Just then, Melody, my agent in family insurance, sent me a postcard-this is a common way for Americans to do business and contact customers, and the mortgage company gave me a small gift the other day-so she wrote an email and asked her to quote me. I also told her that when I bought GEICO insurance, I just came to America and didn't know anything. This time, I plan to do some research and comparison to see which car insurance is the cheapest and best.
Requirements of Virginia Law on Automobile Insurance
The contract provided by the insurance company must comply with the laws of this country, and consumers should have a general understanding. Take Virginia where I live as an example. Relevant laws include:
Car insurance is not compulsory in Virginia. You can choose to pay $500 to MVA and register your car without insurance. If there is an accident, you need to bear all the losses yourself. For ordinary residents who drive safely, $500 is almost enough for one year's auto insurance. It is estimated that few people will make such stupid choices, otherwise, in the event of an accident, the medical bill in the United States will be terrible.
If you buy auto insurance, you need to include 1) a minimum liability of $25,000/$50,000 for bodily injury; 2) Property loss insurance of at least $20,000; And 3) It must include uninsured and uninsured automobile insurance.
Virginia imposes heavy penalties on speeding. If the speed exceeds 80 miles per hour (about 128 kilometers), you can be charged with dangerous driving, and 6 points will be deducted, which will be kept in your driving record 1 1 year-that is to say, your insurance premium rate may be higher in the next 1 1 year.
Virginia once imposed a high fine of $65,438 +0.050 on "serious speeding", but this law was abolished in 2008.
Driving in Virginia 1 year without accidents will get 1 point, which can be used to offset the penalty for violation, but the maximum penalty is 5 points.
Two years of experience in using GEICO insurance.
Geico (government employee insurance company) is a big company, and their advertising marketing is also very strong. Gecko with strange accent and the famous advertisement "15 minutes can save you 15% or more" are very famous in America. I used their insurance on the first car I bought in America. At that time, I found three or four companies, and the quotations were similar. The following is my monthly auto insurance rate of GEICO for more than two years.
20 13/07 – $ 186.50
20 14/06 – $ 163.30
20 14/09 – $ 156.22
20 15/0 1 – $ 133.8 1
20 15/04 – $ 123.27
20 15/07 – $ 1 13.78
20 15/08 – $ 107.98
The monthly rate of 186.50 USD in the first year is very high. The reason is simple: I just came to the United States at that time, and I didn't have any driving record and my credit record was short. I couldn't get a loan to buy a car, but I paid it in full. In addition, the insurance amount I choose is also relatively high. After the second year, it gradually decreased to163 →156 →133 →123 →13 →107; Compared with the original rate, the monthly payment is just $80 less.
As for the service, there is actually nothing to say. When I was in Rockville, a glass was smashed-there are many hooligans and gangsters in the United States, and this area is generally safe. I don't know why this happened-it cost more than $65,438+000 to replace the glass, but my "comprehensive" clause has a deductible of $65,438+0,000, so GEICO didn't pay this fee. Besides, there have been no accidents and claims, so it is difficult to judge whether their service is good or not.
The best car insurance company in America
Since it depends on the market situation, first of all, of course, we must find a company with a relatively large industry and a good reputation. Www.reviews.com, headquartered in Washington, spent more than 200 hours analyzing 105 research articles, 248 advertisements from 13 insurance companies, interviewing 50 employees, 42 insurance experts, more than 120 auto repair shops, investigating 423 drivers with insurance, and selecting 28 drivers who need insurance.
Haoshida
American enterprise group
Amika
Electronic insurance
farmer
Government employee insurance company
Free mutual bank
MetLife.
national
Progressives
state farm
hartford
Traveler insurance group
USAA
I haven't delved into the specific analysis method, and interested readers can check the original text. I've heard of most companies on the list, and they often advertise on TV.
GEICO ranked sixth. Because I often hear their advertisement "15 minutes can save you 15% or more", I always think the price of GEICO is cheaper. In fact, this is an illusion; Every insurance company's advertisement says that its rate is cheap, saying that "75% of customers transferred from other companies saved $500!" " Don't listen to advertisements, find more separate quotations, and it is clear who is higher and who is lower.
