Money-Saving Tips For Car Insurance Renewal - (I Saved $542!)

I got my semi-annual car insurance renewal notice last week. My premium went up ever so slightly, which didn't seem that unusual. I've had no new incidents in the past 6 months, but I've had no previous incidents drop off the report either.

Money-Saving Tip: Many car insurance companies look at your record over the last 5 years, including Geico. Progressive (my insurer) only looks at the last 3 years. So if you had an accident 4 years ago, you may want to look into switching!!

Anyway, I was still disappointed, so I looked through all my renewal documents to see what they had on my driving record--so I could know whether to anticipate a speeding ticket or accident dropping off the record anytime soon. I found something interesting: a duplicate entry!!

Money-Saving Tip: Actually read your insurance documents. They may very well be basing your premium off false or outdated information!

It turns out that Progressive (like many companies, I'm assuming) checks your official driving record with your state before each renewal cycle. My state had finally documented an accident to my report--even though it happened almost 2 years ago. The thing is, I had already reported that accident on my application when I first signed up with Progressive. Progressive was now showing TWO accidents in early 2006.

So I called them. My call was answered immediately, and two minutes later MY BILL WAS REDUCED BY $156.The Progressive rep didn't even question me when I told her the accident I'd reported on my application was a duplicate. In fact, she asked if she should remove the speeding ticket I'd reported as well (I said no, of course; even though it was never reported by my state, I DID get a ticket; a few bucks savings is NOT worth lying to your insurer).

Money-Saving Tip: You can call your insurance company at any time to request that they remove any incident that was self-reported. I would NEVER advocate lying--but if you can't remember whether you had 2 or 3 speeding tickets in the last five years when you apply, I'd go with 2. If and when the third ticket shows up in state records (which could be years later, as with my traffic accident) then the insurance companies will add it to your file.

I paid my new, lower premium online that day.

Money-Saving Tip: If you pay your premium all at once, you can usually get a discount. I "save" my car insurance every month into my EF, and then I pay it in full when I get the bill. I save around $150 each year by doing this.

Over the next week, I got several automatic refunds to my checking account from Progressive! I don't know if it's because my credit score improved or they changed their pricing model, but for no apparent reason they REDUCED MY PREMIUM BY ANOTHER $386. What a great week in my personal finances.

Money-Saving Tip: Insurance companies do check your credit score now, and it does affect your premium. Just another reason to pay your bills on time and keep that debt low!