Best Car Insurance Company?

[Robotech Master]

I'm buying a new car and I have no clue what to do about car insurance.

What is the best company? What should I look for? Rates? Services? Friendliness?

And should I get the car and then the insurance or the other way around?



Anyone have any advice or recommendations?

 

[JonathonWally]

I'm buying a new car and I have no clue what to do about car insurance.

What is the best company? What should I look for? Rates? Services? Friendliness?

And should I get the car and then the insurance or the other way around?



Anyone have any advice or recommendations?

I don't know how if it's different from state to state, but when I buy a new car from the dealership I have to show them proof of insurance before they'll actually let me sign for the car.

You're best bet is gonna be to shop around and compare rates, premiums and deductibles.

 

[SmoothieX]

You need to get the insurance first before you can drive off the lot. Once you've gotten a car you like picked out, call your insurance company and give them the make, model, VIN, etc. and they will cancel your old policy (assuming you're dumping the old car) and give you the new one for the new car. If I recall, I had to show proof of insurance the last time I bought a car.

I had GEICO for 10 years and was generally happy with them. I moved to Mass, which has wacky insurance laws. Most companies don't operate here. I switched to Liberty Mutual. One time after an accident I had to deal with them because they were the other driver's insurance company. They were pretty easy to deal with and responsive so I went with them as they offer policies in Mass.

 

[Garrovick]

Second GEICO.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

I have Geico and have not had any issues with them. They've paid out when they needed to, and they offer a lot of options for coverage. They aren't priced badly, either.

 

[Scout101]

I've got USAA, but it's a military-oriented company, so not a whole lot of use for most people. Very good rates, though, and excellent service

 

[Mallory]

I've been using Safeco for twenty years now. Excellent service and good rates.

 

[Holdfast]

I've got USAA, but it's a military-oriented company, so not a whole lot of use for most people. Very good rates, though, and excellent service

Coincidence is a funny thing - I'd never heard of USAA before today, but just earlier I was talking to a guy in a shop here in the UK who was trying to get a quote from them (his dad works for Lockheed-Martin apparently, hence the connection to the military).

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

USAA has always given fine service when I needed it. My dad (who served in the Army) and I both use it for our cars. And houses.

I've been using Safeco for twenty years now. Excellent service and good rates.

And good baseball parks.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

I don't know what the best company is but it's definitely not State Farm.

 

[Mutai Sho-Rin]

I don't know what the best company is but it's definitely not State Farm.

The exact opposite experience. I've been with State Farm for over 35 years in 3 different states and been very pleased.

Additional advice: Narrow down your car model choices to two or three then call your agent for quotes. Sometimes the rates can vary by 2 to 1 or more on seemingly similar models. This can further help you decide.

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

Progressive, simply because I'm strangely attracted to that chick in their commercials.

 

[Captain Ice]

I don't know what the best company is but it's definitely not State Farm.

The exact opposite experience. I've been with State Farm for over 35 years in 3 different states and been very pleased.

Additional advice: Narrow down your car model choices to two or three then call your agent for quotes. Sometimes the rates can vary by 2 to 1 or more on seemingly similar models. This can further help you decide.

Me too. In Las Vegas, after I was rearended by a GEICO client, State Farm pressured GEICO into getting the situation fixed ASAP after screwing around with it for ten days. My understanding was that they threatened to hold up payment or processing on claims being paid out to GEICO customers.

That experience has sullied me on using GEICO myself for the last five years and I only gave up my State Farm policy when I found I could get a better policy and better price through AAA.

If I were you, I would look into State Farm, Allstate, Farmers, and AAA.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Progressive, simply because I'm strangely attracted to that chick in their commercials.

Erin Esurance is way hotter.

 

[Bloodwhiner]

Esurance.. they are backed by another larger insurance company (can't recall who) and save but having no network of agents and a centralized claims processing center. The service they give is as good if not better than any agency I've been with. While I have not had an accident claim yet, I did talk to several people who had and they had nothing but good things to say about Esurance.

Lastly - their rates are fantastic. my insurance bill is literally half of what I was paying with State Farm, and far lower than progressive.

yes, the ads seem juvenile but the savings and service are fantastic.

Get some quotes, check Geico and Progressive then run your numbers with Esurance and decide which one makes sense.

Final advice -get the largest coverage you can. Don't skimp with 25/30/25 as hitting any SUV will likely leave you underinsured. Carry at 100/300/100 and preferably 250/500/250. The cost really isn't that much more.

