Prius insurance costs - your experiences ??

[Soylent]

I'll bet the premiums will go up with all these Prius accidents I've heard about on priuschat... :-P

[tacomel]

We switched from an '02 Honda Civic and '03 Honda CR-V to two '06 Prii in June. All numbers herein are the cumulative six month premium for both vehicles.

With our (now former) insurance company, it went up by $15 total, to around $490. This included a multi-line discount for homeowner's insurance and umbrella policy.

Then we checked out Hybrid Traveler's, claiming a 20% discount. Their premium was $408 (no multi-line discounts other than two cars on the same policy). We switched, and anticipate switching homeowner's and umbrella coverages to them when they come up for renewal.

Online quoting from Geico, Progressive, and Allstate were all higher than our original insurance company. Did not check State Farm.

[IsrAmeriPrius]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Curtis SAC @ Sep 13 2006, 12:06 AM) [snapback]318819[/snapback]</div>

It was very coincidental that a colleague of mine brought up Mercury...

Wonder how they treat you when you have a claim.
[/b]

Don't ask. They'll try to slime their way out of paying any claim. In my hit and run rear end collision, from last December, they denied the claim because their insured who fled the scene "was not involved," even though I had the license plate, gave a detailed physical description of him and his car and identified him from a police photo line up. To boot, his car was totaled due to front end damage a couple of weeks after he collided with me. I am sure that they will eventually change their tune now that he had been convicted in the criminal case.

Years ago, when I was shopping for earthquake insurance, when the state earthquake authority offered inferior coverage and private policies were hard to come by, an agent wanted both my home and car insurance business in order to sell me a more comprehensive earthquake policy (with CalFarm). He tried to switch my auto insurance to Mercury. I saw the policy, with the prominent exclusion of my then five years old daughter and took my business elsewhere. With Mercury, had the kid got into the car, played with something and God forbid caused an accident, Mercury would have left me uncovered.

I am extremely happy with 21st Century

[HokieHybrid]

I'm in VA, and just switched from State Farm at $639 for six months to Travellers at $470 for six months with higher coverage.

[Jeannie]

I switched from Liberty Mutual to Geico with my old car about a year ago. Unfortunately, I totalled the car in April, but fortunately bought a Prius to replace my old car. When the policy was up for renewal in July, I checked out other insurance companies and got a very good quote from Allstate - I told them about the accident, but they didn't show it on my driving record. So I switched from Geico to Allstate, paying less for 6 months than I did for my OLD car that didn't have collision or comprehensive (and less than half what Geco wanted for the renewal).

This is in NJ. My new Allstate policy has optional coverage that says my premium won't go up for accidents or tickets, but I'll see what happens when the policy is up for renewal in January. If I read the policy right, I've got all sorts of discounts from the 'premium' because my driving record showed up clean in July, despite the April accident, so I expect the bottom line on my bill will go up a lot in January.

I've also got a discount from Allstate by switching homeowner's policy to them; the discount applied to both the auto and home policy.

But ANY time I've shopped for auto insurance in the last 10 years or so in NJ, the quotes would vary vastly from one company to another and flip-flop the next time I shopped around. But it's a LOT better than the days when almost no insurance companies were writing policies in New Jersey - you went into an 'assigned risk' pool if your insurance company stopped writing policies in NJ, and you got assigned to an insurance company, even if you had a perfect driving record.

The accident I had was my fault, but even though I plead guilty to a charge in NJ, it was a charge that didn't include any 'insurance points', so I won't be paying a state insurance surcharge of $300-$500 a year for the next three years (this is a charge paid directly to NJ, not a surcharge from the insurance company.) And the state of NJ will work hard to get that surcharge for the entire 3 years even if you move to another state.

[kirbinster]

I too am in NJ and agree, the insurance market here was terrible but has improved significantly in recent years. I have had State Farm for decades, so have the highest ratings with them never having an accident or ticket. Also I have homeowners and umbrella with them. When I added the last Prius a couple of months ago they based the rating on all the usual factors PLUS credit rating scores. Since we have the best credit in the world we go the rate I talked about earlier of only $174 every six months for the Prius. That includes full coverage with $500 deductible on collision and no deductible on comprehensive. The latter is great coverage, any windshield dings and I just get a free replacement.

[FreshAirGuy]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(wtfjr @ Sep 12 2006, 10:47 PM) [snapback]318713[/snapback]</div>

Hi All
When we received the auto insurance for our new '06 Prius, we were surprised that it cost more to insure than the 2005 Denali & the 2005 PT convertible.
It costs here in FL, $453 for six months with full coverage with $500,000 & $500,000 & $300,000 with a $500. deductible. The PT runs $441 & the Denali was $421.
This was a real shock to us.
Your comments ?

PS: the Denali has been sold !!
[/b]

Dallas County, Texas
2004 Matrix $892 yr
2005 Prius $820 yr
MetLife w/$500 deductible on each car with full coverage required on leased Matrix for both cars.

[auart]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Anthony @ Sep 13 2006, 01:50 PM) [snapback]319051[/snapback]</div>

State Farm, Bay Area. The rate for my 06 Prius is cheaper than both my previous cars (a 97 Prizm and a 02 Outback) for the same coverage. I was surprised that it is even cheaper than my 9 year old econobox.
[/b]

I am an Insurance Agent for one of the largest insurers in Alabama.
Insurance companies base rates on several factors, including rating you and your driving record first, but even if you are an older driver with a perfect driving record the second major factor that affects your rate on that vehicle is the COST FACTOR... This is what the insurance companies have determined is the average cost to replace and repair a particular vehicle... Once they determine the VIN number or the specifics for your vehicle each comapny has a built in way of knowing the Cost Factor..
All these things blended together determine what you pay. Some companies are cheaper in some areas and higher in others...
I bought my Prius in August and I am paying nearly the same as we are my wife's 2004 4runner, which cost a little more than the prius.
Also the area you live affects rates, as their are more auto accidents in certain areas, generally the bigger population areas are higher in most cases, but not all. Some areas with large populations have decent rates as not as many people use autos per household, such as using buses and subway's so the accident number per auto may be lower in some areas, but also the theft rate may be higher or lower.
There are tons of variables involved in a company calculating rates.

This is just a short explanation made simple.... All you need to do in your area is call around but when you check rates, be SPECIFIC with exactly the model and features, or VIN number so you can get a real comparison... IF they don't ask alot of questions then you might be surprised later when the rate ends up being more or going up...
Hope this helps!

Isn't it great to own a PRIUS !!!!!