Wordonthestreet Member Username: Wordonthestreet
Post Number: 144 Registered: 11-2003
| Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 12:10 pm: | |
NEW YORK, April 24 (Reuters Life!) - What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, according to the city's promotions -- but that might not apply to your car. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/200 70424/lf_nm/cars_theft_dc |
Supersport Member Username: Supersport
Post Number: 11524 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 12:22 pm: | |
Too bad insurance rates are based upon the predominate skin color in your city, and not the number of vehicle thefts. Otherwise, our rates may actually go down. Instead, we are stuck in a situation where no politician wants to take on the big bad insurance companies, as they'd rather let us Detroiters continue to get screwed over. Nice not to see Detroit in that article, bad that it has little impact on the insurance redlining that CONTINUES to take place. |
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed
Post Number: 661 Registered: 04-2006
| Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 12:37 pm: | |
^^Heh. What's even more funny is that auto thefts have been tilted to the West for years now, yet last time I checked Detroit was paying more than $1000/year on average than L.A. |
Ohudson Member Username: Ohudson
Post Number: 215 Registered: 09-2004
| Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 12:49 pm: | |
I actually saved close to $1500 for this year by changing insurance companies. I had a $3670 for the year policy and now I have a 6 month policy for $1088. Even my old insurance company could say much to stop me from jumping ship. I wonder why is there such a gap? |
Rrl Member Username: Rrl
Post Number: 788 Registered: 12-2003
| Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 12:57 pm: | |
Unfortunately, the higher rates are not solely due to car thefts, but also the amount of uninsured drivers, where I would suspect Detroit still has high numbers. While I agree that the pols need to take on the insurance company's redlining policies, a fair portion of the City's citizens are partially to blame as well for not being insured at all. It's an ugly Catch-22 and self-fueling problem; -rates go up, -drivers can't afford the higher rates & fail to get coverage, -rates get pushed higher for all, -more drivers drop coverage, -return to top. Ugly mess. Seems to feed the argument for more effective public transit. |
Iheartthed Member Username: Iheartthed
Post Number: 663 Registered: 04-2006
| Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 1:29 pm: | |
"Seems to feed the argument for more effective public transit." Agreed. I'm not really quick to blame the citizens. I've seen quotes for cars in Detroit that had total yearly premiums that costed more than the car was worth. Most people with new cars in the city are paying as much for the premium as they are on the car note. The state has only allowed it to go on because it keeps many suburban rates dirt cheap. |
Downtownguy Member Username: Downtownguy
Post Number: 10 Registered: 07-2004
| Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 3:32 pm: | |
I saved over $1,000/year when I switched to esurance about 2 years ago. If not for my no tickets/no accidents record and high deductibles, savings may have been more. I figure esurance is marketing nationally via the internet, and therefore not caught up in the thinking of other companies that want us to believe all their sob stories of how their costs are that much higher in the city. If everybody switched to esurance, I'll bet their rates would become more competitive. |
Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk
Post Number: 692 Registered: 11-2005
| Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 3:41 pm: | |
Ohud, Downtown, Which companies are you going through? I have Progressive, which isn't very swell and still paid about $3,500 a year even though I am older than 25, never had an accident and never had a single ticket. Please share your secret. |
Neilr Member Username: Neilr
Post Number: 494 Registered: 06-2005
| Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 4:10 pm: | |
See my post on April 15 for my recent auto insurance experience. https://www.atdetroit.net/forum/mes sages/5/99746.html?1177035815 |
Spiritofdetroit Member Username: Spiritofdetroit
Post Number: 414 Registered: 11-2006
| Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 4:29 pm: | |
downtown guy is using esurance... |
Detroitplanner Member Username: Detroitplanner
Post Number: 1220 Registered: 04-2006
| Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 4:57 pm: | |
