_timothy

I thought i would give yall a taste of my bad luck (or bad judgement, depending on how you read it). I got bagged by state troopers in the HOV lane twice in the past two consecutive months. neither ticket is a moving violation nor added points to my license. The first, he was well hidden w/o laser or radar going, very sneaky. The second, two cars were doing 60 mph in the two left lanes during rush hour, effectively congesting traffic. guess what? they were unmarked state troopers baiting drivers to go into HOV and ticketing.

My insurance just caught wind of it and nearly doubled my rate from $250/mo to $470/mo or $1050 to ~$2300/6mo.

here is the best part. I havent had a claim since 1999 when i was still in high school (comprehensive, rear ended by 16yo girl who couldnt stop in time on a gravel road under construction). I get the whole hypothetical risk thing given my young age. however, insurance actuarial models are completely fking retarded. their perceived risk is just dead wrong. being that i own lien free, i'm debating if i want to just dump the c63 to carmax. an acquaintance said theyd do 49k w/o hesitation, which is a $8k depreciation/wear/tear loss over the last 18ish months. to me, paying 10% of the cars present FMV annually as an insurance "tax" is just ludicrous. it basically increases ownership costs by ~50% over the remainder of my anticipated ownership period (was going to trade up 1 yr after initial release of new m3/c63). i want to drive it through their local offices front goddamn window.

papashango

Why don't you call another insurance company and get some quotes? Maybe they'll be cheaper?

_timothy

needless to say, that is in process. i'm going on monday to talk to the franchise owner. i suspect it will be the same story everywhere. SOFLA car insurance is absurdly expensive for obvious reasons

khmergod

Wow that's high. I am with state farm $120 month. 50/100/50. I could probably double my coverage and still be less than sofla. Maybe talk to them?

_timothy

ya. there arent even any speeding tickets. something else ive been considering is buying a rogue/juke/mini/rav4/etc as a dd and making the c63 a weekend driver. i have to talk to the guy on monday though.

Sidv22

I thought 250 per month is already high and 470 could be another car payment. i pay less than 90 bucks a month. If u make the c63 ur weekend car, the rate might come down.

USCGTO

If you'd like, my insurance agent can give you a call Monday morning.

I have C63 insured for $430 / 6 months.

_timothy

this is my exact reasoning. the spread between the increased rate and stacked reduction with me switching to an el cheapo dd compact suv could actually be a net savings.

i may actually take you up on that. thank you for the thought.

khmergod

Love this forum. Learn something new every day.

zcct04

Ouch! What part of the country are you in?

Critter

Do not believe two cars is the answer, DD will be based largely on "your record" with any reduction would come with no collision and large deductible insurance, bare bones so to speak. Not sure why your company raised the rate over the tickets, but you must have paid them or so to say you plead guilty. Two cars would just relate to two premium amounts. Here in Canada if there are two drivers in a household and two cars each driver gets a car, but maybe you could put the car into your girlfriends name, wife or mother, father and just pay a rate signifying being an "occasional driver". Other choice is go to another company, but they do ask if you have had any tickets, usually in the past two years. Good Luck

If by chance the tickets are still open, go to court and at least contest the set-up ticket that way you only have the one ticket on record.

_timothy

thank you for your input critter. my experience dealing with insurance is that you are incorrect with your assessment of the vehicle driving the rate. in my experience the most important factors are listed in order: type of vehicle, location of vehicle, record of driver, other used vehicles insured.

my problem is that i got sucked into a lower rate and switched from state farm. i am about to go attempt to go back though. i spoke to state farm on the phone and they don't even consider the HOV lane violations with regards to rates. i spoke to progressive to complain and they said with maximum disdain and sarcasm, "well, sir, those were your decisions werent they?" **** you!

the lesson i have learned is bundle with a reputable carrier. "discount" carriers are a pile of sh_it and will screw you given the opportunity. having an actual local agent who can take an objective look at the claim history & driving history is very important.

Critter

Apologize, Good Luck with your insurance company.
Do my E for 100/month
Wifes' CLK less than that 78/month

_timothy

no apology necessary. mulling this over, you may very well be right for how insurance works in your area. in fact, my experience is anecdotal i could be completely wrong. hopefully i didnt come off as as a jerk

cheers.

Critter

Try Allstate, had good luck with them while living in Alabama for a year, 223/month for two AMGS', they did not know me from a hole in the wall.

Think I wrote State Farm before.

CarHopper

Dangggg. Definitely new insurance is needed. I pay 100/mo for both my 1 series and c63 combined. And, I'm not even 25

AMG 17GT

Having made hundreds of claims State Farm and Allstate are one of the worst companies out there.

100/300 is dollars more a year and better yet get a balloon on the house for 1 million.

Geico usaa etc much better. You will know a insurance company by the claims dept not the commercial .....,.

ChrisC0863

HOV violations are still violations... I am an insurance agent with Nationwide and get these calls often. Unfortunately the company is required by the state to assess a surcharge, but how the surcharge is assessed and what deviations each carrier offers could mean you get a better deal elsewhere. I'm not licensed in FL but that rate does sound crazy even with points. Something just over $1k/6mos would be more acceptable I'd think if you are in FL.

Critter

PurpleHeartAMG So you are saying you pay 100/month for two cars full coverage and you are not 25 yet,?

ChrisC0863

I would like to see this as well, especially in NY.

_timothy

i have a major problem with that. i was paying <$1k/6m for a 09 cayman s, an 07 avalanche AND my 11 c63 in chicago (100/300/100, $500 deduct coll, compr). how can it be that the financial assessment of my risk is such that i will be paying a min of $1.2k/6m for just the c63 here (SOFLA) rather than there (dtown chicago)? just admit that its preposterous, rigged game of overregulation due to democrats and i will be satisfied

ChrisC0863

I'm not going to argue wrong or right haha...I will say that certain companies recognize that certain violations don't cost them money and will rate for them differently than if you were in an accident or something. Have you found cheaper rates elsewhere?

The other issue is where you live, FL has some screwy insurance laws.

_timothy

i was w/ state farm and got baited into progressive for a $300 annual savings on the same coverage. i havent had a claim in almost ~15 years so i figured why not. now i get some benign HOV tickets and they jack it up big time. WHOOPS.

JonMBZ

State farm doubled my insurance and reported a accident (point) on my record when I filed a claim for a rim/tire due to a pot hole on the FWY. I think it's still on my record now and I am still paying $320 a month down from $430 on two cars. When I use to pay like 120 for 1 car when I was a teenager. I wish I would have never reported the damage. The douche bag adjuster who made me wait a hour for him while he looked at other cars at the dealer which had no one waiting for him told me it would only make my insurance go up like $15 a month. I also asked him why he made me wait for an hour while he looked at other peoples cars that were not even there. He told me that he didn't know I was waiting even though I told him I heard the collision advisor telling him I was waiting because I called them 3 times from the other side of the dealer where my car was dropped off by the tow truck. He actually laughed in my face like it was funny then tried to write me a check on the spot for $200.00 which he stated that was what the AMG rim/tire was worth. I told him the collision center will have it repaired and bill you, I do not want a check. The total ended up being $2000.00 and I had to pay about 700.00 for part of the tire and deductible. So I really got screwed and still am and this was like two years ago.

m3m3m3

How did the insurance company find out? Does the HOV violation actually show up on your driving record?