When buying a house, Liberty Mutual, a subsidiary of GEICO, quoted us an apartment insurance price of $65,438 +0.203 for the whole year. Even the people in the mortgage company were dumbfounded: that's insurance! So the people of the mortgage company recommended their own insurance company to me and gave me a quotation of State Auto, which was $3 17 for the whole year.
Comparison of quotations from major insurance companies
I selected six auto insurance quotations for comparison, and four of them were on the list of "the best auto insurance companies in America"; Plus GEICO；; Plus the automatic state quotation that Melody gave me.
Comparison of six automobile insurance quotations (unit: USD)
project
Minimum VA
Actual insurance
Government employees insurance company (USA)
National automobile
Haoshida
national
Progressives
state farm
Personal injury 25k/50k100k/300k364.90141.00128.00 664.00 628.00 677.76.
Property loss 20k50k426.86114.00132.00.
Uninsured life insurance 25k/50k100k/300k 32.98 52.00 58.00 88.00 94.00134.76
Property insurance of the uninsured 20k50k 26.42 20.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Medical expenditure 3k100.18 33.0054.00126.0056.00171.12.
The payment of $ 1, 000 363.60 274.00 250.00 500.00 354.003116 is not applicable for collision.
Comprehensive payment of $ 1, 00041.9044.0034.0054.0064.0063.96 is not applicable.
Road rescue is not applicable to $75.0015.0413.006.0014.0022.001.40.
Transportation subsidy n/a 900.00 72.88 40.00 38.00 90.00 68.00 75.72
Annual premium n/a n/a1444.76731.00 700.001.536.001.286.001.445.88.
"VA minimum" means the minimum amount required by Virginia law. "Actual insurance" is the amount of insurance I want, of which I choose 65438+ 10,000/300,000 for personal insurance, which is relatively high-life in the United States is very expensive, so buy more just in case. There are several companies whose premiums for "property loss" and "uninsured property insurance" are zero, because they jointly apply for "personal+property insurance".
As can be seen from the above table, Allstate offers the lowest price, only $700 for the whole year; Melody gave me a lower State Auto quotation, 7365438 USD+0; The other four companies, including GEICO, which I have used for two years, all quoted above 65,438+0,200, and the highest one was $65,438+0,536 nationwide, which was more than twice that of Costco and State Motors. There are often advertisements on TV that "the whole country is on your side", so I will hehehe.
Why is there such a big difference in online quotations? I suspect that one of the reasons is my understanding of "driving experience". An insurance company asked, "How many years have you been getting a driver's license in the United States or Canada? Others asked, "How many years have you had a driver's license? According to the former, I only have more than two years of driving experience; According to the latter, it is 10 year, because I first got my driver's license in Guangdong, China in 2005. Age, driving experience, driving record and credit record all have great influence on insurance quotation.
Interpretation of common clauses in American automobile insurance
There are many auto insurance companies in the United States, and the common insurance items and terms are nothing more than the following nine. A careful reading and understanding of their respective meanings can help you decide whether to add or reject (laws vary from state to state, and some terms must be added) and how high to choose.
I. Personal injury
If the accident is your responsibility, the insurance company will compensate the other party for the expenses caused by the injury or death according to this clause, including medical treatment, funeral, lost time, mental loss caused by the injury (court ruling) and so on. If a lawsuit is filed for personal injury, this clause will also pay the litigation costs.
It should be noted that this clause does not pay for your own expenses caused by injury or death:
If the responsibility lies with the other party, the other party's insurance will pay for your injury or death.
If the responsibility lies with you, the insurance company may pay according to the "medical expenses" clause, or need your medical insurance to intervene; If you have neither purchased "medical expenses" nor medical insurance, please pay for it yourself.
The liability for physical involvement usually consists of two parts: the amount of compensation for each person; Total compensation for an accident. For example, in the table above, 100K/300K, if I hit five people with my car, it is my responsibility, then the insurance company will pay up to 65,438+million per person, but the total compensation for the whole accident will not exceed 300,000 dollars.
Second, property losses.
That is, "property damage liability". Compensation for property losses caused to others by your responsibility in the accident. Same as above, this clause does not care about your loss.
