Official Insurance Premium Discussion Thread

[nogoodname]

^^ damn....was the regis problem on ur fault or the DMV side???

[Crash]

Technically my fault. But I'd fixed it a LONG time ago and somehow it wasn't corrected in the system. A few years back I bombed a business I was running and didn't have any money, so I didn't pay my registration before a CHP gave me a ticket for expired reg. But that was all taken care of... except for in the system. Sadly, these little "computer-mishaps" are a common problem here. Even if I show my insurance company the problem was fixed, they won't do anything about it.

The law enforcement and judicial system works very closely with the vehicle insurance industry. Insurance companies DONATE new laser/radar guns to the law enforcement departments so that the cops can give tickets and the insurance companies can jack up the insurance rates. The "speed-trap" was an insurance industry brain-child. Those are illegal to enforce now, thank god. There's 100's of things the insurance industry does to help increase the insurance premiums. So any chance they get to increase it, they will.

Also, you all should know that if you've driven without any tickets or accidents for 4 years, you can call your insurance company and have them lower your rates. They won't do this for you on their own (nor spend time researching it) for obvious reasons, but you can remind them to do it!

Insurance is the biggest scam ever. I've paid more than $40K into insurance over all the years of me driving, and MAYBE caused about $8K in damage total. Not to mention all the money they made by investing that $40K. The day I have $30K to put away, I'm taking liability off my insurance list and just paying for theft and comprehensive. They day I have $100K to put away, I'm not going to pay for insurance at all. Total BS.

[Lug]

Originally Posted by Crash

Technically my fault. But I'd fixed it a LONG time ago and somehow it wasn't corrected in the system. A few years back I bombed a business I was running and didn't have any money, so I didn't pay my registration before a CHP gave me a ticket for expired reg. But that was all taken care of... except for in the system. Sadly, these little "computer-mishaps" are a common problem here. Even if I show my insurance company the problem was fixed, they won't do anything about it.

The law enforcement and judicial system works very closely with the vehicle insurance industry. Insurance companies DONATE new laser/radar guns to the law enforcement departments so that the cops can give tickets and the insurance companies can jack up the insurance rates. The "speed-trap" was an insurance industry brain-child. Those are illegal to enforce now, thank god. There's 100's of things the insurance industry does to help increase the insurance premiums. So any chance they get to increase it, they will.

Also, you all should know that if you've driven without any tickets or accidents for 4 years, you can call your insurance company and have them lower your rates. They won't do this for you on their own (nor spend time researching it) for obvious reasons, but you can remind them to do it!

Insurance is the biggest scam ever. I've paid more than $40K into insurance over all the years of me driving, and MAYBE caused about $8K in damage total. Not to mention all the money they made by investing that $40K. The day I have $30K to put away, I'm taking liability off my insurance list and just paying for theft and comprehensive. They day I have $100K to put away, I'm not going to pay for insurance at all. Total BS.

I moved to Texas when I was 9. There was a State Farm agent my father went to, and I did when I got my license. I'm 50 now and it's still there. EVERY business in that area has changed hands or closed 1/2 a dozen times except that State Farm agent. My fathar-in-Law/wife has the same story with a different agent. These guys may whine over losses but I have never seen any business with the exception of hospitals and government offices that have such staying power. That equals huge long term profits.

[nogoodname]

^^ wowsers....that totally sucks..... have a chip on ur shoulder for a long LONG time

[Crash]

^^^ You can say that. There's nothing I hate more than scams than a law-enforced scam.

[dad]

IIHS Research: Auto insurance loss facts

[Pushing_Tin]

I have USAA and just canceled my 07 Accord Coupe and added the Z. My premiums went up $38 every 6 months. I do keep a $1000 deductibe, but carry higher than required amounts.

Sweet.

[SoCal 370Z]

We bought our 370Z three days ago, and today I called to insure it with our existing insure AAA, and was unable to as AAA they have no data on the 2009 370Z. At this point they will only give us liability coverage—that is it. I have to fax the entire purchase contract to AAA so they can figure out how insure it! Any one else in Southern California running into the same problem?

[molamann]

Age 22, no records. Declined medical since I'm in the military but I'll have to add it once I separate in May.

@SoCal

USAA didn't have any information on the 370 when I bought mine in back on the 10th of January. So the agent just processed mine as a 350Z.

[arcticreaver]

allstate is pretty good. i'm with them. about 700 for every 6 months. 25,000/50,000 bodily injury and medical. property damage 50,000.

[StLRedrider]

35, clean record. State farm told me it would be roughly $800.00 per year. I have to wait till i get the vin # for exact price. I have house,truck,motorcycle and soon business through them.

