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@guiness56 wrote:Wow!
Where do you have your insurance? Have you tried places that deal with high risk?
How old are you? Male? Female? Where do you live? All of this is taken into account for insurance.
+1.
The more info you can/will provide, the better we can answer. Factors that influence your rate:
AGE =
GENDER =
LOCATION =
# OF ACCIDENTS (in past 3-5 years...depends on state as to which is relevant) =
# AND TYPE OF MOVING VIOLATIONS (not parking tickets) =
---> TYPE OF CAR <--- =
FINANCED YES/NO =
IF FINANCED, WHAT ARE LIENHOLDER'S REQUIREMENTS =
To the OP, it sounds like you have AAA auto insurance, hahaha!!! Not to make fun but in 1990, I drove my mother's 1989 Eagle Premier to pick up my son from daycare (I did not have a license) and made a quick turn to beat a car at an intersection. Long story short, over/understeered, car slams into curb but no body damage. However, front axles/tires were more on the drivers side of the car. Was a little over $6k to fix (suspension was all askew) and my mom was forced to add me onto her insurance (unless she filed a police report against me for theft which thankfully she didn't).
Anywho, AAA paid for the repairs and during her next billing cycle, her insurance shot up to a little over $900 a month! This was almost 23 years ago and we just talked and laughed about it a few days ago. However, at the time, my mom was seething but needed the insurance (she was a municipal bus driver and required to carry her personal insurance in addition to keeping her license clean) but instead of switching companies, she stuck with them and still has them to this day. The payments did go down by about $150 each year but leveled off around $450 in 1996(?). When she dropped me in 1999, her insurance dropped down to less than $150 a month.
Try looking into "assigned risk" (at least that is what it is called in California). Insurance companies have to take some of the harder to license drivers to "spread the risk around" so it should be somewhat more affordable.
Good luck and drive safely!!
@guiness56 wrote:Do you have access to USAA? Any body can join but I think you need to be affiliated with the military to get insurance.
Theirs, by far, have been the cheapest of all for my family.
Same for me but their level of service is really what keeps me with them. Dividend checks, though relatively small, are gravy as well.
OP, get rid of your car! Shoot, I won't be surprised if you could rent a car for a month for cheaper than your insurance bill alone. Sell you car ASAP. Buy a bike or just rent.
Agreed -- it costs me a hair under $700 to rent a Ford Focus for the whole month from Hertz.
$9000 a year!!! Public transportation... hell, jogging to and from
You are lucky that your insurance company doesn't drop you. If you have a lot of accidents and moving violations, your insurance is going to be high no matter who you go with. Only time with good driving habits will get the rates to drop. Another thing you have to be careful about is how many points on your license you can get before you lose it.
I live in SC. About 5-6 years ago, I had 10 points and the state sent me a letter saying that I would lose my license if I hit 12 points. They were all from speeding tickets. For a long period of time, I counted on paying a high premium for insurance, especially since I was financing my car. That was my wake up call. I forced myself to make sure I drove the speed limit and nothing higher. My points started falling off.
I think I have just one point left. I haven't had a speeding ticket in more than two years. I finance a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee and I pay less than $100 a month on it and my insurance is through Nationwide. SC has higher than average insurance rates because of the large numbers of uninsured/underinsured drivers here.
One thing you may want to check into is a defensive driving class. They can be a bit expensive, but taking the course could help you remove some of the points on your license which could help you decrease the rate you are currently paying.
If you can join USAA check out their rates. I bundled my auto and home insurance and I pay about $1000 a year. That's driving a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Of course I'm 49, don't get into accidents and use the cruise control to help not get tickets. I haven't had a ticket in decades. LOL I alos have a commercial drivers license that I don't use anymore but it's easier to keep it than get it back if I should need it. I'm not sure if that helps or hurts.
GEICO did wonders for me.
I saved more with them than with anyone else.
I thought that they could only go 3 years on your driver's record. But that is California. Double check your state and see how long they are. I'm sure the insurance company won't downgrade your insurance just to be nice. Pull your DMV file and see what's on it and shop around.
I don't know if esurance is available in your state or the General - but they are supposed to be for high risk drivers also.
As other posters have stated - use cruise control, take a defensive driver's course and do what you can to drop the points off your record. $9k is an awful lot to be paying for insurance. If you alter your driving habits, just think how much you could be saving and where you could be better off putting that money to use.