Little Driven Car Insurance

[ghebert1111]

I have a 1992 Jeep Wrangler that I use maybe 15 times a year and for less than 1000 miles a year. My wife pointed out that we are paying $500/year with State Farm and we both think that is a bit much for the use we are getting out of it. I've already got it as low as State Farm is going to go.

Any one have any suggestions on other companies to try? Has anyone tried pay per mile insurance?

[MLA]

Full coverage or liability only on it right now? Is that $500 a year what you would save if you dropped off the Jeep?

[sandm]

as mla stated is that liability or full coverage? liability only you're grabbing your ankles..
I have a 99 f250 superduty that doesn't get driven more than once a month. I'm paying 200/yr for liability. it's not worth paying full coverage for the total value of the rig. interesting tho that it is considered my "primary" vehicle driven as that dropped $50/yr off my insurance than claiming the '15 genesis coupe or the '16 silverado as the main commuter car.
I've mentioned this many times that you can't compare insurance rates with someone else as there are way too many factors that determine rate above the actual vehicle but will say unless your married to your agent, comparing insurance with a different company is something I would recommend doing every 18-24 months. personally have not had a claim since 1998 and with the ease of the internet today, there's no reason to be loyal to an agent if you can save a bux somewhere else.
in the last 5 years I started with liberty mutual, switched to amfam, back to liberty and with the latest move to utah and the new house, am now with auto owners. I also don't compare just auto but the whole bundled package. auto owners is $100/yr more than liberty mutual on the homeowners but almost $400 less on the auto side so net is a $300 savings by switching-for me.
would also recommend shopping specialty rigs with specialty companies. none of my auto/home policies could ever touch progressive for my sportbike insurance and could touch ski safe for boat coverage. a few hours shopping that around could net big savings and as mentioned, no reason to keep with the same agent if you are not someone who ever has claims...
if you do shop around, watch out for frivolous riders on your policy. auto owners original quote had some tree in the sewer/water line insurance(worthless for a new house with no trees) and some computer coverage(regular homeowners covers same thing-she admitted to it).

good luck.

[ghebert1111]

Full coverage or liability only on it right now? Is that $500 a year what you would save if you dropped off the Jeep?

I believe it's full coverage, but I will check with my insurance agent today and report. Yes if we dropped the jeep, my insurance would go down $42/month.

[MLA]

if you are carrying full coverage, consider dropping collision for a 92 model vehicle. IF a wreck that you were at fault totaled the vehicle, are you out a daily driver thats a significant investment to replace? thats the question. I have a 93 S-10 that I use for hardware store runs and some local work (its a 5 speed) and such. Above the state mandated liability, I only have comp on it mainly for cheap hassle free windshield replacement and similar. If it gets totaled, im not going to be put in a financial hardship to replace.

All states are different when it comes to insurance, but if you look at the break down, you will likely find that the bulk of that $42/mo is the liability portion. No real good way around what the state mandates. Last thing you want to do is reduce your liability coverage to the state min. Dont know anything about a pay per mile. Here in NC, they just want to know what your daily drive might be and if its used for work. But no actual proof of mileage driven required.

[ghebert1111]

The $500/year is full coverage and dropping to only liability would only save me $70/year.

[sandm]

shop around. $430/yr is real expensive unless you are running some very high liability limits. again tough to compare but my ford is rough and tough $200/yr for liability at 300/300/300 limits.

[russellsmojo]

I would trust my agent or a friend in the business. Lots of wayward advice on here so far. Reducing limits etc when your premium is only $500 a year is crazy. Not worth the risk. What are you going to save $4 a month. Trust someone who actually does this for a living. It's not always about saving money.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dusty2221]

I would trust my agent or a friend in the business. Lots of wayward advice on here so far. Reducing limits etc when your premium is only $500 a year is crazy. Not worth the risk. What are you going to save $4 a month. Trust someone who actually does this for a living. It's not always about saving money.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Been waiting for your post...ha.

[russellsmojo]

Dusty, I made it 14 hours from original post!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[patrick232]

Insurance is all a balancing act on what you need vs want. A great independent agent will work with you on this and advise different companies policies for different reasons, it's what they do. Even when buying a new car it doesn't hurt to ask about what impact certain cars have. When our oldest started driving I looked into leasing a new Cruze vs buying an older Honda. Insurance for him was a difference of about $25 a month between the cars.

[sandm]

Lots of wayward advice on here so far. It's not always about saving money.