[nogoodname]

^^ they should make it cheaper if you got all that with them... just say "i'm considering changing companies for a better deal".....tough times these days....lol

[SoCal 370Z]

I finally got it insured, but not without major hoop jumping. Here's the issue that insurers' are dealing with: <a target="_NEW" href="http://www.safercar.gov/portal/site/safercar/menuitem.db847bd57e3dc1f885dfc38c35a67789/?vgnextoid=c95df2905bf54110VgnVCM1000002fd17898RCR D">Incomplete Government Safety Ratings!</a>

It will be very interesting to learn how the 370Z fares when all tests are complete.

[dad]

Insurance Score Analysis, how to raise insurance score and save on car insurance

Credit-Based Insurance Score
By Triceiver.com Editors


Many consumers never heard of ‘insurance score,’ and even if they did, they knew very little about it. This is because insurance companies have done an amazing job to keep it as secretive as possible. They rarely mention insurance scores anywhere, even though virtually every company uses it today to help determine whether you qualify for insurance coverage, and at what rate.

Also known as credit-based insurance scores, or insurance risk scores, they are calculated from your financial records collected by the three credit reporting companies. The theory is that there exists a statistical correlation between a person’s credit history and the likelihood of filing insurance claims. In another word, if you have bad credit, you are riskier in the eyes of an insurer. So it is now possible that your car insurance will go up, despite a clean driving record, zero at-fault accidents, and living in a good neighborhood.

This doesn’t seem very intuitive to many people. In fact, two thirds of consumers surveyed by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) didn’t know that bad credit could cost them more in insurance premiums.

However, insurance companies have been arguing that using an insurance score is not only fair, but justified, citing a number of studies that proved a clear correlation between credit history and insurance risks. One particular study published by EPIC in 2003 released some interesting data to support that view. One of the findings in the report is that insurance scores are among the top three risk factors in each of the six automobile coverage studied: No.1 for Personal Injury Protection and Medical Payments, No.2 for Bodily Injury and Property Damage Liabilities, and No. 3 for Comprehensive and Collision Insurance.

As requested by the FACT Act, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is also conducting studies to evaluate insurance scores. Also there have been increasing efforts from consumer advocates to demand more details from insurance companies and score developers. So the mystery about insurance scores will eventually unfold, but before that day comes, we have been able to gather most information available today, from numerous sources, and present you a detailed and non-biased analysis of insurance scores.

Who develop insurance scores?
There are currently three sources that generate insurance scores:
1. Fair Isaac, the developer of the famous FICO credit scores. They also have different names:
Equifax: InScore
Experian: the Experian/Fair Isaac Insurance Score
TransUnion: the Fair Isaac Insurance Risk Score

2. ChoiceTrust from ChoicePoint
There are also multiple scoring models, but the most popular one is ChoicePoint Attract.

3. Individual Insurance Companies
Some insurers use their proprietary methods, such as Progressive's A24 credit-scoring model and Farmers’ Fire & Auto Combined Evaluation Tool.

How can I see my insurance score
You can purchase your ChoicePoint Attract insurance score for $12.95. Some insurance companies also give you details of your score if you ask for it, especially when your premium is negatively affected by the score.

Which states allow the use of insurance scores
The Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act allows insurance companies to use credit information in their underwriting practices, but different states have separate laws to regulate its use. California, for example, doesn’t allow credit data to be used for insurance purposes. Many states still do; some limit the use of credit history only on new applications, some allow it for policy renewals as well, and some allow it to be used in setting your premium.

Let’s take Washington as an example, its Credit Scoring Law prohibits insurers from using your credit history to either cancel your existing policy or refuse to renew it. Also, insurance companies cannot deny new applications based on the following factors:
The absence of credit history
The number of credit inquires
Collection accounts identified as medical bills
The initial purchase or finance of a vehicle or house that adds a new loan to your existing credit history
The use of particular type of credit card, debit card or charge card
The total available line of credit you hold.

Credit Scores vs. Insurance Scores
Credit scores and insurance scores are both calculated based on your credit information, are both governed by FCRA, can both cost or save you thousands of dollars, but they are totally different in many ways.

A credit risk score (like FICO) is a three-digit number that represent your credit worthiness, which is used by financial institutions to determine if you qualify for a credit card, a mortgage, a car loan, at what interest rate, etc. A higher credit score means you are more likely to pay your debt on time and as scheduled, i.e. lower risk for lenders.

A credit-based insurance score is used by insurance companies to help predict whether you are more or less likely to file claims in the near future. Some insurers use the score only for new applications, but others may use it on policy renewals, as well as rate classification.

