Auto insurance - how does it work where you live?

[Max-U52]

Hey Guys, I'm off on another one of my rants, this time brought on because I just got the bill for my next six months auto insurance. Here in the US auto insurance is a very big deal, with billions of dollars in play. But, to me, auto insurance seems less of an industry and more of a criminal enterprise. They have a law in Michigan that says I must carry "no fault' insurance. For my 2011 Chevy Malibu, with a clean driving record, I must pay just over $600 for six months of the minimum required insurance (the company is Progressive insurance, about the cheapest around), but that's only if I pay the entire amount at one time. If I elect to make monthly payments that jumps to $900 for six months. I did the math on this, and Progressive has more than 13 million policies in force, and if just 25% of those policies are paying by the month it means progressive takes in more than 1.8 BILLION dollars a year, just in monthly payment fees. As a machinist, Boy, am I in the wrong line of work!

The other part that really irks me is that they pass this law that says I must buy insurance, so they set up a state regulatory agency to keep tabs on the insurance people. In order for any insurance company to raise their rates in Michigan they must first go to the state and get permission. Do you know how many times an insurance company has applied for a rate increase and been denied? It's never happened! The insurance crooks pump so much money into political lobbies that the crooked politicians do pretty much whatever they're asked.

Then there's the advertising. I constantly ask people, "Think about all the insurance companies and all the cash they dump into advertising. Do you think they do that because you can't make any money in insurance? Hell No! Even Al Capone thought insurance was a great racket to get into! Back when Obama was prez they did a survey of over 1,000 adults, and less than 30% recognized a photo of the current vice-President of the US (Joe Biden at the time) but more than 90% instantly recognized a photo of Flo, the chick in all the progressive TV commercials, and they also knew what company she hawks for. That made me very sad. The money they spend and the power of advertising have resulted in a virtual brainwashing of the American people. These clowns have the nerve to call themselves "heroes" because they sell insurance to small businesses. I truly believe they demean the very definition of the word Hero. All the true Heroes, that have given their lives for their countries, are now in the same category as these crooks? I think not.

So anyway, how does it work where you live? Is insurance required by law? How are the rates? Are you deluged with TV ads from the various companies?

Thanks for letting me vent, Brothers, I must admit that it's made me feel just a bit better. At least until I submit the next payment!!

[RobW]

In the UK we need 3rd party cover, and most get fully comprehensive (former pays the other party in an accident, the latter pays you). Depending on age, car & previous accidents etc it'll cost £300-£1500 per year. I also run a couple of classic Land Rovers (OK, they're both broken at the moment) and they're £100-£200 per year.

Age plays a huge part in the price, under 25's and over 70's will tend towards the expensive end.

[silversurfer1947]

I'm 70 year old and pay just over £200 a year for a car just coming up to 1 year old. This is with maximum no claim bonus, paid annually. Paid by monthly instalments it would probably increase by up to 20% - they rip you off for credit charges just like credit card companies.

There are large numbers of adverts trying to persuade you to give them your money. Also, the companies rely on apathy from their customer and jack the price up each renewal. If you shop around you can normally get a new customer "special price". What really annoyed me last time I renewed was when I phoned my old company to challenge the price, they immediately offered me a loyal customer reduction.

[AlwynTurner]

The advantage we have on this side of the pond is that we have price comparison sites where you can compare the same cover with different companies and also having a no-claims history helps enormously. This drives down the price and I find I can get insurance with no problem and I'm over 70. I am paying around £230-£250 per year.

Sounds like you have politicians and government people 'pandering' to special interests (i.e. taking backhanders).

Alwyn

[Max-U52]

Thanks for the info, Fellas. It's as I suspected. As the bad guy in Quigley Down Under once said, "Some men are born in the wrong century. I think I was born on the wrong Continent."

Alwyn, it sounds like you pay about 25% of what they charge me. So I guess the bright side for you guys is this - The next time you think your rates are too high just remember, you could have it worse, you could be ME!

Sounds like advertisers are the same all over, eh?

[Ludwig von wigbearer]

Hi all, I think where ever you go its a case of trousers down and a smacked arse, about 4 years ago I had a BMW
540I, petrol, 4.3 V8 remaped to 300BHP, very quick car, premium was about £350.00 a year, I was offered a
ford focus 1.6 auto to use after I sold the BM and was looking for another car and the premium on it was over
£700 quid

regards john

[tomhugill]

Hi all, I think where ever you go its a case of trousers down and a smacked arse, about 4 years ago I had a BMW
540I, petrol, 4.3 V8 remaped to 300BHP, very quick car, premium was about £350.00 a year, I was offered a
ford focus 1.6 auto to use after I sold the BM and was looking for another car and the premium on it was over
£700 quid

regards john

300bhp out of a 4.3 V8 is criminal!

[Max-U52]

What you expect your insurance to be at your age Max. . . . I don't know, civil war veterans complain about everything. . . .

Hey, they never made me buy insurance on the freakin' horse.

John, what you were paying on the BMW for a year is about what I pay for six months on the Chevy. And the difference to the Focus reminds me of something an agent once let slip, over here they take into consideration the number of reported claims for a particular model, but make no consideration for how many are produced. For example, they may make 10,000 Mustangs and get a certain number of claims, then they make 1,000,000 Escorts and get many more claims because there are many more on the road, but they don't consider that and just charge more if you have an Escort. Of course, when your goal is to screw that general public out of as much money as possible it's a pretty good idea.

Postal code doesn't matter if you get minimum coverage required by law, since they don't pay if it's crashed or stolen. No fault only covers the damage you do, not the damage you receive. They do charge more if you're urban as opposed to rural, so in that sense postal codes matter, but not as much as if you carry collision or comp, and then postal codes make a huge difference. From Wayne to Van Buren Township, which border each other, the difference was about 25%, so if you lived on one side of Hannan Rd you were in VB and paid less, on the other side you're in Wayne and pay more.

As for horsepower, being born and raised in Detroit I'm used to considerably higher numbers before we call it criminal. But then, we ain't called The Motor City for nothin', eh? Just for example, most of my buddies laughed at my 450 Flywheel HP Camaro, especially my best friend Stan, who's '38 Chevy with the blown 350 was hitting 650. At the rear wheels. These two were mine (the Camaro still is) and both had over 450 HP and weighed less than 3,200 lbs. I think Bruce Springsteen would call this a photo from my Glory Days.

[Ludwig von wigbearer]

Hi gary, I had a Camaro in my younger days, it was a 1972 Z28, yellow, I was 21 at the time so going on 35 years ago,
wish I still had it.

regards john

[greengiant]

I'm in Wisconsin in what I gather is a considered a high risk zip code. I have 2 vehicles insured, one of which I seldom if ever drive ( about 50 miles last year ) My daily driver I may put on 2000 miles a year. Both have over 100000 miles on them with no accidents, tickets ect. The cost for both together is about 100.00 a month for liability only insurance.
What I wish is that someone offered a insurance that was based on vehicle use.