Insurance Rape

[Twisted Canuck]

Originally Posted by AbAngler

There are alot of factors when they figure out your rates. For example, in my case with AMA, if you have over 5 vehicles insured with them and one of them is 2009 and up, you get 10% off. Every vehicle over 3, gets 10% off. I end up getting approximately 50% off normal rates due to the amount of vehicles I insure and clean record with no claims in the last 5 years. I've also been with them for 20 years. I think they use a scale up to 7. 7 out of 7 being the best, which is the rate I get. Very few people get the 7 out of 7 rate. (going from memory here, so don't quote me on the above).

There's alot to the insurance game, but it is one of those necessary evils.

I was just in AMA a half hour ago to check my rates....the are all higher than wawanesa for me, which was a surprise. They also have a 9 rating now, appareently just introduced, and which I qualified for as a long time driver with clean record (1 ticket, no accidents) in 25 yrs. Thought it was interesting, but they were $650 higher collectively on my three vehicles, $125 more for my two house policies (one is a rental), and she didn't even bother doing my commercial General Liabillity because she said it will be significantly more, whatever that means. Oh, and the agent I spoke to has all her insurance with....Wawanesa! Interesting. I'm still going to check this Meloche outfit out, see what they say, but at least I'm not feeling too bad at the moment....

[nekred]

If you have been loyal to a reputable insurance company for awhile they usually have other incentives...

When I had my jeep broken into a and a bunch of stuff stolen... because I had been insured for 10 years with them they did not increase the premium.

TC which is why you probably are getting a better rate where you are at than where youa re going to go!... They do vount in how much they have made off of you over the years...

As for bifg buildings, banks and insurance companies are related... Oil companies have big buildings.....

Which is cheaper in the long run one office in a high rise or an office located in the cab of a 2011 kenworth...

Insurance companies need an office... like many need a vehicle to do their job and one offic ein a highrise is much cheaper in long run than 4 offices in a small building!.. when it comes to construction, heating , maintenance real estate etc....

[sask/alta boy]

Its not really insurance its borrowed money that you pay back in spades for 7 years or so if you need it. If you dont they just keep it. Insurance companies are in the top percentile when it comes to greed. Right up there with Banks and Credit Card companies. I know when ou are younger they are on you pretty hard reason or no as I did put 4 teens thru the teenage insurance gauntlet. I dont remember it being that harsh when I was a teen as I payed for it myself, there is no way a kid can do that now. Most people smugly go on about their great rates until they are the victim and then plug your ears for the whining! lol

[sask/alta boy]

Originally Posted by thunderheart

i pay 590 here in bc (which has always ment bring cash)

terrifies me these prices you are quoting

In Alberta here it is a Rapin for sure

[Dan Foss]

Originally Posted by huntinstuff

And on a 1998 Dakota for an 18 yr old its $1700/ yr for PL and PD. i just got the bill

No claims, no tickets

Alot for a old truck eh? It doesnt take much to have that jacked up though. When I was 22(2.5 years ago) I had a half dozen tickets no accidents and my insurance for a 2001 silverado was quoted as high as 3200 just PL, PD, Fire/theft. Add Collision and you were looking at close to 5000. I have one more year and I will get a big break on my insurance. Cant wait for that. Still paying 2200 with the 1 claim and only 2 tickets left on my record as a 24 year old. Next year the claim and 1 more ticket comes off and I turn 25 so I am in line for a drop in my premium

On a side note, in the middle of all of this, I moved to BC for a while and switched insurance and told ICBC that I didnt want to carry over my alberta record. So that means I was charged the rates of a 16y/o new driver in bc. My insurance was 1280 a year for the same coverage. BC is cheaper. Just dont screw it up.

[kronk]

Originally Posted by JB_AOL

Whoops..
Sorry guys missed a 1... $1950.

And yes that is full coverage on everything.. 0 deductible on vehicles, and $1000 on house..
Meloche monnex..

BTW.. Wanawasa is one of the worst companies to be with.. It pays to shop around, even though I have been with meloche for 17 years, I've always shopped around and played them against other companies.

Yup, I left Wawanesa a long time ago

Originally Posted by huntinstuff

And on a 1998 Dakota for an 18 yr old its $1700/ yr for PL and PD. i just got the bill

No claims, no tickets

When I turned 18, and got a brand new '08 F-150, they wanted around $850/month... No tickets/claims/accidents...just age...

[jimbos1]

my insurance on truck wasnt to bad till iwent into hospital and girlfriend got into an accident. morning after my surgery (im still drugged up and in hospital) she came in the morning to see me had abit of a problem foot slipped off brake when stopping in parking lot hit a tree $8600 later was fixed. but then got new rates for this yr it went up 2361 for the yr on top of regular rates. and then there not sure what it will cost for next 3 yrs. so told them i wasnt in no accident wasnt even in truck. why the hell should my insurance go up. there answer was well you could sue girlfriend???????????. that would be my first accident since i was 16 so 49 yrs since no accidents.

[Bigdad013]

Originally Posted by Redfrog

WOW! that sounds great. Who are you insured with.

My rates keep going up with no claims and no tickets for 40 years.

