Vehicle Insurance

[Girona40 0]

Hey Tracy! You are quite right, the premium drops when he is 25, but he has a year and 5 months before that happens. It is unfortunate that the insurance companies base their premium on his credit history, as well as his driving history. He has not had the opportunity to build a credit history, since he isn't an LPR but has been here over 3 years and driving. You would think the fact that he has been paying car insurance for 3 years would help, but it doesn't seem to. It just seems so unfair that he is penalised for being an immigrant - that's how I see it. I wonder, are there any insurance companies that specialise in vehicle insurance for new immigrants? Hmmm

Nah, I think he's being penalized for being under 25, not cos he's an immigrant. They probably don't even know that.

Progressive.com supposedly gives you rates from other companies to help you find the best one, but I've never tried it.

Yeah, it is the under 25 problem, but when I said he was being penalised for being an immigrant I meant because he can't get a credit history going since he is still pending AOS - as you know, that has been forever! If he were a 23 year old USC it wouldn't be good, but not quite as bad. Oh well, he has given up o the idea of this car now and is just going to continue with his "old banger" until he is 25. If it dies in the meantime he will get a cheapie car that can simply get him to work. I feel bad - I would love to see him have something nice.

[Flames9_RN 358]

Shop around, lot of different insurance companies out there. One would think the rates would be similar, but they are not.

[flipside 0]

Call Geico: 1-800-861-8380

Or get a quote online at geico.com

Okay, tried Geiko - they are the most expensive yet! $5100 per year!! Don't think so, but thanks for the suggestion.

Holy #######.. My "local" agent quoted me $2800/yr. I pay $1080 at geico.

[ChristinaM 0]

Girona, maybe looking at a brand-brand new car is also pushing it up (I may be assuming there). Also, you didn't give details as to what kind of car you and your son were looking at. The difference between trying to insure a brand new Chevy Impala versus a three year-old Dodge Neon could be the difference between what your son can afford to drive or not.

It would be a shame to write off the idea, because I'm sure that your son would love a new(er) car - especially after all that you've been through.

[silly_chick 0]

I got my license here in the U.S. at the age of 22, I had no driving experience and no credit Yet I'm only paying about $400 a year for my insurance. I'm with Farmers. Maybe you should try them - they seem like a very good company. I only have liability insurance, though - no collision or comprehensive. I want to get that too, and that will increase my premium, but still it wouldn't be that outrageous $3500 a year. That's just insane.

Good luck!

[kc456 0]

Any of you have any experience of the same and how did you get round it? At the moment he is looking at $3500 a year to insure a pretty basic car!!! This is fully-comprehensive, I know, but he has to have this because we are co-signing a loan for him to purchase it. It's the only way he can get his credit rating increased.

You may need to look into buying an inexpensive used car, paying cash, and getting liability only. Out of the $3500, how much is liability and how much is comprehensive? I'd assume it's about 50/50. So you'd be saving $1700 or so a year, enough to equal the cost of a used car over a few years. (Say, even if he totalled it, you'd still be ahead). Also, if you buy a new car, get comprehensive coverage, and your son were to get into an accident, the insurance payout would make sure his rate stays high a lot longer.

To get comprehensive insurance on a new (more expensive car) for a new, young driver is really expensive. I was in the same situation, and dropped the comprehensive coverage as soon as I paid off my loan, which was not that much since the car was used to begin with.

[dude9er 0]

look at Costco auto insurance. they are great and a good price. Also check out Mercury Insurance, very competitive. I would avoid companies like Geico, I found them to be expensive. Someone has to pay for all those TV ads.

Check into getting your son some PREPAYED credit cards. I got mine from Citibank and you can set your own limit ($200 to $2000 i believe). I got mine for $600, use it and pay it off right away to help build my credit. I've had it since december and I'm already getting preapproved junk mail. It's great. You will have to pay an annual fee for the card, but I figure it's worth it for the good credit.

Good luck!!!

Edited February 26, 2006 by dude9er

[kc456 0]

BTW, if your son is ever in an accident, you're better off paying it out of pocket (without involving the insurance) if the damage is not extensive. I ended up doing just that when I had a fender bender 1 moths after getting insurance (run into a step bar on a delivery truck). I was lucky that there was no damage to the truck at all, and I did not have to report it.

