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I’ll pile on with a Progressive story - my car was hit while parked in a parking garage. The other party admitted fault but my insurer (Progressive) ended up pa

by kbos87 4y ago

I’ll pile on with a Progressive story - my car was hit while parked in a parking garage. The other party admitted fault but my insurer (Progressive) ended up paying for the repair after they hashed it out with the repair shop and the offending drivers’ insurer, Allstate. Fast forward a few months and I get my renewal letter in the mail - my 6-month premium went up 47% for no particular stated reason. I’m basically ending up paying for the repair over the course of the next year and a half. I’m currently in search of the highest deductible, lowest premium insurer I can find, because I’m never going to file a claim again unless a car is a near total loss.

pcthrowaway 4y ago
I don't understand how your insurance ended up paying when the other driver was insured, and admitted fault.
- Spooky23 4y ago
  Some states allow for really awful insurance programs. Florida allows minimum coverage as low as $10k in liability. They also like collecting fees and are very lax in enforcement for passenger cars for plates, etc. Thats why you’ll see hooptie mobiles with Florida plates all over the place.
  - bluGill 4y ago
    If someone doesn't have high coverage you can sue them directly. The reason most people have a million in coverage as the when it is that high it is really hard to convince the courts your damages are more that. Plus if they actually are your liability is so much that you will never be able to pay up. Lawyers will always ask for the maximum liability even if they actual costs you should owe is more than that because insurance can pay, but you cannot anyway so it isn't worth. However if their liability coverage is only $10k it is worth sueing them for a million - insurance will pay $10k, they will then have to figure out how to get the rest - which basically means it ruins their life. This is why you need to have enough insurance. If you make a mistake (odds are you will), you want enough money such that you can pay off whoever you wronged without it killing the rest of your life.
    - Spooky23 4y ago
      You have high limits if you have assets. Typically, someone who is foolish enough to carry $10k liability has no meaningful assets. Saving a few bucks with car insurance is rolling the dice with your 401k!
Spooky23 4y ago
Progressive prices that way. Not all insurers do. Some will just drop you with an accident others have grace periods. With car insurance, it’s all about price in most states. You should be shopping annually if you want to optimize for price. That may vary in a place like New Hampshire or Florida that is more lax from a regulatory perspective - cheap insurance there may be too cheap. Age, car, history, address tend to matter. As a boring 40 something, I’m paying less for $0 deductible, $1M limit insurance than I did for a 100/300 $2500 deductible 10 years ago. If you drive a Tesla, live in Brooklyn and have moving violations, forget it.
nikisweeting 4y ago
FWIW I've had 2 at-fault fender-benders over the last 6 years with Progressive and my insurance has gone down by 5-10% over that time (for some reason adding a second motorbike lowered the entire premium instead of raising it). YMMV insurance pricing is really weird, location specific, and imo designed to be difficult to predict.
sheepybloke 4y ago
Happened to me, too. Wife's car got rear-ended by a delivery truck at an intersection and the car was totaled. Mysteriously, our rate basically doubled the next cycle. I called them multiple times about why the price went up so much, especially since my wife wasn't at-fault. They just said that's the price and there was nothing I could do. Switched providers to Safeco and haven't had any issues with any claims or random price hikes since.

by kbos87 4y ago

pcthrowaway 4y ago

I don't understand how your insurance ended up paying when the other driver was insured, and admitted fault.

Spooky23 4y ago
Some states allow for really awful insurance programs. Florida allows minimum coverage as low as $10k in liability. They also like collecting fees and are very lax in enforcement for passenger cars for plates, etc. Thats why you’ll see hooptie mobiles with Florida plates all over the place.
- bluGill 4y ago
  If someone doesn't have high coverage you can sue them directly. The reason most people have a million in coverage as the when it is that high it is really hard to convince the courts your damages are more that. Plus if they actually are your liability is so much that you will never be able to pay up. Lawyers will always ask for the maximum liability even if they actual costs you should owe is more than that because insurance can pay, but you cannot anyway so it isn't worth. However if their liability coverage is only $10k it is worth sueing them for a million - insurance will pay $10k, they will then have to figure out how to get the rest - which basically means it ruins their life. This is why you need to have enough insurance. If you make a mistake (odds are you will), you want enough money such that you can pay off whoever you wronged without it killing the rest of your life.
  - Spooky23 4y ago
    You have high limits if you have assets. Typically, someone who is foolish enough to carry $10k liability has no meaningful assets. Saving a few bucks with car insurance is rolling the dice with your 401k!

Spooky23 4y ago

Progressive prices that way. Not all insurers do. Some will just drop you with an accident others have grace periods. With car insurance, it’s all about price in most states. You should be shopping annually if you want to optimize for price. That may vary in a place like New Hampshire or Florida that is more lax from a regulatory perspective - cheap insurance there may be too cheap. Age, car, history, address tend to matter. As a boring 40 something, I’m paying less for $0 deductible, $1M limit insurance than I did for a 100/300 $2500 deductible 10 years ago. If you drive a Tesla, live in Brooklyn and have moving violations, forget it.

nikisweeting 4y ago

FWIW I've had 2 at-fault fender-benders over the last 6 years with Progressive and my insurance has gone down by 5-10% over that time (for some reason adding a second motorbike lowered the entire premium instead of raising it). YMMV insurance pricing is really weird, location specific, and imo designed to be difficult to predict.

sheepybloke 4y ago

Happened to me, too. Wife's car got rear-ended by a delivery truck at an intersection and the car was totaled. Mysteriously, our rate basically doubled the next cycle. I called them multiple times about why the price went up so much, especially since my wife wasn't at-fault. They just said that's the price and there was nothing I could do. Switched providers to Safeco and haven't had any issues with any claims or random price hikes since.