Progressive Insurance Company has a new car insurance program called MyRate which allows drivers to opt-in to save money on their Progressive auto insurance bill.

When you sign up with MyRate, you receive a wireless transmitter which plugs into the diagnostic port of your car. The little device constantly transmits your driving habits and mileage to Progressive, and if you are in fact deemed a safe driver, then you may see savings of up to 60% off your car insurance. Read the rest of this entry

When buying car insurance from an agent, there are different types of agents you can choose from. Agents who write with companies like State Farm and Farm Bureau Insurance are captive agents, which means they only write for one company. They do not have access to car insurance rates of any other companies, so they cannot comparison shop your coverage for you.

Independent agents, on the other hand, write for many different insurance companies. They may have contracts with companies such as Travelers, Nationwide, Allstate and many other smaller regional companies. When shopping for car insurance, independent agents can quote your coverage with several companies and get you the lowest rate possible with their companies. The do not have access to the captive company rates, so in order to get the most comprehensive rate comparison, it’s a good idea to get quotes from both captive and independent agents. Read the rest of this entry

I thought I’d write a bit about an experience I had with Progressive car insurance. Keep in mind that I’m an independent insurance agent and I can insure my family’s vehicles with any of about 15 different insurance companies. I chose to insure my cars with Progressive, primarily because their rates were very competitive. From an agent’s standpoint, Progressive is one of the easiest companies to work with due to their investment in their agent website.

I’ve read plenty of claim experiences where consumers take delight in bashing their former insurance company. I thought I’d put this one out there as a positive experience, for what it’s worth. My wife and I were traveling down I-80 to a college football game one September morning when we were passed by a Chevy Suburban, the driver of which proceeded to veer off the left side of the interstate, over correct and slam head-on into a concrete construction barrier on the right side of the road, completely blocking my lane.

There was one vehicle ahead of us in the left-hand lane and they collided with the rear of the Suburban. I couldn’t stop in time and our Honda Accord collided with the Suburban right between the front and rear passenger side doors.  Our airbags deployed and there as an eary silence before we heard the screetching tires of a car preparing to sandwich our car with the Suburban. Luckily, the car that rear-ended our’s was about the same size and did not completely sandwich our car. Had the 18-wheeler behind that car not seen the accident and slowed down, it would have plowed through the accident and who knows if I’d be writing this today. Read the rest of this entry

If you’ve had a bad experience with an insurance company, how do you go about making sure other consumers don’t have the same problem? Your state insurance regulators are responsible for making sure admitted companies handle your claims fairly and to the letter of the law. If you feel you haven’t been treated fairly, you don’t have to take the insurance companies decision as final. By taking your complaint to your state insurance department, you can hold your insurance company accountable and help other insurance consumers in the process.

Most states have specific proceedures for filing complaints against insurance companies. The first step in the resolution process is to contact the company or your agent to try to achieve a satisfactory conclusion to your problem. If you get nowhere, which is probably why you’re here reading this, then it’s time to file a formal complaint with your state’s insurance regulating department. Read the rest of this entry

When we talk about “green car insurance”, I’m not talking about the color of GEICO’s gecko, rather I’m referring to the footprint car insurance companies leave on the environment with their practices and policies. There has been a significant push in the U.S. towards more environmentally-friendly car insurance options and hopefully 2009 will see some real action taken by companies to be more eco-friendly.

The U.K. has seen several companies cater to environmentally-conscious consumers, including eGreen Insurance, The Green Car Insurance Company and ibuyeco. In return for buying a car insurance policy from these companies, they will buy part of a rainforest, offset your carbon emissions by planting new trees or offer a discount on how you drive your car.

Here in the states, other companies are taking the initiative to either improve the environment or reduce your auto insurance rates through a number of different plans. GMAC offers a program in conjunction with GM’s OnStar system where you can opt-in to send your mileage statistics via OnStar and if your annual mileage driven is under 15,000 miles, you can receive up to a 54% discount on your GMAC car insurance. Read the rest of this entry