Insurance

[Coral]

Originally Posted by Adoyle52

Has anyone compared insurance rates and availability

What are you insuring and what state are you in?

[les.warden]

Illinois here. Had Progressive for a year, rates went up, switched to Safeco. You have to shop around and a broker works wonders.

[firedoc]

Originally Posted by ThePowells

Not necessarily because most times you will get the same quote from the web or a "company agent". They do get commission on each policy sold and each renewal and the agency gets a commission also, but these are agreed to by the agency owner and the agent.

But someone has to pony up the money to pay that commission. Most logically it comes from the insureds premiums. So. , again logically, you should be able to get a less expensive quote directly from a company than through an agent.

[RMD3819]

Originally Posted by firedoc

How do the brokers make their money. Does their insurance cost more so they can make an income?

I have recently learned that is not necessarily true. It is true they are paid on commission. If you look at the fine print on the Progressive ads it says prices vary depending on how you buy.

I had Progressive online and when my renewal went up I went to Overland Insurance broker. In the end he got me Progressive again at the same (renewal) rate but with better coverage.

[tmw188]

Originally Posted by tmw188

That is the best way. You can try Overland Management Corp. and Miller Ins. Agency Inc. Lake Oswego OR
They are both brokers that may represent different company's.

Miller Ins. Agency got back with me today and they found that Safeco that I currently have with Overland was the best rate comparing many others. They came in $30 less than Overland and said maybe if they looked closer they might see why but Safeco would not allow them to write for me being I already had Safeco with another agency. They did tell me the same thing in regards that these company's are all finding they may be too low and are inching up as needed to cover claims and catch up with others. She told me I had a good policy and thought that Overland had me covered good. Check for no deductible on glass when shopping. I had one half of a split windshield replaced this yr. at zero deductible, however I pay $120 for that I found today but was told by Overland that it was included.
I'm not sure about Overland but Miller writes for about five company's and as mentioned already different states different counties and zip codes all play a role in rates and no one can compare to another.

[Waiter21]

First stop - Check with your current automotive carrier...