Auto Insurance=Scam

[couchcommander]

You guys will love this.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/insurance/

Scoutfinch, would this be called collusion?

 

[condor888000]

:rage: Must......resist.......urge.........to........kill insurance executives.

It's highway robbery, and theres nothing that you can do about it, you need the insurance, and you have to pay what they ask....*sigh*.....to be 25, only 6 years, 3 months and 20 days of this insurance hell left.....

 

[yoman]

Dam, and I need to start getting insurace in about 6 months...  :'(

 

[c.jacob]

Anybody in Ontario and Quebec might want to check out Belair Direct.

I was shocked at how low the rates are, and you can do a free online quote instantly.

http://www.belairdirect.ca

  They quoted me less than half of what I'm paying now. 

 

[Viss]

Hey Everyone, first post here.

When I was shopping for insurance online, I happened upon a website called insurancehotline.com. After about 15 minutes of finding the required information to input and about 5 minutes to enter it, I received a quote that was $1200 cheaper than my previous insurance company. I went from $3600 to $2400 per year. Mind you, I am a 22 year old male with one accident, one ticket and am driving a 94 Escort LX. On top of that, insurancehotline.com emails me once a month to give me the lowest rates that they can find, which reminds me... I just got an update and I was quoted for around $2100... time to change again. Take my word for it. It is worth the hassle.

Viss 

 

[geo]

Vis,
hope you have as pleasant an outlook if & when you need to file a claim.

 

[Quag]

Geo brings up a very good point.  The cheapest insurance company is not necessarily the best.

Look at the their claims reviews.  Alot of these "fly by night" insurance companies can give you a major headache when it is time to file a claim.

 

[geo]

fly by night AND igh deductibles
you can take a risk, accept to pay 1K as a deductible in the event you have a fender bender.....

 

[Quag]

Some things to consider when looking at auto insurance:

-You can usually choose your deductible.  The lower you choose, the higher your rate will be.

-If you have an older car, ask yourself if you really need collision.  Sometimes its not worth it in the long run, as claiming the collision not only jacks your rate in most cases, but will hurt your driving history (not a good thing at all with auto insurance).  If it is an older car, it might be cheaper to just cut your losses as the increase in rates will hurt your pocket more in the long run.

 

[TMM]

You can usually choose your deductible.  The lower you choose, the higher your rate will be.

Good advice. We went with a $2500.00 deductible because iwe could handle that amount and moreso because $1000.00 can usually be settled outside of insurance.

  If it is an older car, it might be cheaper to just cut your losses as the increase in rates will hurt your pocket more in the long run.

That's what I did with my 1989 car.

I also want to point out it isn't just young guys who get hit with huge premiums. I was 35 when I got my full licence and I paid $2500.00 a year for that 1989 car, no collision!

 

[Lost_Warrior]

Car insurance has been quite an engima for me these past couple of years.  Was with Belair Direct my first year paying 490$ for the year.  Next year they wanted to charge me 2200$    They could not really give me a reason either.  They said it was their "standard rate"

I asked what the rate I was initially given was called, and they said he had no info why it was so low my first year.  I had no accidents, tickets, or anything that would normally cause insurance rates to go that high, but they didn't seem to know why, nor did they want to keep my rate at the 490 it was my first year.

Then I got my new car, and they wanted to charge me 3900$ for it.

I laughed after getting quoted 1300$ with Wawanesa, and promptly told Belair Direct where to go.

I would give Wawanesa a call.  They're pretty good, and give a discount to military personel.

 

[geo]

a lot of insurance companies "buy" their clients.
lowball on the 1st year and jack em up in the following ones.... possibly not as dramatic as what LW experienced but....... they are, after all, a for profit business

 

[William Webb Ellis]

they are, after all, a for profit business

Are there any that aren't??

Listen, insurance is a unique type of business.  It works on Good Faith.  Yes, on both sides.  Sit down and ask yourself if you have ever committed insurance fraud, or if you know someone who did??  Ever report them?

There are not to many people out there that ever have a 10 year old TV in a house fire, an iPod Nano turns into a top of the line model......Although most people don't commit fraudulent acts, ie: arson, they do "inflate" their claim or loss......

That is not Good Faith.

Do insurers ever take a run at people.....some may, but I suspect most don't, google Whiten v Pilot Insurance Co., 2002 SCC 18, and see what the results are.

You don't like insurance, fine don't get any....you can then deal with the repercussions.

I also don't like Oil Companies and Banks (check their respective profits, and funny how all gas stations seem to put up their prices together??)

Cheers

 

[sober_ruski]

Looks like i'm screwed.
insurancehotline.com send me straight to ICBC's website  : Bloody hell. Why in the world would insurance for a prelude be more than 325I BMW?!

 

[Viss]

sober_ruski,

I am sure that you are already aware, but it is common for insurance companies to unfairly inflate their prices for vehicles which they deem to be "sports" or "high performance" types. When I checked out wikipedia's write up regarding the Prelude, it classifies the Prelude as a sport compact.

Also, when I previously went to renew my car's insurance, the broker asked me if I had made any modifications to my car that would increase its performance. Understanding this and also assuming the fact that the article on Wikipedia makes abundant references to the large variety of modifications that are availiable for the Prelude, this may be one of or the possible reason why a comparitively less expensive car may be more expensive in terms of insurance than a more expensive car.

This point is pure assumption but please indulge me. Since the Prelude is considered to be an entry level sports car which will tend to be more popular with people who are younger due to is lower cost, I would assume that since insurance companies are well known for jacking premiums up for unmarried males under age 25, and that 325i BMWs will tend to be driven much more carefully and more often by say, middle aged executives who are married with kids, that that may be another reason why the Prelude may be more expensive insurance wise.

Forgive me if I am wrong, but when I replied to your post I checked your profile and saw that it was only partially filled out with your rank only being displayed as Pte, I wrote this post in a context that I thought would be most beneficial to you. I also assumed that you are a person who is under 25, unmarried and not a corporate executive . If I am incorrect, please disregard my advice.

 

[sober_ruski]

Thing is, 1993 325I/IS costs as much as 1993 Prelude... for 1992 prelude doesnt have the Vtec with 190 HP, but only 160. Also BMW's are inherntly sports cars with their weight ratio and handling properties.

After your post i realized i might be in for a ride with Autoplan. Found a nice '95 Accord with a H22A1 swap (93+prelude engine), which greatly increases performance of the car... argh. Just because some dimwit get a car and crashes it so those who dont, have to pay the premium. Gotta love the logic.

 

[Viss]

I agree with you there, sober_ruski. The mistakes of the "dimwit" few do indeed make the rest of us who drive responsibly pay jacked up premiums. And when you say, "gotta love the logic", that reminds me that insurance companies still are for-profit organizations that will look for any opportunity to charge as much as the market will bear.

Unfortunately for us, when you say "aargh", that is pretty much the only defence that we have against their onslaught, other than everyone switching to the lowest quoting companies so that the other insurance companies who charge outrageous premiums will lose their shirts... which is highly unlikely to happen any time soon.

 

[geo]

Hmmm.... there are ways of reducing your insurance premiums....
have you thought of getting married?
... on second thought - you get to pay in other ways and for a lot longer - without the possibility of safe driver discounts

Yup - you're screwed

 

[camochick]

Watch out for Wawanesa. Hubby was insured through them, asked them to changed the date when he wanted the payment to come out and instead they cancelled his policy without him knowing and he drove without insurance for like a month before he figured it out. We go with Morgex and they are decent. Although with the brand new car I'm thinking about shopping around to see if we can get something lower.