Insurance rates skyrocketing in California

[Muse]

I just paid in full my bi-annual auto insurance bill after posting and calling my insurance agent. He tells me all insurance categories in CA are way up. What I paid today is 45+% more than what I paid a year ago. I have had no accidents or tickets for decades. I drive way less than the lowest tier rate (under 1000 miles/year), so I'm paying around $1/mile to drive! I have liability only.

Agent tells me all carriers are doing it, there's no relief for me. My car insurance is tied to my home owner's insurance in that I get a 15% discount, so that discourages hopping to another carrier anyway.

I ride my bicycle for everything except an errand run every 3 weeks or so lately (Costco, maybe a few other places).

Ideas? TIA.

 

[sdifox]

Get rid of your car. Uber or rent when you need one

 

[K1052]

If you want to feel better check out FL homeowners rates.

 

[jmagg]

We just jumped from our ins carrier of 20+ years (home and auto). They raised the premium almost 20% with no incidents for years. Found another major carrier for a little less than we paid last year. The old carrier suggested we eat the increase because we have "tenure" with them. I get the feeling thats a scare tactic. NYS btw.

 

[dullard]

The CPI said that car insurance rates went up an average of 21%. Bankrate claims a 26% rise.

Blame the pandemic shortages. Insurance companies had to pay through the nose to provide replacement cars during the shortages. Now, we are reimbursing them for that. Also blame drivers as car crashes and severity of crashes has become much worse. Then blame inflation in general, since labor and spare parts are more expensive for repairs.

I doubt that you'll gain too much by shopping around, but you should do so. The house discount is just to make you think that you can't shop around. But you can.

Also, I agree with @sdifox. If you drive well under 1000 miles, just Uber or get Costco delivered. Sell the car.

 

[RearAdmiral]

My broker was surprised that mine only went up 17% this year.

 

[WelshBloke]

Shop around! My car insurance just sent a renewal through for £1170! I shopped around and for the exact same policy it was £860 elsewhere.
Without my son on it (whose just passed) it's £175! So sorry son, no car for you! (TBF though he lives away now and never drives this car)
The insurance comparison websites in the UK are great for shopping around, do it even if you are staying with the same insurer as you can beat them down with lower quotes from elsewhere!

 

[BoomerD]

Insurance rates in WA have nearly doubled over the past two years.

 

[nOOky]

No accidents ever and no driving offenses for 25 years, and mine went up almost 25% also. My agent said the same things, the higher price of repairing vehicles, etc. I cranked my deductible up and it went down 10%, but of course now I'll have an accident as Karma against my good driving behavior.

 

[waffleironhead]

Last year my tundra was 495/6 months, went to 545, now its 630.
No accidents.
Was only 380 during the pandemic.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

New rate came in today for the next six months. Full coverage plus extras for two mid-90s model vehicles: $317.62

Last six month period starting last December was $314.56

Previous six month period stating last June was $408.22

Before that, starting in December '22, it was $251.45

I changed vehicles in March '23, got rid of a car and went to a Tahoe which they rate as a truck and caused the increase. Then I started using an OBDII device to check how I drive and got a $70/six month rate reduction as of December '23.


This is all coupled with a homeowner's policy that unfortunately went up a bit this year also.

$1,430.00 this year, $1,153.00 last year. Not a terrible increase, but still.


Previous year "22-'23 was $1,330 with a different company. Not sure what they'd be now.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Homeowners' starting in '21 was $1,038

I've been dinking around with Homeowners' companies for a few years. They start out low, then jack things up. They insist on using unreasonably high values, what they call replacement which is double or more what I really need, but I can't get them to adjust.

I do the re-shop of both auto and home every three to four years, but once you get both with the same company and get the multi-policy discount, it becomes harder to get new rates from a different company to compare fairly.

 

[biostud]

Switch to a cheaper company... Or are you suggesting that the market isn't working?

 

[Red Squirrel]

I imagine this is mostly universal and will get worse. Cars are just so expensive now. When the pandemic first hit my insurance went up for no reason, and when I started to shop around, they all went up.

House insurance is probably going to start going up too. The rebuild cost of a house is way more than it used to be.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

^^^^ In the US, many companies dropped auto rates and some sent out rebate/refund checks. Less people driving, less risk.

 

[Muse]

Get rid of your car. Uber or rent when you need one

Yeah, started thinking about stuff like that this morning. I don't know the particulars. Then there's what I used to do 30 years ago:

I took a couple of plastic milk crates, cut out one side of each and bolted them together to form one large crate, 2x as wide as a single. I'd temporarily bolt that (which I still have!) to the rear rack on my bicycle and pedal ~5 miles to my nearest Costco. One day I pedaled home with more than 100lb, I suppose some in the front basket I used to have on that bike. It was a wobbly ride home but I made it!

Fact is, my gym is not far from that Costco and I pedal to the gym 3x/week. I could hit Costco on the way back, it's out of the way a couple miles, but doable.

