Ditto.

 

My insurance went up $50 100\yr over what I was paying for my '02 Bonneville. I can live with that as it is 5 years newer. I've been accident free with State Farm long enough that even if I go out and total a vehicle my rates won't change. I get 1 "free" accident with them.

 

This insurance company experience sucked.

We had State Farm covering our home owners and two vehicles for over a decade. Really, all we did was pay the bill for our autos and the home was automatically deducted from our mortgage.

Accident #1: In a 1994 Dodge Spirit. Coverage: Liability.

1. Car was 2 yrs old: Came out of store to find front fender bent/damaged and headlight molding cracked. Didn't have it fixed for years.
2. About 5 years later had body fixed with repaint.

3. 1.5 Months later turning left @ green mall traffic light. Oncoming side is 4 lanes wide: all have 4-6 cars waiting except for 1 empty lane.
I didn't see the driver passing all the stopped cars and running his red light until too late:
His car strikes mine in the passenger side rear wheel, spinning us 200 degrees around, stopping against the curb. My 5 year old boy, sitting against the door is crying and bit his bloody lip, but otherwise OK.

4. Man runs up, identifies himself as an off duty policeman, who seen it all and questions the other driver who was still inspecting his smashed car.

5. Policeman tells me he is willing to be my witness and gives me his card.

6. My car can not be driven normally due to severe damage to the rear door, folded up wheel and crumpled fender. I drive it home and park it.

7. I contact State Farm who says "Good luck" and was the only help they offered.

8. Filed claim of $3,500 with Safeway, a lowball figure with the other guy's insurance.

9. 5 Weeks later still no decision from Safeway. I fax over a signed statement from the police officer and a copy of the police report, showing how he ran the light.

10. I call a few days later- claim they never got the fax, so I decide to deliver it personally. I arrive at their office and eventually a manager comes out reporting the driver says he didn't do it, so the claim is denied.
Upon my pleas, and although remaining calm- I am asked to leave the office.
"My only recourse is a lawsuit" was the last thing I said to her.
Flipping her glasses at me, only said "Do your worst"

11. Won a $5,750 judgement against the driver in small claims court.
3 weeks later got the full check from Safeway.

It would have been better for all parties if Safeway would have just lived up to their obligation.

 

This insurance experienced semi-sucked

2000 Grand Caravan. 18,000 miles. Full coverage from State Farm.

Situation:
Light rain. Just passed a traffic light and need to turn left, so I pull into, and stop in the Left turn lane. A long line of cars are waiting for the light, blocking my turn. The road is 3 lanes wide. First two are jammed with cars, the 3rd on the far side is empty: It is a half mile long right turn only lane.

1. Cars move and make a path for my Left turn. I cross the two lanes and look down the turning lane. The lane appears clear so I proceed with my turn.
Alarmed with the sound of sliding tires, a small pickup slams against the passenger side door and spins us around 180 degrees.

2. My 3 year old boy was near the door and crying with bloody lip, but otherwise we're OK.

3. Five concerned witnesses form around us giving their info against the pickup truck who was estimated going +70 up the right turn lane (Bypassing traffic) Speed limit 35.

4. Police arrive to tow the vehicle and give me a failure to yield ticket. I explain about the witnesses. He says it doesn't matter because he didn't see it happen. Massive damage to van. Windshield cracked in several places. Sliding door and fender smashed. Crooked, flat wheels. Floor buckled like an accordian. Rear hatch won't close for a twisted roof. Seats askew for the twisted floor. The driver was obviously going faster than 35 and gets no ticket.

Note: The passenger riding in the pickup truck was a State Farm agent.
The pickup driver broke his hand in the accident, his truck was flattened almost to his firewall.

5. I explain the situation with State Farm, who doesn't seem interested in witnesses.

6. Bluebook was $23,000 on our totaled Grand Caravan. State Farm's figure was $16,000. They don't care about Kelly's blue book, only going with "Their figures". Only after 4 months of negotiations agreed to $19,000.

