Insurance - shop around!

[wjduke]

I finally learned to shop for insurance every year. It took years for me to try, but it pays off. My current agent just got beat by my new agent, by $600 a year, just on my car, and that doesn't include the $300 cheaper he was on the bike. We're talking $900 a year, and it took one phone call. I know about bundling, but it seems that my current agent has forgotten.

I lease my car, so I have to have mandatory full coverage(minimums). I put good full coverage on the bike, as I own it outright and want it covered for repairs. Massachusetts controls the rates. There's no excuse for this besides a money grab.

I also learned from my bike accident, that minimum insurance can't hurt me. The guy that hit me had it, and he walked away nearly scott free. This action may not work for everyone, but it does for me.

Take a few minutes and make some calls....you may be surprised.

[Steve 0080]

I have had the same agent/company for 30 years...no BS when I call ! Period...loyalty is a
benefit as well !!!

The biggest issue you have Sir is the state you live in !!!

[wjduke]

I have had the same agent/company for 30 years...no BS when I call ! Period...loyalty is a
benefit as well !!!

The biggest issue you have Sir is the state you live in !!!

That's partly true. Unless I move, it's what I got. My previous agent to these last two had me for 15 years, until I hit the phone and found out I was getting shafted. They lost me and never even called to find out why. Loyalty is out the window...at least up here.

[opas ride]

That's partly true. Unless I move, it's what I got. My previous agent to these last two had me for 15 years, until I hit the phone and found out I was getting shafted. They lost me and never even called to find out why. Loyalty is out the window...at least up here.

Insurance rates vary from state to state, company to company, and so many other variables it is impossible to compare on this board or any other web sites...Driving records, credit history, age, accidents, extent of coverage, etc.etc...It is useless trying to compare apples to oranges...Loyalty works for some companies, others it does not...If your happy with what you have, stick with it!!!...I have shopped around over the years with several different companies and in the end, no real money differences...My local agent and I have been together for over 40 years and it is still the best for me.....JMHO

[shooter]

Steve no matter what you think , Duke is right. If you have had the same insurance more than three years you are probably paying too much. It pays to shop around. I shop every year. Sometimes I don't need to change. When I bought my second bike , the B , Nationwide hit me hard on coverage. I shopped around and found that Allstate could save me 50%. I actually insure both bikes for what I was insuring one. Yeah States differ in their rates but some companies want your business worse than others. A lot of my riding buddies have switched to Allstate for their bikes. Some people get hung up on having Home , Auto , and Bikes with the same company. Farmers has my House and three vehicles. They give me the best rates I can get on those things. They want more than double , yes double , what I pay with Allstate for the bikes. Don't know why. That's just the way it is. So if you are comfortable with your agent and.don't mind throwing money away , don't check around. If you work hard for your money like I do and don't want to give it away , do like Duke and I , shop around and save.

[shooter]

What Duke said. "Take a few minutes and make some calls". That's the best advice you will hear this year.

[wjduke]

What gets me is that the agent I'm switching to, at least with my bike, quoted from the same insurance company, Progressive. On the car, I'm currently with "Hanover Group", so not sure what individual company has it. I think the new guy is going with Progressive also. I personally don't care what company it is.

Shooter made my point for this thread. It's really for the guys who are with the same company and just write the check each year or month, whichever. I'm not so sure they're as loyal to you as you think. In some cases, maybe so. It proved to me that I was "just a number" the whole time.

What spurred this on a few years ago, was when I got into biking again after many years. I went to my agent, who I had been with all those years, to insure and register it. My city of residence has higher rates than surrounding towns. I work with a guy who lets me garage it at his house, (at his insistence I might add ) which allows me a cheaper rate. My agent put my city in the box that asked where you garage it. I corrected her, and right away she looked at me and said, "you're going to get caught". She called me a liar right to my face and that started the ball rolling to find another agent.

[seadog]

Michigan is the most outrageous state with very high insurance rates, which some say the state has the worst insurance rates in the country. I could believe that trying to get a good rate on anything is a full time job up here.

[wjduke]

Michigan is the most outrageous state with very high insurance rates, which some say the state has the worst insurance rates in the country. I could believe that trying to get a good rate on anything is a full time job up here.

It's bad in my state too. Don't know where we fall in expensive places to live, but it can't be good. Plus it's an economically depressed area. Sam's Club just closed after being here maybe 3 years. At work yesterday someone said that in my city 66% are on some kind of assistance. I have some family ties that make it hard to move away, but I'd love to.

[opas ride]

Michigan is the most outrageous state with very high insurance rates, which some say the state has the worst insurance rates in the country. I could believe that trying to get a good rate on anything is a full time job up here.

I have my car and truck, F6B, homeowners all with State Farm in Michigan and it costs me a fortune each year!!!...Insuring the exact same stuff with the same company in Oklahoma, where my daughter lives, would save me almost $800....Go figure!!!...Michigan insurance laws "suck" as does the gas tax.....Some of the worst rates in the USA....If I could move I might....Ride safe