progressive. safe auto. the general.....

does anyone have any experience with these companies?
i did not have any insurance on my car so i had to grab a policy. i wanted just enough to be legal.

my mom is a state farm agent. they were too expensive so i did not go there.
thing is when she worked up my quote she ran a vehicle report on me and my wife. she needed the vin number of car. asked if it was turbo. asked the color. asked about previous insurance. asked if it would be in a garage. asked how many miles i drive....all that for the quote.

i went to progressive expecting the same thing. brought my title up there for vin verification...

they didnt ask any of those questions. i told them i wanted a policy that would make me legal. if my finances change i can make changes to the policy. she asked my license number and my wifes. thats it.
didnt ask any questions about the car. driving record. nothing

the quote was super cheap so i bought the policy. i already got my packet in the mail with the specifics.

i dont understand how insurance companies like these low end places can give you an accurate quote/policy with no information to speak of.
clearly they do because millions of people are insured through them.

does anyone have any experience?

way i figure it is yeah i have insurance to satisfy the state but if i ever do need to file a claim it will probably be a nightmare actually getting it done. that is probably the main difference.

any info i can get from you guys and gals would be appreciated. im just curious

a reply to: TinySickTears

Everything about you that they use to calculate your rate is on a computer! They don't need to ask you, they just look it up.

Hope your credit rating is good, because if it isn't the car insurance companies use it to force you to pay higher rates. The reason? Your credit is bad because you are not responsible in handling your debt. Therefore you are a liability.

All they care about is your driving record, DUI, and your credit rating. Those 3 things are their bread and butter to make them huge amounts of money. Have one accident after paying them for 40 years and watch your rates go up!

a reply to: seeker1963

ok that makes sense.
my credit is in the tank but my rates are pretty cheap. again though i have just enough to be legal.

They usually run your license number and it gives them all the information they need to write the quote. Also your credit score may be run. Some companies do a lowball then they raise your rate in a short time. Some agents want your info so they can get a closer first estimate to base your policy premium.

I have been with the same company now for about thirty years, I get a decent rate so don't shop around any more. Friends of mine would get a great rate by shopping around only to have it jump way up upon renewal in six months. It was a pain, they wound up paying more upon renewal and felt kind of ashamed to go back to their old company again. When they went back eventually their longlivity discount had expired and they payed more for a couple of years than they used to pay.

That is just the way our insurance company works. I checked around about five years ago but the same thing was still going on, lowball first six months. I have a good agent and they sell about five insurance companies and occasionally the woman runs a test to check rates but overall she says I am better where I am. I've known her for almost twenty years. She makes commission no matter what company I get the policy from.

I heard the General was really high, progressive can be high or low depending on your record and credit rating. I looked at State Farm around six years ago and their rate was about the same as mine but they did not have all the extended bells and whistles on their policy for that price. I actually have a good credit score and I do have a good driving record.

The General- Making people you rear end nervous since 1996.

www.consumeraffairs.com...

a reply to: TinySickTears

I use PGAC and have for years.

The two times that I had claims (one paid to me and one paid to the person whose trunk I
smooshed into their backseat with my trunk) the adjustors were out quickly and payment within a few days.
No hassles, no fighting.

My experience only.

a reply to: TinySickTears

Progressive is horrible! I had them for almost ten years on my 1998 Mustang. I paid $175 for basic PIP coverage which is required in Florida. I was hit by a drunk driver in my ex husbands car and getting the settlement from them was almost impossible! The guy who hit me also had Progressive and they took a YEAR to settle and they only gave me $6k which didn't even cover my medical costs! I finally had enough of overpriced insurance and went to Geico. I had my Mustang and my PT Cruiser with full coverage, comp and collision AND roadside assistance and I paid $118 a month for BOTH! I couldn't believe how cheap it was and roadside assistance is the best!

There was a truck in the town i lived in that had professional decals all over that said "progressive doesn't pay out claims" and once I had my accident I saw what this person was talking about. They are not cheap and heaven for bid you have an accident! I am not saying some don't have a good experience but the money I saved switching to Geico was enough for me!

Good luck!

I've only used Nationwide for car insurance, and personally haven't had any claims with them, but I work in a body shop and so I have to deal with them in the business sense, so that's where my critique comes into play.

I posted a rant not too long back about how these insurance companies are going "digital", in the sense that they are cutting the jobs of their adjusters and agents, increasing the workload of those that remain, and making the customers and body shops do work that they themselves used to do.

Progressive and Nationwide currently still send adjusters to actually look at your vehicle and write up an estimate. This is a good thing, as they can see exactly what damage has been caused in an accident and see even the slightest dents and scratches. They're also easy to deal with and are pretty good about getting our money to us.

Any other company hardly ever sends out adjusters to look at claims. They instead require pictures to be taken and sent to them, which is usually a pain to begin with, but pictures don't always show the true extent of the damage, or the smaller imperfections that may have been caused. Certain colors are harder to tell damage on as well, especially in photos.

State Farm and Geico are the absolute worst when it comes to handling the claims. It's been damn near impossible to get them to pay for the work we've done to their customer's vehicles sometimes.

I didn`t like progressive, they kept nickel and diming my rates up even though I never had an accident,never made a claim and never got a ticket.
each of the rate hikes wasn`t enough to make me go looking for a different company but after 12 years I noticed that all the little increases added up to a lot more than I was paying when I first got the policy.I guess my horrible credit rating means more to progressive than my good driving record.which seems stupid to me because they aren`t insuring my credit rating they insuring my car and my driving.
The reason they charge more for people with bad credit is because people with bad credit make more claims than people with good credit.a lot of the claims from bad credit people are probably bogus claims just so they can get money.
my 25 year old daughter who has good credit had 2 tickets in 3 years , also had progressive and she was paying less than I was, so I dumped them and went to USAA.

a reply to: TinySickTears

Hi there today TST. In Michigan (and Im sure pretty much everywhere) one must have current, active and verifiable insurance to get plates on a car or renew them..or you wont get them. (some folks tho just make the downpayment for the "proof"...get the plates...then let it lapse and drive without (not a great idea).

Also...when a car here is over 10 years old? If you get in an accident, the companies wont even fix it for you because the dealership dont even generally carry parts over ten years old for those cars....so the companies will just total you out anyway. Even for scratches and dents and dings. Cost too much for labor to repair.

Most folks with over 10 year old vehicles just carry PPL (Property Damage and Liability.) If you do have full coverage on a 10 yr or older vehicle...you get a little better treatment in an injury and liability case..though youll still get a totaled out car they wont pay to be repaired.

I have a 2001-just-to-work vehicle and a 2016, both paid for. But, I do carry full coverage on both because in my case...the two together is cheaper. At least for us. I have AllState.