[whitebark]

It's like a big, fat target was painted onto my poor little hatchback. Idiots kept running into it. Luckily they all had insurance, so I got to experience how good each insurance company dealt with my claim (in all cases, the accident was the other driver's fault). Incident 1: A lady, no doubt taking on her cell phone, rams my car while while I was stopped at an intersection. Her insurance was USAA. My claim experience was smooth. USAA assigned an agent to my case and he was attentive and easy to reach. The body shop recommended by USAA did a good job. I would give them an A rating. Incident 2: A dad and his son (who was driving) makes a left turn and broadsides my car. It was during the day and visibility was excellent. A totally inexplicable accident. Their insurance was Farmers. Claim experience: wretched. grade F . Their adjustment department employs about 3 people to cover the entire United States and they won't answer their phones until hell freezes over. Never get Farmers insurance and pray you are never hit by anyone with it. No matter how cute their TV ads are. Incident 3: This one delivered the Coup de Grace to my poor hatchback. While my car was parked in front of my house, another father and son team in a Taurus GL decided to make a sharp swerve and smash into the rear of my car. Again the son was driving. Their insurance was Geico. Claim experience: not bad. They responded quickly and wrote me a fat check after deciding my car was toast. A few glitches and delays here and there - I would give Geico an A- Way to go, lizard insurance!

[RichP]

I've been pretty satisfied with Progressive over the years and they actually lowered my rate recently for good driving. I've never had an incident other than some hail damage while using a rental back east. They didn't bat an eye and covered everything. My parked car got hit a few weeks back too. The driver fortunately left a note and her insurance company (State Farm) covered the repair. If you don't already have uninsured motorist on your plan, get it. It's just a few bucks extra and will cover you if an uninsured driver damages your car. Jeff, your insurance rates can go up based on your zip code too.

[Randito]

I'm currently with Safeco -- thinking of switching after our rates when up after a taxi cab rear-ending our Honda Fit while my wife was stopped at a red light last year.

[Chief Joseph]

I have been going with Drivers World broad form Insurance for about 15 years now. I pay about 50 bucks per month for liability only and am covered to drive pretty much any vehicle. It would have actually went down to $35 per month, but I got my first speeding ticket in 40 years, so it remained at $50. I have never had full coverage Insurance and have not ever needed it (knock on wood)....I pay cash for my vehicles and the most I have spent at once was $3400 recently for a 2003 Suburban.

[Tom]

Progressive had the cheapest rates for us by far. But it really depends on what demographic you are in and who is offering the best rates for that demographic. If you get progressive I would highly advise against the snapshot device. All it takes is one late night ride home from a hike and you are in high risk category. Since Progressive already had the cheapest rates for us by a mile it seemed like there was a lot more downside than upside.

[Olympic Hiker]

[I'm Pysht]

[Chief Joseph]

[Randito]

Someone I know owns a "supercar" (Audio R8, v10 engine, other after market enhancements) has a "traffic attorney" on retainer to fix all his tickets. He says the insurance savings ( by maintaining a clean driving record) more than pay for the retainer fee. He also claims that his "Best Time" from Twisp to Redmond via HWY-20 is 2:34. Not how I would spend my money or risk my life...

[Chief Joseph]

Lol...I think how it works is that they subpoena all the service records for the radar detector, etc., making it too expensive to prosecute, so they dismiss the charges.

[Malachai Constant]

My experience as an attorney was pretty similar to Whitebarks even though it was many years ago. Always good results with USAA. Progressive has also been pretty good would never have an insurance co device in my car. Always get the no deductible glass add on if you go to trailheads.

[tmatlack]

My wife was recently rear ended in a chain reaction idling up the Mt. Lk. Terrace exit off S.B. I-5. The at fault driver, an architect, had lowest allowed limit on prop. damage...$10,000 or so. He totaled the 1st car, much damage to my wife's. The 1st car he hit was a young, working woman, who owed tons on her totaled car and no Uninsured/Under insured. Since at fault architect had to split lo limit $10,000, working woman could not replace her car. Both at fault architect and working woman have Geiko. We are Pemco. We had to use our Underinsured benefit and our rates went up. Whole thing reeks. We still have no $$$ for rental car. Go buy Underinsurance and make sure you have lots of Prop. Damage coverage!!! Tom

[jinx'sboy]

One caveat if you are considering Progressive Ins..... An acquaintance runs a body shop. He got very tired of the adjustors from Progressive constantly wheedling him down on his estimates for body repair (wanting him to use substandard or used parts, cutting corners on paint, etc). So, he put up a sign in his shop, "This shop does not accept work from Progressive Insurance". He said it just wasn't worth the hassle any longer, and others in his trade were taking similar steps.

[Navy salad]

I got hit by a guy covered by USAA insurance last summer. They actually called me before I called them (I think it was only a few hours after the accident); they gave me 3 choices of body shops to go to; got me a rental car; and after they decided my car was totaled (I assumed that would be the case), I got market value and dthen they let me buy it back for $100. I would buy USAA insurance myself, except I don't have the military connection needed.

[Randito]

Here is another insurance experience that I had with my Honda Fit -- It's pretty darned new -- just 700 miles or so on the odo, I'm on I-405 southbound just North of NE 8TH on a Friday afternoon -- unsurprisingly there is stop and go traffic. I come to a stop. A Dodge Quad Cab pickup pulls up behind me and stops about 3-4 feet from my bumper. A few seconds later there is a loud crash behind me and then an impact from behind. A cargo van loaded with equipment had rear ended the pickup truck and shoved it into the Fit rear end, smashing it in, lights were gone, the hatch wouldn't open. The cargo van driver stepped out of his van and said -- with no prompting "I wasn't texting". Info was exchanged. A couple days later an investigator from the Cargo Van driver's insurance company (The Travelers) called and was asking whether I felt a single impact or two impacts -- it seems the cargo van driver was claiming that the pickup truck had rear-end me first. I told the investigator that I had only felt one impact and I related the "I wasn't texting" uttered by the cargo van driver. After that the "investigator" said "OH, thank you very much, take the car anywhere you like to have it fixed and we will also provide you with a rental". Repair bill came to a bit over $7000, the car was in the shop over 5 weeks -- so the rental bill must have been quite a bit as well -- The Travelers covered it all without any problems.