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if you've been with State Farm for over a decade, I would reckon you're getting hosed. State Farm agents only get quote from State Farm - they're not an indepen

if you've been with State Farm for over a decade, I would reckon you're getting hosed. State Farm agents only get quote from State Farm - they're not an independent brokerage. When I was shopping around (mid-30's, family, standard 2 cars) in the DFW area, they were the most expensive. Go check out an independent insurance agent. It's not "gaming" it literally takes 20-30 minutes, and could save you $1500 over the whole year (especially if you have multiple cars). To "nudge" you in the right direction, buy not switching, you're basically saying, "I make money at $1000/hour, so it's okay that I don't expend the mental budget to compare quotes".

wpietri 7y ago
That seems like a low time estimate to me, because the products being compared are opaque. What insurers promise they'll do and what they actually do when you need them are not always closely tied. So quickly shopping based on price alone encourages companies to shift from visible to invisible costs.
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- unexpected 7y ago
  Car insurance is not that opaque. They are fairly standard policies, with only a few optional items. An independent insurance broker can quickly navigate through these for you. You're right, though, that what insures promise to do and what they'll do are two different things - its hard to price that in upfront. I don't think the insurer in question, State Farm, is exceptional in that regard either. They dropped a family members coverage after 2 hail storms. They dropped a friend's company's policies after a single claim. State Farm makes its money by bilking people with it's solo agent model. "Talk to your friendly neighborhood State Farm agent"...who only gets quotes from State Farm. We would not do that in any other industry. Insurance is a commodity. It's like electronic items. We price hunt Amazon vs. Newegg vs Monoprice because we're nerds, we should do the same thing from our insurance providers. You don't have to settle on some no-name insurance agency - you can set a high bar, but expanding your marketplace of options from 1 to 5 or 6 can only mean good things for you as a consumer.
  - wpietri 7y ago
    Commodities are goods whose properties are standardized and, frequently, graded by an authority. As you give examples of yourself, the real test is what happens long after the initial purchase. Figuring out that side of the bargain takes more than a few minutes getting a price quote. Car insurance is definitely not like a given electronic item, which is made to the same standards by a single manufacturer. It it's like some nerd purchase, it's more like flash drives. In theory commodities, manufacturers have a complicated set of incentives and the actual quality of the product may be hard to determine without extensive use. I'm not against people shopping around. If people want to invest the time, by all means do it. But I object to the notion it's as simple as getting a quote. Getting more options can in fact sometimes mean a bad thing if you switch from a proven-reliable product to something that is cheaper up front but worse later.

wpietri 7y ago

That seems like a low time estimate to me, because the products being compared are opaque. What insurers promise they'll do and what they actually do when you need them are not always closely tied. So quickly shopping based on price alone encourages companies to shift from visible to invisible costs.

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unexpected 7y ago
Car insurance is not that opaque. They are fairly standard policies, with only a few optional items. An independent insurance broker can quickly navigate through these for you. You're right, though, that what insures promise to do and what they'll do are two different things - its hard to price that in upfront. I don't think the insurer in question, State Farm, is exceptional in that regard either. They dropped a family members coverage after 2 hail storms. They dropped a friend's company's policies after a single claim. State Farm makes its money by bilking people with it's solo agent model. "Talk to your friendly neighborhood State Farm agent"...who only gets quotes from State Farm. We would not do that in any other industry. Insurance is a commodity. It's like electronic items. We price hunt Amazon vs. Newegg vs Monoprice because we're nerds, we should do the same thing from our insurance providers. You don't have to settle on some no-name insurance agency - you can set a high bar, but expanding your marketplace of options from 1 to 5 or 6 can only mean good things for you as a consumer.
- wpietri 7y ago
  Commodities are goods whose properties are standardized and, frequently, graded by an authority. As you give examples of yourself, the real test is what happens long after the initial purchase. Figuring out that side of the bargain takes more than a few minutes getting a price quote. Car insurance is definitely not like a given electronic item, which is made to the same standards by a single manufacturer. It it's like some nerd purchase, it's more like flash drives. In theory commodities, manufacturers have a complicated set of incentives and the actual quality of the product may be hard to determine without extensive use. I'm not against people shopping around. If people want to invest the time, by all means do it. But I object to the notion it's as simple as getting a quote. Getting more options can in fact sometimes mean a bad thing if you switch from a proven-reliable product to something that is cheaper up front but worse later.