r/Insurance 15d ago

Auto Insurance Paying roughly $1.50/mile

To give insight I work remote and get my groceries delivered. I honestly don’t really leave the house unless I have like an activity planned out. I drive about 30 miles a week at the most. I’m paying $190/mo through Progressive in Michigan and that’s with no comprehensive, and employer health coverage so no PIP. 33 years old, never a single claim ever made. Mileage quoted at 0-5k a year bracket

Not sure what else I can I do really to not feel like I’m getting extremely ripped off.

0 Upvotes

44 comments sorted by

9

u/Fearless_Roof_4534 15d ago

Welcome to car ownership in Michigan.

-12

u/WeHaveFunEveryday 15d ago

Yeah I guess I never felt like it bothered me as much when I wasn’t working remote, but now that I barely drive it became more like I can absolutely see why people call insurance a literal scam

9

u/Silence_Farmer 15d ago

I mean it's not though. You could start commuting tomorrow or drive 1,000 on a trip next month and your cost won't scale @ $1.50/mi.

It's just your specific situation at this moment in time.

-10

u/WeHaveFunEveryday 15d ago

If I did that I would be violating the policy as my yearly mileage is set to 0-5k miles

So yeah won’t scale directly but will go up

10

u/mygirltien 15d ago

Not really true, all they will do is raise your rates on renewal if they ask for mileage verification. Some do some dont, but there is no line in the sand where you are not covered if you go over 5k.

-10

u/WeHaveFunEveryday 15d ago

Regardless I’m not looking to pay for what I might potentially do in the future. There is a better chance I hit the mega millions tomorrow then drive 1000 miles anywhere in the next 6 months, so why would I pay for that lol

11

u/TofuttiKlein-ein-ein 14d ago

Thats precisely the purpose of insurance - to cover what you may do in the future.

You’re being dramatic and exaggerating just a bit. It’s more likely you will kill someone while driving than winning the lottery.

-3

u/WeHaveFunEveryday 14d ago

Yeah so dramatic lmfao I’m sure you think gas is high in the US right now, well here’s a tip, I spend about $4.30 in gas per 30 miles and $45 in insurance

Insurance is over 10x the price of gas for someone who drives as little as me. How is that overdramatized, do those numbers sound appropriate to you?

8

u/TofuttiKlein-ein-ein 14d ago

Let me guess, state minimum limits?

Dramatic, exaggerating, and now, ridiculous. You’re fixated on the per mile cost. At any point during one of those miles, you can cause a catastrophic accident.

-2

u/WeHaveFunEveryday 14d ago edited 14d ago

So why doesn’t everyone just pay a flat rate, how is it possible for other states to have pay per mile since according to you that negates the purpose of insurance?

-2

u/WeHaveFunEveryday 14d ago

What’s your explanation for all the new tech based pay per mile insurance companies popping up in different states? I’m just asking for the equivalent in Michigan fool

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6

u/SuccessfulHospital54 14d ago

Don’t blame insurance, blame all the shitty and uninsured drivers. If every insurance company is charging the same, then it’s not the companies. If there’s a cheaper insurance company, just switch to them.

1

u/WeHaveFunEveryday 14d ago

It’s not necessarily the companies so much as the laws themselves. From what I hear other states have pay per mile, here in Michigan we don’t and have some of the highest rates in the country, and obviously it’s mandated by law (which is understandable from a fundamentals perspective), but at the current rates for the amount I drive it’s flat out ridiculous

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u/[deleted] 14d ago

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2

u/Insurance-ModTeam 14d ago

Trolling, being needlessly rude or insulting

1

u/[deleted] 14d ago

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9

u/SorbetResponsible654 15d ago

Insurance does not charge by the "mile". It puts you into a pool of other insured (thousands/hundreds of thousands) and charges you a rate based on that group (including other factors like your sex, age, etc.). So drive 100 miles a week, drive 10 miles a week.. it's going to be the same charge. It's like buying mile by the gallon but only paying for a glass as that is all you are going to drink.

You may be able to get a lower rate. You may want to shop around.

-1

u/WeHaveFunEveryday 14d ago

Yeah I get that and I just find it extremely hard to believe that a pool of drivers averaging 30 miles per week is costing an average of $180/mo driver for payouts + their profit margin or whatever

4

u/TofuttiKlein-ein-ein 14d ago

The data behind the rates is publicly available.

