Insurance - WTF?

3937 Views 22 Replies 18 Participants Last post by ivelostr2, Jul 2, 2004

opal

Discussion Starter · Jun 14, 2004

Excuse me for venting a little, but I'm moving in a week and called the insurance company to get things changed address-wise. RBC Insurance (who previously had the best rate I could find for an Insight) is telling me that I now will pay $180/month (Canadian, before you US kids all have heart attacks) for my Insight.

Um. Excuse me?

They're basing it on "location" - I'm moving to St. Jacobs from Waterloo, a whole 10km.

Any of you Ontario kids have recommendations for insurance brokers? Even the RBC lady said this was ridiculous and that she recommended switching.

Before you start recommending websites for quotes - I got my license in the no-man's-land between normal and graduated licensing (aka accelerated graduated licensing) so the websites won't accept my data as "valid" *hrumph*

1 - 20 of 23 Posts

stevo12886

· #2 · Jun 14, 2004

opal,
Lol, dont complane. I'm paying 150 USD a month for the corolla. NE way, have you talked to the company about the hike and the smale distance you moved...maybe they could work something out for you. BTW, what was the raise?
Cheers,
Steven

Getshocked.ca

· #3 · Jun 14, 2004

Yeah man dont complain, Im paying 550 and im just outside of brampton, and that is just LIABILITY

opal

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jun 15, 2004

It's an extra $400 a year (really 9 months - June to March when my term expires) for nothing more than a 10km move? No offense, but I think I have a right to complain!

I've already tried negotiating. They aren't budging.

So we're comparing apples to apples: 26, female, insured 10 years, driving 10 years, squeeky clean driving record (don't ask how I manage that one, I don't know!) I'm the only driver of the Insight. $500 deductable. Nothing fancy.

Resist

· #5 · Jun 15, 2004

opal said:
They're basing it on "location" - I'm moving to St. Jacobs from Waterloo, a whole 10km.

Yea and what are you confused about? Auto insurance is based on location, age, sex and driving history. You may have just been on the border area for rates, now you're in another rate area.

Delta Flyer

· #6 · Jun 15, 2004

opal,

Do they discount insurance in Canada for taking Defensive Driver's course? In Texas, it's eight hours and 25 USD. It prevents a ticket from going on your driver's record, can take it every twelve months, and State Farm gives me a 12% break.

opal

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jun 15, 2004

Delta Flyer said:
Do they discount insurance in Canada for taking Defensive Driver's course? In Texas, it's eight hours and 25 USD. It prevents a ticket from going on your driver's record, can take it every twelve months, and State Farm gives me at 12% break.

Not that I know of, but that's something to look into. Thanks for the tip.

I asked RBC if they'd give me a rebate for the winter driving course I took last year, but was told at the time that they only cared about driving courses as an indicator of how long you'd been driving. Apparently self-improvement isn't on their list of things to bother with, but that doesn't mean other companies won't consider it.

Aaron Cake

· #8 · Jun 15, 2004

Only $180...Gee, how I wish I was you.

I pay about $260 a month for the Insight, nearly $400 for my RX-7.

opal

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jun 16, 2004

Oookay, so I guess from the prices you guys are quoting me, I shouldn't be complaining. Heh.

In case any Ontario-types are interested, PC Insurance (yeah, president's choice does insurance, who knew?) quoted me an awesome rate. Case closed.

It seems the rate regions aren't standards across insurance companies - surprise surprise.

Braxus

· #10 · Jun 16, 2004

I paid 341/6mo on my Insight (57mo) for my last insurance coverage bill. One way though. So any damage that is my fault I have to pay myself. So far been alright ::knock on wood::. Full coverage quote was about 200 more for 6 months (~90/mo).

cakley

· #11 · Jun 16, 2004

I posted this before.. quickly again

Call the same insurance company. Pretend that you are a possible new customer. Ask for a quote.

I did just the same with Progressive after three years with them. I was able to save alot of money by ending my current policy and starting a new one. I will now check every 6 months on the new rates :idea: :!:

BTW I saved 300.00 per year when I sold my slow, bright green Insight and got a faster, bigger Golf TDI. Go figure.

Guillermo

· #12 · Jun 16, 2004

Opal,
I switched to PC Financial when I moved to Toronto because TD insurance doubled my rate with the move!

