Car insurance
 

Any tips on who is best to use for car insurance?

Have been quoted a ridiculous amount by ExpatRide (which might be the going rate anyway!) but wondered who else to try, for comparison.

Re: Car insurance
 

I think it's like most insurances - there is no real "best" - you really need to shop around and bear in mind that the cheapest isn't always the best option. I ended up with Progressive, among the cheapest for me but still proving the level of cover I wanted. Still stings at $200/mo but given the lack of US driving history and driving a new German SUV, I didn't really expect otherwise. I also found that zip code makes a big difference - I moved two miles away, after a few months - not a big difference in neighborhood (arguably nicer street), but my zip code changed to that of the nearby downtown and my premiums went up by $20/mo. Finally, I found also that they seem to set up car insurance policies across 6-month chunks here, instead of the annual policy you might be used to - I'm hoping this means that in April of (touch wood) incident-free driving, my renewal quote will be a bit lower.

Re: Car insurance
 

Too many variables here... Age, where you live (many insurers only cover certain states), type of vehicle etc. Also whether you have/need homeowner's or renters insurance (there are frequently discounts). Need an umbrella?

For those who have served in the USA military, USAA is supposed to be outstanding.

Personally I like Amica (in California).

But when I first moved to the USA I went with Farmers. Hated them but they were willing to give an aggressive discount based on my clean UK driving record. Most companies wouldn't consider it at all.

Re: Car insurance
 

Thanks everyone, will start shopping around! I found a local SC insurer who has given a decent quote but will check out some others too.

Re: Car insurance
 

For me liberty mutual was cheapest as they accepted English driving record.

Re: Car insurance
 

To add to what some of the others have said, depending on location, things like having off street parking, covered parking, amount of safety features on car, paying annually up front, e-billing, charitable donation and locally for me, distance away from the NH border (NH doesn't require car insurance) all gets a discount and you often get a good one for bundling other policies like home owner/rental, but you also get a discount for living in the same place for longer than 5 years etc.

Re: Car insurance
 

If you have any family ties to the US Military then I'd definitely recommend USAA, their rates are amazing.

Re: Car insurance
 

If you push with the right person at Allstate, they'll look at your UK history

Re: Car insurance
 

But be careful, some brokers just lie and treat your UK history like US history where the company does not accept overseas driving history. I am not sure how you really check unless you try to make a claim.

Re: Car insurance
 

Keep a close eye on how much coverage you're buying, because some states have rediculously low legal minimum liability coverage, which can leave you dangerously exposed if you T-bone someone's Ferrari or cause whiplash to a sports professional, so you should ask your broker if the coverage is typical, or whether you might want more liability coverage.

Based on what most people post here on BE you're unlikely to do better than about $2,000/ yr when you start out.

Re: Car insurance
 

I started with Progressive for two years and then switched to Geico. Progressive took my UK driving history into account and gave me a discount that others wouldn't match. Geico is now my favorite as it halved my car insurance bill with much more cover to boot!

Re: Car insurance
 

I had Geico but halved it by switching to Concord...