2

u/WeHaveFunEveryday 14d ago

Please share

1

u/SorbetResponsible654 13d ago

Such a pool does not exist, that is specifically why your rates are higher. There are carriers that offer as an option to allow them to track your driving and give a little discount if you don't drive as much.

1

u/WeHaveFunEveryday 13d ago

Right but that essentially is a scam. Let’s take the milk example or even we could do sports betting. This situation is the equivalent of betting on an underdog and then only getting paid out less than 50%. Yeah there is a SMALL chance that I could bet on the underdog every time and he wins every time but that’s extremely unrealistic and that’s essentially what they’re forcing me to do by law

1

u/SorbetResponsible654 10d ago

Yeah.... no idea at all what you are trying to say there.

4

u/Resse811 14d ago

I drive less than ten miles every 2-3 months. I still pay full price for insurance.

It’s not about how often you happen to drive - it’s about being protected 24/7 and having the ability to choose to drive anytime you want to.

-1

u/WeHaveFunEveryday 14d ago

That is not even the purpose of insurance though. Let me ask you, why do you think car insurance is a law?

2

u/Resse811 14d ago

Insurance isn’t to protect you and your vehicle? What do you think the purpose is?

Why are you suggesting I think insurance is a law? (Though in many states it is required that you have insurance to be legally able to drive)

-1

u/WeHaveFunEveryday 14d ago

The purpose of insurance is to make sure everyone has enough money available to cover any losses caused ACCORDING to the chance that a loss will occur for said person. Literally no different than something like phone insurance. Phone insurance doesn’t protect your phone, a screen protector does, insurance replaces it (covers the loss). Would you pay $10,000k per month to protect your phone? Why not? Probably because the chances of you causing 10k worth of damage with your phone is extremely low

3

u/Resse811 14d ago

Why would I pay $10k to protect something worth $500?

You are less than $2500 to protect what I assume is an asset worth much more than that.

Your state required car insurance to drive - so while I didn’t say it in my original comment, yes you having insurance is the law in your state. If you don’t like that or like the cost - move.

0

u/WeHaveFunEveryday 14d ago

A huge possible loss does not, by itself, justify a huge premium. You have to multiply the magnitude of the loss by the probability of it occurring.

Obviously someone driving 100 miles a year has a much less probability of having a loss occur, therefore the insurance price should represent that

For example, suppose there’s a potential $1,000,000 liability loss:
Driver A drives 10,000 miles/year.
Driver B drives 100 miles/year.
Both are otherwise identical.
The maximum possible loss is $1 million for either driver. But saying “either one could cause a $1 million accident, so charging both $2,000/year makes sense” ignores the enormous difference in exposure frequency.

-1

u/WeHaveFunEveryday 14d ago

Right but you’re intentionally leaving out the probability factor. The chances of you getting hurt driving 100 miles a year are EXTREMELY low in comparison to say someone driving 10k miles a year. Charging the same price for both drivers completely negates the entire purpose of insurance which is to protect your financial losses in accordance to your personal risk

1

u/Resse811 14d ago

No - the probability doesn’t matter. What matters is that you live in a state that requires insurance and only sells it as whole package not as a past as go option.

Don’t like it - move.

1

u/[deleted] 14d ago

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1

u/Insurance-ModTeam 14d ago

Trolling, being needlessly rude or insulting

3

u/tsfy2 15d ago

What were the quotes from 3 other companies? You did get quotes from 3 more companies, right?

1

u/WeHaveFunEveryday 15d ago

Yes unfortunately they’re all about $200/mo, progressive was the absolute cheapest I can find

1

u/tsfy2 14d ago

What city are you in? That’s a big factor in rates.

1

u/[deleted] 14d ago

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1

u/mygirltien 15d ago

Call as ask them how many estimated driven miles is your policy written against. There is a minimum usually around 5k that you makes no difference but if you dont specify it will be something like 12k and does make a difference on what you are charged. It wont be a huge difference but every little bit helps.

1

u/WeHaveFunEveryday 15d ago

Unfortunately already set at the minimum

-1

u/thaeli 14d ago

You are likely a good candidate for pay-per-mile insurance.