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Proof that you can save
A few years ago, my automobile insurance company, Nationwide, once again raised my premium. I contacted them to inquire about the rate hike and what my options were. Since I had my homeowner's insurance with another company, they suggested that they would be able to save me money if I also purchased my homeowner's insurance with them. They did their research and provided me with a revised quote that lowered my automobile insurance about 15%, but the homeowner's quote was much higher than my current provider. I thanked them for providing my insurance coverage for the past 17 years, and got busy locating new automobile coverage. My options were three Internet services that I knew about, as well as three insurance companies that I had seen advertised on the television. I chose to contact each of these services and companies via the Internet in order to obtain quotes:
My actual results
The results of my online queries are summarized in the table below. The actual quotes that were e-mailed to me can be found using the links in the right column. These links also outline the types and amounts of coverage and deductibles that I requested.
|
Summary of Rate Quotes for 6-months |
| My latest Nationwide quote |
$822 |
| Insurance.com |
|
| |
Travelers |
$667 |
| |
Esurance |
$689 |
| |
Liberty Mutual * |
$724 |
| InsWeb.com |
|
| |
KemperDirect * |
$591 |
| |
Progressive |
$646 |
| |
Travelers * |
$726 |
| |
GMAC |
$1092 |
| |
Deerbrook |
$999 |
| |
Esurance |
$550 |
| Geico |
$787 |
| Progressive |
$489 |
| Allstate |
$648 |
* Actual quote received was for 12-month period
Final comments and observations
- It is noteworthy to mention that I received a quote from Progressive through InsWeb that was much higher than the quote that I actually received from Progressive itself
- Insure.com and Insurance.com, both of which used comparisonmarket.com to obtain the quotes, provided quotes from Esurance that were also significantly different. This suggests that you do have to try more than one service and then consider contacting the actual company itself.
- The lowest quote I received from Esurance was comparable to Progressive, but I chose a company that I had heard of and that also had local claims offices.
- The end result of my search for lower rates was a savings of $333, or over 40%, on my 6-month premium
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