I am the only person I have EVER seen who pedaled a bike to Costco!

This won't work particularly if I get back into golf, which I figure to do. 2-3 rides to the golf course, week (with a golf bag, full set of clubs and a push-cart). Probably cheaper (not to mention more convenient) to have a car.

Now, I went to the gym today already. I saw someone on a pretty beefy looking e-bike that sped past me, looked like it had some kind of storage container on the back. Got me thinking! I don't imagine you need insurance for that. I've been seeing more and more e-bikes lately. I haven't been tempted because I like the exercise aspect of human powered transportation (including skating). When I saw that one today, I started thinking about their potential utility in another way.

 

[Muse]

If you want to feel better check out FL homeowners rates.

Yeah, well, hurricanes! We have earthquakes here. I have been buying EQ insurance for a few years now. It's separate from my homeowners insurance and costs almost 3x as much. My insurance bills plus property taxes add up to probably more than 1/2 of my yearly expenditures! And the ironic fact is, I have not benefited in any tangible way from any of my insurance policies for over 50 years.

 

[Muse]

Also, I agree with @sdifox. If you drive well under 1000 miles, just Uber or get Costco delivered. Sell the car.

Uber would be difficult if I want to do multiple stops at other places in addition to shopping 45-60 minutes at Costco. I don't know about Costco delivery. Obviously not as intimate an experience as in person, where I can personally select what I want.

 

[WelshBloke]

Yeah, started thinking about stuff like that this morning. I don't know the particulars. Then there's what I used to do 30 years ago:

Fact is, my gym is not far from that Costco and I pedal to the gym 3x/week. I could hit Costco on the way back, it's out of the way a couple miles, but doable.

I am the only person I have EVER seen who pedaled a bike to Costco!

I don't think that I've ever been to a supermarket that doesn't have full bike racks outside. And cycling in the UK has nothing on northern European countries!

 

[sdifox]

Yeah, started thinking about stuff like that this morning. I don't know the particulars. Then there's what I used to do 30 years ago:

I took a couple of plastic milk crates, cut out one side of each and bolted them together to form one large crate, 2x as wide as a single. I'd temporarily bolt that (which I still have!) to the rear rack on my bicycle and pedal ~5 miles to my nearest Costco. One day I pedaled home with more than 100lb, I suppose some in the front basket I used to have on that bike. It was a wobbly ride home but I made it!

Fact is, my gym is not far from that Costco and I pedal to the gym 3x/week. I could hit Costco on the way back, it's out of the way a couple miles, but doable.

I am the only person I have EVER seen who pedaled a bike to Costco!

This won't work particularly if I get back into golf, which I figure to do. 2-3 rides to the golf course, week. Probably cheaper (not to mention more convenient) to have a car.

Now, I went to the gym today already. I saw someone on a pretty beefy looking e-bike that sped past me, looked like it had some kind of storage container on the back. Got me thinking! I don't imagine you need insurance for that. I've been seeing more and more e-bikes lately. I haven't been tempted because I like the exercise aspect of human powered transportation (including skating). When I saw that one today, I started thinking about their potential utility in another way.

Uhaul is 20 plus mileage. Let's call it 40. Do you need a van every other week in a year?

 

[Muse]

I don't think that I've ever been to a supermarket that doesn't have full bike racks outside. And cycling in the UK has nothing on northern European countries!

My Costco is kind of out of the way, off on a sort of promontory by the San Francisco Bay. I mean, bikes could go there but nobody does it... but I did, I guess a few dozen times in the late 80's and early 90's.

 

[Muse]

Uhaul is 20 plus mileage. Let's call it 40. Do you need a van every other week in a year?

I'm averaging every 3 weeks now, used to be every 2 weeks. But there's getting to a U-Haul lot, leaving my bike there, etc. There's car renting systems here, don't know anything about them. I have neighbors too. One I used to team up with going to Costco, I could ask her, but that wouldn't much work if I want to stop other places sometimes.

 

[sdifox]

I'm averaging every 3 weeks now, used to be every 2 weeks. But there's getting to a U-Haul lot, leaving my bike there, etc.

You can load your bike on the rental van xd

Uhaul is just an example, I am sure you in can find cheaper smaller vehicle rental.

 

[Muse]

Anyway, I'm not poor, I'm just bitching. It's fun to think, be creative. I have a cousin who's living in San Francisco, used to live in NYC. She's never had a car, AFAIK. She's just against it. She has money, boy! She travels the world pretty consistently, teaches a special craft. She's in Asia right now. When I saw her in San Francisco a year or so ago she had a pretty fancy bicycle!

 

[WilliamM2]

Get rid of your car. Uber or rent when you need one

It's about $50 for an Uber here. And they are extremley unreliable, or just not available when you need it.

I don't drive much, but even 1 trip a week would be $2600 a year. Some weeks I have to go in town twice a week. Car insurance was $880. I'll stick with my own car, even at 2000 miles a year.