PROGRESSIVE!

Our auto insurance at USAA was running us at about $1250/6 months.

I did an online quote at Progressive and they quoted me $680 (this is the pay the whole premium up front price).

When I was filling out the application, I really didn’t know the dates of the offenses in our driving record. I didn’t think it really mattered, since I knew that they checked everything anyway, so I guesstimated these offenses:

ME:
sept 2006 - careless/improper driving

oct 2006 - at fault accident

MR.99K:

jan 2006 - license or credentials violation
– I couldn’t remember when exactly he got pulled over for not having his new registration sticker over, so I really stabbed in the dark on this one.

I submitted the application and the rate changed to $830. Still quite a bit of savings from USAA, so I went ahead, paid the premium, and waited.

I was still afraid that the premium would change, but a few days later, they sent me a bunch of online documents (declarations, policy, notices, etc.) I looked all over but could not see any sign of a change in the premium, which made me happy. I started opening up all the documents and looking through them when I found our driving history, a combination of what I had entered, and what they had gotten off of the various insurance reporting reports.

Progressive uses driving and claims history to determine your premium. Driving and claims history may include events such as motor vehicle violations, at-fault accidents, not-at-fault accidents and comprehensive claims. We obtain driving and claims history from one or more of the following sources:

• Your application (APP)
• Progressive claims history
• Motor Vehicle Reports - provided by state agencies (MVR)
• Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange - provided by ChoicePoint, Inc (CLUE)

Here is the driving history they listed:

Now, are you seeing what I am seeing? Some of these, the only “source” for them, is my own application! So basically, they’re taking me at my word.

I put this aside for the moment, and gave USAA a call to see if they could match our new rate.

They couldn’t. So, I asked them what they have on file for our driving record as. They had nothing at all for Mr. 99k, and only items #1 and #3 for me.

I decided to call Progressive. I explained to the nice man that when I was filling out the application, I was pretty much guessing at the dates, and therefore, I was pretty sure that #1 and #2 on my history were actually the same event. I also explained that while I knew Mr. 99k had a ticket for not having the registration in the car, it might have been further in the past than 2006 and that USAA had no record of it.

He very nicely removed both those items and informed me that our premium would be lowered to $633!!! We will be getting a $200 refund on our card for the difference.

Out of curiosity, I asked him what would have happened if I HADN’T called. Would these (mythical! fictitious!) violations have become part of my insurance records, to hound me until they fall off? He confirmed that yes, they would have.

Zounds! People, don’t be like I was, assuming that they’ll correct whatever violations you enter after they check your report. Not only are you missing out on money, you may be ADDING to your driving history in the process.

The next time I shop around for insurance, I am not going to enter anything into the driving history. I’ll just let them pull it up on their own and adjust the rate accordingly. That way, I know I’m not inadvertantly adding violations to my insurance record!

For the record, I think the drastic lowering of our rate is because of the car my husband drives. It’s… how shall we say… sporty. Speedy sporty. Complete with massive spoiler. the USAA guy and I guessed that perhaps progressive isn’t clued into the fact that this speedster isn’t just your run of the mill 4-door sedan. With progressive, my nearly 10-year old SUV had a higher premium than his 2006 turbo charged bullet! USAA probably has better actuary numbers than progressive, giving the true cost of insuring this car, so until progressive’s numbers catch up, we are in LUCK! It’s ironic though, because even if the numbers on this car show that it has more claims over time… my husband has never been in an accident and has maybe.. MAYBE gotten ONE speeding ticket in his life. (That I should be so lucky.)

-99k

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