<p>Welcome any help from the always knowledgeable cc-ers. DS, late 20s in New York, received a notice that his autoiinsurance will not be renewed when expires in a couple of months.</p>
<p>He’s well employed, top-notch credit, pays all bills, including of course the insurance on time. He had an accident that was his fault 2 years ago, so they paid a claim on that. During the past year he was hit by two other drivers - totally their fault. No moving violations since he was about 17 (one minor speeding ticket). He drives a 1-year old ± sedate sedan (Hyundai).</p>
<p>That’s the background. He doesn’t expect the company to change their mind. But what is his best course of action to secure car insurance from another company at some sort of reasonable rate?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance for help. (I may look like a new poster but I’m an old-timer - it’s been so long since I’ve been around that I’ve forgotten my password and the email address that they sent the reset info to…. no longer mine!)</p>
<p>He’s just going to have to look around and see what he can find. It may be at a much higher rate than he’s been paying. Even though the accidents weren’t his fault, the insurance company sees him as a problem in some regard.</p>
<p>Is there a possibility you can add him to your insurance, and have him pay you the difference? That might work well for a while.</p>
<p>We had a similar situation when S1 had a DUI and an accident at age 16. That was not a good time. We had to change insurers also, and it increased our rates gazillion-fold for the next few years.</p>
<p>Thanks, VH. To the best of my knowledge, we can’t add him back to ours. When he first went out on his own after college, we were told that’s a No Go… has his own place, lives in a different state etc. etc. Unless someone knows otherwise, that doesn’t seem to be an option.</p>
<p>He will have to shop around. Just wondered if someone knew best way to go about that. I was thinking he should seek out an independent agent…</p>
<p>Statistically, people who have claims will make more claims. Whether the claims were their fault or not, mathematically that is how it works out. He has no choice but to shop around, nothing he can do will make any difference. He may have a much higher rate for a year until that first one falls off, many insurance companies consider all claims within 3 years. Some look back to 5 years but my understanding is that is unusual. A good agent would know what markets to try and would have started trying to remarket him when they got a copy of the non-renewal notice.</p>
<p>^^ Thanks, very helpful and makes perfect sense. Not too late to find that “good agent”, right? Besides him asking friends and co-workers, any suggestions on how to find the best agent?</p>
<p>I would hunt in earnest sooner rather than later. Our S did self-insure (by accident) for a bit; he didn’t keep up his forwarding, so didn’t get premium notice when he moved. He’s been finding his own policies since he graduated in 2012. </p>
<p>USAA was the carrier most willing to work with us on D’s policy. They were going to raise it a great deal but I had a long chat with one of the persons involved in premiums and he used professional judgement to keep the rate down. </p>
<p>Sadly, it seems we are at the mercy of insurers. What state does S live in? Someone may have a suggestion with a regional carrier. I do use an independent agent and have found her invaluable at making sure we don’t have gaps in coverage. Both kids have their own policies and are not on ours. </p>
<p>We all live in different states and our cars are also all in different states–VA, CA and HI. We have a small HI carrier, which is the cheapest by far, but we have a long driving history. D has USAA. S has had Mercury in CA, as well as esurance (GEICO). Shop around for premium and coverage. Our agent can also give insight as to how companies are when you file a claim. That is KEY. Sadly our agent is restricted to HI insurers and couldn’t help us with either kiddo’s out of state policy; didn’t even have insurers to recommend. </p>
<p>CA has a .gov website comparing sample premiums for auto and other coverages. HI does too. Perhaps your S’s state has a similar webpage. It at least gives you somewhere to start, with names and contact info for in-state auto insurers as well as relative premiums. </p>
<p>Don’t go with USAA. They have raised my rates for 5 years because of two accidents I was in that were not my fault. Both of them were very minor too. I’m currently shopping around as well.</p>
<p>Does NY have a database of insurers and their average costs?</p>
<p>What different insurance companies will want to charge you individually may not match up to what they charge on average, as different insurance companies may consider you a more or less desirable customer relative to other insurance companies. Check rates for your situations at each company.</p>
<p>I would suggest that you be sure to contact an “independent agent” in you area in addition to any quotes you may receive from other insurance companies. </p>
<p>Independent agents are not “captive” to one insurance company. (Allstate, State Farm, Farmers and Nationwide use captive agents in most markets so their agents can only quote their policies when you call.) Independent agents can quote and bind for numerous companies - they can compare costs from 3 - 10 companies at one time. Since they represent many companies, they will know which of the companies they represent will give your DS the best deal given his claims history. Independent agents represent large companies such as Travelers, Chubb, Safeco and Hartford. More importantly they also tend to represent smaller regional insurers that might view risks differently than other companies. </p>
<p>Given how each insurance company views risks, your DS will need to contact an assortment of captive agents, independents and 800 number (GEICO etc.) companies to see which company will provide the best cover.</p>
<p>This happened to my D under similar circumstances. We ended up shopping around but stayed in close touch with our agent (we have multiple cars, the house etc with his company and have done for years), and he ended up fighting to keep her. Good luck - it’s a headache.</p>
<p>^^ Unfortunately, we’re in a different state from him - have been since his college graduation - so we can’t benefit from long-standing relationship with a good agent, which - like you - we have had for years handling all of our policies. Hoping we can get good help from a new relationship.</p>