[ctjwa 0]

I'm only paying about $400 a year for my insurance.

What are you driving, a bicycle? Insurance policies are written in 6 month increments. I think that may be the $400 number you're thinking of, resulting in about a $70 a month payment.

Edited February 27, 2006 by ctjwa

[pax 0]

I'm paying $94.50/month (comprehensive)--the lowest rate I could find--with Drive insurance from Progressive. That's with me being under 25 and with one at-fault accident (with no property damage or injury), but I do have decent credit that now goes back five years. So it works out to just over $1000/year.

Insurance.com lets you compare rates across a number of companies for a few preliminary quotes. You may want to give that a shot.

Edited February 27, 2006 by pax

[bly 0]

Usually male drivers get 2 breaks on age, one at 25 and another at 30.

I paid as high as $3000 per year for insurance when i was under 25. When I turned 26 it dropped to $1000 or so.

Now that I'm 34 I pay about $500 a year.

All for the same type of car and same amount of insurance.

Young male drivers get screwed in the USA. If you're under 30 marriage will help drop the rate some too.

[Yodrak 7]

G,

What level of decuctable are you asking for? A higher deductable (more money out of your pocket should an incident occur) can lower the premium substantially. (Put the premium savings into a savings or money market account to build up a fund to cover the deductable just in case.)

Yodrak

My son is 23 and has been driving since he was 17 - here in the US he's been driving for 3 years with no claims on his insurance.

Today, we call to get an insurance quote for him and they tell us that it is based on, amongst other things, his credit rating. Although his credit is good, he has not had the opportunity to build up a good credit score because he has never purchased anything on credit. Sears/JC Penny/Target etc. won't let him have a store card because he isn't an LPR - we've been trying to get that for him for 3 years now!!

Any of you have any experience of the same and how did you get round it? At the moment he is looking at $3500 a year to insure a pretty basic car!!! This is fully-comprehensive, I know, but he has to have this because we are co-signing a loan for him to purchase it. It's the only way he can get his credit rating increased. Catch 22

Any companies you know of that may be able to help?

Thanks

G

[Boiler 45,513]

I was an Insurance Broker in the UK for more years than I care to remember, I have recently joined Farmers as an Insurance Agent.

Trying to compare the UK market and the US market will just give you a headache, I never thought Insurance was particularly logical, was not in the UK, is not in the US, but like in everything else - different.

There is no point comparing premiums between States, it would be like someone in say Portugal saying they were paying so many Euro's whilst someone in Germany is paying twice as many.

Farmers is a major company, subsidiary of Zurich, but has a major presence in only half the States, and none in about a third of the States.

The majority of Agents only represent one company, Farmers gives you the opportunity to deal with others but only in business areas they do not operate in - for example Farms!

Brokers will deal with more than one, but the likes of State Farm, Farmers, Geiko etc do not operate through them.

I did look at Progressive I think it was who said they will also give you the competition numbers, we were with State Farm and I could work out Farmers, they were some way off on both. Colorado is a File and Use State, so all rates have to be registered with the State, but I do not see how in practice anyone without access to the Farmers system could rate a Farmers policy.

Credit scoring is used, I was told it was a discount, but that depends which way around you look at it, up to 30%. But then your average Male 23 USC probably does not have good credit either.

Usually the best way to minimise your costs is to bundle your Insurance with one providor, House Motor, Life in some cases, will all give you discounts, that's they way they like to sell.

The other thing I have noticed is that most people have excess/deductibles far too low and limits also on the low side.

$250,000/$500,000 seems to be considered a lot, in the UK you would have had GBP5,000,000 plus.

You did not mention if your son was part of your household, if he is then he is probably being used to price one of the existing vehicles, or should be. If not, then he is on his own for his own vehicle.

Anything I have missed, please shout

[Girona40 0]

I was an Insurance Broker in the UK for more years than I care to remember, I have recently joined Farmers as an Insurance Agent.

