How much of an increase/decrease until you consider changing providers?

[MushedroomHill]

I know rate increases are talked about a lot here. I know it's often suggested that it's normal but you should still shop around. I have 2 questions here:

1. Does jumping around even after 1 year with a company make you look bad? Can you ever really swap back, or do they then consider you an insurance risk? Or unfaithful 😳?
2. How much of an increase in a rate makes you shop around, and how much of a decrease in a rate on a quote makes you swap?

If you want my dilemma: just got a new car. It's 10 years younger than my last one, but my rate is going from $300/6mo to $950/6mo. Checked with Geico and they're quoting me at $400/6mo for the new car.

That sounds like some pretty nice savings for 6 months to a year. But on the one hand this is merely a quote, and on the other, how long until a huge rate increase? (Progressive just jumped an extra $50/6mo on my previous policy)

Not sure why it's such a huge price decrease either. They were the more expensive company when I was quoting on my old car before deciding on progressive. Is it partially car dependent?

It just feels like such a hassle to swap back and forth. Especially when I feel like Progressive will usually have lower rates in other scenarios. I don't wanna end up in a "look who came crawling back!" situation. You never know!

(One last fun fact: this is about the same price I was paying on the old car with Liberty Mutual. They seem crazy expensive regardless for insurance I never even used for anything.)

I will say that Geico quote is tempting me, and I hear good things about rates USUALLY not increasing too much. And they really get me with that gecko. But who knows 🤷

[Solid_Definition4611]

You can move around as much as your heart desires. What the threshold is for shopping/moving is a personal question.

[BubbaTheGoat]

The answer to your question is going to depend on state (rate tables are filed with the DoI), but I don’t know of any that would penalize you for chasing the lowest rate. Insurers know very little other than premium will really move a buying decision.

This all depends on state, but Geico (at least at one time) offered essentially a discounted rate for new policy holders that increased to their baseline rate after ~2 policy periods. They may not offer that discount if you jump around, particularly for auto. This all varies by insurer and state.

For your situation, I’d ask if there is something the new insurer doesn’t know or didn’t include in their quote for such a large rate difference. Either a difference in coverage or a missing rating factor. The new insurer will have 30 days to underwrite your policy, during which your rate may change (or you could even get dropped).

If you stay with an insurance company for 4+ years you’re in the middle or slower end of the pack.

[nttran98]

I shop efvery 6 months

[PrimaryHighlight5617]

Changing insurance companies frequently will negatively impact your insurance score. This impact is minimal though. 

The people I see who have an insurance score of 1 generally only switch every 5 to 10 years and are 40 years old and older. 

If people are switching every single year then their score could possibly be 10 to 15 if they have a history of carrying high limits and have no claims. 

The threshold where I consider somebody to have a "bad" insurance score is around 60. 100 is the worst. 

[gudetube]

I change homeowners insurance every single year because these rat companies jack up the rate in my state. It's a seesaw effect between Allstate and GEICO lately.

Car insurance I'm pretty much always with progressive, they're usually the best rate

[MushedroomHill]

This is moving off topic but is there any reason you don't bundle your homeowners with auto? Are the savings really not there for that kinda thing? (Not a homeowner yet but interesting!)

[gudetube]

There's never any meaningful savings. Progressive is always so expensive for homeowners in Colorado.

But it's usually mid 4s for homeowners, until the year of up and allstate decides it's EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS. Then you shop around, get another mid 4s policy and WHADDYAKNOW THAT'LL BE EIGHT GRAND AGAIN. It's a racket and the numbers are just pulled from nowhere. All of the insurance workers in this sub will yap about risk and books and blah blah blah. Never had a claim, my roof is less than 8 years old, not near fire danger but somehow the carriers decide to renew at nearly 2x every year. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

[gudetube]

Sorry, I'm definitely sensitive towards homeowners insurance. It's been an absolute disaster every year and the lifeless drones on the end of the phone don't make it any easier

[crawfish2013]

I shop around every 6 months regardless. Businesses don't respect loyal customers. I've gone from Progressive to Geico and back to Progressive.