only went up $30/month. Ds and I were part time drivers of the same car. But a few months ago, we bought the 3rd car, so premiums went up $70/month. Ds is 23 y/o, so it wasn't bad. Ds and dd share the 3rd car, so premiums didn't go up when dd got her license. But...dd is 18 y/o and I asked how much to insure her with a 4th car, $800/year including good student discount and driver's ed discount. So we will wait a few years before getting a 4th car. All of our cars are old (97 - 00) and we use GEICO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted November 1, 2012 Author Share Posted November 1, 2012 (edited) Wow, that's quite a time crunch. Do they start charging as soon as the teen is lisenced, whether you like it or not? Yes, they start charging immediately. He became a licensed driver recently, and was added to the policy that day, or he wouldn't have been able to drive. Then we finally got the revised policy -- it wasn't yesterday, like I said -- it was a few days ago, now that I think of it. Yesterday was the day I read the policy, and our agent found quotes from 6 companies. We chose the cheapest one. She said that this is the first time the company has offered personal (rather than commercial) insurance in our state, and that the rates are so good because of that. We can expect it to go up next year because of that, and we don't know how much. DS1 already knows everything ... just ask him. Edited November 1, 2012 by RoughCollie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unicorn. Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 (edited) We have Allstate, and it's only going to be $80 a month for us to add ds to our policy. We have comprehensive coverage on both vehicles, and she said if we got him his own car, then it would still be about $80, because the cost of adding a 3rd vehicle would even out w/ it being a less expensive car to replace. I would call individual insurance companies myself. I've found that when you go through an agent that uses multiple agencies and can get you quotes from different companies, it's still significantly higher than going through an independent agent for a specific company. ETA: we have a 2007 Toyota Sienna, and 2001 Ram truck. My friend has State Farm, and it's going to be about $50 or $60 to add her dd. They have an older toyota car, and a 2 year old minivan. hth Edited November 1, 2012 by Unicorn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Wow. We were paying through the nose with Progressive. We switched to Travelers and the rates are so much better. We are paying less with Travelers with two teen drivers (male) than with only one on Progressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delaney Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Yup! We switched to usaa and we still pay 100 per month more for him and that was with taking collision off the car he drives- oye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Is there a reason that you haven't included these skills in your teaching and requirements for your teen to become a driver? Shouldn't the person who wants to do the driving be researching what insurance is cheapest for him/her, figuring out how to pay for it, and making a proposal / reccomendation to you if a change in insurance provders would be the best option? (I don't think parents need these headaches. A teen who wants to drive really needs to be responsible for every step of making their desire into a reality.) As it may be more affordable for the teen to be added to the parents' policy rather than get one on his/her own, it would therefore be important to get the increase on the parents' policy. I do not think a company will talk to a third party about changes to car insurance, or any other financial product, that is not in their name but is in their parents' name. My mother, for example, cannot simply call a company to discuss my grandma's account or make any changes, because she is not the account-holder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarlaS Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Is there a reason that you haven't included these skills in your teaching and requirements for your teen to become a driver? Shouldn't the person who wants to do the driving be researching what insurance is cheapest for him/her, figuring out how to pay for it, and making a proposal / reccomendation to you if a change in insurance provders would be the best option? (I don't think parents need these headaches. A teen who wants to drive really needs to be responsible for every step of making their desire into a reality.) I never researched car insurance until I was married. And then I did it over the phone since it was 1992, and no one I knew had internet then. Somehow I figured it out. I ended up just adding my car to dh's policy. I stuck with that insurer until we had our own teen driver. That was my first real research experience. I knew what coverage we needed and what was required, figured out how much deductible we could afford, and went with the best quote. We had AAA and now we have Citizens. The teen does not own the car. It is our car insurance, and they are DH's cars. We just found out about this yesterday, and the next payment is due soon -- major time crunch. There is no way I would trust DS1 to do the research in a timely manner anyway. We have an well-respected insurance agency who does the research for us. It is great to have a third driver in the family. Today, DS1 is going to take DS2 to the doctor and pick up dog food at Agway. This errand would take me 2.5 hours, most of it driving time. Mine hates driving, and would be totally uninspired to research car insurance and does not volunteer to run errands. He will pick something up on his way home if it's just a quick stop. He would be happy to have no license at all, but needs to get to school. Driving is not viewed as a privilege by him at all, but rather a (somewhat unwanted) responsibility. This one has always been very aware of the seriousness of it all, and we have been involved in an accident. That re-affirmed my choice of insurance company when that happened! They were awesome. I'd rather guide-and-double-check... it seems to me that, while difficult, it's best to do it for 'your' first time with oversight. If I do the leg work, that leaves only that simplified expereince as the foundation for a young adult's first solo foray into this realm. I'd rather they have a complete walk-through at least -- and probably a complete guided walk through in the phase of 'do you want to become a driver?' followed by actual implementation of