How to save 50K a year by switching Auto insurance

[SovXietday]

Originally Posted by Canadian newspaper Monday, December 10, 2007

EDMONTON - Barbara Wellensiek knew her son's insurance bill would be steep because of his driving record, but when the renewal notice arrived she was shocked to see the annual premium was $104,566.63.

"I thought it was a typo," Wellensiek said today. "I didn't panic - I thought it was a mistake."

When she phoned her insurance broker, Access Insurance Group, she got confirmation that the figure on the notice was accurate, the rate having been hiked from $1,300 per month.

"I just about fainted - how could this be?"

She calculated that her son, Janson Towers, would have to work full-time all year and earn $55 per hour just to pay his auto insurance premium.

Towers has all the factors going against him that add up to a high premium, even under the new grid system brought in when auto insurance reforms took effect in 2004.

He's 19, and has a "tendency to speed," Wellensiek said.

He got his first car at age 16. His licence was suspended twice. Since May 2005 he has received 10 speeding tickets, and has been in two minor "fender benders" and a rear-ender that totalled his car.

Though the insurance industry has complained that the grid system rewards bad drivers, an insurer could charge even more.

When the details of Towers' driving record were put into the auto insurance rate calculator on the provincial government website, the maximum allowable charge that came out was $122,727.42 per year.

Wellensiek went to another insurance company, Morgex, which quoted her $50,000 for a premium on her son's Nissan 240.

She has chipped in on his premiums before because of his need for a car. He has been playing junior football in Kelowna, taking physiotherapy because of football injuries, working part-time and is about to start attending Okanagan College.

But there's no way the family can afford $50,000.

"If he can't drive, I'm sure he'll accept it. He'll just have to wait until the convictions fall off."

Towers said he's moving permanently to British Columbia and is optimistic he can insure his car there for about the same rate he was paying in Alberta last year. If that doesn't work out, he'll have to ride his bike.

"I'd rather buy a house than pay that ($104,000)," he said.

He's still shocked by the invoice, and says that most of the speeding tickets clocked him going just a few kilometres per hour over the limit.

Alison Gates-Kriston, spokeswoman for Alberta Finance, said there are three factors on the insurance rate grid: number of years of driving, accident claims and convictions.

"Your grid rating is a reflection of your driving record," Gates-Kriston said. "It's the driver's decision as to whether they want to be insured or whether they want to stop driving."

An official with Access Insurance Group, which quoted the $104,566.63 premium, said the company can't comment because of privacy legislation.

Michael Debolt, government affairs manager for the Alberta office of the Insurance Bureau of Canada, was surprised by the amount of the premiums allowed under the grid rules, but said his industry is still opposed to capping rates under the grid system.

"We don't believe in the grid at all - we believe an individual's insurance premiums should reflect the risk they carry," he said.

Steps
1. Get 10 speeding tickets and have 3 at fault accidents in three years.
2. Recieve bill for over 100K
3. Switch insurance companies and save up to 50K!

IMO, after speeding violation #3 he would have had his keys replaced with a bus pass.

[Jeffros Spec V]

ahahahah hahahaaahah

[turbo4g63]

i think it sounds like bs...no insurance company would ever pick that person up. and if they did the rate still wouldn't be that high

[05Accent]

wow...

[dickerdieter]

Originally Posted by turbo4g63

i think it sounds like bs...no insurance company would ever pick that person up. and if they did the rate still wouldn't be that high

well i mean we are talkin bout canada here lol

[P_856]

haha i read this the other day my dads insurance spiked up an extra 1000 when they added me in as a driver on the 240 insurance in jersey sucks

[Keeper1343]

honestly I have had 1 accident that was my fault, 1 accident that was 50/50, 1 accident that was deemed to be not my fault, and i have 6 points (all for dumb **** like not using turn signals and a couple speeding tickets). And as of right now i pay 125 a month full coverage. Not braggin at all but just putting that out there to show how much BS that article is.

