5 Helpful Tips To Avoid Higher Auto Insurance Premiums

WEST ORANGE, N.J. - May 29, 2013 - PRLog -- In April 2013, I received a magazine published by my insurance company.  The company created a comic book-like story regarding insurance fraud.

The insurance company describes a feel good story about an enthusiastic claims investigator who joins the insurance company after serving in the military and foils insurance fraud.  The plot of the story centers on the activity leading up to an insurance fraud situation where a "Chiropractic clinic" and a "crooked attorney" (this is the actual wording of the story - not my own) hire "runners" - "criminals who set up the fraud".  In the end, the protagonist hero "claim invesigator" reports the scam to his director of claims and the director of claims reports the fraud to the State prosecutors.  Fraud averted!

In the end, the protagonist hero is quoted saying, "Fraud like this hurts everyone - especially law-abiding policyholders, who shouldn't have to pay for the work of criminals.  That's why it always feels good to bring down a crook."  

I enjoyed this story, it made me feel good about my insurance company at first, but then I received my renewal premium statement.  That's when I thought to myself, "who are the crooks here?"  My insurance company, was raising my rates for a second time in two consecutive renewal periods.  The increases were significant.  Because I am a safe driver, I pay roughly $450.00 for six months of coverage.  Last year, after dropping some coverage and increasing my deductibles, the rate went up to $500.00 for six months and this year they wanted $698.00?

I decided to do a little investigating of my own.  Which brings me to my first tip.

1)  Investigate.  

Do not just pay your renewal premium.  A simple phone call is all it took for the insurance representative to drop my new premium by $80.00.  No questions asked.

2)  Fight the violation when appropriate.

No one is going to give you something for free in this world.  You must fight when you believe you are right.  I will use my own experience for illustration purposes.  Last year, I was driving in a 35 mile an hour zone which then became a 25 mile an hour zone for approximately 50 feet.  I didn't notice that my car was going over the speed limit by ten miles but a local police officer did.  The violation carried three points.  This was outrageous to me and I decided to plead not guilty and have my day in court.

In a situation like this, you will save yourself a lot of money with your insurance company by just calling the court on the phone, telling them that you would like to plead not guilty and show up on the day and time they tell you to show up.  Typically, you ask to speak with the prosecutor and if your record is clean or relatively harmless, the prosecutor will give you a break.  Of course, you will have to pay a fine to the court, but your efforts will pay off in several ways.  First, you will not get three points on your license for a bogus violation (having more to do with a police officer's boredom) than your actions.  Second, you will "save hundreds on your car insurance."  You know the phrase that all car insurance providers try to sell you on TV?  Well you can handle it on your own.  Third, your record with the Driver Motor Vehicle Commission will be accurate and help you down the road.  Which brings me to my third tip.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR FOR HELP WITH YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY CONTACT US AT:

TRUST MEDIATION

59 MAIN STREET, SUITE 341

WEST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY 07052

(862) 233-6228

www.trustmediation1.com

3)  Get a driver abstract with the Driver Motor Vehicle Commission.

I recommend you wait a few months after you go to court and pay your fine because the DMV will take its time to accurately report on your abstract.  The abstract can be obtained online or in person with DMV, it costs $15.00 to get a certified copy and it will arrive in the mail in about one week.  The importance of waiting a few months to pull your abstract from the DMV is that when you first have a violation reported, insurance companies have a way of evaluating your record immediately.  That means, they are starting to salivate with eagerness to tell you how much more you owe them when it comes time to renew.  Your weapon to counter this is knowledge, knowledge, knowledge.  Be prepared and anticipate a higher rate.  When they try to stick you with the higher rate, you ask what the reason is.  They will say you have a violation, but chances are they have the old violation because (remember) it is immediately reported to the insurance provider when you are given the summons or ticket by the police officer.  (It's true, don't believe they don't do it!  The insurance companies work very closely with the municipalities and police departments to acquire records immediately on all their policy holders)  By now, it's down right automated, they get a notice via computer system.  Sometimes it's for good reason, most times it just screws the little guy.

When I faxed my abstract to my insurance company, one day before I had to renew, The insurance company called me, apologized and dropped my rate by another $163.00.  Surprised?  Don't be.  This brings me to my fourth tip.

4)  Do not buy the story from the insurance agent on the phone.

The insurance agent I spoke to told me that the insurance company did not see any points on my record but they had assigned certain points to my record themselves through an internal point system.  What?  This was immediately suspect.  How could an insurance provider have an internal point structure that goes beyond the DMV point scale and works to increase my premium.  Again, don't fall for it!  Which brings me to my fifth and last tip.

5)  Report indiscrepancies when you hear something fishy.

Think of it this way.  If the insurance company is on the alert for insurance fraud, who is policing the insurance company?  We've all heard the rhetoric about "your insurance rates go up because of massive law suits" they always try to blame the consumer.  Try to make it sound like, "it's your fault we have to increase rates" nonsense!  If you hear of something fishy, report it to the State Attorney General - Consumer Affairs Department.  When you contact them, they may actually put you in touch with a State entity that more closely regulates insurance companies.  Now lets get out there and save!