Wow my auto ins just dropped~ due to many folks using online functions

[mickeyd]

I received a notice from my auto insurance company that my rates had decreased. Then today this story poped up. I hope that this use of the internet by policyholders, reducing company costs, will continue in the future of many other companies.

Driving the company cost-savings are USAA members using the company Web site to conduct business and freeing up customer service staff to deal with more complex issues, said USAA's Dave Snowden. In the last year, members logging on to USAA.com increased about 35 percent from 1.3 million in May 2005 to 1.8 million this May.


Premium reductions vary based on factors such as driving record, vehicle and age, but USAA customers will save an average of $85 a year. There are about 99,000 USAA members living in the San Antonio area.


http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/stories/MYSA061506.1E.BIZusaa.rates.8866b01f.html

 

[Sarah in SC]

My rates at Progressive are unbelievable compared to what I paid just a few years ago with Hartford. They are using FICOs to price policies and don't pay (much) commission to the brokers. When I raised my liability limits after reading this forum, the price only went up $12 a year. One of the few places prices have come down insurance-wise!
Sarah

 

[LovesLife]

I've wondered if any savings gained from going with an online auto insurance company, like Progressive, would be offset by the rise in homeowners insurance since there is a discount by having it all under one company. Anyone noticed this?

 

[Nords]

In the last year, members logging on to USAA.com increased about 35 percent from 1.3 million in May 2005 to 1.8 million this May.

I'm personally responsible for about 0.4 million of those logins. Their website has gotten much better and it's dramatically reduced the pile of crap mailbox deliveries too.

I've wondered if any savings gained from going with an online auto insurance company, like Progressive, would be offset by the rise in homeowners insurance since there is a discount by having it all under one company.  Anyone noticed this?

Armed Forces Insurance, a pale imitiation of USAA's homeowner insurance business, thinks so too. In addition to their homeowner/personal-property/liability insurance, AFI has started offering auto insurance in many states by having Progressive handle it. However they're still more expensive than USAA auto policies.

What all the insurance websites need is an application that allows you to enter your coverage requirements, access your driving record & claims history, and then obtain rate quote prices across two or more companies at the click of the "Compare" button. I'm sure that I waste at least an hour a year on the phone with their "customer service" reps trying to nail down this info. If we can do it for stocks & mutual funds, why not for insurance companies?

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Just dont try this trick with Farmers. Took me about a year to get them to fix it so that I could just log in and view my policies. According to the customer service folks, my "problem" resulted in major changes in how they do customer service. Thats nice, do I get a discount for that?

Now that I can get in, I can only see some of my policies. Apparently they have four completely different systems, none of them talk to each other, and only some of them can be viewed through their web site.

Any changes or new policies are just emails generated by the web site to your agent.

This is barely 20th century stuff and we're in the 21st...

 

[thefed]

I cant see 2/3 policies on Nationwide's website....

 

[mickeyd]

If insurance companies, banks and other customer-focused institutions do not eventually pass on thesavings that online customers generate, they will have neither customers nor future business to worry about.