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Most feedback… for anything at all… is negative. People like to complain. If things are going well, no one thinks about it. If things are going badly – we’ve got problems.

So in a minor bid to change that a little, here is a little positive feedback in terms of “word of mouth.”

If you’ve been following along, you’ll know that I recently had to deal with Progressive with regard to my insurance policy continuing to skyrocket (up to $1028 for 6 months if I renewed straight up – for 2 cars, 2 clean drivers – crazy). After an ordeal of calling up and essentially “complaining” about my policy continuing to climb, they worked with me to start essentially a new policy with all of the same info – which saved me something like $240/six months. And even beyond that – the payments are now every month (instead of 5 on and 1 off) so that’s spread out further, thus making the payment even lower. Suffice to say I’m going from what would have been about $212/mo to $130/mo.

Anyway… after the new policy started and I made the first deposit payment, my online policy kept reminding me to submit proof of my security system and such for the discount. Uh whaaa? The guy that setup my new policy assured me everything would transfer and I’d be good to go.

Well I emailed Progressive again and basically said “I was told this… and it says this.” That was last night.

Got a reply this morning confirming that I’m set. Nothing to mail/fax in or prove. The policy is ready to go and I’m all done with having to fight for a lower rate (for now).

So nothing big. But it’s nice to contact someone about something you think is a problem and then are assured that it is actually OK in the end and you don’t have to worry about it. So thank you, Progressive. You are still showing me that you’d like to keep my business (even though I had to essentially call and ask if you still wanted it after you kept jacking my rates up).

It may come as a surprise to some of you, but I actually have a clean driving record (for the last 3 years as far as insurance is considered anyway). Even with what I drive and the way I drive, I’m clean. So is Jen.

This makes it very difficult for me to understand why my insurance continues to climb EVERY six months. “Oh we had to adjust our policies for NY state.” Shenanigans! There’s no reason for my policy to go up $60-$70 every six months for “adjustments” or whatever. Can’t be possible.

Well today I received the renewal notice for my policy which would be effective 3/28. It would now go up to $1028 for six months (note: that is for two cars and two drivers). That is ridiculous when just this past six months it was $900-something. And $800-something before that. Come on people, we need to put a stop to this.

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Is there anyone left out there that doesn’t realize you can save money on car insurance? Have there not been enough commercials to drill this point home?

Geico, Progressive, Allstate, State Farm, everyone else… really, we get it.

Yes, people can save money on car insurance. There are lots of ways – even without changing companies. The thing is, if you haven’t shopped for car insurance for many years, you will probably save money with ANYONE compared to where you are now. If you haven’t learned that much at this point, just give up. On everything.

If you want to try to save more, evaluate your policy. Ask your insurance company what they can do for you. Adjust your deductibles. Do you have more disposable income? Consider increasing your deductible to lower your policy premium. Consider changing your coverage. Do you really need $100,000 in property coverage? Do you need the $45/day rental coverage instead of the $30/day?

OK, now the cat is out of the bag. CAN WE STOP WITH THE FUCKING COMMERCIALS ALREADY??!!

My car insurance renewed today for 9/09-3/10.

And to no real surprise to me, it has gone up again. Totally lost count how many times it has gone up in a row. It is absolutely retarded. And now that Jen and her car are on my policy it gives me a comparison for rate changes.

Mine went up $31 for 6 months. Her’s went up $2 for the same period. Not to mention that the “law enforcement fee” doubled now. That’s BS too.

People with tCs need to seriously calm themselves and stop thinking they’re race cars (I know, irony…) and learn how to drive. Stop wrecking your cars and making my insurance go up!

Oh… on a more positive note, my credit score (according to Credit Karma) went up 8 points this month! I didn’t expect it to go up at all for a while, so this is a nice change.

A followup to my previous post about Progressive and my continually climbing insurance…

I had emailed their customer service last night to inquire about their “inexperienced operator” charge, considering how long I’ve had my license. I got a reply this morning basically saying to fax them a copy of my license (and whatever an MVR is… maybe motor vehicle report? driving record of some sort?).

That was dumb… but I figured I’d call to find out what the MVR thing was. Before I could even get to that, I explained why I was calling to the guy (Rick, I think was his name) and he immediately offered to go ahead and fix it – since it was obviously a mistake. He mentioned I may have selected the wrong option for years driving somewhere… since their record showed 2. I’m really not sure where that would have been though – considering I’ve had them for over 4 years now.

Anyway, he made the correct and my upcoming policy will now go down by $68.

The part that impressed me though was that he offered to go ahead and refund the last 6 months worth of overpayment (about $62). So that should be deposited anytime into my checking account.

So by calling and asking about this thing that had been on my policy for a while, I just saved myself about $130 overall. Not bad.

Between this and the experience I had in filing the claim this past fall for my rear bumper, I can definitely recommend Progressive if you’re insurance shopping.

Either I need to find another insurance carrier or another car.

My insurance has gone up… again.

“Thank you for being a Progressive customer since 2004.” Now don’t mind while we raise your rates again. Thing is that I don’t think it is necessarily Progressive’s fault (I’m looking into it though, more on that in a second). I think a lot of it has to do with my car… which makes me sad. There was some study recently that included the tC as one of the cars “more likely to be involved in a road violation.”

Great. Though many of us normal tC owners have known this for a while. Mommy and daddy buy their perfect little angel a new car … and they go out and total it trying to be a bad ass or get a speeding ticket thinking they’re a race car driver.

Ironically, I do race my car… but I do it legally, on a course, sanctioned by the SCCA. Not on the streets.

I’m also still listed as an “inexperienced operator” which includes an apparently $68 charge added to my premium. I emailed them today when I found out about the increase and asked how at 28 (at the time the policy will be valid) I would still be considered “inexperienced.” I’d like to know if there are any actual criteria for this or if it is just because I’m a guy. Maybe there’s some age requirement to go with it? But really, I’ve been driving for 12 years now, with 4 of those years being under the Progressive umbrella.

Why can’t I get a break on this crap?