wikigardening

Hello - I am moving out to LA on July 11th. I have had a car insurance quote from 21st century insurance (they came through International auto as have leased car through them) My husband and I are 47 and 49 and have no accidents. The quote was $1800 for six months. GULP! It's for a vw jetta 1.4. Does that sound right? Thank you

Pulaski

A little on the high side, but not off the chart. I don't know what insurance costs are like in California, but around $1,000/6mths for new immigrants is the starting point for many parts of the country; the rest are higher!

mrken30

I don't think 21st century takes into account your UK driving history. For me my only option several years ago was American Family, all the others wanted to treat me as a brand new driver. My quotes went from around $1000/ 6 months to just over $500

wikigardening

Thank you for the replies. I'm relieved it's a bit high and will check out American Family. Thank you!

steveq

Geico came right in with around 500. I am now paying 490 for two adults and one learner.

wikigardening

I tried them and the quote was only $90 a month! Thank you

MidAtlantic

As always, any discussion of premium is meaningless without knowing the level of cover.

Pulaski

Agreed, you need to be very careful to check what coverage you're paying for, because "state minimum" coverage levels can be very low, so if you hit anything more than a five year old Chevy you might find yourself being sued by whoever you hit.

The usual rule of thumb is that you need liability coverage approximately equal to your net worth, so while legal minimum insurance might be acceptable for a college student, if you have a nice house in the 'burbs you need to be sure that you aren't going to have to sell it if you're sued. The usual approach is to get a decent vehicle insurance policy, then top up the liability coverage if necessary, with an umbrella policy, which is dirt cheap liability coverage, but is only available as an add-on to another policy.

mrken30

That was the other difference with American family, the umbrella insurance cover started from $100k instead of the usual $250k liability. This meant umbrella was slightly more expensive but the car insurance savings more than compensated. Any working person should probably get umbrella cover.