Three, no insurance (or low insurance) life insurance
It is often referred to as "uninsured and underinsured drivers' physical injury." If the other party is responsible for the accident, but the other party has no insurance (see the first requirement of Virginia law above), or the insurance amount is too low to compensate you (or your family) for the loss caused by personal injury, your insurance company will compensate according to this clause. This clause, like "liability for physical involvement", usually includes "compensation for each person" and "total compensation for a single accident".
Four. Uninsured property insurance (low insurance)
It is often called "property loss of uninsured and uninsured car drivers." If the other party is responsible for the accident, but the other party has no insurance, or the insurance amount is too low to pay for your property losses, your insurance company will compensate according to this clause.
Verb (abbreviation of verb) medical expenditure
Often referred to as "medical expenses". If you are responsible for the accident and you are injured (or killed), this compensation is for your medical (or funeral) expenses, but does not include other expenses such as lost work. As mentioned above, if you are responsible for the accident, then "physical responsibility" pays for the other party's personal injury loss, not your own personal injury loss.
In addition to "medical expenses", there are currently 12 states in the United States with "no-fault insurance" laws, that is, "no matter who is responsible, your insurance company needs to compensate for the losses caused by personal injury"; 12 States are: Florida; Hawaii; Kansas; Kentucky; Massachusetts; Michigan; Minnesota; New jersey; New york; North Dakota; Pennsylvania; Utah. If you are in these States, please contact the insurance company for details.
Conflict of intransitive verbs
That is, "collision." Compensate for the loss of your car in the car accident. For example, if you hit a telephone pole or someone else's car and need repair or even scrapping, the insurance company will compensate you according to this clause. As for the property loss caused by your responsibility in the accident, see "Liability for Property Damage".
Collision clauses are usually optional deductibles, that is, deductibles. If the deductible is 0, then the insurance company will compensate you for all the expenses of repairing the car. In the above table, I chose the deductible of 1 ,000 USD, that is, the insurance company is only responsible for losses exceeding 1 ,000 USD. The lower the deductible, the better, but the higher the premium.
Seven. comprehensive
It is usually called "comprehensive" or "conflict-free" because other accidents besides collision, such as your car being hit by a branch falling from the sky (this stalk often appears in insurance advertisements), being burned, stolen, smashed or flooded, the insurance company will compensate according to this clause. You can also choose Deductible.
Eight, rescue on the road
It is often called "emergency road service" or "trailer and labor." It pays for trailers and labor costs, such as finding someone to repair a flat tire and locking yourself out of the car. The coverage of this article is usually very low.
Nine, transportation subsidies
It is usually called "transportation cost" to compensate for the cost of renting a car because your car is broken or lost. I chose 900 dollars.
Half insurance or full insurance?
Semi-insurance, that is, "only insurance liability", refers to the loss and injury caused by human error, which is usually required by law. See the items required by "Minimum VA" in the above table.
All risks, that is, "all risks", usually refer to semi-insurance+collision)+comprehensive insurance, which increases the protection of cars from accidents.
For example, if your car is parked in the street and the glass is smashed, or if it is hit by a branch falling from the sky, or if it is flooded by a rainstorm, it is a semi-guaranteed compensation. However, "all risks" is actually a vague concept; It doesn't mean "taking care of everything". Generally speaking, it does not include projects such as road rescue and transportation subsidies.
Many insurance companies and brokers will not ask you whether you want to "only cover liability" or "full coverage" (especially the automatic online quotation system), but let you choose various types of insurance and quotas directly. If you choose collision and synthesis, it is naturally the so-called "all risks".
How do you decide whether to buy all insurance or only half insurance? Please refer to the above terms and instructions to see if collision and synthesis are needed. The insurance I bought includes road rescue and the like, which is more comprehensive than the so-called "all risks". Generally speaking:
If there is a loan, the bank usually requires that all insurance must be purchased, because even if the car encounters an accident, it needs to safeguard its own interests and recover losses.
If there is no loan and the car is very old (less than $5,000), it may not be necessary to buy all insurance, especially all insurance with high deductible.
Is it better to buy a big company or a small company for auto insurance?
When I bought a house, I contacted PNC Bank and HSBC at the beginning of the mortgage, both of which are big banks. The responsible loan officer is very serious, but the reply is very slow-often an email takes several days or even a week to reply. It was the peak season for buying houses (April and May), and they might have too many customers to be busy-but anyway, it was a very bad customer experience for me.