[dragonfly2k3]

Your car is probably also registered as a single cam, non-vtec civic? I payed 89 a month each for full coverage on both my hatches and i have 6 points and 1 accident(my bad).

[05GT]

Insurance can be high. Just because some of you pay $125/month or whatever, doesn't mean it isn't possible.

When I use to own my 03 Cobra I got not too long after getting out of high school, I was on my OWN policy, and I was paying $675 a month for insurance. And that was with only 1 speeding ticket, no accidents. It seems impossible, but it's not.

[Evolved]

Originally Posted by 05GT

Insurance can be high. Just because some of you pay $125/month or whatever, doesn't mean it isn't possible.

When I use to own my 03 Cobra I got not too long after getting out of high school, I was on my OWN policy, and I was paying $675 a month for insurance. And that was with only 1 speeding ticket, no accidents. It seems impossible, but it's not.

That's crazy, I would never do that.

[05GT]

Originally Posted by Evolved

That's crazy, I would never do that.

Yeah, it was pretty damn crazy. That's one of the reasons I had to get rid of it. That's also one of the reasons I moved out of sucks ass NJ lol.

But I was young, and wanted the car so bad. Haha my car payment was $650/month. So I was paying $1325/month just to own the car.

[ericnjttz]

whered you come up with that kind of coin outta highschool?

[Snoozie]

Originally Posted by 05GT

Insurance can be high. Just because some of you pay $125/month or whatever, doesn't mean it isn't possible.

When I use to own my 03 Cobra I got not too long after getting out of high school, I was on my OWN policy, and I was paying $675 a month for insurance. And that was with only 1 speeding ticket, no accidents. It seems impossible, but it's not.

Yea our insurance is almost $500/month for my Legacy and the WRX. I have a spotless record and Keith has one no fault accident and 2 points. The accident and the points will be wiped off by the next cycle period though. I cant wait till he turns 25 so it will drop some. My sister on the other hand has so many accidents and pays $115/month full coverage.

[420sx]

That mother is not doing her job. Allowing her kid to keep driving is allowing him to kill himself. He's lucky that his auto insurance is as high as it is- clearly the insurance company has a better grip on reality than this kid does. Getting him off the road was a good move.

I dont claim to have a spotless record, but damn- you gotta work to **** up that many times in only 3 years! Ive gotten 2 speeding tickets, and 1 at fault accident. And ive learned from each experience. This kid is clearly not learning from anyone. Get him a bus pass.

[ericnjttz]

i have 2 speeding tickets and a 100% non-fault accident all over a year ago and i pay 255/month for my twin turbo 300zx and my is300 both full coverage

[420sx]

Originally Posted by ericnjttz

i have 2 speeding tickets and a 100% non-fault accident all over a year ago and i pay 255/month for my twin turbo 300zx and my is300 both full coverage

That aint bad- who with?

[05GT]

Originally Posted by BluMeanie

Yea our insurance is almost $500/month for my Legacy and the WRX. I have a spotless record and Keith has one no fault accident and 2 points. The accident and the points will be wiped off by the next cycle period though. I cant wait till he turns 25 so it will drop some. My sister on the other hand has so many accidents and pays $115/month full coverage.

You guys would be shocked probably if I told you that now, I have fully insured my 2004 Cobra, 2004 G35 Coupe, 98 Jeep AND my house insurance, and I pay $278/month for all if it hahah. That's crazy good rate.

But anyway, someone asked me how I got the loot outta high school. I financed most of it, but I was working in computers since I was in high school, so I started making money early on, and I was still living home. But again, I did post earlier that I ended up getting rid of that Cobra because it was just too much money to be paying, and I wanted to get a place of my own.

[den9]

yeah 1300 a month for a car, thats a mortgage right there.
i think they made his insurance over 100k just so he will leave, i dont know why they just dont drop him.

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by den9

i think they made his insurance over 100k just so he will leave, i dont know why they just dont drop him.

probably to make a point

[OMGz Turbo]

i see people paying 700$ in insurance now...i dont think its that farfetched