My car insurance doubled moving to Miami from Philly (Miami Beach: lease, how much)

[sim8729]

My car insurance more than doubled moving from Philly to Miami. Can anyone list some car insurance company's that are low cost? I currently have state farm and have to find coverage here. I tried them along with usaa, geigo and allstate and it is just way too high.

[StarfishKey]

Yes, Miami insurance is high, because it is full of aggressive and terrible drivers.

I have Progressive, which I hate like the plague. However, I was able to significantly lower my cost by using their "Snapshot" program. It is a dangerous and annoying idea truthfully - you keep a device that monitors your driving in the car for 6 months, and it tracks how many times you make fast stops - I think in drops of 7mph per second. I made only one in 6 months, and got their top discount of 30% off my rate. I had a relatively low rate anyway because I drive a safe car and have a perfect record. But, as a safe driver, I can tell you that the constant awareness that that thing is monitoring you is a big distraction, and it encourages people to run lights and to nearly hit people rather than slow down when they need to to avoid hitting someone. Consider that in Miami, people drive so poorly that there may be many times someone stops short in front of you or traffic patterns abruptly change due to poorly marked construction zones (another local issue) - their theory though is, it doesn't matter only how good of a driver you are, but how dangerous the area you're in is, since they are at risk for paying on claims for the other idiots on the road too.

Note that they will lie up and down and say the device has no drain on battery, but I bought a brand new 12V that was the absolute top of the line, and every time I did not drive the car for more than a week (which can happen sometimes since I work from home), the battery would die and I had to have the car jumped - that did not happen before installing the Snapshot. It was a massive hassle, but I did it at Progressive's expense - they have a $4/6 month contract roadside service, with unlimited calls. So I just called them over, and over, and over again - and waited over and over for someone to jump me. As soon as the program was over, I never had a single other time my battery failed, and it has now been a year. So it was obviously the device.

Keep in mind, they can also raise your rates if you fail miserably. So only take the chance if you know you are a good driver, and can keep tons of space between you and other cars (despite other cars' insistence on jumping in front of you and crowding you as much as they possibly can... you keep letting out more distance and try to be patient for the 6 months).

Personally, I wouldn't go through the program again willingly, I think it is poorly designed and encourages crashes. But if I was desperate to lower my rate so I could keep my car, and I knew I was a good driver, it's worth a shot. You can apparently also try it when you're on another insurance, and they will give you the rate at the end to give you a chance to see if you want to switch. You can always dump Progressive at the end if you don't get a good rate, anyway, if you do try them and then try Snapshot.

Of course it's Big Brother creepy, but between the 30% off and some changes to my coverage to more bare minimum personal injury coverage (I kept only the coverage if I hit someone else and they have injuries high), I now pay half of what I did previously.

I now pay around $330 for 6 months, but that includes a move to the Keys, so I'm not sure what it would be in Miami for the same. Maybe $430. I was paying about $650 when I was there before the Snapshot trial.

[doggiebus]

Welcome to Miami, we have high car insurance rates. State Farm was the cheapest for me when I switched a few years ago from Prudential. Progressive is suppose to be the cheapest, but remember the cheapest isn't necessarily the best way to go. I was told by someone at a body shop their the worst company to deal with. I wouldn't be surprised if there are companies that won't even deal with people with progressive insurance.

[elchevere]

out of curiosity, when you say Philly--are you referring to within city limits OR in the suburbs?...big difference.

Would you mind sharing what your rates in Philly were vs. what you were quoted by the 'big' insurance companies for Miami.

I live in San Diego and am contemplating a move to Miami Beach...I was pissed that Allstate raised my rates 20% year over year because my mileage increased from 6,000 miles driving per year to 7,000 per year and I leased a new car (same 'new' car make and model I have leased every 3 years for the past 9 years without prior rate increases). I have a perfect driving record.

I can only imagine what the good hands people might do if I were to move to Miami Beach.

Also, if you purchased a similar property in Miami I would be interested in knowing how much your home insurance rates might have gone up as well.

[Cubanchic]

Just wait till you get the sticker shock for home or renter's insurance. We have progressive which was the cheapest for us and we had Statefarm before that but they increased our rates even though we are safe drivers and hadn't had any accidents and tickets.