Financial data weight differently in calculating credit scores vs. insurance scores. Their importance also varies from model to model. Depending on specific models, it is also possible that one factor that helps your credit score may actually decrease your insurance score. But this is not very common.

Relatively speaking, a credit score has a more direct impact on your loan application, than an insurance score on your insurance application, which is always evaluated along with driving record, claims record, age, marital status, residence zip code, etc.


Don't know any of your scores yet, try this
^open the above link I can't get it to copy>dad












What is in an insurance score?
An insurance score takes into consideration many data contained in your credit report. Below is a breakdown of the Fair Isaac Insurance Score model which outlines the importance of each category. Note that the importance may vary slightly for different group of consumers.


Payment History (40%)
Payment information on specific accounts (credit cards, mortgage, car loans, etc.)
Delinquency and how long past due
Public records (bankruptcies, tax liens, judgments, etc.)
Collections
Number and types of accounts
Time since negative marks

Amounts Owed (30%)
Total amount owed on all accounts and on different types of accounts
Number and types of accounts with balances
Utilization rate overall and on specific accounts
Proportion of installment loan amounts still owing

Length of Credit History (15%)
Age of oldest account and average age of all accounts
Age of oldest account, by type of account
Length of credit history
Time since accounts opened, by specific type of account

New Credit (10%)
Number of recently opened accounts
Proportion of new accounts
Number of recent “hard inquiries”
Time since recent account openings and hard inquiries

Types of Credit Used (5%)
Number and types of accounts, current status, recent information

What is not in your insurance score?
Anything not in your credit report, plus
Soft inquiries (made by yourself, companies for promotion purposes, employer, etc.)
Your age, marital status and where you live (these are important factors considered by insurance companies, however)
Your employment information

How to improve my insurance score and pay a lower premium?
The following tips have proven to be very helpful in raising one’s insurance score as well as credit score, but the key is to manage credit responsibly, and you will see better scores naturally with time.

Check your credit reports periodically and fix any errors immediately
Go to annualcreditreport.com to get free reports or order them from myfico.com to constantly monitor your records from all three credit reporting companies. Start correction process as soon as possible because it takes time. If you have negative marks that still remain on your report after expiration date, dispute with the credit bureaus.

Pay your bills on time
Plain and simple, but it is the best advice you can get anywhere. If you are late, don’t wait until the next billing cycle and make the payment immediately, as the time your payment is over due is as important as a late payment itself. Also ask the lender whether they can forgive you by not reporting it to credit bureaus. If this is your first time, they might just agree.

Keep your credit utilization rate below 35%.
This applies to both single account and overall credit limit.

Don’t close old credit card accounts
It will decrease the average age of your accounts. If you have too many credit cards and need to cancel some of them for security reasons, start with the most recent ones and try to allocate the credit lines onto other cards with the same issuer.

Pay down credit card debt
This will not only save you a pile of money, but also increase your credit/insurance score as insurers view credit card debt negatively as compared to other installment loans.

Apply for new credit cards only as needed.
Even though new credit increases your credit limit, this can lower your score in the following months and will significantly damage your insurance score in some models. Opening multiple new accounts in a short time will definitely hurt your score, especially if you have relatively short credit history.

Establish credit history early
Apply for a credit card as soon as you are eligible and make payment on time. Don’t worry about initial credit limit being too low; it will increase over time. If a family member with good credit can add you as an authorized user, it will jump start your credit building process.

Rebuild credit if damaged
If your credit has been damaged by bankruptcy or charge-offs, start the rebuilding process early. Get a secured credit card is a good alternative if you don’t qualify for other regular cards.

Do your rate shopping within a few weeks
If you are applying for a mortgage and need to shop around for better rates, plan ahead and do it within 15 – 30 days. Each time you give permission to a lender to check your credit it will result a “hard pull,” which will lower your score. But scoring models are sophisticated enough to count multiple inquiries of the same type in a short period of time as just one, thus not affecting your score much. Your own inquiries don’t affect your score at all, so there is no need to worry about monitoring your credit activities.

Have mixed accounts of different types
Having a mixture of installment loans (mortgage, car loan, etc.) and credit cards will raise your score, if you manage them responsibly.

Shop around and compare quotes from several insurers
Insurance companies use different models to calculate your insurance score, and they can vary significantly. So shop around before accepting a quote.

Ask about your insurance score
If you see a sizable increase in your premium when renewing a policy, ask whether insurance score played a role. Demand to see your score. You should also ask for a recount if you have fixed certain errors in your credit reports.

[semtex]

Just got my bill. $526.60 for six months on the new Z (Nationwide). Not too bad, considering I just totaled a 350Z back in Nov.