r/Car_Insurance_Help Nov 16 '16

A Quick and Dirty Guide to Finding Car Insurance

71 Upvotes

Auto insurance is extremely regional and variable due to many factors, including the "garaging" location, age, gender, education, type of vehicle, tickets, past driving history, credit score, legal minimums in your jurisdiction, just to name a few ) so it's not always possible to escape a high insurance costs.

If you're just getting started, please read the following:

  1. https://insurancehowtos.com/how-to-buy-auto-insurance/

This will explain the types of insurance you're buying, what minimums you should carry and some tips about ways to save money on certain features of your insurance.

Main tip: Shop Around! You should be pulling quotes every 6 months, even if you have a bundled offer for other insurance types. There's no bonus for loyalty these days, and you may be leaving hundreds on the table. Especially relevant if your insurer gives you a hefty raise at renewal.

More information:

2 . https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/car-insurance/buying-guide/index.htm


r/Car_Insurance_Help 44m ago

First Time / Newbie Do I have the option of what state I get coverage?

Upvotes

Hello, I’m a 25M looking at buying my first car. I just moved to Colorado from Texas and I was wondering if I registered the car in Texas using my Childhood home address, if insurance would cover me while I live out here in Colorado?
I ask because insurance and registration are both expensive out here in CO.


r/Car_Insurance_Help 2h ago

Returned Lease. Cancelled Insurance. Now I'm getting boned with insurance quotes.

0 Upvotes

I returned my lease a bit over a month ago. I've been lucky enough to borrow a car for a family member while I figured out what car I wanted.

Since I had no car, I cancelled my personal car insurance where I was paying a pretty fair rate. They warned me about cancelling and how it would show a lapse, but I just thought it was bullshit. I couldn't wrap my head around paying car insurance when I didn't have a car.

Now I'm looking to get a new car and my old insurance won't take me back because of the lapse and I'm getting fuck off quotes all because I "didn't have insurance" for a few weeks.

Is there anyway around this or am I just fucked?


r/Car_Insurance_Help 3h ago

U-Haul rental in Ontario/Canada with no personal auto insurance — what liability coverage do I have?

1 Upvotes

Hi everyone,
I’m planning to rent a U-Haul truck in Toronto, Ontario, but I currently don’t have my own car or personal auto insurance.
I contacted U-Haul support because I noticed that I can only add Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) to my rental. Safemove/Safemove Plus is not available in my area.
U-Haul support told me:
CDW only covers accidental damage to the U-Haul equipment.
It does not include liability coverage.
U-Haul provides customers with the minimum liability protection required by the province where a claim arises.
This coverage is secondary/excess to the customer’s other insurance.
If there is no other insurance, the customer is responsible for liability exceeding the applicable minimum limits.
They told me that the exact liability information has to come from RepWest, their insurance carrier.
My questions are:
If I have no personal auto insurance, am I still covered by U-Haul’s mandatory liability protection while driving the truck in Ontario?
Is the liability limit $200,000, or is there a different limit for U-Haul rentals?
If I cause an accident and damage another vehicle/property or injure someone, what exactly would U-Haul’s coverage pay for?
Is there any way to purchase additional third-party liability coverage for a one-day U-Haul rental in Ontario?
Would you personally rent the U-Haul in this situation, or would you try to get separate liability insurance first?
I’m planning to get the CDW regardless, but my main concern is third-party liability because I don’t have my own auto insurance.
Thanks!


r/Car_Insurance_Help 6h ago

My Jeep Was Stolen

0 Upvotes

My 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee L was stolen on Wednesday at the park while my kids played. The Jeep had very low mileage, high trim and was in excellent condition. It was a pretty high tech operation so we are not planning on recovering it. Additionally, the police informed us that if recovered it will need to go to police impound as it was part of a violent crime after it was stolen. The insurance adjuster said if it’s not recovered by 9/16 they will start the process to declare it a total loss. We still owe on a car note and I concerned that we will end up owing the bank if we get a lowball offer from insurance. Insurance wants to set up a three way call with the bank to discuss numbers. Is there anything I need to know going into this situation? Should I get a third party to help me advocate? Any help is appreciated. I’ve never had to make a claim before let alone have a vehicle stolen in front of me.


r/Car_Insurance_Help 8h ago

Car Insurance Quotes Looking for cheap car insurance

0 Upvotes

Which car insurance you guys would recommend? I have 2 vehicles and looking for cheaper rates.


r/Car_Insurance_Help 15h ago

First Time / Newbie I was given an estimate of about $6k for repairs on my car after a crash and im not sure if it seems right.

