Car insurance help please

glamourpuss · 01-26-2008, 03:16 PM

Hi everyone,
I am new and trying to cut some of our expenses so we can pay off credit card bills.
We currently have a 1995 jeep that is paid off. We have full insurance coverage on it and I think maybe we should shop for a lower policy.
We do not have a deductible. I am not worried about replacement costs of the jeep because it would probably only cost $2500 to replace, I am worried about an accident with large hospital cost for us or another driver.
I live in Michigan and we have no fault coverage.
My husband and I are 53 and 56, we have never filed a claim or had an accident. Do they give you a better rate because of age or good driving record? We have been with the same company for years.
Thanks for any help.
Sue

powerfm1 · 01-26-2008, 05:36 PM

I have only liability with state minimums - but I don't own a house. If you own property or have assets, you might want to drop the full coverage and keep the medical high.

Get the quotes a couple of different ways.

I just changed companies and my payments are for half of those with a company I've been with for years. Call and get quotes or get them on the net.

Get quotes for different coverage and get them from different companies so you can compare - I was nicely surprised - and it's with a company with a decent reputation too!

mmy2grls · 01-26-2008, 09:16 PM

In Michigan a lot of car insurance companies quote auto rates by going by your credit report, driving record does not matter.

leezza · 01-27-2008, 11:52 AM

Sue,

I would keep total full coverage if it were me (you never know what might happen and piece of mind is worth it). Yes age and driving record make a lot of difference. The company I like is AAA, we got a good rate from them. My folks swear by Nationwide......and I have seen alot of commercials for Geiko.

Good Luck,
leezza

Squirt · 01-27-2008, 12:44 PM

I think the safest way to save the most money is to have high deductibles on collision and comprehensive. With a vehicle only worth $2500, it might not even be worth having collision/comp. coverage as it would be easier to fix or buy a new one rather than risk years of elevated insurance because of a claim.

When you said you do not have a deductible, I assume you mean you have collision and comprehensive with a $0 deductible for repairs. If you still want that coverage and have 1k in the bank, raise the deductible to 1k. That might cut your bill in half.

There are websites where you can fiddle with quotes and quote changes online- Progressive for instance. I had them for several years and that feature was nice. You can see in 5 minutes how different changes affect your bottom line. It's easier doing it yourself rather than having a sales person trying to convince you of something.

FrugalMomof3 · 01-27-2008, 12:45 PM

If it were me and being that your jeep is over 10 years old, I would go down to basic coverage and add a small deductable. This will keep the costs down.

Here in PA, they go by age and driving record and we have full coverage on one car (2002) and basic coverage on the other (1985) and we pay around $950 a year.

lisettelovebug · 01-27-2008, 06:50 PM

check progressive. I pay $496 for 6 months for 2 people with $250 deductibles. I have an accident that's considered my fault but really wasn't, and dh went thru a red light a few years back. Geico wanted over $100 more every 6 months. Before my accident, we were looking at combining our insurance and nationwide wanted $1400 just to add me and a car with full coverage, Mind you, at this point I had never had a ticket or accident since getting my license more than ten years before that. We ended up adding dh to mine and it was $700 for 6 months.

meowpurrie · 01-27-2008, 07:04 PM

I worked in insurance for a decade.

We generally would recommend, if your car is 10 years or older to just to have liability. The worth of your car to replace it, is probably not worth the cost your pay in collision and comprehensive (aka other than collision) coverage.

Collision pays for your car if it is damaged in an accident. If it is the other's person fault, their insurance should pay for damage to your car.

Comprehensive (aka other than collision) pays for vandalism, hail, flood, theft etc.

If anything...I would recommend you at least drop the collision....but you could keep the comprehensive(aka other than collision) because this coverage is generally inexpensive. (check your statement for the cost of collision and comprehensive)

Also...see what it cost to have the towing coverage...it may be called a different name like towing & labor. My insurance only charges $1 per month...it also covers if you lock your keys in the car. Much less expensive that AAA.

Hope this helps.