the plan. I'm all about doing hard things as early as possible -- with a total safety net, in order to gain experience and confidence. I wouldn't allow the teen to do more than make a researched reccomendation, then follow thrugh with approval and oversight. (Unless, maybe, the total package is entirely theirs: sole ownership of vehcle, sole driver, own insurance in their own name... and even then, I'd do a lot of background work in case I need to give them a heads-up on some aspect of their endeavour.) Wow, that's quite a time crunch. Do they start charging as soon as the teen is lisenced, whether you like it or not? AAA added our son as soon as he got his learner's permit. It's legal for insurance companies here to do that, it's also not necessary. He was covered anyway, but if they can get more money from you for any reason, they will try. That was the final straw for AAA as so many times over the years I had to call and have them take something off our policy that they added without my permission. I am a stay at home mom, and they kept changing my coverage to "drives over 50 miles a day to work or school" instead of the less expensive "pleasure" (Ha!) rating. I think the best advice we could give our kids in addition to researching the policy in the first place is to read your policy every time it comes. Maybe even to keep the last one and compare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Our total policy for three cars (2001, 2003, 2006) for a year is a little less than 2200 and that is for three drivers, good liability, and comprehensive. DD is a good student so we do get that discount and she has been driving now for three years with no accidents, no tickets. Is PA a no fault state or something like that that makes the rates so high? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StartingOver Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 When we had three teens, we specified an older vehicle that they could drive. We kept them off of the two new vehicles, and they were in fact excluded from driving them at all unless it was an emergency ( as in life or death, not late for a date. LOL ) Having defensive driving lowered the rates, and our insurance company took their grades ( even HS grades into account for lower rates. ) We pay $80 per male child, and $60 for our female child each month for them to drive. When they turn 18, they are on their own. And 18 - 24 year old is more expensive to insure here than minor children in the home. We used Farm Bureau, then Farmers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brilliant Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Wow, we never had an increase like that. Of course, we have USAA which is a fabulous company and my ds was 18 when he got his license and didn't have a car so just used ours occasionally. It did go up a bit when we had our sixteen year old and our 21 year old on it but still nothing like that. We have USAA, too. I *highly* recommend them to anybody who's eligible. Our auto insurance with them has tripled in the last 3 years (from about $100/mo to $300/mo). But we added 2 teen drivers, and went from 2 to 4 cars, including 1 brand-spanking-new car. We even increased coverage since we decided our liability was too low. I got a couple of quotes from other companies recently- and they were both $1000s/year higher. Call USAA if you or your parents have ever been military to see if you're eligible! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rwjx2khsmj Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 Wow, we never had an increase like that. Of course, we have USAA which is a fabulous company and my ds was 18 when he got his license and didn't have a car so just used ours occasionally. It did go up a bit when we had our sixteen year old and our 21 year old on it but still nothing like that. We have USAA too, liability only on 3 cars and our insurance doubled when we added our teen driver. Ouch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PuddleJumper1 Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 We have Geico and our rate only went up $70 a month when we added ds. I would have fainted with that kind of increase!:001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MicheleinMN Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 I think rates also vary a lot by state. Minnesota has the highest rates we have ever paid, and that's even after living in California. Old(er) cars and less of them also help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted November 1, 2012 Author Share Posted November 1, 2012 Rates here vary widely, in my recent experience! :001_smile: We have 2 cars (2002, 2009) and an SUV (2001). Our coverage is $500,000 per person/per accident, same with uninsured and underinsured motorists, and property damage. Collision is actual cash value minus $1K deductible. DH makes these decisions; I am not consulted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 (edited) After we added a teen driver we switched to Progressive. Your quotes don't even seem believable to me. Ds was 17 when he started to drive and bought a sports car, a Toyota Celica. Nobody I know pays insurance like your quotes, not even friends who have had multiple accidents. Do you trust the person you spoke to? If your son is driving an older car, was everything but collision removed? I would definitely require him to pay the costs himself if he wants the privilege of driving. It was an online quote verified by a telephone call for driving a family car. All of our cars are older, and definitely not sports cars. He'll be 18 when he gets his license, and we live in a rural area. The quote includes full coverage. For DH & I to have full coverage on 2 vehicles including rental and road service, it is only $65/month. At the time I did my research in July 2011, we were paying $1011.42/year through State Farm even though we had been customers with no claims for more than 10 years and also had our life and homeowners insurance through them (multi-policy discount). The exact same coverage was quoted by Met Life at $642, AAA at $922, and Progressive at $634. Progressive gave us a $50 online signing bonus, and they have better a better rental policy than the others. Their roadside assistance has saved us twice since we signed on. I know a few people who have been burned by USAA. Granted it was their homeowner's division, but I still don't trust them. And Geico is famous for under-insuring people to make their rates look lower. Edited November 2, 2012 by Amy in NH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.