sailorman

Hi

My wife has already started work in MD and we have ordered a car. The insurance companies are treating her as if she has just got her licence e.g. a 16 year old high-school student rather than someone with 30 years driving experience and a 9+ years no claims bonus in the UK. The monthly premium State Farm are quoting is more than the equivalent annual premium in the UK.

Does anyone have experience of cracking this particular problem - there's no way I am paying $430 per month to insure a car.

Many thanks in advance

Mark

jibsymalone

Hello and welcome to the forum!

This has been covered numerous times in various threads. Try the search function and see if you can find your answers there. To answer your initial question quickly, it is perfectly normal to be treated as new driver when you first get your license. Your no claims "most" of the time from the UK will have no effect on your premiums here. It does go down, and reasonably quickly over time though.

sailorman

Thanks - I did do a search on the forum but couldn't find anything.

Seems like another example of US businesses not having any other business model than made in the USA. I've managed to get the quote down by 75% with another company but even so $120 a month for a 48 year old female driver seems OTT to me.

Any suggestions?

jibsymalone

Not really, State Farm was one of the better options for newer immigrants and car insurance it seems, but I think it is just a case of getting lucky with whomever is your local broker/agent.

Who did you manage to get that price through, if you don't mind me asking? It might seem a little high compared to the UK, but auto insurance here tends to run high from my experience. BUt a 75% saving is still a saving!

Trying a higher deductible (but one you are still comfortable with) is one method used to get the price down, it is surprising what a difference it can make at times.

JAJ

If not done already, obtain a MD driving license.

Lack of a Social Security Number and/or green card (or U.S. citizenship), if applicable, may well mean higher insurance cost.

After 6-12 months, insurance cost may drop based on U.S. history.

Continue looking for alternatives.

ChocolateBabz

We were around $220 per month when we first arrived for 2 cars, that was with State Farm, it came down after around a year when we switched to progressive, we are now around $130 per month but with much, much better coverage.

sailorman

Thanks to everyone for their input. The lower quote is indeed with Prgressive - but it's still the equivalent of £1,000 for a $50,000 Q5 Driven by a 48 year old female with 9+ years no claims. Still steep but better and will hopefully will come down further with their Snapshot tracker.

As ever what has a SSN got to do with car insurance? Or my visa status?

JAJ

A lot of records in the U.S. are SSN based. No SSN (may) = not a fit with standard customer profile = possibly higher insurance cost, all things being equal.

Your visa status is irrelevant. Her visa status, however, is not. Assuming she is not a U.S. citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident, then she may be viewed as a higher insurance risk. All things being equal.

Bob

Get a cheaper car :/

No US driving history and no US credit history. Nothing but time to improve that.

$1K per six month is a average ball park. Less and you're doing good.

Sally Redux

I don't think it goes by whether you're female or whatever. The main thing seems to be the zip code.

MMcD

At least that's the case in Los Angeles.
But I think it differs throughout the country.
And even here -supposedly the practice was banned:

http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/succ...auto-insurance
Except, as with everything, loopholes become nooses.......and you're zapped by your zip

sailorman

H1-B and she is COO of a company backed by the Gates Foundation - doesn't get better than that.

Vimto

Basically you have fallen from the sky and landed in the US, regardless of you or your wife's good standing anywhere else on the planet, to the insurance company she is in the same position as the teenager buying insurance while in high school. She has zero history on their databases.
If you can face to face with an agent you may be able to persuade them that you are a good risk and they give you some credit for not being an adolescent who just past their driving test.
As I said in a chain of posts on credit ratings, if you were an American coming to live in the UK, the insurance companies there would treat you exactly the same, you have no history so you start off at the highest premium and work at your no claims bonus till it reaches an acceptable level.
Don't forget if you say that you have been driving for 10 years in the UK without an accident they could turn around and ask "yes but that's not on the same side of the road as here is it?"
Its the same with any international move/relocation sometimes there are things you have to start from scratch and work on it slowly

Bob

Doesn't have a greencard and technically has 10 days to leave the country if getting laid off.

Still a risk.

Sally Redux

Interesting. My premium went up a lot last time with no personal changes, I was told it was due to losses in our zipcode (I changed insurer).