Wu Yufang, a real estate agent, may have noticed that I was a little unhappy, so he told me that if I didn't like these two banks, I could find another bank. For example, their company has cooperated with an MVB mortgage many times, so I can try.
MVB mortgage company is very small, and its parent company, MVB Finance Company, is listed on the OTC market, with a market value of about10.2 billion US dollars. They are not banks, or even real "loan" or "insurance" companies as far as I know, but agencies; They gave me a mortgage and sold it to another company.
Melody gave me the house and car insurance of "State Auto"; State Auto is a little bigger and listed on NASDAQ, with a market value of about $654.38+billion.
However, some large insurance companies, such as Allstate, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, have a market value of about $24.7 billion.
However, the services of MVB mortgage and MVB insurance are very good-perhaps because they are small companies, they must provide good services to win customers; It may also be because they are agencies and need to make a deal to get a commission, instead of sitting in the office and getting paid like loan officers at PNC Bank and HSBC Bank (I guess). I send them emails and reply within half a day, often even half an hour.
In addition, Melody of MVB Insurance directly contacted MVB to ask for all the data and information when I applied for home insurance, without asking me, while the online systems of other insurance companies had to fill in a lot of information, including "What is the material of the external wall", "What is the structure of the house", "Is there a fire station within 1 mile" and so on. Melody also asked me for an existing GEICO policy when quoting the auto insurance, and then made a policy match, without unnecessary problems; The online quotation systems of major insurance companies will also ask many questions, including whether you drive faster or slower than others, whether you often brake suddenly and so on. It even makes me wonder, "If my answer is inaccurate, will you not pay for it in case of an accident?" 」
With the assistance of an agent, it saves a lot of things. The same is true of buying a house: in theory, of course, there is no need to go through an intermediary. In fact, when we bought a house in Beijing, we did all the formalities ourselves-the reason was that the intermediary wanted to charge an extra 10,000 "management fees" and "high evaluation fees", but we disagreed and insisted on legal procedures, resulting in a falling out-but after buying a house in the United States, we realized that there were really many procedures (more than in China). If it is the first time to buy a house, don't be easy.
As for the small scale of the company, is it unreliable? Although MVB and National Automobile are small, they are both listed companies. As for the settlement of claims, I think it is only necessary to know the contract. Regardless of the size of the company, the contract shall prevail.
Suggestions on choosing American auto insurance
A brief understanding of the state's auto insurance related laws.
To understand the meaning of each item of auto insurance, please refer to the "Description of Common Terms and Conditions of American Auto Insurance" above.
According to your own situation, choose the types of insurance and the amount of insurance you need to buy.
Find several well-known auto insurance companies, quote according to the same types of insurance and insurance coverage, and compare them horizontally.
If you have multiple insurances, such as home insurance, auto insurance and life insurance, try to do it in the same company, and there will be additional benefits. Finally, I decided to use the state car represented by my melody, and the home insurance I bought before gave me a refund of about $20.
If you have insurance now, you can contact them before changing it and tell them clearly, "I want to change it because other insurance companies have given me better discounts"-generally speaking, they will offer extra discounts and concessions in an attempt to keep you (keep the concessions). When I changed my mobile phone operator, Verizon gave me a big discount and wanted me to stay. It's just that I've already dealt with it at Sprint, and I'm too lazy to toss it back. Otherwise, Verizon's price is very competitive and the network is better than Sprint, so I can stay.
Common factors affecting auto insurance premium
Accident records. The more accidents, the higher the premium.
The longer the driving experience (without accidents), the lower the premium.
Age. If it exceeds 25, the premium will be reduced. For young people in their teens and early twenties, the insurance premium is much higher, because this group is more likely to have accidents. If you get married and have children, driving will be more stable and the premium will be reduced.
Area. The worse the traffic and public security situation, the greater the accident probability, so the higher the premium. Urban premiums are generally higher than those in rural areas.
It is said that women pay higher premiums than men. Probably because there are more accidents among female drivers.
Many companies, trade associations, organizations, veterans, student organizations and even alumni may have various discounts, and the premium can be discounted.