Progressive or Geico for Insurance? And other ??s

[SoonerTexan]

1. Anyone know if DH and I can purchase insurance on cars owned by our parents...as in, they are our cars that we drive, but the titles are owned by our parents because it was just easier back when we were in high school/college. I'm not really worried about my mom trying to take possession of my car, so we'd like to just leave it as is and avoid the $$ that goes with changing the title on two cars. I have a friend who said she did this for years, but if anyone else has heard differently, that would be helpful.

2. Anyone use Progressive or Geico for auto insurance? So far, Progressive has the best quote by far (and a lower deductable), but I worry about paying a little less and then being screwed later on if something does happen.

3. Any insight on insuring a car that isn't worth all that much? My 2000 Taurus is probably only worth $3000, but I got it $1k under the blue book price 3 years ago and it is in wonderful shape. I plan to literally drive it until it dies, hopefully another 4-5 years at least. So if it was totaled, I figured we'd be screwed because it will be pretty dang hard to find another car in the same condition for $3k. Worth insuring for collison?

[Deebs]

We've had Geico in the past and been happy with them. When we were insured by them, we were in a crash with injuries only (minor), but hit by a driver also insured by Geico, and they paid out (from the driver's policy) with no problem. We're currently with Liberty Mutual because once we were looking at a total package, including homeowners, a huge umbrella policy, etc, their quote became the least expensive. I've always been told that once your car isn't worth much, it's best to drop collision.

[MDPhDWife]

We switched to Geico because they were the cheapest a couple years ago and haven't had any issues thus far. We also haven't had any claims through them either so I can't speak about that. DH's car is only worth a couple thousand too and even though we currently couldn't afford to replace it we don't have collision on it either.

[scarlett09]

We have Geico and I just went through all of the motions with them to change my name on the policy. I got a small discount for being married, although it doesn't appear DH will be getting the same discount (he's also with Geico). We got a quote from them for a multi-car policy and it would be saving us both about $600/year. However, because of financial reasons, mainly the fact that I'm a poor grad student, we won't combine policies until this time next year. We have been very fortunate to not have any claims or anything, so I can't really say much about that end of their business.

Not sure why you can't just stay on your parents' policies? And how much would it be to transfer the title from their names to yours? At your age it would be far cheaper to stay on a multi-car policy under your parents than branch out on your own policies. If you really wanted your own policies, perhaps it would be cheaper to go with one of the companies your parents are with? I think some companies provide a discount if you have been with them for so many years, etc.

[spotty_dog]

DH didn't take official possession of his car until he was almost 29, or maybe later, after having driven it since high school. We never had a problem with obtaining and paying for our own insurance policy.

Maybe you can find a local insurance broker to speak with and ask these sorts of questions? (We have USAA.)

[SoonerTexan]

We were under the impression we couldn't stay on our parent's policies once we were married, at least long term. Maybe we can...need to check into that.would be some tax money to change the titles

[SoonerTexan]

Thanks--I'll probably do that today.

2. Anyone use Progressive or Geico for auto insurance? So far, Progressive has the best quote by far (and a lower deductable), but I worry about paying a little less and then being screwed later on if something does happen.

Make sure you check the policy limits on the quotes and are comparing apples to apples. We got a great quote from Geico on the policy it recommended for us, but then realized the amounts would have been woefully inadequate to cover any injury.

We went with a local company and saved a lot by bundling car insurance with renters' insurance and our policies on my jewelery.

[v-girl]

We use an insurance broker. I've used them since 1995 or 96. I let them do all the work. They have us on Progressive for car and Travelers for house. We've never filed a claim for either so I can't say how they help with that.

DH drives a car that is his dad's. His parents insure it since they won't give it to us.

[Vishenka69]

We used to have Geico and I remember calling them to ask if we can move the insurance to our names while driving my parents' car and they wouldn't do it. But that was a couple of years back. We're now with a local company and it's much cheaper than Geico.

[Tenacious_D]

We used Geico for a while in NYC and they seemed fine. We are now under an umbrella policy with Liberty Mutual. They are clearly cheaper since we no longer have to pay the costs of having a car in NYC.

[Pollyanna]

We have Geico because it was the cheapest once we added dd to our policy. Some companies wanted an extra 200/month to have a teen driver on your policy! Geico was far more reasonable.

We've used Geico for years and have been pleased. We've had two claims with them that were super easy to file. Somebody rear-ended us once. Geico took care of all the details with the other driver's insurance company, and we got the minor repairs done, no problem. The other claim was when our tractor's front-loader went through the rear windshield of our van when DH was trying to pull me out of the snow. Other than the lady suppressing a chuckle, they were really nice about it, covered the repairs, and didn't count it against us.

I don't know about getting insurance on your parents' vehicles. Hope your phone calls about it go well.

[SoonerTexan]

We just decided to stay under their plan. Still need renter's insurance, but for now one less thing to worry about

[MissCrabette]

I should be sleeping, but here I am catching up.

Marissa, are you sure it would cost money to transfer the titles? I don't know about Texas, but Maryland allows free transfers between parents and children. I'd do it just in case they decide to be jerks about it and not honor the policy if you get into an accident.