Why Did My Car Insurance Rates Go Up Moving To San Diego California?

Reader’s Question:

Why did my car insurance premiums go up when I moved just ten miles east from San Diego California?

Mike

Good question Mike.

It seems like your zip code had changed and must have put you to a risk factor location according to your insurance company’s underwriting calculations.

There is an established guidelines, according to California Proposition 103, that was established in 1988, that determines your CAlifornia auto insurance rates. He are the primary factors:

1. Your driving safety record
2. The number of miles driven annually
3. the number of years driving experience

There are other factors that can be used by the nsurance company to determine the individual’s premium.

The secondary factors are marital status, frequesncy, claims history, geographic area where your car is garaged, gender, type of the vehicle, etc.

Until now, insurance companies set rates for premiums based primarily on the zip code rather than the mandatory factors which is driving record, miles driven annually and the driving experience.

Make sure that you maintain a clean driving record within the next two years since this may change so that your rates will be based more upon your driving record than your zip code.

Goodluck!

MariCAR

Cheap Southern California Auto Insurance Rates

Reader question:

Is it possible to buy my Southern California auto insurance over the internet?

Ingrid

Thank you for asking, Ingrid.

One of the great introductions from the southern California auto insurance community to new technology has been the wide availability of southern California auto insurance policies on the internet. Most of the bigger southern California auto insurance companies have launched websites, where they allow their prospective customers to not only get quotes, but buy policies as well; and the service doesn’t end once you have your policy either. Many companies also offer account management for policy holders, so that you never have to pick up a phone or step into a southern California auto insurance office again.

Most companies which allow southern California auto insurance policies to be bought online can be divided into three types.

• Everything online.

Some of the more high tech southern California auto insurance companies offer everything online, including the final confirmation signature, which they accept electronically. This can be either from a simple typing of initals, or an actual signing function where you write out your name with your mouse.

• Halfway there.

Others will allow you to choose your coverage and policy and confirm everything, up until the point when you need to sign. While you are covered once you have completed the process, these southern California auto insurance companies will send you a form to your mailing address which you must sign and then return to them.

• Just a little bit.

The last type, which is more common among smaller southern California auto insurance companies, is where the companies will display the coverage information on their website, where the future policy holder can choose it and enter their information. Then, they will receive further information along with forms and request for payment in the mail, and they will not be covered until the payment is received. It’s actually cheaper to just go to the office with this one.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama

Getting a Cheaper Rate on California Car Insurance is Easy

Progressive auto insurance company says that  car insurance buyers would be able to save around five hundred dollars on their six month car insurance premium if only they shopped around for their prices. However, many don’t, which is why the majority of Americans and those who own insurance policies are paying too much for their car insurance.

Progressive said it got its information from a study of over seventy thousand customers over a six month period. The study relates the lowest  car insurance rate possible versus the highest, and notes the gap (five hundred dollars in the case of car insurance). Depending on what state you are in, the degree of separation in dollars between the highest and the lowest car insurance premium can be more than many preferred car insurance pays in a year. In Houston, where I’m from, the variation is as much as $838 of variation for a six month policy.

Putting aside car insurance, some other areas in California had huge variances between auto insurance rates as well. Notable, San Francisco:

• $514 of variance

And Los Angeles:

• $616 of variance

Progressive went a little with its study and tried to see how aware California car insurance policy holders were of this rate variance. According to their findings, 65% didn’t realize that the variations between rates was so huge–most estimated it to be around one or two hundred dollars on average. And 60% of the people asked had not made an effort to shop around for a good insurance policy in several years.

Even if the company that you are with now had the best rates several years ago, that doesn’t mean that the same will be true today. New companies rise up and offer cheaper prices, and older companies find new ways to pass the savings on to their customers. The best thing to do to ensure that you get a cheap California car insurance quote is to shop around at least every six months.

Cheap Pasadena California Auto Insurance Rates

So what do you do when your car gets stolen? Most people panic, but you should figure out what you are going to do before hand. Like the boy scouts say, be prepared, and listening to them you should try to set yourself up for the eventualities that life may present you with, such as fires, hurricanes, and car theft. Okay, one is not like the other, obviously, but it still requires plenty of forethought so that you aren’t caught out and confused when (if) it happens to you at some point. After all, everybody loves to play Grand Theft Auto but we all think that it is something that could never happen to us. Not true.

• Call the cops.

Yeah, this is an obvious one, but when taking it into account remember that haste makes waste. When you call the police after your car has been stolen, you need to do it from the scene of the crime. You need to be prepared to identify your vehicle to the police when they arrive, because speed is necessary in getting back a stolen car. If they don’t have the information they need, then your car could be at the chop shop. Most stolen cars aren’t recovered.

