Car Insurance in CA? Is it really supposed to be this high?!?!?!

[compuwiz1]

Several months ago, we moved from Washington to CA. Prior to that we had paid up our auto insurance on 3 cars for 6 months. About 4 months here, our insurance company wrote us and said they were not licensed in CA and would have to drop us, at the end of the term. We were paying $498 every 6 mos for full coverage on 3 cars.

Well, we had just gotten rid of one car, so had 2 cars to insure. I called an Allstate agent here who said, sure, come in and we'll get you set up in about 20 minutes time. We went in and were quoted $105 per month for 2 cars. The bill came, and it was $135, not $105. I called and was told the company had corrected his calculation errors and this was the correct rate. OK fine....

We add a 3rd car about a month later. He tells me it will only go up 30-$35 per month. I just got the bill. They now want $200 per month.

Isn't $2400 per year for car insurance a little rediculous for a couple who have zero accidents or traffic citations on their records?

Vehicles are:
2001 Merc Mountaineer 4x4
2000 Mustang V-6
95 Cad Eldo, that is hardly ever driven.

Nothing fancy, comp, collision and 100/300k liability.

This is a good load, considering our Gas bill is $200 mo for heat, electric has been running $225. Seems like everyone is getting our money but us.

 

[~zonker~]

Try safeco... good coverage, better rates

Car insurance is rediculous here in CA due to the higher accident rate.. commuter traffic is what makes it happen, also more theft, etc..

 

[compuwiz1]

Maybe it's time to call the Gecko.

 

[emjem]

Bummer. Glad I don't live there. I pay about $800/year for 2 cars in Florida.

 

[Sluggo]

Gonna have to start moving a lot more CPUs

 

[carmann]

Welcome to California!

We pay $1100 per year for 2 cars, no tickets or accidents. Did you shop around before signing with Allstate? You definitely have to do that here.

Some people say The Auto Club has good rates. 20th Century isn't too bad either. I finally dropped them though because every renewal the were raising our rates. I'm with Prudential now. It helps that we have our homeowners ins and life ins with them. You get a pretty big discount.

 

[johneetrash]

hm... thats $200 a month... which means your goal is to sell at least one more 1ghz + cpu than you do now! or somethin like that

be cheap like me and take a whole bunch of ketchup packets from fast food places, a stack of napkins, and other stuff like that

 

[tkim]

depends on where you live. i've lived in CA all my life and when i moved about 10 miles, my insurance almost doubled!

 

[The Stigenator]

When in CA shop around.
You arent driving high risk cars so that should be good.
High risk cars are toyota camry's and honda accords. Having them means high insurance.

Check with AAA,Gieco,Statefarm,Mercury,Progressive (can be expensive), 21st century.
These are the major insurance guys. Also try an insurance brokerage like AIS (Auto Insurance Specialists) or Survival Insurnace to see if you can get a lower quote.

AAA is the best so far, and its worth having the membership.

Edit: We are paying about 1800/yr with AIS brokerage (because when I signed up I had about a year of experience) now I have 3 yrs and AAA will take us (I am with my bro's insurance since he owns the cars titles). I got a quote for 1200/yr. Thats for a BMW Fire Truck Red and a Toyota Tercel.

The bike insurance is not part of the coverage.

 

[Lvis]

I know nothing about california, but I saved a bunch going from allstate to geico.

 

[Emulex]

dunno about your but in atlanta, we have a 01 jetta gls vr6 and a 90 corrado and we're paying $240/month for them. Each car is equal in insurance cost (corrado = expensive replacement parts, supercharged).

No tickets on file, no accidents on file, progressive. I do live in the city ,though. Best rate possible. (ive checked).

 

[Ornery]

Might it be that CA was once a "No Fault" state?

• THE ABSOLUTE FAILURE OF NO FAULT:
  
  "After twenty-five years of experimentation with no fault throughout the country, the only conclusion that can be drawn is that the system is an absolute failure. Plebiscites such as California's overwhelming rejection of no fault in 1988 and 1996 are not the only example of massive public antagonism toward no fault..."
  
  "...California, a tort state, was the second highest jurisdiction in the nation in 1989. As a result of stringent regulation instituted by the voters (Proposition 103), California has dropped off the top ten chart altogether and ranked 11th in 1995."
  
  "Georgia eliminated its no fault system effective October 1991, and established stringent regulation of rates including a 15% rollback. The average premium in Georgia has fallen 2.9% since 1989 and the state, once the 16th most expensive in the nation, now ranks 37th. Table 5 below summarizes the changes in Georgia's average liability premium, its national rank and the annual change."

Might be residual effect or something.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

If you are eligible for USAA (you would probably know it if you were), definitely get that. They have very competitive premiums and the best service in the industry.

When my 1-year-old, 13K-mile Acura Integra GS-R was stolen and stripped, they settled with me for $200 less than I paid brand-new!

 

[Total Refected Power]

We pay $2200/yr for two cars in Massachusetts. And that's with no tickets, accidents and both of us over 30. We have collision and 250/500 coverage.

It's ridiculous.

 

[Chris A]

compuwiz1, Welcome to California..

Anyway a few years ago I looked into getting a insurance broker.. Best thing that I ever did. Let them do all the shopping around for you. Plus they tend to get better rates as their are no agent fees. and most insurance Co's want to make brokers happy because of the amount of buying power they carry.


When I bought my new car I aplied at several on line places even Geico and my broker was able to beat them all by about $50.00 bones a month.. Just do the yellow pages they are in there..