hmm and I thought $1,500 a year for my 2003 Mercury was high! You folks need to shop your insurance once a year to a dozen companies. Take a day off of work and do it. Its the only way you can stand a chance to save money! |
Diehard Member Username: Diehard
Post Number: 49 Registered: 03-2005
| Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 5:33 pm: | |
I recall a story a few years ago about this. Someone asked an insurance agent, "OK, theft rates are high in Detroit, we get it, so comprehensive coverage is crazy expensive. But why is no-fault high too, even for a good driver?" And they said something along the lines of, "well, people get into more accidents in Detroit because the streets are old and bumpy." What a crock. My theory is that whenever someone tries to equalize rates a little more in line with the 'burbs, the 'burbs cry bloody murder, and everybody knows they run the show. That and the theory above - the few people who can afford Detroit rates end up carrying the burden for those who can't. |
Ohudson Member Username: Ohudson
Post Number: 216 Registered: 09-2004
| Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 5:37 pm: | |
I had Amica while living in Clinton Township and I moved into West Village during that 1 year policy. I didn't shop around as much as I should have (AAA was just as high as Amica)and I went I month into a new policy with that $3670 policy. I finally started calling around and I ended up with Progressive. No secret, just not accepting just one companies quote. I have the exact same policy as before. The exact same deductible. I'm 27, so I was over 25 for both. I still don't get how 2 companies can look at the same guy with the same car 2 completely different ways. $1500 or possible more if my policy costs drop again is INSANE!! I've been reciting the Geico commercial "I saved $1500 by switching to... insert Progressive!" Rhymeswithrawk, what has your experience been with Progressive? I like the website, it has so much info. (Message edited by OHudson on April 25, 2007) |
Downtownguy Member Username: Downtownguy
Post Number: 12 Registered: 07-2004
| Posted on Friday, April 27, 2007 - 4:55 pm: | |
Rhymeswithrawk, www.esurance.com is the site. Everything is done online. Your documents come to you immediately in a .pdf file. If you need it, phone support is available. Used that once when I got a new car, and the service was great. Years ago, I changed to a high deductible. You assume more risk, but often the annual savings is nearly the amount of the deductible. If you go one year without a claim, you've made money. |
Perfectgentleman Member Username: Perfectgentleman
Post Number: 574 Registered: 03-2006
| Posted on Friday, April 27, 2007 - 5:14 pm: | |
Not sticking up for insurance companies, but their rates are based on risk, not skin color. There are almost 22,000 cars stolen in Detroit every year, thats about 60 per day. In Novi, as an example there are only about 70 auto thefts in an entire year hence the lower rates. |
Abracadabra Member Username: Abracadabra
Post Number: 19 Registered: 04-2007
| Posted on Friday, April 27, 2007 - 5:21 pm: | |
Perfectgentleman, didn't you know that everything is based on skin color? Forget facts and figures, it's about the MAN. |
Detroit_stylin Member Username: Detroit_stylin
Post Number: 3960 Registered: 10-2003
| Posted on Friday, April 27, 2007 - 5:24 pm: | |
Yeah and of course none of that is fraud by those who live outside the city boundaries... |
Ohudson Member Username: Ohudson
Post Number: 217 Registered: 09-2004
| Posted on Friday, April 27, 2007 - 6:03 pm: | |
If it's about facts and figures then California rates (Modesto) should be double that of Detroit. I found the 2005 NICB survey and California is well represented (14 out of top 30)... Detroit (Metro) was 16th. Detroit had 790/100,000 inhabitants to Modestos 1400+/100,000 inhabitants. https://www.nicb.org/cps/rde/x chg/SID-4031FE9A-DE3466DA/nicb /hs.xsl/217.htm (Message edited by OHudson on April 27, 2007) (Message edited by OHudson on April 27, 2007) |
Huggybear Member Username: Huggybear
Post Number: 288 Registered: 08-2005
| Posted on Tuesday, May 01, 2007 - 8:05 pm: | |
quote:Rhymeswithrawk, www.esurance.com is the site. Everything is done online. Your documents come to you immediately in a .pdf file. If you need it, phone support is available. Used that once when I got a new car, and the service was great. Esurance is pretty notorious for its belief that an immobilizer cannot be defeated - and there are a lot of notorious cases where it denied theft claims because it believed that certain cars simply could not be stolen. |