hungryhorace

Why are people talking about car insurance in terms of a monthly payment? This drives me nuts! You should be talking about the annual cost, just like the OP referred to it earlier.

Awesome Welles

I think it's more a case of off the scale numbers of undocumented, uninsured arseholes.

I've been here a long time and have never had so much as a parking ticket. To insure a 2015 Dodge Challenger and a 1992 F150 costs around $1200 pa, which is outrageous. It went up by $100 last renewal and when I asked why, the reply was, "You live in Florida".

nick.simpson19

Our Car Insurance -

2013 Hyundai Veracruz 3.8 V6 SUV (Top Spec) and Hyundai Sonata (base model)2.5 V4 is $219 per month for me and my wife... we arrived in the US in August.

$2628 per annum! This does include additional liability insurance also of around $180

We are in Alabama, it shocked me the price when I first arrived

dj6372

I think most of us are too scared of the annual fee!

My UK annual fee was £250

US annual fee $1800 or $150 a month

I hide behind the monthly payment the yearly scares me lol

NatashaB

Sounds pretty steep, we pay that for 3 cars in MI (which is a notoriously expensive no-fault state). I would try putting your details through esurance or Geico before committing. Will you be buying house insurance? most insurance companies give you a discount for having multiple policies with them.

ZanM

I'm only out there for 2 years so I'll be renting, but I will try getting renters insurance at the same time / from the same company.

Is there anything we should be thinking about now that might help us make the case to an insurer that we're not horrible drivers? There's the new online DVLA records that you can use in place of the old UK paper licence now, and we were going to contact our current car insurance company for proof of our no-claims history.

NatashaB

People on here have had mixed experiences of showing proof of UK no claims to their US insurance co. I would definitely request it just in case it helps.

mrken30

Most companies quote for 6 months in the US. Safeco and Liberty Mutual quote for 12 months

petitefrancaise

AIG Travel Assist??

That's travel insurance I think. Go take a look for AIG Inbound USA - which is specifically for inbound expats. This is a subscription service that costs about $450 pa. We saved that on our first 6 months of car insurance organised by them.
I thought that IAS were offering the AIG Inbound subscription as an inducement to get the car through them? Maybe the person you were dealing with got it wrong?

Also, try Foreign Business Professionals Plan

to see about getting a better deal for your car. Maybe even a Golf rather than a jetta. Might give you something to negotiate with IAS at least and do negotiate with them.

kodokan

Erie does too. We're insured with them now, paying around $700pa for Fords F-150 and Escape. Mid-40s, US licenses and clean driving record for 4 years, very good liability levels.

This is so refreshingly different from the first year, when we were paying $3.5k for the F-150 and a Jeep Wrangler.

bewildering

I used progressive when i arrived on a J1 visa back in 2004. They insured me for 1000/year if my memory serves. I did not have any luck with brokers, they quoted me numbers similar to yours. Good luck.

ZanM

Sorry, that was my mistake - I meant AIG Inbound.

PaulBenn

Unfortunately Florida SUCKS for Auto Insurance. When I first moved to the US I was living in Chicago I paid $490 a year for My Mini Cooper... Moved to Florida a year and a half ago and it rocketed to $1832 !!!! That was with GEICO. I recently switched to Allstate and managed to get it down to around $1000 a year. You best bet would be to find a local insurance agent and talk to someone, it seems even with the same company, online quotes are often higher then you can get from an actual person....
The reason FL is so high is because of P.I.P (Personal Insurance Protection) FL is one of only 2 or 3 states that have this. It basically means that the insurance pays out regardless of who is at fault..

markcst

Challenge AIG. I did. They don't dig too hard unless you push. But once they dig they get a good rate.

I have a speeding set of points, and initially they said they could only get me 6 months insurance which I knew was crap. So I challenged them and they came back with a 12 month cost at $1200. (new car with two people on the insurance including my wife who has only driven for 3 years). I can pay in installments too which helps credit building.

Now I know that $1200 is high for a lot of the US but the average in Texas is $1600. I've gone with all the "average" cover limits. This can really change your insurance if you want more cover.

chawkins99

I'm with Geico. 2 vehicles: Chevy Impala & Chevy Equinox. Annual cost is $1867 for both.
I also have a 40ft motorhome with Progressive that costs $1450 a year. The motorhome was with Geico but they kept jacking up the rates so switched to Progressive.
My homeowners insurance is with Safe Harbor Insurance (arranged through a local All-State agent) and costs $1450. None of the big online insurance companies would quote.

So, I'm paying over $5,000 a year for insurance.