Now I'm paying LESS for insurance in Toronto with PC insurance (population 3 million+) then I was in Woodstock with TD insurance(population 35,000).

I'm now paying $1,400 /year in Toronto with a spotless driving record in my 13 years of driving experience.

redgiki

· #13 · Jun 17, 2004

Record, money, etc.

It's an extra $450 every 6 months for me (non-spotless driving record, male, thirty-one) driving 88 miles a day.

If it were *just* this one car on our policy, with the distances involved and Utah's terrible accident rates, it would be almost $600 US.

The Insight is one of the highest grades of insurance for collision and comprehensive because of the expense of repairing it. The rates would be much cheaper if I owned it outright and could just do liability and medical...

LoNOx 1

· #14 · Jun 17, 2004

Insurance ARGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

I did alter my insurance premiums substantially. My son was about to turn 16 and I found a 2000 Insight with 14000 miles. I considered buying it to drive to work and let my son have my 2001 Nissan Frontier CC. I talked to my insurance company and backed out of the purchase. They wanted $2800 for full coverage. I looked around for a month at Honda Civics, Toyota Corollas, etc.. I had test driven the Insight. I was hooked. I called three different insurance companies for prices on my total package: 2000 Nissan Maxima, 2001 Nissan Frontier, my home and prospectively, a 2000 Insight. I called my current insurance carrier and told them I was shopping and I would give them a chance to "re-quote" my rate.
They ended up being two hundred dollars cheaper than the next closest company. They wrote my policy with another company within the Encompass Insurance group. I purchased a different Insight and I put liability and comprehensive on it. It is about $1100 a year with my sixteen-year-old son listed as the primary driver. I could have had full coverage for $1800. Overall I am only paying about $400 more than I was with my home and two vehicles.
SOOOOOO!!!!! Shop around!

See less See more

Will M

· #15 · Jun 17, 2004

I complained to my insurance company because they were charging a "high performance" premium for the Insight. They would not tell me how much this costs me, either in dollars or percent. They just list it on the policy. I pointed out that with a 66hp engine, most people would not call the Insight a high-performance car.

I was referred to the state insurance commission, who wrapped themselves up in a hero's cape and made blustering claims of how they keep insurance companies honest and watch out for consumers. I gave them my case. They disappeared for months and came back saying the Insight cost a lot to repair, so it's still classified as a high-performance car and I'm still paying the premium and I still don't know how much that high-performance premium costs me.

b1shmu63

· #16 · Jun 17, 2004

Try Allianz (Trafalgar Insurance co. of Canada). Their southern Ontario branch is located in Toronto. Saved me about 300 dollars over Co-op my previous insurance.

The Citrus Smoothie

· #17 · Jun 17, 2004

Will M said:
they were charging a "high performance" premium for the Insight

In the UK cars are divided into twenty insurance groups - Ferraris fall into Group 20 while small underpowered cars should be in Group 1. Most family cars, including those with two litre engines, tend to fall into Groups 7 to 9. UK insurers have put the Insight into Group 12 - the GTI or hot hatch category. Their justification is the expense in repairing the aluminium bodywork. It's a shame that insurance isn't just based on engine size!

LoNOx 1

· #18 · Jun 17, 2004

ratings

It's about the same in the USA.
Insight=18
Maxima=16
Frontier=15
Corolla/Civic (standard 4-door)=13
Standard Dodge Caravan=7

Resist

· #19 · Jun 18, 2004

The best thing you can do for your insurance prices is to get a $1,000 deductible. Why people chose a zero deductible is beyond me. Just stash the deductible in an interest earning account. The odds are you won't need it anyway so why pay for higher interest?

You can do the same thing with regards to an extended warranty. Take the money you would have spent on one and set it aside earning interest. The odds are you won't have so many problems that you use the money all up. So why pay for an extended warranty? Probably because most of us can't save money and/or are lazy.

robgobbler

· #20 · Jun 29, 2004

affordable insurance on insight in san fran mission district

im moving from milwaukee to san francisco this summer and am curious if anybody in the san fran region can offer suggestions on where to find affordable insurance rates out there in the bay area??

im braced for quite an increase in premiums.. but the bright side is i can say GOOD BYE blizzards and hello to even better gas millage

thanks so much in advance,

1 - 20 of 23 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.