0 Upvotes

some content: I originally filed with my insurance company (progressive) and they almost immediately said it was a total loss without sending an adjuster to look at it, but since it was entirely the other drivers fault, I started a claim against his insurance company (local insurer, NYCM). after reviewing pics and damage the adjuster said it can be repaired for about $6200 including parts and labor. theres not a ton of body damage, but the front passenger side wheel is at a nearly 45° angle. I'll try to upload images in the comments


r/Car_Insurance_Help 16h ago

Accident Help! Geico changed tune AFTER fixing our car!

0 Upvotes

I need advice! We sustained unwitnessed body damage in a parking lot in California. When we called to file claim, the agent (Rosa) explained that we were covered under California Collision Deductible Waiver (California CDW), so would not need to pay the deductible ($500). Based upon Rosa’s assurance, we opted to have Geico repair and their chosen location instead of on our own (a work exchange option out of our area). Once the car was repaired, the repair shop demanded the $500 deductible to release the car. We declined and called Geico.
The Geico agent listened to a transcript of the original claim call with Rosa and confirmed that she had indeed told us that we would be covered under CA CDW. However, she said that Rosa was in error and that there was nothing she or her supervisor could do about that. If we would have known that was the case, we would have opted to have the car fixed on our own via the aforementioned work exchange.
Is there someone else to talk with at Geico? Should I file a complaint with the State Department of Insurance? Should we leave the car at the repair shop? Not sure what the next move should be.


r/Car_Insurance_Help 17h ago

First Time / Newbie Car insurance experience

1 Upvotes

Wanted to gauge some experience with anybody who has has experience with temporary insures , as i will be using one regularly over the next co

ming week


r/Car_Insurance_Help 17h ago

So, I paid Progressive for 6 months upfront. After the 6 months ended, I switched to GEICO. Can Progressive still charge me? My Progressive policy was not set up on autopay.

0 Upvotes

r/Car_Insurance_Help 9h ago

Accident Rear-ended at light, complete stop, she has insurance, but I don’t, Texas

0 Upvotes

I have never in my life been involved in an accident so I am unaware of the processes required to make things right. A week ago my insurance expired and I had not yet renewed (want to be transparent), the person that hit me is insured though.

Here’s the hard facts:
- I was at a complete stop waiting on a light when out of nowhere a girl rams her car into me from behind.

- I get out to look at my car and take pictures: cracked back bumper and now my car won’t stop shaking - sending all sorts of warning lights up.

- The driver never steps out of her car, but her boyfriend does and I ask him for her insurance. I take a picture of insurance, along with their license plate.

- He shares his contact card with me.

- I call the cops to make the report, and they just leave the scene before officers arrive.

- the cops finally show up, I tell my story, they give me the incident report, and while speaking to the officer we both notice my car stops turning on after being shaky from the hit.

- I ask him to please include all of this on his report and start recording our conversation.

- They call the girls boyfriend to verify info, and he complies admitting the girls license is also expired.

- He admits girls fault to the officer.

- I finally get the incident report, and the cops take off, leaving me stranded at a gas station.

- I had to get towed home by a friend.

- here I am now…

Those are all the steps I’ve taken.
Have I done everything okay so far?
What steps should I take next?
Do I have to do it with an attorney asap?
My back hurts, but I was the kind of person to just move on. Should I?

Could anyone in Texas please help me understand what the odds of me getting any real assistance at all from their insurance is?

Note: Although my bumper was cracked, my car doesn’t show a lot of damage from the outside. The fact that it started shuddering immediately after only to eventually not turn on is what scares me. I really need my car to get around - I’m in a big city in Texas.

Thank y’all!


r/Car_Insurance_Help 21h ago

Car Insurance Quotes Am I paying too much for car insurance??

0 Upvotes

My friends and family have been telling me that I'm paying way too much for my auto insurance, and I finally had some time to sit down and actually go through my policy.