Trying to compare the UK market and the US market will just give you a headache, I never thought Insurance was particularly logical, was not in the UK, is not in the US, but like in everything else - different.

There is no point comparing premiums between States, it would be like someone in say Portugal saying they were paying so many Euro's whilst someone in Germany is paying twice as many.

Farmers is a major company, subsidiary of Zurich, but has a major presence in only half the States, and none in about a third of the States.

The majority of Agents only represent one company, Farmers gives you the opportunity to deal with others but only in business areas they do not operate in - for example Farms!

Brokers will deal with more than one, but the likes of State Farm, Farmers, Geiko etc do not operate through them.

I did look at Progressive I think it was who said they will also give you the competition numbers, we were with State Farm and I could work out Farmers, they were some way off on both. Colorado is a File and Use State, so all rates have to be registered with the State, but I do not see how in practice anyone without access to the Farmers system could rate a Farmers policy.

Credit scoring is used, I was told it was a discount, but that depends which way around you look at it, up to 30%. But then your average Male 23 USC probably does not have good credit either.

Usually the best way to minimise your costs is to bundle your Insurance with one providor, House Motor, Life in some cases, will all give you discounts, that's they way they like to sell.

The other thing I have noticed is that most people have excess/deductibles far too low and limits also on the low side.

$250,000/$500,000 seems to be considered a lot, in the UK you would have had GBP5,000,000 plus.

You did not mention if your son was part of your household, if he is then he is probably being used to price one of the existing vehicles, or should be. If not, then he is on his own for his own vehicle.

Anything I have missed, please shout

Thanks Boiler for all the valuable information. He has decided to wait a while and manage with the wreck he is driving at the moment, so that he can save to buy a car for cash. Because he would need a loan the insurance coverage has to be fully comprehensive. Even with deductables of $1000 his rate is still ridiculous.

My son does live with us, as part of our household and we have 5 other vehicles insured through the one insurance company - the one that gave us the original quote. Some have been a few dollars less, others even more. Geiko wanted over $5000 for the year!

Anyway, I think he realises that he simply can't have a nice car right now - he can't afford it, even with us giving him the $4000 downpayment.

I feel for the kid, because when his brother was visiting last year he was helping my son wash and clean his Toyota. He decided to roll it backwards down the drive a little, so that he wouldn't get soap and water all over my husband's F350 parked in the car port. He didn't realise that the foot brake didn't work when the ignition wasn't on and he let it roll into a tree, with the back door open! So, my son had to replace the door and did a cheap "at home" paint job on it. He wasn't happy, but it was not deliberate on his brother's part and he understands that. But he has been driving this "not so pretty" car for a while now and just wanted to get himself something that looked half-decent. Oh well, looks like another 17 months wait and he can perhaps get something he really likes.

Thanks guys for all your help and advice.

[TracyTN 237]

Thanks Boiler for all the valuable information. He has decided to wait a while and manage with the wreck he is driving at the moment, so that he can save to buy a car for cash. Because he would need a loan the insurance coverage has to be fully comprehensive. Even with deductables of $1000 his rate is still ridiculous.

My son does live with us, as part of our household and we have 5 other vehicles insured through the one insurance company - the one that gave us the original quote. Some have been a few dollars less, others even more. Geiko wanted over $5000 for the year!

Anyway, I think he realises that he simply can't have a nice car right now - he can't afford it, even with us giving him the $4000 downpayment.

I feel for the kid, because when his brother was visiting last year he was helping my son wash and clean his Toyota. He decided to roll it backwards down the drive a little, so that he wouldn't get soap and water all over my husband's F350 parked in the car port. He didn't realise that the foot brake didn't work when the ignition wasn't on and he let it roll into a tree, with the back door open! So, my son had to replace the door and did a cheap "at home" paint job on it. He wasn't happy, but it was not deliberate on his brother's part and he understands that. But he has been driving this "not so pretty" car for a while now and just wanted to get himself something that looked half-decent. Oh well, looks like another 17 months wait and he can perhaps get something he really likes.

Thanks guys for all your help and advice.

Fixing Girona's post so its a little easier to read. I got lost in what was your reply and what was from Boiler's post!

Edited February 28, 2006 by TracyTN