Has your auto insurance in Phx gone up a lot in last year? (2015, homeowners insurance)

[ScottsdaleMark]

Good posts by MrsMac, Finger Laker and MN Born.

I have been with Allstate for about a decade, maybe a little more, and have all my policies with them. The goal is that if I ever do submit a claim, I won't automatically get dropped because I have so much history with them and so many policies with them. My concern with jumping around all the time is that if you do get a claim, and you are a new customer, they're probably just going to drop you.

It is definitely very true about certain insurers just basically not wanting to insure young drivers. I remember when I was a teen driver my parents' insurer wanted however many thousand dollars to cover me which was markedly much higher than other insurers. Clearly, they were not interested in insuring teen drivers and basically their rates strongly encouraged parents to insure their kids somewhere else.

[D.Rock]

I just renewed for 6 months and saw a slight increase even with no accidents ever for my wife and I. My last speeding ticket was 2010. Went from 660 to 690 for 2 people insured on 3 cars not bundled with home owners insurance. If it went up anymore I would have shopped around but I just attribute it to the cost of everything going up despite no changes to service, water bill, cox bill, car insurance...

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by ScottsdaleMark

Good posts by MrsMac, Finger Laker and MN Born.

I have been with Allstate for about a decade, maybe a little more, and have all my policies with them. The goal is that if I ever do submit a claim, I won't automatically get dropped because I have so much history with them and so many policies with them. My concern with jumping around all the time is that if you do get a claim, and you are a new customer, they're probably just going to drop you.

It is definitely very true about certain insurers just basically not wanting to insure young drivers. I remember when I was a teen driver my parents' insurer wanted however many thousand dollars to cover me which was markedly much higher than other insurers. Clearly, they were not interested in insuring teen drivers and basically their rates strongly encouraged parents to insure their kids somewhere else.

Ditto. I've been with State Farm since I was 16 years old (cars, auto, umbrella, business insurance, and homes). Over the years I've shopped them about 10 times with AAA, Farmers, and other name brand insurances. I also tried Travelers via Costco as well as calling brokers. At the end of the day, State Farm had decent rates. Not always the best but close enough when you considered the aggregate. They might be higher on my auto insurance but $400 a year less with my sons as compared to AAA and Travelers/Costco. So the net-net is they were competitive. But my long history helps make sure a couple of bad streaks of luck won't mean they are going to drop me. And I know they actually will payout if I do have a problem. Each time I tried to shop them, the other guy was highly recommended (they saved those people a chuck of $$'s). But not with me (or too close to be worth the hassle of switching).

[PhoenixSomeday]

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

AAA insurance comes to mind (great young driver rates for girls but high rates for boys).

On a semi-related note when I moved from Silicon Valley to Phoenix in 2014 (I was almost 33 at the time), AAA said my insurance was going to go from $850/year to $2200/year. Same coverage. I said why, people always say insurance is cheaper out here. He literally laughed, and said it's a common misconception and that it's actually higher because of having lots of uninsured people out here and because of all the accidents (the accident rate here is ridiculous, especially given the low traffic).

Went online to Geico the next day and got the exact same coverage for $330/6mo ($660/year).

So AAA got voted off the island, although I still have the roadside coverage so I can do super fast DMV stuff at AAA offices.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by PhoenixSomeday

On a semi-related note when I moved from Silicon Valley to Phoenix in 2014 (I was almost 33 at the time), AAA said my insurance was going to go from $850/year to $2200/year. Same coverage. I said why, people always say insurance is cheaper out here. He literally laughed, and said it's a common misconception and that it's actually higher because of having lots of uninsured people out here and because of all the accidents (the accident rate here is ridiculous, especially given the low traffic).

Went online to Geico the next day and got the exact same coverage for $330/6mo ($660/year).

So AAA got voted off the island, although I still have the roadside coverage so I can do super fast DMV stuff at AAA offices.

I've learned that sometimes insurers attempt to buy a share of the market and are irrational. Other times they hike a rate to silly levels (per your example). Think about it. If your AAA rep was right (a lot of uninsured in PHX etc etc), then your green lizard company would have been more expensive too. Nope!! In short, the actuaries either screwed up on the statistics OR they are trying to exit an area of the market. I personally got the feeling AAA didn't like young male drivers. But my data is about 3 years old. Maybe things have changed. They were much cheaper than State Farm as compared to AAA on our daugher. Again, 3 year old info.

