[SKB]

I am overwhelmed with the amount of insurance companies for car insurance.

Can some suggest to me the best one to use to get the best value.

I am used to paying 1800.00 a year for my Nissan 350Z and Dodge Caravan combined. I have been online quoted triple that.

We also own our cars outright, does that change anything about the kind of insurance we can get?



Help


BTW,

I did a search on this site for car insurance and I didn't get much in the way of current 2007 information
other than Hartford Insurance which was strongly recommended.

[DanBev]

Ins. is dependent on your credit rating,record,age and vehicle rateing.I am 74 with no tickets nor accidents ever and pay Allstate $292 every 6 months for full covereage.Been with them near 20 years.It is up to the driver to earn a good rateing,also drove 34 years for Bell.You will go nowhere jumping around.

[riveree]

The insurers place the same book value on the car whether you have a lien (loan) on it or not.

Safety ratings, age of car (newer is cheaper), miles you commute to work - these things will affect your rate.

Your credit rating, as DanBev pointed out above, is a huge factor.

My own experience is that Allstate's rates are not good - I found much better rates with Progressive. Also, being in Florida, I will no longer support Allstate by giving them my business (they left a lot of Floridians in a bad place with their homeowners' insurance).

Brand loyalty means nothing to these insurance companies anymore - read any finance periodical and they will encourage you to recheck every few years with competitors - you can often do better by making a switch.

[SKB]

I sure hope our Canadian driving history, Bahamian driving history and my husbands 1999 and earlier years of USA driving history (20+ years) will be taken into consideration.
I have never lived or worked or held a drivers license or insurance in the USA but have 25+ years of Canadian, and Bahamian history (3 years).

We have excellent credit, jobs, money in bank and other than an unfortunate incident in 2003 where I hit and killed a dear in Vermont and last year backed into a pole with my brand new Nissan ( tons of blind spots) I know, I know "woman" drivers, haha, we have great driving histories.

We are not seniors so those discounts do not apply.

My problem I am noticing is that our insurance will be expiring in Canada on Sept 14, and we are set to start driving to Florida on Sept 13.


Bad timing for that.....what the heck do we do?

How many days of getting there before we have to have USA licences and plates and insurance?

Do I get my Canadian insurance renewed? Does anyone know what I should do?

Also,

DanBev,
We are not "jumping around" we are moving for my husbands job back to the USA where he came from in 1999 before he started working abroad and we already have established excellent driving histories etc..
thanks for your help

[INeedAChange]

does anyone know if (on average) the insurance in Tampa area is high? I know that in Miami it's very high.

[TriMT7]

My friend has a 2006 Nissan Z convertible in Palm Beach County and he pays about $175/month for insurance. Mind you he also has a couple of speeding tickets in the past couple of years and an accident claim for his previous car last year. This is with Allstate.

(He also has 100/300 coverage). If you own your cars outright, you don't have to take as much insurance.



I have 100/300 coverage on a 2005 Nissan Murano and pay $94/month with Allstate. My premium went down about $50/month after I hit 25 and got over the "three year" accident premium this past May! (I think my car is still "registered" in Leon County, however.... so not sure if it's going to go up or down in Palm Beach County... probably up since zip code is part of the "premium formula")!

[riveree]

Originally Posted by SKB

I sure hope our Canadian driving history, Bahamian driving history and my husbands 1999 and earlier years of USA driving history (20+ years) will be taken into consideration.
I have never lived or worked or held a drivers license or insurance in the USA but have 25+ years of Canadian, and Bahamian history (3 years).

Not sure......

Towards the end of my time living in NYC, I did not have a car, so no car insurance, but had my driver's license.

When I moved to Florida, those years in NY with no car insurance were considered a "lapse" in coverage and counted against me . My insurance was outrageous during the time I was "on probation" with the insurers, but began to drop after 6 months with no driving issues.

I still drove during those years in NY (friend & family cars, rentals, etc.), but just because I did not have insurance, they treated it this way.

It would probably be a good idea to start making some calls to insurers explaining your situation and find out the details.

[KoZmiC NinJa]

We came from Vermont and my Wifes insurance
company doubled hers.....we said 'Forget it !' and
are looking too....I might put 1000 miles a year on a
car so Im not going to say anything about mine to
my Vermont agent.

[jenrein]

I use Geico and pay $86 a month for an SUV with a loan on it with full coverage and the lowest deductibles I could chose.

[Obrero]

Originally Posted by SKB

My problem I am noticing is that our insurance will be expiring in Canada on Sept 14, and we are set to start driving to Florida on Sept 13.

Bad timing for that.....what the heck do we do?

How many days of getting there before we have to have USA licences and plates and insurance?

Do I get my Canadian insurance renewed? Does anyone know what I should do?

If it works the same as the USA you can just renew your current insurance and keep it until you are set up in the US. Then you can simply cancel your insurance and they will send a check for the unused amount. I presume your current Canada insurance covers you driving internationally? There might be a time limit, say 14 days out the country or something, so you should check.