The new insurance cards came in an envelope on Saturday, November 1. I put one in the Sienna's glovebox and one in the Silverado's, then took the old ones out and stood in the driveway holding them for a second. Seven years with the same company, and the last six months of it at $1,396.
Starting November 1, our six-month premium is $1,092. Same two vehicles, same coverage, same deductibles. That's $304 less every six months, $608 a year, about $50 a month. On the truck's commute, that's roughly what I spend on two and a half weeks of gas.
Why we moved
Short version: the numbers stopped making sense. Our premium had gone up twice in a year without a single claim, ticket or change on our end. When our independent agent shopped our exact coverage last month, all three quotes came in lower than our renewal. The cheapest, from a mid-size insurer, was $304 lower.
I'm not saying the old company did anything wrong. We never had to file a claim with them, so I can't speak to that side of it. Prices move differently at different companies, and ours had drifted. We didn't leave because we were mad. We left because $608 a year is real money in a house about to add a teenage driver.
What I double-checked before signing
The lowest price is useless if it's not the same policy. I spent an evening with the old declarations page on one side of the table and the new proposal on the other, going line by line with the same highlighter from September. Here is what I checked.
- Liability limits: 100/300/100 on both. Same as we set in May.
- Uninsured and underinsured motorist: included, same limits.
- Comprehensive: $500 deductible on both vehicles. This is the one that covers deer, hail and theft, and with how many deer I see on US-36 in November, it wasn't negotiable.
- Collision: $500 deductible on both.
- Roadside: an add-on at $8 per vehicle every six months. That's $16 a year per car to cover a tow, a jump or a flat.
- Drivers: Tina and me, plus Garrett listed as a permit holder.
- VINs: matched both vehicles, checked against the door stickers.
- Start date: November 1, 12:01 a.m.
I also called our agent with a few questions the paperwork didn't answer. How do I file a claim, and is there a phone number or only an app? Answer: both. What happens to the rate when Garrett gets licensed in late January? Answer: it goes up, a lot, at any company, and they'd talk us through options then. Does a deer hit count against us? Answer: hitting an animal goes under comprehensive and generally isn't treated as an at-fault accident, but every insurer has its own rules. I wrote that one down too.
The switch itself
This was easier than I expected. Our agent handled most of it.
The new policy started November 1. We signed the paperwork electronically on a Wednesday and set up the first monthly payment. Then I sent the old company a cancellation request effective November 1 as well, so there was no day where we were covered twice and, more importantly, no day where we weren't covered at all. Driving without insurance even for one morning commute is a risk I don't need, and it can cause trouble with the state's registration records too.
Because we'd already paid October at the higher renewal rate, and pay month to month, the refund on the old policy was small. Our agent said it would come by check within a few weeks.
The last step was the one people forget: updating anything else that has the old policy number. We don't have a car loan, so there's no lender to notify. I did change the policy number in the spreadsheet tab I keep for each vehicle, along with the new renewal date. Our next renewal is May 1.
I'd guess I spent about four hours total: an evening with the paperwork, two phone calls, one form. For $608 a year, that's about $150 an hour. I don't make that dispatching trucks.
I'm not telling anybody to switch. I'm saying that we hadn't asked in seven years, and when we did, the answer was $608. The quotes were free and our agent did the shopping.
Tina asked whether we were going to have to go through this every year now. I said maybe every renewal, just a quick check. She said, "So now insurance is a hobby." I said it's a cheaper hobby than old trucks. She looked at the Silverado in the driveway and didn't say anything, which I'm taking as agreement.