Previously I had felt very good with our State Farm agent. He's a nice person and we were friends.
But I found out the hard way that he has no "Pull" in these decisions. It's all up to "Corporate".

7. We bought a new 2001 Grand Caravan- with less features and used our Gap insurance to pay the difference.

I think this situation didn't totally suck- State farm did pay- although much less than I feel they should have: and only after hounding them and threatening complaints to the insurance commissioner.
But yes, our replacement is considerably less than the original so that part really sucks.

 

This insurance experience didn't suck

Three months after the Grand Caravan wreck, we were not happy with State Farm and began looking around.

We went with Geico and saved $800/yr for our two vehicles with more coverage.

About a year later:
1. Wife smacked a deer with the Caravan. Crumpled hood, wrecked grille/bumper, ruptured radiator. I called Geico claim that evening.

2. 9:00AM the next morning the claim adjuster arrived and upon inspecting the van arranged for a tow truck. The flatbed truck arrived around 1:00 that afternoon, taking it to the repair facility.
(It took State Farm 6 days to do this before, and an additional 4 months to close the claim)

3. Four days later we picked up the van which looked like new. They replaced the hood, grille,bumper, both light casings, radiator etc and repainted the repaired area which looked great. We returned our rental car, free of charge.

4. Three months later the heater core burst steam into the cabin. We took it to the Dodge dealer, who reported a bad radiator and heater core.
They said the radiator leaked transmission fluid into the system which may have deteriorated the core.
I called Geico again, who dispatched an adjuster to the dealership.
Since Geico's approved repair facility installed that radiator, they paid for everything including the rental car. We picked up the van two days later.

I was really amazed and impressed with the whole experience.

5. A pipe or something hit the Caravan's windscreen causing a quarter-size chip. I called Geico, who said it is covered so a glass guy came to our house several days later and repaired it.

No, I don't work for any insurance company but only relating my experience.

 

One type of insurance which doesn't suck:

Gap insurance.

If your car is totaled and is worth less than your loan, Gap pays the difference.

It might seem like a waste, but in our case we won't be without it.

You just never know what might happen.

 

Steve;
You have sure had some bad luck with insurance co's. That is just all-around %$#@ service on all their parts, except Geico, who sound like a cut above all the rest. I have not had gap insurance, but now will talk to my agent about it. Does it make any difference if the car is paid off or not? (Mine is) Hope your experience with State Farm, etc. will encourage others to question their current coverage. Better now then when you need it, right?

 

Gap insurance ensures your loan will be paid off in case of total loss if you owe more than its worth.
In my case State Farm paid $19,000 but I owed around 28,000.

If not for Gap, I would have to pay about $9,000 on a vehicle I no longer had.
Gap 100% paid off the loan. No bickering, no negotiations.

 

For comprehensive coverage insurance rates are a lot based on the blue book value of your car. Honda Civics, especially hybrids, retain their value very well. So if the blue book value on your HCH is worth more than your old guzzling SUV (whose resale value is getting killed with gas prices this high), that is the reason for the insurance hike.

For liability only your rates should be based on the size of the car mostly in which case they shouldn't be high.

 

There are two factors that play into insurance cost, other than liability. One is the cost of repairs when the car gets damaged. The other is the probability of the car getting damaged. Hybrids do cost more to repair, mainly because they are more expensive than similar non-hybrid cars, but also because many mechanics are not yet trained to work on them so the ones who are trained get a premium rate. But, to estimate the probability of damage, they have to get enough examples (car-years) to get valid statistics. When a new model comes out and there are too few of them to compute the statistics, insurance companies assume the probability is about the same as for similar cars.

However, after they get some statistics, most insurance companies should realize that hybrid cars have a lower probability of damage. I believe this is because most hybrid drivers drive slower, avoid congested routes, and pay attention to our driving.

Some companies already have lower rates for hybrids... I was surprised at the rate I got from USAA.