NC auto insurance - unfair foreign driver policy

[Texanadian 10]

If you're with the military, you should look into USAA insurance. They seem to give good rates to military people.

As for me? What can I say....Insurance seems like it should make some sense, but it doesn't. I'm in Texas and with GEICO. They don't care about my Canadian driver's record despite letters from my old insurance company and a driver's abstract saying all is good. So I'm paying an $80 surcharge every 6 months on my insurance plan due to "no driving history." They said that should go away in 3 years.

Here is the weird thing. It's cheap......Even weirder. I live Houston. Maybe it's an upper class neighbourhood that helped give me the good rates. But there is never ending traffic where I live (Galleria). I pay $275 for 6 months coverage. That's liability, PIP coverage, underinsurance for bodily and property, and comprehensive. My wife pays $175 for the same thing but with collision as well.

Here's where the numbers don't make sense. Originally I joined her plan for the multi-car discount. My car was expensive to insure. About $450. So I checked the rates on a solo policy. Same company (Geico), same coverage amounts, but just my car. It went down to $320. Hmmmmm. Then I tried adding my wife to my plan and both our rates went down.

So it's cheaper for our insurance to say "Me and her" than it is for it to say "Her and me."

For those of you with Geico, I'd recommend taking their online driver safety course. It's $20 and 6 hours. You can start and stop in the middle and it saves your work. It gives you a 10% discount on everything except underinsurance for the next 3 years. Once I completed it, they gave me an immediate refund on my then brand new coverage that I'd bought a week or so before. So it's already paid for itself.

[Texanadian 10]

One thing that may have effected my insurance rates is credit score. Like everybody who moves to the US, I had none. After one year here I had a 720 FICO. I didn't buy car insurance until a year of living here.

Not much you can do other than get about 15 different quotes from every company possible. It's time consuming and manotonous, but if it means saving a couple hundred dollars, it's worth it.

[Texanadian 10]

And I stand by everything I wrote before - even though I dislike paying the high premiums. Driver's insurance is a big, well understood market, with a lot of competition. The insurance companies know exactly what their risks are and how to price them. If it was possible to charge less, some company would do so and others would have to follow.

However, if you are REALLY sure that you are being charged too much, have you considered self-insuring (if your state allows it)? For example, in California you can deposit a bond with the DMV and then legally drive without insurance.

To a certain extent, they're competitive. To another extent, they're not even close. I got quotes for everything from $1400 for 6 months all the way down to $275 for 6 months. That's a spread of 500% price difference.

How much does the California self insured program cost? In Texas, you'd need to put up a $50,000 deposit to a county judge and that would satisfy the 25/50/25 state mandated liability coverage. You could then drive uninsured. For people who own 20 cars, this can be economical. Much cheaper than buying a 20 car policy. But for the average person, I don't think it would work too well. Who has $50,000 kicking around that they wouldn't mind putting up in a no interest insurance account?

[Texanadian 10]

I'd also add that it's a good idea to buy underinsurance for both your vehicle and for bodily injury. Uninsured people in Canada is ultra rare. In the US, it's an epidemic. Many states are in the 20-30% uninsured drivers amount. Texas is 25% uninsured. If these people hit you and you don't have underinsurance, you're on the hook for medical and vehicle costs.

Could sue them. But good luck actually getting the money even if you do win. Some places will tow a person who is un-insured and gets in an accident. But a surprisingly high amount of places the police will let the un-insured person drive their car home. Meanwhile you need a tow truck to get your car off the road.

[reeses16 8]

My hubby's been here almost 2 years. Before he got his driver's license I called State Farm to find out about adding my hubby. They told me that we would have to pay more because my hubby did not have a US driving history. I didn't actually get a number quoted at that point. A few months later he got his license and our premium never changed. I don't know if its their mistake or what...but I'm gonna leave it at that. One thing though, we only have one car and I'm listed as primary, but he is covered as well (his name is on the bill and cards) so I'm not sure if it would be different if he was the primary on a 2nd vehicle if we had one.

Another poster mention the premium may be related to credit score. My hubby had already established credit in the US and had a great score before he got auto insurance coverage. I added him to one of my cards after he was in the US and he inherited some of my credit history.

[rainbow2009 0]

Nice sharing. Cool

pret auto

Edited April 27, 2009 by rainbow2009

[adam1 1]

when I first came to NC I ask couple insurance companies and they told me $1200 and up, I went online to Geigo and got my insurance for $180 for six month, I listed my driving experience from my country and the computer took it. The best advise to new immigrant is try not to talk to a live person, do everything online. the funny part was six months latter I went back to the companies that coted me $1200 and up and asked them that I'm thinking about switching from geigo to them and they told me $200 this time, so what happend after six month? I have no idea. The best advise is try to get in the insurance system some how and after that you will get to pick and chose.

[Penny H 0]

So if you live in NC, are a foreign national with an NCDL and have tried to get auto insurance, you'll find that thanks to the NC rate bureau, international driving experience can no longer be counted (as of 2006) and you are charged the rate for an inexperienced driver, which on average is around $1200 for 6 months!!!!!!!!!!

personally I have 18 years driving experience, most of which is commercial 'professional' driving experience, and in all my time on the road I have NEVER had an accident. I am mortified that the hundreds of thousand of miles and years of accident free experince I have is now worthless and I have to pay the same as some bratt nosed 16 year old who has never driven a car in their life. Or for that matter, more than some 19 year old with a couple of years experince tearing around with thier buddies.

I consider it highly unfair and am currentyl lobbying the NCRB to change their policy. I understand their need to have 'verifiable proof' of foreign driving experience, but to have it dismissed totally is unfair and unacceptable.

Anyways, 'breathes', I am currently hassling every insurance agent I can find, and scouring every resource I can find for workaround to this issue. I am not talking about anything illegal, I firmly believe everyone on the road should have insurance. I am simply talking about loopholes that would reduce the cost of said insurance for those of us with experience.

So, as I find out more info, I will post information on here. In the meantime, if any of you have experience with this issue, or know of any LEGAL workaround, please come here and post it for the rest of us, lets see if we can't beat this grossly unfair policy!!!

I have just arrived in NC and have had insurance quotes for $4000! You mentioned that your avarage quotes were $1200. Can you tell me who you are insured with? Thanks

[sashitaski 3]

For those of you who are eligible, I would highly recommend looking into USAA auto insurance. While they primarily provide coverage for those in the military, even if one of the USC's parents was ever in the military, you may be eligible. When my husband moved here I called Amica to get an auto insurance quote. They said my husband would be charged new driver rates. I then talked to USAA, and they said they only information they needed was how many years my husband had been driving. They didn't even require any kind of proof of his driving history in his home country.Their quote was three times less than Amica's.

Some background information: At the time I was looking at insurance quotes,my husband had had his U.S. license for about 6 months, and had been building credit history for as long. We live in VA, and as many people have said, policies do vary in each state.

[trillium13 84]

$4000? Crazy. I added my husband to my insurance (Progressive) and our rates actually went down, we pay just under $100 a month.

His car has only liability though.

[dluke77 9]

"but i know from personal experience that insurance companies are amongst the most stubborn entities in the universe. Their main mission in life is to accumulate money, with a powerful secondary calling of not giving any money away"

Not to sound crass, but that is the proper way to run a business. To accumulate money and not give it away. Their is huge government oversight/regulation in the insurance industry at the state and federal levels--almost to the point of government run vehicle and homeowners insurance. That is part of the reason for the high cost of insurance and why companies need to find those areas where they can get away with charging them more--since the US governments interference in business sectors cost american compananies millions each year--that money has to be passed to customers someplace.

[ajigglin 0]

wow! very interesting thread. i hope my experience is more positive once we update our car insurance.

[obnancy 5]

Hi, I am in Ca and had the same problem when I added my husband as a driver to my cars and then added his car with my AAA insurance. I was with them for 10 years and they refused to accept his 30 years of driving experience from Australia without an accident, tickets, etc...

Our situation is a bit different because I have a lot of assets here and he has a lot in Australia and we live in sue happy CA. We have another friend who married an American and after a visit back to Australia, the American wife was jet lagged, forgot she was back home and took off down the wrong side of the road. She caused a head on collision with a car carrying four people. They are now being sued for 4 Mill.

I wanted a high limit policy and finally found a way to get one that is still more than I used to pay, but was less than AAA was charing us and gave us 1 mill in liability coverage. I used a commercial insurance account through my business and now all three of our cars are insured through that.

Good Luck everyone.