 

[Scout101]

I've got USAA, but it's a military-oriented company, so not a whole lot of use for most people. Very good rates, though, and excellent service

Coincidence is a funny thing - I'd never heard of USAA before today, but just earlier I was talking to a guy in a shop here in the UK who was trying to get a quote from them (his dad works for Lockheed-Martin apparently, hence the connection to the military).

Small world. In any event, unless his dad was retired military before he went to Lockheed, it probably won't work. The company only services active military and their dependents, as well as retired military. Even in that situation, the kid would likely have to be young enough to still be on his parents' policy, and then break it off into a seperate one. I work for the DoD, but am not considered eligible. I can only get the policy because I was on my parents' policy first, and then started my own off of that. I've since brought my Fiance' onto my policy as well, so technically she could probably break off of my policy and get her own with NO connection to the military, but you still gotta have an "in" somewhere.

USAA is a great company, though. Rates are a fraction of what I've been quoted through Progressive, Geico, etc, and they've got a ton of services. I've got auto insurance, home insurance, credit cards with decent cash back, mutual funds (ouch), had my car loan there, insurance for the computer, jewelry and engagement ring, etc. And they mail me a check back every year when their claims aren't as high as projected. Even recently with shitty economic conditions, I'm still getting the rebate checks!

Unfortunately for me, USAA stopped doing motorcycle insurance a couple years ago, so I can't use them for that. They have a deal with Progressive, though, so I got a pretty good deal on the bike insurance through them.

 

[Dayton3]

Geico seems to me to be one of the most flexible about when you pay your premiums.

My paychecks happen to arrive about 3 weeks after the premiums are due so Geico said it was no problem for me to pay late and not lose coverage.

 

[SmoothieX]

Progressive, simply because I'm strangely attracted to that chick in their commercials.

Erin Esurance is way hotter.

You can find some not exactly PG rated pictures of her on the internet if you know where to look.

Someone has way to much time on his hands to draw that up.

 

[John Picard]

I don't know what the best company is but it's definitely not State Farm.

The exact opposite experience. I've been with State Farm for over 35 years in 3 different states and been very pleased.

Additional advice: Narrow down your car model choices to two or three then call your agent for quotes. Sometimes the rates can vary by 2 to 1 or more on seemingly similar models. This can further help you decide.

Me too. In Las Vegas, after I was rearended by a GEICO client, State Farm pressured GEICO into getting the situation fixed ASAP after screwing around with it for ten days. My understanding was that they threatened to hold up payment or processing on claims being paid out to GEICO customers.

That experience has sullied me on using GEICO myself for the last five years and I only gave up my State Farm policy when I found I could get a better policy and better price through AAA.

If I were you, I would look into State Farm, Allstate, Farmers, and AAA.

State Farm gave me a good payout when I wrecked my 1964 VW Karmann Ghia back in 1992. I even bough the car back so I could repair it -- HOWEVER, if State Farm ever makes a claims payout to you, and you leave the company, they won't take you back.

Farmers is incompetent as all get-out. My ex-wife insisted we insure with Farmer's when we were married, and it took several letters to the company, along with several telephone calls, to get those nimrods to send us our proof of insurance for our vehicles. One time we actually received proof of insurance for some couple in Arkansas. After 9/11, Farmers reassessed my policy and raised my house insurance from $950/year to $2,350/year. I dumped them right away in favor of Farm Bureau. Great coverage, low rates, and their requirements for full coverage exceed those of the State minimum requirements.

 

[FordSVT]

Be careful about simply signing the dotted line on the cheapest monthly insurance payment. It might be worth it to you, maybe not. Many companies offer very low rates, but they will have inferior coverage, or be much less forgiving on one time claims.

For example, my sister switched insurance agencies last year. She was with State Farm paying, say, $100 a month (don't know the numbers). She got a better deal with Wawanesa (say $70 a month), but with Wawa they hold accidents against you for 7 years instead of 3 like State Farm, and they don't have a one-time accident reprieve. You have a fender bender with State Farm once and they don't care, you get in one once with Wawa and your policy will increase dramatically.

Just reminding you to read the fine print and cover all the angles when you're shopping. And that's what you have to do, insurance products vary so much from place to place. And quite often you deal with a local insurance agency who sells many products so part of your customer service will be from them, not just some big faceless company you have a policy with.