Insurance rates for 4 (2 teenagers) $4550 a year is this right? (Phoenix: rental car, rental)

[Sunshinegirl7]

I am really upset right now. I came from PA where I had a 1 accident still on my record that is falling off this month and my husband had one citation for failure to maintain control-accident wasn't paid out of our insurance (no accidents with another vehicle) just slid into a jersey wall when there was a groove in road it slid vehicle, it was SUPER minor but they had to cite him for something. That was in PA and now we are out here in Arizona with 2 sons, 18 and 16. My 18 year old moved out here first while my 16 year old had to finish up camp in PA and got his license in PA. I went to an agent and they said the cheapest they could find for the 3 of us for 2 cars(minis) was $2991 for a year. Now that my 16 year old is out here she said it would be another $1550 a year. This is insane! In PA i was paying $2000 total for the 3 of us with 3 cars and I then had a minor accident that was still on there plus my major one. The minor one was from 2010 just bumping my garage. She said that is not on this quote. Is this normal? She said Arizona was more money but anyone else paying this much? There has to be people in my situation with a not so perfect but NOT too bad of a record? I told her to find me a better quote, I can't afford to pay $379 a month in car insurance. I told my son he needs to get a part time job. Any Advice would be great!

[HX_Guy]

Have you tried other companies? Geico? Esurance? Progressive?

We pay about $2200 a year for 2 cars, both drivers in their 30s though and no teenagers so I guess you quote could be accurate given theres 2 additional people and two of them are very young driving wise.

[PhoenixSomeday]

I have a clean record, but I do have some experience with the insurance situation since I just moved here 4 months ago. I had AAA back home in Silicon Valley and it was $855 per year for my car. Just me, one car, nothing else, clean record. 33 years old. When I came out here, and got my insurance sorted out, the same insurance from the same company was $2200 per year.

!?!??!

That was my reaction to the insurance guy. He said there are a lot of drivers with no insurance and there are a lot of accidents. He compared it to two other places and they were $1600 (Progressive) and $1400 (National General or some weird thing). Still BS as far as I was concerned.

I had read here on the forum that Geico was good in the Phoenix metro area. So I went online and checked. Same exact coverage?

$660 per year. I don't know how it'll play out with the non-clean record situation, but I can tell you it's absolutely worth a look!

[esiebert7625]

Get an AZ license first and then get insurance quotes, chances are your PA stuff won't transfer over and you'll have a clean record when they check. Worked for me.

Definitely shop around, I just switched from AmFam to Progressive we bought an additional car and they were alot cheaper. Shop online, thats were you'll get the best deals. Try Esurance, Progessive, Geico, The General, etc...

[jdahunt]

I would have thought car insurance in Arizona would be cheaper.....no winter weather accidents.....no hail damage...no severe weather(tornado's) claims.

Why would it be higher?

[DetroitN8V]

That seems crazy high. I just paid our 6 month renewal for two nice cars and it was $785. Granted, we're not teens and are in our 30s, but that seems insane. Check out Esurance.

[esiebert7625]

Originally Posted by jdahunt

I would have thought car insurance in Arizona would be cheaper.....no winter weather accidents.....no hail damage...no severe weather(tornado's) claims.

Why would it be higher?

Lots of uninsured drivers? They also take crime stats in the area where you live into account. Progressive tried to raise my rate at renewal time and when I asked why they said it had to do with crime stats which I thought was ridiculous as there is almost no crime where I'm at. I threatened to cancel and they reduced my rate. Also look into those devices that they plug into your car to record your driving habits and will get you a discount after a few months. They look at what time you drive (11:00pm - 5:00am) is the most high risk time, how hard you brake and how much you drive. I got a 5% discount from Progressive using their snapshot device. Also make sure you get every possible discount available for things like paperless billing, auto pay, etc. You might also go with a higher deductible and drop things like rental car reimbursement and roadside assistance if you don't need it. Changing your liability might help also.

[HX_Guy]

Originally Posted by DetroitN8V

That seems crazy high. I just paid our 6 month renewal for two nice cars and it was $785. Granted, we're not teens and are in our 30s, but that seems insane. Check out Esurance.

Damn that's cheap! We have esurance too.

[esiebert7625]

Originally Posted by HX_Guy

Damn that's cheap! We have esurance too.

I pay $840 for 6 months for 2 drivers and 2 cars with Progressive and thats with one speeding ticket.

[esiebert7625]

You might also request a breakdown of which each driver is costing you on that policy, teenagers are very expensive to insure, especially 16 so it would be interesting to see the costs of what they are charging you by person so you can understand the higher costs better.