Let’s go shopping

So it is time to take my own advice again.  With renewals for auto and home insurance pending I decided to do some shopping.  I’ve definitely written about what to do when your rate goes up but this time I did things  a little different.

START; Unfortunately my home is basically unmovable, two claims in less than five years.  So I look at what the rate will be without a multi-policy discount.  But wait, it gets a little worse.  I had a stretch in 2012 and early 2013 with three tickets.  Not good.  But, on a plus side, my wife’s two claims are now over five years old so they fall off.

  • no your record.  no that all claims/tickets are not being treated equally
  • time on a record will vary as well
  • make sure you are not being charged inadvertently.

Now that I know my record and know my real home rate lets go shopping.  So I am trying to avoid the “lead” companies so chose; State Farm, Liberty Mutual, Nationwide, Comparenow, The Zebra, Coverhound, Geico and Esurance.  Remember; there is always a better rate available but your time is likely worth more than what savings you’ll find.  Best to limit your search. So I learned a whole lot.

  1. The future is on-line, yes you already know that, but in insurance we are still in the early phases.  Lots of room for improvement.
  2. Expect to give some basic personal data.  Your date of birth and address as well as those from other drivers
  3. Don’t be uncomfortable; if your vehicle information, prior insurance information and driving history comes back automatically it is ok.  Saves you time.
  4. Might as well disclose your tickets and accidents.  Saves you time
  5. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE read the fine print.  There was lots of it.
  6. READ CLOSELY, there were lots of not so good things with the coverage sections.  I find many to be unethical and quite shameful but then again I’m human
  7. Some of these sites really need to work on their writing.  Lots of inaccuracies and false statements.
  8. Pay attention to ESTIMATES everyone had a disclosure about when a rate was accurate.  Some only provide estimates then sell your data to the companies
  9. You would not want your family to be hit by a car with what most of these options consider great coverage
  10. Computers are not human and this exercise further confirmed that the programmers behind the sites could use some education

My observations are a bit different than most since I am in this business.  I also have a lot more observations about how inefficient these sites actually are.  But where would I start?  Anything(just about) that saves me time is a good thing.  Copywriting/Content writers whatever they are called are pretty important, they should really sit down with the attorneys and think things through.  Could easily list 3-5 errors on each site.

Final thought; Geico and Esurance provided a pretty impressive “experience” despite their awful recommendations.  Like the rest of your life, it is buyer beware.  Computers can replace humans for many basic transactions but I have yet to find a site close to me or many of my counterparts.