We also did the snap shot thing with progressive and it is immpossible if you live in Miami to get any discount because of the crazy drivers.

[OptimusPrime69]

Please specify if u lived in Philly proper or the burbs....as the city of Philly is also notorious for it's high car insurance rates. .

[StarfishKey]

Originally Posted by Cubanchic

We also did the snap shot thing with progressive and it is immpossible if you live in Miami to get any discount because of the crazy drivers.

I did the Snapshot in Miami and got the full 30% discount, with one "fast stop" (I was actually in a neighborhood I didn't know and going only 10mph, looking for a street when I suddenly saw there was a stop sign and hit the brake). It's unpleasant and difficult, but not impossible.

[hurricaneMan1992]

Mine TRIPLED when I first moved from Utah. And that was after they had increased my rates from a snowstorm incident.

[sim8729]

WOW! I don't think I can do snap shot. The driver's here are crazy and being new to the area and not knowing the roads will make it difficult for me. The prices you mentioned are absolutely ridiculous!

Originally Posted by StarfishKey

Yes, Miami insurance is high, because it is full of aggressive and terrible drivers.

I have Progressive, which I hate like the plague. However, I was able to significantly lower my cost by using their "Snapshot" program. It is a dangerous and annoying idea truthfully - you keep a device that monitors your driving in the car for 6 months, and it tracks how many times you make fast stops - I think in drops of 7mph per second. I made only one in 6 months, and got their top discount of 30% off my rate. I had a relatively low rate anyway because I drive a safe car and have a perfect record. But, as a safe driver, I can tell you that the constant awareness that that thing is monitoring you is a big distraction, and it encourages people to run lights and to nearly hit people rather than slow down when they need to to avoid hitting someone. Consider that in Miami, people drive so poorly that there may be many times someone stops short in front of you or traffic patterns abruptly change due to poorly marked construction zones (another local issue) - their theory though is, it doesn't matter only how good of a driver you are, but how dangerous the area you're in is, since they are at risk for paying on claims for the other idiots on the road too.

Note that they will lie up and down and say the device has no drain on battery, but I bought a brand new 12V that was the absolute top of the line, and every time I did not drive the car for more than a week (which can happen sometimes since I work from home), the battery would die and I had to have the car jumped - that did not happen before installing the Snapshot. It was a massive hassle, but I did it at Progressive's expense - they have a $4/6 month contract roadside service, with unlimited calls. So I just called them over, and over, and over again - and waited over and over for someone to jump me. As soon as the program was over, I never had a single other time my battery failed, and it has now been a year. So it was obviously the device.

Keep in mind, they can also raise your rates if you fail miserably. So only take the chance if you know you are a good driver, and can keep tons of space between you and other cars (despite other cars' insistence on jumping in front of you and crowding you as much as they possibly can... you keep letting out more distance and try to be patient for the 6 months).

Personally, I wouldn't go through the program again willingly, I think it is poorly designed and encourages crashes. But if I was desperate to lower my rate so I could keep my car, and I knew I was a good driver, it's worth a shot. You can apparently also try it when you're on another insurance, and they will give you the rate at the end to give you a chance to see if you want to switch. You can always dump Progressive at the end if you don't get a good rate, anyway, if you do try them and then try Snapshot.

Of course it's Big Brother creepy, but between the 30% off and some changes to my coverage to more bare minimum personal injury coverage (I kept only the coverage if I hit someone else and they have injuries high), I now pay half of what I did previously.

I now pay around $330 for 6 months, but that includes a move to the Keys, so I'm not sure what it would be in Miami for the same. Maybe $430. I was paying about $650 when I was there before the Snapshot trial.

[sim8729]

Thank you! My move to Miami is a 20 year dream come true. I had progressive at one point in Philly and didn't really like them. They raised my rates for no reason at all. I dropped them so fast.

Originally Posted by doggiebus

Welcome to Miami, we have high car insurance rates. State Farm was the cheapest for me when I switched a few years ago from Prudential. Progressive is suppose to be the cheapest, but remember the cheapest isn't necessarily the best way to go. I was told by someone at a body shop their the worst company to deal with. I wouldn't be surprised if there are companies that won't even deal with people with progressive insurance.