[ajonesaz]

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

Both of our homes are with State Farm. To answer the why, State Farm wanted their customers to have more skin in the game (with higher deductibles). In short, too many people were making petty claims. Once a person opens the spigot and makes a claim, too many people tend on adding in other items to get more $$'s. So State Farm jacked up their rates a lot yet their rates plummeted if you accepted a $2000 deductible. Putting it another way, if you compared the previous years $2000 deductible rates with current $2000 deductible rates, they were comparable. If you really wanted your old $500 deductible, then they were going to charge through the nose until you either left or took the higher deductible. The bottom line is State Farm actuaries correlated a much lower payout with higher deductibles and lower insurance rates versus a low deductible and higher rates so they instituted the hike and it was STEEP.

I am a fan of State Farm because they actually payout when you have a problem. Price, quality, and service. Pick 2 of the 3. If you get a stellar price normally quality of the level of service is inferior. With insurance, I am willing to pay an extra $100 to go name brand versus podunk brand. The last time I shopped a name brand home insurance (and had the $2000 deductible), State Farm was leading the pact. There are lower car insurance companies. But sometimes a company will lead in say homeowners but be too expensive on car insurance. Additionally, some brands may be great for most car insurance rates but their actuaries have calculated a much higher rate for young males. AAA insurance comes to mind (great young driver rates for girls but high rates for boys).

$2000 is a massive deductable and it isn't worth it to me. And if State Farm would have explained it like you did, I might have stayed though. Truth is, my agent never bothered to return my call and when I finally got a hold of someone it was an office assistant who couldn't tell me anything. I cut my home owners insurance almost in half by switching and saved about $400.

[Zippyman]

Originally Posted by MN-Born-n-Raised

I've learned that sometimes insurers attempt to buy a share of the market and are irrational. Other times they hike a rate to silly levels (per your example). Think about it. If your AAA rep was right (a lot of uninsured in PHX etc etc), then your green lizard company would have been more expensive too. Nope!! In short, the actuaries either screwed up on the statistics OR they are trying to exit an area of the market. I personally got the feeling AAA didn't like young male drivers. But my data is about 3 years old. Maybe things have changed. They were much cheaper than State Farm as compared to AAA on our daugher. Again, 3 year old info.

We had aaa in Detroit & got a nasty increase from them when we moved here, we didn't shop the rates & payed it for a while & when we finally did shop around, our car insurance went way below what we were paying in Detroit. Aaa either doesn't know this market, or doesn't want it..

[stasi_crystals]

Well at least most of yall over 25. I'm 22 and paying $1700 for 6 months full coverage with a $1000 deductible. I've been with Safeauto since I got my first car in 2013 and every 6 months when I renew it goes up and the only thing they tell me is "everyone's rates went up". Shopped around for quotes but everything is pretty much the same or higher.

[ajonesaz]

Originally Posted by Zippyman

We had aaa in Detroit & got a nasty increase from them when we moved here, we didn't shop the rates & payed it for a while & when we finally did shop around, our car insurance went way below what we were paying in Detroit. Aaa either doesn't know this market, or doesn't want it..

I knew someone that worked for AAA and from my understanding for the insurance side they are just brokers. AAA insurance from Detroit might not be the same insurance as our region. You would have to apply all over again at az.aaa.com

[stevek64]

Originally Posted by ajonesaz

$2000 is a massive deductable and it isn't worth it to me. And if State Farm would have explained it like you did, I might have stayed though. Truth is, my agent never bothered to return my call and when I finally got a hold of someone it was an office assistant who couldn't tell me anything. I cut my home owners insurance almost in half by switching and saved about $400.

I think you have to be more assertive. Agents of course aren't going to tell you usually because it takes away from their commission. I'd get your agent on the phone and just ask them.....what's my rate with $500 deductible.....$1000......$2000....etc. They'll tell you with a few minutes.

I've been with state farm for probably 20+ years now, just about since I first started driving and as a few have said I think they offer a good product overall for the price weighing all the factors out. And keeping all the various insurances with them, they offer some nice discounts. I forgot what the sweet spot is for savings vs value in coverage but that's what I went with. I think we have $1k deductible on the car for collision/comp. An older car, zero coverage on the collision/comp. Very inexpensive overall with clean driver records/zero accidents for a long, long time now.

Regardless, I still don't think an almost a 100% increase in the OP's rate has to do with a low deductible. Sounds like a claim thing, accident, driving record, some major credit report change, etc. If this has been addressed/solved, ignore this.