Dear jpbischke,
Welcome to California - and insurance shock!
The same kind of thing happened to me, with a good driving record
and no accidents, when I moved from Irvine, CA to Van Nuys, CA
several years ago - my rates DOUBLED.
So, here are a few suggestions:
1) Ask your insurance agent if there is a cheaper ZIP code anywhere
within the radius of where you want to be. ZIP codes do make a big
difference in rates. (Either the area has a lot of accidents, or
many expensive vehicles to be hit in an accident.)
2) Raise your deductible as high as you dare. If you're not in
the habit of having accidents, just getting tickets, you'll rarely
need to pay out of pocket.
3) To compensate, raise your uninsured motorist coverage. They don't
really explain it well, but UM covers YOUR expenses if you are hit by
someone without coverage, or with low coverage.
4) You don't say what your assets are worth. But step back and take a
look at your net worth, not including pensions or 401(k)s. (Do include
IRAs.) If your net worth is nowhere near $300,000, you don't need
that much liability coverage. You only need enough to cover your assets,
essentially.
5) Do some shopping for insurance carriers. I recently made a comment in
my newsletter about being annoyed with my insurance agent because his staff
was messing up my policies. A reader shot back - call Mercury Insurance.
6) Going to AIS, an insurance broker, putting in your information, which
was surprisingly well presented, and the coverages you now have - came
up with a policy of $1571.00 per 6 months, through Mercury Insurance
http://www.aisinsurance.com/PLTP/Pages/InstantQuote.aspx
That's already a $1600 per year savings. (you can get an online quote.)
Several companies I know use AIS to help them shop for the best prices.
7) Putting an Anti-theft system on the car will cut rates: Is your vehicle
equipped with an approved electronic recovery system (Lojack, Teletrac,
On Star)?
8) Set your annual driving/mileage level at around 12,000.
The lower the mileage, the lower the rate.
I am not sure how much going to traffic school will reduce your rate, but
it doesn't hurt to ask. I know that if you were a senior, it would help.
Do ask the broker - California has some wonderful traffic school options -
comedy traffic schools, pizza traffic schools, hey, we may even have
chocolate traffic schools! Besides, you never know who you'll meet there.
Note: You can skip esurance.com - they show higher premiums than AIS ($1972)
Some other places to test rates?
http://www.geico.com/
http://www.progressive.com/
http://info.insure.com/auto/
http://www.lowermybills.com/iau/index.jsp?state=California
I hope this helps.
Your TaxMama-ga |
Clarification of Answer by
taxmama-ga
on
02 Oct 2003 16:05 PDT
Dear jpbischke,
Yes, I had a feeling that if you've just moved here,
you'd be tied in for at least a year.
You asked:
7. Good. Any ideas as to which companies offer a discount for these
devices? State Farm doesn't give me anything for OnStar. Also are
LoJack, Onstar, etc. all treated the same or do some insurance
companies offer discounts for some but not others?
How interesting, I just found this site that lists discounts for
anti-theft devices, by state:
http://www.microtrackmaster.com/autoinsurancediscounts.htm
Incidentally, it just occurred to me, many insurance companies
will provide the anti-theft discount if you use The Club, too
(much less expensive than LoJack).
Without doing a great deal of research, I don't know which
companies offer the discounts. I know that Farmers does.
(I have been hearing really unpleasant things from clients
about State Farm not settling their members' claims, so I'd
be reluctant to recommend them.)
If it were me, I'd pick out the top three companies, as to
rate, and call them about their discount policies. Or, if
you go to a broker, like AIS, they'll already know.
(Hey, that's right, before the Internet, brokers used to
know this stuff '~) Sometimes, we forget. )
8. How low can this be set? Right now I'm not driving a ton
mileage-wise so this could help me out a lot.
Now that I am working at home, we have my mileage set at
7,500 miles. I think we have the MG down as less than 5,000.
So, ask the broker where the breaks are. Most likely, each
company will have a slightly different level.
You also asked:
9. Traffic School - Do you know where I would go to find out more
about this? Even if it would be a minor discount it would probably be
worth it for me.
Here's a list of links to traffic schools in Los Angeles County
http://www.traffic-school.org/county/los-angeles.html
You may go to traffic school online - and just take a test.
But, whatever you do, if you go to a school and they offer
to let you pay but not show up - pick another school.
(Don't ask. But, yes, I know people who've done time for
running their schools that way.)
And then you asked one more thing:
10. Testing Rates - Have you found any of these to be typically
better or worse? I'll likely try them all but would like to start
with the ones that are most likely to give me the best rates.
I'd call AIS, and Geico and Progressive.
You already know what Mercury will do for you.
Ohhh! I just remembered. I know someone who specializes in auto
insurance for folks who've had accidents - call George and Alex at
A Pacific Southwest Insurance (818) 701-1033
If they can't help you - they'll know who can.
I think you'll do just fine.
Best wishes,
Your TaxMama-ga
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