If you have luck like me, you'll switch, get in an accident, they will drop you like a hot potato, and you will try to go back and they won't take you cause you just had an accident

[trevormcfar]

Insurance is a grudge purchase for many, but there is a need for it. How you buy it is up to you, but do your research.... Google the difference between Direct Writers and Brokers. Each has their place, but there are major differences and the old saying you get what you pay for is so true when it comes to insurance. I have been and always will be a strong supporter of dealing with a brokerage. If you deal with the right one, they work for you and shop the market on your behalf. Kind of like a business partner who is hired to look after the insurance aspect of your life. Shopping the market is smart, but be careful of shopping based on price alone. Loyalty does go a long way, even with insurance carriers. When you need them, you want to make sure they are there... If not, then your broker needs to be there to help you through... Best advice is a brokers advice... simple as that. If you want to know where a great broker is, let me know and I can pass along some information...

[KegRiver]

Originally Posted by nekred

If you have been loyal to a reputable insurance company for awhile they usually have other incentives...

Yeah, that other incentive is greed.

I've had one claim in 41 years of driving. That was for when I hit that Deer last fall.

A few years ago I was with CO-OP, I'd been with them over 25 years at that point. Zero claims, a clean driving record, I don't drink and I don't own a cell phone, no kids driving my vehicles, less then 20,000 a year on my vehicles.
But then I was late renewing.
I was working out of town and didn't get the notice that the policy was about to expire. When I got back and went to renew the policy I was informed that my premium had increases by 300%.
When I asked for an explanation, they said I had been reclassified from a class 3 driver to a class four driver, or something along those lines.
I asked them what that meant, they said it meant nothing.
I phone the head office in Saskatoon and got the same nonsense.

Months late a competing insurance agent gave me an explanation that made sense. He said that they most likely had reclassified me because I had let the policy lapse and they had assumed that I had gone to a different provider, had an accident, and when my rate increased I had returned to the CO-OP. None of which had actually happened.

In the end I left the CO-OP and have been glad that I did.
Loyalty means nothing, a clean record means nothing.
It all depends on the particular agent and policy underwriter and what they think of you.

Never deal with a agent who represents a single underwriter. If that one underwriter decides to crank your premiums up to the roof there is nothing you can do about it except start all over again with a new agent who represents a new underwriter.

From my experience, I have no trouble believing the OP. I know that some insurance companies can and will rape you if they get the opportunity. And they don't need any justification. They will invent the justification.

[nemo]

Three majors in two years. I feel your pain, mine's outragious too!

[nekred]

Yes deal with a broker... Mine looks after all my insurance... 2 vehicles, house, shop, commercial liability, snowmobile,

All for under $300 per month. My wife had a fender bender in a parking lot one day and after it was dealt with we paid out the full claim to insurance it was a 50/50 liability so cost us about $1500 and they removed off of our record.

I also had a theft claim from my vehicle covered by house insurance and because it was over 10 years since we started the policy and we pay an extra fee for this it prices one $5000 claim every 10 years into the price. Dealing with the claims was also very straight forward and excellent.

But we have been with that insurance broker now for 16 years. We needed insurance then and walked into the nearest broker. he is excllent to deal with and does everything by phone and email as he is in Calgary.

He will even watch different insurance companies to get us best deal. When we bought a house he had all of our policies switched to a different company to get us best deal.

Another tip, is that if you have taken any driver improvement courses even through work let your insurance company know... Some recognise this...

All insurance companies have a rusk chart....

for example a driver with a dangerous/reckless driving offense their crash likelyhood in next year increases by 325%.... Or a driver who is involved in a crash regardless of fault.... increase by 87%... failure to yield violation risk increases by 97%... Speeding violation of more than 15km's over it increases by 56% and these get compounded for example a crash at a red light would add the failure to yield, and a crash together... thus crash likelyhood increases by 184%...If one is speeding at the time... now it is 240%... thus your premium would also increase by 2.5x... typically...

Also where you live has a factor... if you are in a community of lower than average crashes per person... then likely hood of you being in a crash falls... Stony plain is about 12% cheaper than Edmonton...

Insurance is about statistics and probabilities and this gauges driver "attitude". If you come screeching into the parking lot looking like you are a road raging sob, and then complain about premiums and how you are getting raped by insurance companies... well any positive points you could gain are gone... after all insurance companies know you have to have insurance and you have to get it somewhere...and with that attitude they are happy to let you get insurance elsewhere...

Or you have someone come in with a calm, friendly demeanor discuss insurance options present clean abstract, and ask what kind of things will provide a discount... and then present your case for those discounts and you will have a much better experience... Insurance still not free but a lot less uncomfortable....

There is also an insurance company rating system and many "discount" insurance companies have a worse rating when it comes to customer service and claim managment... they pride themselves on reducing claim cost by nickel and dime means....check that out too!...

It is funny how people rank themselves as drivers... I am involved in hiring and if a driver comes in and has two moving violations in past year... he is not eligible to be hired as that is first indication of a below average driver. If they have a careless drivng, reckless driving, or DUI they are definitely not selected. Often after a person has a DUI they go to court and it often gets reduced to careless driving to not be a felony like a DUI is so we don't hire people with these either!. After all I don't need to deal with the insurance claim and this also gets us good insurance review and lower rates for our company...and we have one of the best rates around.

So Once again I repeat if you want good insurance rates don't drive like an idot leaving carnage and claims in your wake...