My auto insurance company tried to get me to go with their "Accident Forgiveness" program. If not known that means that your rates will not go up due to one accident.

The thing is that my rates would go up to add the Accident Forgiveness. How is that a deal? They don't have any need to raise the rates after an accident as they would have done so before any accident.

To me this added 'benefit' just seems like a scam. As can probably be guessed, I did not opt in for this.

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Depends on the amount of the potential raise if there is an accident versus the added premium for the forgiveness. All insurance is a crap shoot, be glad you are not in NY our insurance is crazy.

We just switched insurance companies about a month ago. Last week wife was sitting at a stop light and guy came through over way and rammed her. Car was totaled. Other driver stated he was trying to avoid another vehicle and lost control and hit her. His insurance says they will not find him at fault because he was making an evasive action. So I had to go through our insurance to get car replaced and hope that they can collect from other company. Plus NY has some crazy laws that state a person is only liable for the percentage that they were at fault, so the other insurance is trying not to pay because he didn't get any tickets.

Ya, insurance is a pain but a necessary one. What really gets me is that I pay a higher premium due to the fact that I am totally debt free. Not owing everyone in the world lowers your credit score which raises your insurance rates. I just don't see how they justify charging more just because you are without debt. Still, I break about even as I DO get a military discount. To be honest I'd rather pay a little more for insurance and be without debt.

Another thing that bothers me is the difference in price between companies. I used to have Farm Bureau Insurance at a rate of $205.00 every six months for state minimum. About a year and a half ago I went shopping and switched to Geico. I sort of shy away from discount insurance companies but, even after adding uninsured motorist coverage, I pay $138.00 every six months. Progressive wanted $215.00 per six months, USAA wanted $195.00 and they are supposed to be military friendly. Shoot, my neighbor uses USAA and every time a bill is due they raise his rates $10.00. They say that it is because of the tendencies as to where he lives yet I live in the next apartment and my rates have not changed a cent. I rate insurance companies about the same as con artists.

Oh, David, as to the situation with your wire's car, I would fight that tooth and nail! The other driver impacted your wife's car and IS at fault due to failure to leave clear and safe distance regardless of the situation. At least I would think that to be the case... I would have a better chance than you in a case like this as I would just contact the DAV (Disabled American Veterans) and have about equal quality of the insurance lawyers for free. LOL! The DAV even sued the U.S. Navy when I was retired and they tried to drop me a pay grade. The DAV won.

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Your credit rating should make no difference on Insurance premiums, it should be all based on past driving experience. I always go with a local agent, the one I have now handles many different companies and can shop around for you.

I am pretty much debt free, I still use a credit card but I pay the balance due every month and take advantage of the cash back on the card. I have paid cash for my last 3 car purchases and haven't had a mrtgage in 12 years.

David, you MAY want to skip back up to my previous post as I edited and added a lot.

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$400 per year for car insurance is crazy cheap compared to NJ rates. I have two cars, a 2011 Ford Edge and my wife's 2013 Nissan Juke. I am paying $3,000 per year for them. I expect it will be lower when we move to Virginia...

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stephen boots
Microsoft MVP 2004 - 2020
"Life's always an adventure with computers!"

Yes, I would think that NJ would be expensive. Still, I assume that you have full coverage while I just go with state minimum plus uninsured motorist. Actually my yearly premium is now $276.00/year, not $400.00.

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NY is a no fault state, I will let the Insurance companies fight each other. Was a 21 year old that hit us who had minimal coverage, a lawyer would end up costing more than we would collect.

I think that it is probably pretty well known that I feel that things should be as they should be. I guess that the term may be that I am an idealist. I just feel that what you are dealing with is totally wrong. But then I'm just an old fart that thinks that things should be as advertised.

It just seems to me that the entire insurance structure is garbage. Oh, gee, it is reported that a flea sneezed two blocks away from your crash. We can't control fleas so this was an 'act of God' therefore we are not responsible for payment... Such things have actually happened. It is just wrong.

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Oh, I agree the whole thing is wrong, but its a case of NY making crazy laws so you HAVE to hire a lawyer to do things, then you end up spending more on them than you get back in return. Our insurance knows we at 0% percent fault and they can fight the other company to get their money back. If they do get something from the other guy I will end up getting my deductible back.

Car insurance over here is a sore point with a lot of people, what makes my hubby so mad is the way they keep trying to put it up each year even when you've never made any claims.

They want extortionate rates for the under 25s and if you're not careful put the rates up for the over 50 drivers as if they expect them to pay for the ones that cause problems.

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Joan Archer
http://crossstitcher.webs.com