[Jammie]

Since homeowner's insurance has skyrocketed, what is car insurance like down there? We have two vehicles that we have full coverage on and pay $1200 a year up here.

[Muggy]

That is exactly what my wife and I paid in Upstate NY for 2 cars. Then we moved to Florida, sold one car (so we are only insuring 1 car) and it costs $1,100.

We are both +25, no tickets, good credit, no accidents, no claims...

So basically almost double.

When you drive down here for a while (or a few hours) you will understand why it is so expensive.

[Muggy]

This reminds me of a point I have been using to illustrate the traffic insanity to my friends & family elsewhere (I know it's slightly off-topic and somewhat morbid, but it's just anecdotal evidence to explain high insurance):I had never, ever, ever seen a person in a fatal accident (and I've lived in Chicago & NYC so the odds we're good). In the first three months of living in Florida I saw two fatal accidents. And I mean literally bodies in the street. It was quite disturbing.

A lot of hit-and-runs here too. And wait until you see some of the trucks down here...

Anyway, why am I telling you this? Because I think this is one of the detractors of the quality of life in Florida. It will most likely shock you if you've never driven 55 mph in bumper-to-bumper traffic across twelve lanes with monster trucks, junkers, the elderly, illegals... and that's just to get to the grocery store. Just wait until you're going to Disney on I-4; you'll be doing 90 mph just to stay with the flow and people will still be flashing their lights at you to move.

So yeah, car insurance is expensive.

[Racelady88]

When I left Florida in December and moved to SC my car insurance was cut in half, and I added an extra vehicle. Other than that it is the same car, same carrier. I was stunned.

And they tell me that the area I am in has relatively high auto insurance for the state, due to the number of uninsured drivers.


And when does anybody drive 90 on I-4?

[lulu]

We pay about $1600 yearly for two old clunkers now...we only get what the state requires (the minimum) - medical & ins. for the other guy/car in case we were at fault. But our cars are not insured. Not worth it...
Now, if we'd move elsewhere where ins. is close to normal, than we would spring for a brand new shiny vehicle.

[Muggy]

> And when does anybody drive 90 on I-4?

Either you're being sarcastic (which is cool) or not (which is still cool). I think you mean that it is total gridlock most of the time. This is usually because of some horrible wreck.

My experience (the three times that I have driven between Tampa and Orlando) is that you are risking your life on I-4. The last time I went I saw an ambulance that had flipped over a bunch of times (you know your time is up when your ambulance crashes). And when I got to Orlando there was a news story about some illegal trying to outrun a state trooper that was clocked in excess of 125 mph.

Anyway, auto insurance is one of the offsets of "cheaper living" in Florida.

[backtofla]

our car insurance went up a little bit when we moved to orlando from asheville nc. i think it went up like $300 for the whole year for both cars. we have pretty nice cars --- not like luxury cars or anything. which isnt bad, it's like $25 more per month. but we are making more money in fla and have good jobs, so it was no big deal to us. we have good driving records, and i have lived in fla and nc for about an equal amt of time, and i have never had my car broken into in fla but did in nc. so go figure.

[Jammie]

Yes, I'm familiar with I-4, but we've never driven on it. When we've been down there, our family picks us up at the airport and we vacation together. They know the area and don't have to look for road signs on top of trying to fight the traffic. The last time we were on I-4 was right after Christmas and when we weren't stopped, we went about 10 mph. I guess a lot of people were trying to get to the Orlando airport.

It sounds like car insurance is quite expensive down there. Do the rates they charge have anything to do with the area or county that you're in?

[sunshine girl]

It definitely depends on location for rates. My agent told me that Miami has the highest rates, followed by Tampa. Next in line were the bigger cities of Orlando, Jacksonville, and Tallahassee. Not my opinion here, facts from his list of Florida insurance rates. Good for you for checking this out before moving.

[sleeper]

I agree; 'Location-Location-Location'