I hate insurance.

Actually, I take that back, I don’t hate insurance. I hate paying for insurance.

Every time I get an email from GEICO or a mailing from Traveler’s, I think about how I pay them every six months and, in the nearly ten years of driving and four years of living in this house, I’ve never filed a claim. At least with medical and dental, I get some regular checkups and routine cleanings (I hate getting a teeth cleaning but I love getting stuff for “free”). Don’t get me wrong, I’d still get insurance even if I wasn’t required to by law, but that doesn’t mean I enjoy paying for it!

So, once a year or so, I have an insurance review day. I get a little antsy and start asking for quotes from other insurance companies to see if I’m getting the best price. (Well, I’ve been more in the “or so” category, I haven’t done this in two years)

(Click to continue reading…)

All-State has been touting their accident forgiveness policy, going so far as to use President David Palmer as their spokesperson (24 rules!), but did you know a lot of companies offer this benefit? In fact, All-State’s accident forgiveness plan is only better than the competition if you have their more expensive levels of insurance (7-15% more expensive). With their standard policy, you get the same level of forgiveness as most other insurers – one forgiveness in the last five years.

Who else offers one free accident every five years? Basically every one else.

Here’s GEICO’s accident forgiveness policy:

Accident forgiveness eligibility — In most states, many customers who haven’t had an at-fault accident in the previous five years of being insured with GEICO may qualify for accident forgiveness. GEICO will not increase your premium as the result of your first at-fault accident after qualifying for this benefit. (source)

You’ll notice the “most states” part (which will appear in every insurer’s mention of accident forgiveness), that’s actually not a restriction made by Geico but one made by the state regulators themselves. Some states have regulations that change the rules regarding accident forgiveness but a lot of other insurers offer accident forgiveness for five years of insurance.

That’s one more reason, outside of potential loyalty discounts, why you might want to stick with one insurer instead of going with the cheapest option every few years.

Does anyone know if accident forgiveness is required by some state laws? I see mention of how the rules for accident forgiveness depend on state law but I couldn’t seem to find anything for Maryland when I searched.

So they say that getting your auto insurance and homeowners insurance with one policy underwriter and in the next week or I’ll be figuring out whether I can find a better deal than I’m getting right now. Currently my auto insurance is through Geico, my homeowners insurance is through Travelers, and while they have an agreement with each other, neither gives an additional discount because the other policy is through their partner (as confirmed by a CSR on both ends). So, my plan now is to get a quote for both auto insurance and homeowners insurance from State Farm, Allstate, Progressive, Erie Insurance, and any others I may have missed (please leave comments if you know of one I should request a quote from).

My current auto insurance premium from Geico General Insurance Company is $344.90 per six months, or $689.80 per year. My current homeowners insurance premium from St. Paul Travelers Company is $712.00 per year.

That puts my annual total for both at $1401.80, or around 116.82 per month, let’s see if any of the above listed insurance companies can beat that.

Everyone loves a good rant. Got some awful service down at Baskin & Robbins? Let the whole world know! Microsoft Windows just crashed on you again? Scream at the top of your lungs! Well, enter the Internet, the information SUPERHighway. You can complain, rant, rave, moan, bitch, scream and belittle to your hearts content…

Forbes ran a story on the top ten nine (apparently one dropped off the face of the Earth after the article printed) Corporate Hate Websites and a little blurb on each of them. The best part is that it rates the “hostility level” and “entertainment value” of each one (not they they tell us how they score it but I doubt that really matters in such a scientific study). Enjoy!.

Honorable Mentions: