Miles Driven and Car Insurance

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Firewood42
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Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by Firewood42 »

Do all auto insurance companies charge more for high mileage drivers? My present insurance company has raised my rates because I drive so many miles, in spite of the fact that I have been with them for 10 years and have a perfect driving record. I don't remember other car insurance companies I had in the past, checking on how many miles I drove and raising their rates accordingly.
sport
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by sport »

State Farm considers mileage for determining rates. My mileage is low, so my rate is also low.

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Sidney
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by Sidney »

I believe a USAA gives a low mileage discount. Makes sense. More miles, more risk, AOTE.
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cheese_breath
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by cheese_breath »

Ditto with AAA. More miles, more risk.
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pennstater2005
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by pennstater2005 »

That's a good question. They typically only ask your yearly average mileage upon initiating the insurance. I have never had an insurance company contact me to ask what my mileage was from year to year. I guess your best bet would be to shop your insurance around and do a little investigating.
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FabLab
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by FabLab »

Firewood42,
Perhaps, at this 10-year juncture, it would be an opportune time for you to canvas* the auto insurers. Compare their rates. I've been with GEICO for roughly 40 years, and my recent paperwork indicates I receive discounts for multi-car, anti-lock brakes, anti-theft devices, and 5-year good driving ( :D ). It does not mention a low-mileage discount.

Cheers & good luck.

P.S. Full disclosure: In another section of the paperwork, separate from the above, it also mentions a "Special 50+ rating." :sharebeer

*Oy. Canvass
Last edited by FabLab on Wed Sep 05, 2012 12:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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NAD83
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by NAD83 »

I've always gotten a discount for low mileage. I think the cutoff for both carriers I've had was 7,500/year. They ask for mileage every year. I would assume high-mileage rates would be higher. They should be.
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by Sheepdog »

The previous carrier to my present one did not give a discount for low mileage. They didn't ask our mileage except when the original application was completed. My present carrier, AARP Hartford, with whom we have been with for a year and a half, requested our car's odometer readings. They gave us a big discount this year.
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by Grt2bOutdoors »

FabLab wrote:Firewood42,
Perhaps, at this 10-year juncture, it would be an opportune time for you to canvas* the auto insurers. Compare their rates. I've been with GEICO for roughly 40 years, and my recent paperwork indicates I receive discounts for multi-car, anti-lock brakes, anti-theft devices, and 5-year good driving ( :D ). It does not mention a low-mileage discount.

Cheers & good luck.

P.S. Full disclosure: In another section of the paperwork, separate from the above, it also mentions a "Special 50+ rating." :sharebeer

*Oy. Canvass
Although it does not mention the discount (reading the code classifications "A,S", etc on your policy will show what risk category you reside in), your policy is priced according to level of risk incurred. For example, I hold a GEICO policy with a multi-car, anti-lock brakes, anti-theft, 5 year good driver discount as well. One vehicle is newer and significantly heavier in weight and also incurs higher mileage during weekly excursions to employers office, the other does not. Liability coverage on the newer vehicle is higher even though it has all the latest safety gadgets that are now industry standard - why? - well, a)the vehicle is heavier and for those with some knowledge of physics - more mass combined with speed can create horrific damage, b)more mileage equals significantly more opportunity to incur or cause damage to someone else and c)insurance companies need to turn a profit otherwise Uncle Warren would not own it, besides float. :wink: :moneybag
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dm200
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by dm200 »

With State Farm for the last 40 years, my recollection is that miles driven on each insured car is taken into account. I think it is based on the categories of total miles driven as well as miles/week to/from work/school. I specifically remember, at everal times, changing/correcting this (and getting an adjustment to premium). If you have multiple insured vehicles, you can sometimes "adjust" the split of vehicles to get into a lower price "bracket".
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Firewood42
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by Firewood42 »

Sidney wrote:I believe a USAA gives a low mileage discount. Makes sense. More miles, more risk, AOTE.


Not true, I live in the country, I am 25 miles from the nearest Walmart in small town. I make many long drives in the country. I sometimes see more Amish Buggies and deer then cars. I am also retired now. No more forced trips in blizzards, fog, through big city rush hour etc. My wife and I enjoy traveling. We avoid big cities and often drive from Ohio to the Washington state to visit family. Also to far south Texas for our January and February snow birding. Four years ago we even drove to Alaska. I consider all these trips far safer then my work related trips when I was younger.

When I worked I drove 50,000 miles a year just to get to job sites. I have 2 million miles of safe accident free driving for work related trips. Now the cost of insurance is forcing me out of my favorite activities.

I guess it is time to shop around for insurance.
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pjstack
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by pjstack »

I have USAA insurance and they occasionally ask me for my yearly mileage, but the haven't asked for a couple of years now.
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Firewood42
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by Firewood42 »

Sheepdog wrote:The previous carrier to my present one did not give a discount for low mileage. They didn't ask our mileage except when the original application was completed. My present carrier, AARP Hartford, with whom we have been with for a year and a half, requested our car's odometer readings. They gave us a big discount this year.
Hartford has been my carrier for the last 10 years. They called me to get my odometer mileage readings. When I got my insurance policy the cost was 50 per cent higher.

The thing that gets me is the are setting this years rates on what I drove the last two years. I have no idea what I will drive this year. It could be from 20,000 to 50,000 depending on family events etc.

When I was really driving long distances for work my previous carrier never asked for mileage readings.
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interplanetjanet
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by interplanetjanet »

I've used Geico for the last nine years, and every time that I've renewed or made changes to my policy (that I can remember) they've asked me for miles driven. I paid more when I was commuting 25000mi/yr (yes, I was honest) but now that I work from home I'm gratified to have quite low rates (I drive 3000-4000 miles per year now).

I would think that insurance companies that don't ask for miles driven would eventually be victims of adverse selection. Perhaps it's not a big enough factor.

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FabLab
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by FabLab »

GRT2BOUTDOORS wrote: Although it does not mention the discount ... your policy is priced according to level of risk incurred.

... insurance companies need to turn a profit ...
Mirabile dictu ... guess I learn something entirely new every day :P

GRT2BOUTDOORS wrote: One vehicle is newer and significantly heavier in weight and also incurs higher mileage during weekly excursions to employers office, the other does not. Liability coverage on the newer vehicle is higher even though it has all the latest safety gadgets that are now industry standard - why? - well, a)the vehicle is heavier and for those with some knowledge of physics - more mass combined with speed can create horrific damage, b)more mileage equals significantly more opportunity to incur or cause damage to someone else ...
1) new vehicle - check
2) significantly heavier - check (my Land Cruiser weighs a few pounds, certainly more than our other car)
3) higher mileage on said vehicle - check, by a wide margin
4) new safety stuff - check
5) physics - always fun

Returning to the OP's question: "Do all auto insurance companies charge more for high mileage drivers?" Do I know it from stated policy? Can't really say as I do, since I looked cursorily at my GEICO stuff (policy, declarations page, renewal paper) and nowhere could I find any mention of mileage as a pricing factor. Does mileage play a role in pricing a policy, well, I guess that may fall into the category of common sense. Without fail I get a GEICO form every year asking me to represent our mileage driven. BTW, regarding that Land Cruiser, the delta between its cost to insure each year and our other vehicle is peanuts -- at least, the way I see things.

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kayo
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by kayo »

pjstack wrote:I have USAA insurance and they occasionally ask me for my yearly mileage, but the haven't asked for a couple of years now.
Just for a laugh I went to my insurer's web site and asked for an insurance quote for (pick a random car) a 2013 Honda Accord LX 4-door

Estimating 10k miles/year = $x/mo
Estimating 20k miles/year = $x + 3.15/mo
Estimating 30k miles/year = $x + 6.49/mo

This was a quote for adding the car to my existing policy rather than replacing, and obviously it takes into consideration all of *my* history/attributes. YMMV.

Seems better to make a good faith estimate of your miles driven and pay a few extra bucks each month rather than to give the insurer the opportunity to come back at claim payout time and hassle you about a lowball mileage estimate.
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by vveat »

I recently checked with my insurer because my employer moved offices and now I drive under 6000 miles a year. But they said their cutoff for low mileage was 12000 a year and I was already under it, so they will make an adjustment but the premium won't change. I think they also said they consider 12-14k moderate and above 14k high mileage - presumably with a premium increase. This is Liberty Mutual.
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bru
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by bru »

With State Farm our classification was always 100 miles/wk, over 7500/yr. I always thought that was lowest and asked my agent many times. Somehow I found out there was a lower category, 30 miles/wk, not more than 7500/yr. The agent called it the old peoples policy. The switch saved us quite a bit as a percentage of premium. We will have to verify how much we drive. I'm still miffed he never told me about the lower category as we could have been in it for several years.
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grabiner
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by grabiner »

Instead of mileage, the insurer may ask the length of your commute. I changed job locations several times in MD, and when my commute changed from 8 miles to 17, I moved into a different rating category and my rate went up by 10%. As soon as I returned to the site 8 miles away, I notified my insurer and my rate went back down. My current commute in NJ is one mile (and I walk it half the time), and my insurer considers that to be non-commuting use, and thus the lowest use category.
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by tomd37 »

USAA does offer a discount based on annual miles driven. I am a 51-year member of USAA and I retired ten years ago. My annual mileage on each car is now only 5,000 miles. I receive a discount of $25.52 on one vehicle and $23.73 on the other on a six-month policy. When I was working and commuting in one car it was noted that car was used for driving to work and the other car was noted for pleasure use only.

I note that my discount off the normal premium on a six-month policy is $290. :dollar
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by sscritic »

AAA (SoCal) asks for the odometer reading every year. They know how to subtract, which is how they are able to determine the annual mileage.
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by scrabbler1 »

I worked in the actuarial field for 23 years, specializing in personal auto insurance. Annual mileage was sometimes but not always a rating variable (but its use as a rating variable has been growing). However, the length of one's daily commute if by car has always been a rating variable. The cutoff I found was either 10 or 15 miles, depending on the class rating plan. For young drivers, this mileage cutoff was often ignored because youthful operator classes had far less data and we combined some vehicle use classes (i.e. pleasure and farm, work and business) to boost their credibility in our data reviews.

As for my own policy, I have sometimes been asked by my company to provide odometer readings. The only time I had to actually show my agent the car's odometer so they could take a picture of it was when I first bought my previous car, a used one.

I drive very little, maybe 3,300 miles per year but there is no "special" mileage class for "extra-low" mileage, only 7,500 miles or less. And I never used my car for more than 3 miles to drive to work (actually, my nearest train station for a few months decades ago).
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FrugalInvestor
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by FrugalInvestor »

dm200 wrote:With State Farm for the last 40 years, my recollection is that miles driven on each insured car is taken into account. I think it is based on the categories of total miles driven as well as miles/week to/from work/school. I specifically remember, at everal times, changing/correcting this (and getting an adjustment to premium). If you have multiple insured vehicles, you can sometimes "adjust" the split of vehicles to get into a lower price "bracket".
I've never been questioned about driving high mileage with State Farm (also insured with them for 40+ years) but I do receive discounted rates on vehicles I drive less than 7500 miles per year. I am not aware of being able to 'split' miles between vehicles but suppose that may be state specific.

Edit: The other question I am always asked when insuring a vehicle for the first time is whether or not I drive it to work. If not driven to work (pleasure only) I believe the rates are less than if driven to work.
Last edited by FrugalInvestor on Thu Sep 06, 2012 7:44 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by grabiner »

interplanetjanet wrote:I would think that insurance companies that don't ask for miles driven would eventually be victims of adverse selection. Perhaps it's not a big enough factor.
There are two reasons that miles driven are likely not to be a major factor. One is that very long trips tend to be mostly on freeways, which are safer per mile driven; a 50-mile commute with 48 miles on a freeway isn't that much more dangerous than a 10-mile commute with 8 miles on the freeway. The other is that more miles means more opportunities to get accidents and tickets; a driver with one accident driving 100,000 miles in five years has fewer accidents per mile than a driver with one accident driving 50,000 miles in five years, and is thus probably a safer driver.

The other reason to ask for commuting distance rather than miles driven is that it is easier to verify and harder to commit fraud. If you drove 11,000 miles last year, you might estimate incorrectly that you drove less than 10,000, or you could claim that you actually expect to drive less than 10,000. But if you have a 10-mile commute, you know that it is 10 miles, and if you report it as 5 miles and then get into an accident near your office, you will get caught in the fraud.
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by Mitchell777 »

My rates went up when my work commute changed to over 30 miles each way
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Firewood42
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by Firewood42 »

I laugh when my insurance company started asking my how far I commute. My wife and I run a skilled service business in the poultry industry. We started in the early 60's. When we were working full time we would go anywhere that would fit in our schedule. We might drive only 40 miles a week, then get a phone call and start driving 1000 miles a week. As the industry changed through the years we had to change with it. At one time we "commuted" from Ohio to Michigan to work, a 4 hour trip. Then we even went from Ohio to Michigan to southern Indiana and later my wife made a 300 mile round trip to eastern Ohio and I made a 400 mile round trip to southern Indiana. I often drove a four wheel drive pickup to haul my equipment and especially to fight the weather. We often had to fight two ft of snow and drifts to get to work. We absolutely had to be there or our customers would take a total loss.