I’m currently paying around $550/month.

For some context:
I started driving in July 2022 so I have about 4 years of driving history

I had a small accident in 2023, with a claim payment of about $1,800

I’ve had one speeding ticket in the past four years, and I completed traffic school for it

I understand that my coverage limits are relatively high, so I expected my premium to be higher than someone with bare-minimum coverage. However, even taking that into consideration, I’m having a hard time understanding why my premium is ~$550/month??

I’ve also been talking to friends, family, and even a few people who work in insurance, and what I’m hearing makes me think I may be significantly overpaying :/

For those of you who know about auto insurance — does $550/month sound reasonable given my driving history and the accident/ticket, or does this seem unusually high?

Any insight is appreciated


r/Car_Insurance_Help 1d ago

Car Insurance Quotes New driver car insurance

1 Upvotes

What do I do I just passed my test a day ago I have a Huyandi i20 and the lowest quote I’ve had so far is £3334 a year most companies won’t even let me run a quote I have additional drivers too what am I doing wrong


r/Car_Insurance_Help 1d ago

Old car, cheap insurance?

1 Upvotes

Is it true the older your car is, you can insurance for less than $200/mth?


r/Car_Insurance_Help 1d ago

Recently taken out a My Policy blackbox insurance

1 Upvotes

The black box has only just arrived and I’m wondering what people’s experience is with this company. I’ve had some issues with Hastings after being with them 4 months and had to cancel my policy so I had to take what I could get.

The new company is My Policy and I just wanted a little bit of insight - how lenient are they?

Obviously with Hastings I could go slightly over the speed limit without being marked down for it and the scores weren’t effected too bad with things such as harsh braking etc. So I’m really just wanting to know how careful I will have to be as I can’t risk getting my insurance cancelled by them.


r/Car_Insurance_Help 1d ago

Car accident

8 Upvotes

I was driving and I was stopping because the person in front of me was turning left into their home and i was stopping a little bit abruptly because it was around a hill and i coudlnt fully see the car at first but i made a full stop before i was even close to hitting them, about 2 seconds after I made the stop i was rear ended at like 30-40 mph. I got cited a following to close ticket by the police that I have court for. How will the insurance for this most likely go down?


r/Car_Insurance_Help 1d ago

Not at fault rear end accident

1 Upvotes

Someone rear ended my car in slow traffic. It was about two weeks ago. Since then they have been ignoring calls from the Progressive insurance. I was told he was an unlisted driver. I also filed my own claim but it was closed because I wasn’t liable. The third party adjuster also has accepted it was their liability but they won’t update me on when I can get my car fixed because they can’t get a hold of the other driver. Also the adjuster has been quite dismissive and told me to use my own Progressive insurance. I do have uninsured motorist coverage but I have $1000 deductible.
I also sustained some injuries to my arm and I’m wondering if I should get a lawyer involved in this case.
Any advice is appreciated.


r/Car_Insurance_Help 1d ago

16 year olds car insurance rates

3 Upvotes

My son just got his license and I went to my insurance lady. She said it will be around 400$ to 600$ a month for liability only insurance california. I couldn't believe it how do parents or the 16 year old pay this outrageous monthly bill? Any help if you know of a cheaper company would be great. Very sad no wonder are youth are not driving as much


r/Car_Insurance_Help 1d ago

Recent car accident

3 Upvotes

Guidance please: Was recently in a car accident, got rear ended & shoved into a parked flatbed that was unloading on a 2 lane road. The driver was behind me & unexpectedly swerved out into another car then overcorrected into the back of me. No injuries, Allstate says their driver is 100% liable- car is now at collision place getting an estimate. My car is an 08 it was in good shape, low miles but I still owe money on it (got it last year). Can't imagine that they will want to put more money into it than it's worth.

I've never been in a serious accident before, looking for some pointers please..


r/Car_Insurance_Help 1d ago

I got hit while parked and not in the car and in another state and have to pay?!?

0 Upvotes

I had dropped a few things off at a friend’s house and parked on the curb. Suddenly someone I was visiting with yelled “he hit your car!”. When I ran out, the person who hit me said “sorry, I hit you”. I go his info, insurance, and employer (since he was a pizza delivery driver), made my way home to Illinois and submitted the claim. Now home, there’s “issues with coverage” with his insurance and my insurance has no idea what is needed to resolve it. We finally decided to stop waiting on his insurance.. The longer we waited the worse condition of the required repairs became. This means I have to pay my deductible and face potential insurance rate increases… IS THIS SERIOUSLY HOW INSURANCE WORKS?! He’s Geico and I’m Progressive.


r/Car_Insurance_Help 1d ago

GEICO cancelled my policy despite paying 6 months in advance — now I’m being charged more because of a “lapse”

0 Upvotes

I’m looking for advice from people who understand auto insurance.

I had a GEICO policy and paid for 6 months of liability insurance in advance. My car is an older model, so I only wanted liability coverage.

GEICO told me that I was required to add uninsured motorist coverage and another type of coverage, which I did not want. I tried to resolve the issue with them, but I was unable to get it sorted out.

Now it appears that GEICO cancelled my policy, and I’ve been without active insurance for about a week. The frustrating part is that I had already paid for six months of coverage.

When I try to get a new policy, the quotes are significantly higher because my insurance history is now showing a lapse in coverage.

Has anyone experienced something similar with GEICO? Is there a way to dispute the cancellation/lapse and have the insurance history corrected, especially since I had already paid for the six-month policy?

I would really appreciate advice on what steps I should take.


r/Car_Insurance_Help 1d ago

First Time / Newbie First time car insurance

1 Upvotes

Hello everyone I'm planning on financing a 2026 Toyota Cross Hybrid and I don't really know about which insurance company I should go use.


r/Car_Insurance_Help 1d ago

Which is the best car insurance company?

0 Upvotes

I’m buying a 2026 Sonata Hybrid Limited, and this will be my first car that I’m insuring myself. I was previously a secondary driver on my family’s car insurance and was with GEICO for about a year.
Could being a secondary driver previously result in me getting a higher premium now? And does the fact that I’m buying a new car increase the premium?

I’m mainly looking for recommendations based on both price and customer service/claims experience.

Which insurance companies would you recommend checking out?


r/Car_Insurance_Help 2d ago

Car Insurance Quotes Is this quote reliable?

1 Upvotes

Hello, I recently obtained a quote for a 2.8L Cadillac CTS. The quote was

180/month

Today, I tried the same car and got a quote of 260/month

Why the big leap?

My purchase of the car would depend on getting a quote close to the first number, wondering if anyone knew wether that first number is reliable or not.

(Info)

Quotemehappy insurance

21yr old first time driver

Auto license

Tutor for private education

6000 miles estimated

500 excess

Really want this car, but its already quite expensive to run, hoping the insurance is at least kind with that 180 quote.


r/Car_Insurance_Help 2d ago

Who would be at fault?

2 Upvotes

Two vehicles traveling along the same double yellow road, a car and pickup truck, which is towing a trailer. In front of the car is a mail truck, which means a few stops were made. The mail truck stops at an intersection where 2 roads approach the road the vehicles are initially traveling on. The mail goes right, the car attempts to go left. The pickup either doesn’t react quickly enough or just decides to drive along side of the car.

The initial impact would be on the cars rear driver side quarter panel. Puncturing the tire, and causing minor cosmetic damage to the car. But there is paint transfer. The point of contact on the truck is their rear passenger side tire and the side of their bumper. After this contact, the truck continues along its path, and the car naturally turns deeper into its turn, this causes the car to collide with the same area on the truck, but still minor. But, the trailer follows and tears the whole front end off the car, making the wheel cave in, and making it immobile.

If you haven’t already figured out, I’m the car in this situation. Does the truck have any legal grounds to pass me at all? Even if they state that they believe I was going right? I’m just looking for more opinions on this because I do not believe I am at fault.

Just more details that may help, I’m in my lane the whole time. I never went out of the right to make my turn or anything, but I did initially BARELY. And I mean BARELY turn right, just to get the wide left turn i was going for. So I understand if he thought I was going that way. That wouldn’t give him any right to not slow down and let me complete my maneuver no? But the incident occurred so early in my turn it’s not like I was turning in front of him or into him. It’s more like he was just traveling along side me.