You need to have the license plate number and the VIN number either in your head or on a car in your wallet or purse, somewhere that you will always have on you. You should also keep one copy of your Pasadena CA auto insurance on you and one in your car, and do the same with your registration. The police report can be used by your Pasadena CA auto insurance company.

• Am I insured?

You might not be, as hard as it is to come to terms with. If you have comprehensive coverage, then you will be covered for the actual cash value of your vehicle if it gets stolen. However, if you are still paying off the car, and you don’t have gap insurance, then you could be in some trouble. If you really want to be prepared, make sure that you have rental car coverage and read your policy to see if there are any delays between making the claim and getting to rent the car.

North Long Beach California Auto Insurance Rate Quotes

North Long Beach  auto insurance rates are pretty high, so there are several steps that should be followed if you want to get the best auto insurance premium. I would bet that right now you are paying far too much for your auto insurance coverage in this area. Don’t feel embarrassed. Most people are. You might be able to get a better rate with the auto insurance provider that you already have a policy with, but it’s even more likely that you could get a better one from another provider altogether.

The first thing that you want to do when you suspect that you are paying too much for your auto insurance is look at your policy. Really read it thoroughly, to see what can be changed and what you need and what you don’t. At the same time, you should start shopping around for other car insurance providers.

With tons of information online for car insurance customers, it is more possible than ever to find free online car insurance quotes and see what your premiums would be with several different companies. However, according to research policy holders only do rudimentary searching for their auto insurance quotes, much less than they would if they were buying a car. Another problem is that people stick with their car insurance company for a long time, hardly ever changing. You can be different. It’s easy.

• Discounts are big savers.
• Drive well to save.
• Change coverage amount when necessary.
• Get a cheap to insure, safe car
• Shop around

How Do I Get Cheaper California Auto Insurance Rates?

Reader question:

I’ve heard that you could get a cheaper California auto insurance rate based on what kind of job you have. Is this true?

Mark

It can be.

California auto insurance rate discounts based on occupation are some of the more rare kinds of discounts, because not all CA car insurance companies have them, but there are several that do. If you find that you are in an occupation that regularly gets a California auto insurance rate discount, then it would do well for you to ask while you are shopping around for a new car insurance company. As it is, there are two kinds of occupations that are going to get you the best discounts on your California auto insurance rate, and those are:

• Teaching.
• Engineering.

Some car insurance companies will offer discounts on the California auto insurance rate for teachers by themselves, but most teachers get their discounts by joining a teacher union. However, if you choose to join a teacher’s union for the California auto insurance rate discount, then you ought to make sure you want to join them for other reasons as well. Normally, the discount you get on your California auto insurance rate only just covers the membership dues you will be paying for being part of the union. However, these unions offer lots of services to teachers apart from discount California auto insurance rates, so it’s a good idea to join anyway.

As for engineering, car insurance companies have done research which shows that these people are less likely to get into accidents, which is their reason for giving engineers discounts on California auto insurance rates. Why do they get into fewer accidents? Who knows? Car insurance companies claim that their professions require more attention to detail, which they say is something that permeates their day to day life. As such, engineers are the sorts who will pay more attention to the road, and thus file fewer at fault claims.

You don’t even have to have the job yet to get the discount, in some cases. Several companies are offering a cheaper California auto insurance rate to people who simply have degrees in the field of engineering, as well as in other math and science related fields. If you think you might be qualified, ask your car insurance company before you sign up for a policy.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.

Who Has The Cheapest California Car Insurance?

Reader’s question:

Is the car insurance cheaper in California than New Jersey? What is the insurance policy and the point system in California?

Peter

It actually depends on different factors if you can get cheaper rates in California than in new jersey. But usually the California insurance is cheaper than in New Jersey.

The average insurance premiums for a California vehicle owners in 2003 was $950 while in new jersey it was $1,365. The national average on that year was $914.

Both states set at 15/30/5. The new jersey sate requires $15000 worth of personal injury insurance (pip) while it is optional in California.

California proposition 103 established guidelines in which your auto insurance rates will be determined.

Here are the primary factors:

1. the driver’s driving safety records
2. the number of miles driven annually
3. years of driving experience.

There are actually 16 secondary rating factors to determine your insurance rates and can calculate your individual premium depending on the insurance company’s filing with the California department of insurance.

Marital status, claims history, geographic area of where car, type of the vehicle are just some of the secondary factors that affects your premiums. Your driving records is a factor considered to determine your insurance rate and it is not an insurance eligibility points assigned like there are in NJ.

Goodluck!

MariCAR