I would love to hear the logic on why someone should pay $xxx/yr more for apples to apples coverage with company x vs company y.
taking into account self employed or own a small business I get a long term relationship with a specific agent and some online only companies like the general could have some challenges should you have a claim(benefit of a local agent) but otherwise if agent john at x is going to save you xx over agent mary at company y, why not.
patrick is correct in that if you have a good INDEPENDENT agent with a very wide portfolio of companies to sell to, if doing their job, should be able to steer you into a policy that fits the needs and saves you money switching to a different brand if needed. if the OP is with a state farm agent, the only answer he will get is how the insurance is a great deal.

[MLA]

Lots of wayward advice on here so far. Reducing limits etc when your premium is only $500 a year is crazy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not sure im seeing where it was suggest to reduce limits. In fact, it was recommended to NOT reduce liability limits. Dropping unneeded coverage is sound financial advice. But as expected, the collision is not the bulk of the premium, but rather the liability is, which again, was suggested to NOT reduce.

I do agree though that you should take advice with a grain of salt. The internet can be a fickle mistress. You never know when someone on the other end of that keyboard is a retired agent whose wife owned her own book of business.

[mmandley]

I have Allstate and on my Vette I would suspend the insurance when winter came along.

Basically I call and say suspend it, its still insured while at my house for anything that happens, you just cant drive it.

When I wanted to drive for a day, up to 6days I called and they activated it. Once I was done I called and they suspended it again.

I would do this all winter on my Vette and never pay a monthly amount on it. I just paid my insurance for the daily drivers.

In the summer I would activate it and pay the monthly.

Basically I paid 250-300 a year for Vette insurance.

Only kicker you have to have it paid off, and you have to call them all the time.

[russellsmojo]

Not sure im seeing where it was suggest to reduce limits. In fact, it was recommended to NOT reduce liability limits. Dropping unneeded coverage is sound financial advice. But as expected, the collision is not the bulk of the premium, but rather the liability is, which again, was suggested to NOT reduce.

I do agree though that you should take advice with a grain of salt. The internet can be a fickle mistress. You never know when someone on the other end of that keyboard is a retired agent whose wife owned her own book of business.

Hey man, apology. I read your comment around liability limits as a suggestion for him to do. An action that he needed to take.

Goes to show how keyboards can make giving advice hard sometimes!!




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MLA]

Hey man, apology. I read your comment around liability limits as a suggestion for him to do. An action that he needed to take.

Goes to show how keyboards can make giving advice hard sometimes!!




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

no worries, simple misreading. We were always huge advocates of higher then min liability so you could get un/under rider. With costs of new cars and a trip to the ER, minimum liability on the 83 ford escort that rear ended you knocking you into another car, would leave you holding the bag.

[sandm]

I would suspend the insurance when winter came along.


Only kicker you have to have it paid off, and you have to call them all the time.

I have done this same basic thing with my gencoupe the last 2 winters. silly to even attempt to drive a rwd car in wisconsin in the winter. bank had me submit a "storage clause" indicating that it was in storage and I was able to drop liability and collision. bank requires comprehensive since there's a lien on it. so you can do it to an extent on a financed vehicle. cut out a significant portion of the insurance due on it as collision/liability are the majority of the $$ on my policy.
was going to do that with the bike as well only cancel it completely as it was owned but my liberty mutual agent at the time told me that it would be a very grey area to try and claim any homeowners issues on a motor vehicle. said it would be tough to get a claim through. don't know if there's any truth to it but I can see why he would say it.

[ghebert1111]

I have Allstate and on my Vette I would suspend the insurance when winter came along.



I talked to my State Farm guy's assistant about this last week and got the thumbs down. I think I need to chat with my actual State Farm guy and see what he says.

[mmandley]

I talked to my State Farm guy's assistant about this last week and got the thumbs down. I think I need to chat with my actual State Farm guy and see what he says.

I have never switched to State Farm because they are too strict on everything.

They were a nightmare to deal with when their customer totaled my Vette.

[996scott]

I have Allstate and on my Vette I would suspend the insurance when winter came along.

Basically I call and say suspend it, its still insured while at my house for anything that happens, you just cant drive it.

When I wanted to drive for a day, up to 6days I called and they activated it. Once I was done I called and they suspended it again.

I would do this all winter on my Vette and never pay a monthly amount on it. I just paid my insurance for the daily drivers.

In the summer I would activate it and pay the monthly.

Basically I paid 250-300 a year for Vette insurance.

Only kicker you have to have it paid off, and you have to call them all the time.

Exactly what I do with one of my cars. I put it away for the winter and have full coverage (Bear River) taken off. The car is still covered if anything happens to it in the garage, I just can't drive it. When spring comes, I have full coverage put back on and I'm good to go.

[KnoxMojo]

You may ask your insurance company if they have a storage feature for insurance. USAA has it and it basically says that if the vehicle is in a garage and not operated for 21 days a month, then you can take advantage of that rate. I am about to put my Vette and the wife's 996 Cabrio on this plan and save around $500 a year combined.