The main thing is: WE WERE NEVER ASKED ABOUT MILEAGE DURING THE FIRST 40 YEARS OF OUR BUSINESS. I never paid any more insurance then the guy that "commuted" 30 miles a day. Only when we went to our present carrier 10 years ago did mileage start to make a difference.

Now we are retired and still like to travel for pleasure. When my grandfather retired he had photos of him and grandma at every state capital in the 48 states. My dad retired and traveled all over the country by himself sometimes up to age 80.
I am sure they didn't pay that much more in insurance for being high mileage drivers. I just hope I can find insurance not priced according to mileage so my wife and I can enjoy traveling in our retirement.
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by SupaDave25 »

We have Progressive and are enrolled in the Snapshot program. We've been enrolled since May 9th and I have averaged 332 miles per week in a 2005 Sienna and she's at 122 miles per week in an Acura RDX. The biggest factors according to Progressive are the time of day and driving style (hard braking). They also track speed, mileage and amount of time driving but those don't seem to have much affect on our discount. I've maxed out our discount at 30% and my wife is currently at 19%.
Last edited by SupaDave25 on Sun Mar 10, 2013 12:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Mister Moolah
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by Mister Moolah »

Knowing somebody that works in the insurance industry, I can tell you that your mileage does effect your price. Most companies take a mileage reading when you sign up, and one about a year after you sign up. Your price will go up or down based on how much you told them you drive versus how much you actually drove. A lot of companies don't ask for mileage often if your original mileage estimates were reasonably close. Your rates can change drastically as this person has seen when people sign up saying they only drive 8 or 9k miles per year, and then 2 or 3 years later the odometer reading is taken again and they actually drove 20k miles per year. There is no point in trying to skew the numbers because it will catch up to you later. You might get cheaper insurance now for lower mileage numbers, but when they find out later that you drove much more, your new price will more than make up for your "savings".

Bottom line: Mileage has an effect, and in certain circumstances it can be significant. Be smart, plan your trips, and don't take more than are necessary.
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by tyrion »

Firewood42 wrote:I laugh when my insurance company started asking my how far I commute. My wife and I run a skilled service business in the poultry industry. We started in the early 60's. When we were working full time we would go anywhere that would fit in our schedule. We might drive only 40 miles a week, then get a phone call and start driving 1000 miles a week. As the industry changed through the years we had to change with it. At one time we "commuted" from Ohio to Michigan to work, a 4 hour trip. Then we even went from Ohio to Michigan to southern Indiana and later my wife made a 300 mile round trip to eastern Ohio and I made a 400 mile round trip to southern Indiana. I often drove a four wheel drive pickup to haul my equipment and especially to fight the weather. We often had to fight two ft of snow and drifts to get to work. We absolutely had to be there or our customers would take a total loss.

The main thing is: WE WERE NEVER ASKED ABOUT MILEAGE DURING THE FIRST 40 YEARS OF OUR BUSINESS. I never paid any more insurance then the guy that "commuted" 30 miles a day. Only when we went to our present carrier 10 years ago did mileage start to make a difference.

Now we are retired and still like to travel for pleasure. When my grandfather retired he had photos of him and grandma at every state capital in the 48 states. My dad retired and traveled all over the country by himself sometimes up to age 80.
I am sure they didn't pay that much more in insurance for being high mileage drivers. I just hope I can find insurance not priced according to mileage so my wife and I can enjoy traveling in our retirement.
The world changes. Can you blame the insurance companies for wanting to charge you a rate that reflects the amount of actual miles driven?

You should shop around for the best rate for your circumstances.
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FrugalInvestor
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by FrugalInvestor »

TranceLordSnyder wrote:Knowing somebody that works in the insurance industry, I can tell you that your mileage does effect your price. Most companies take a mileage reading when you sign up, and one about a year after you sign up. Your price will go up or down based on how much you told them you drive versus how much you actually drove. A lot of companies don't ask for mileage often if your original mileage estimates were reasonably close. ....
I've been asked but only on the the car that is rated to drive less than 7500 miles per year. I had recently taken a long road trip and so was averaging quite a bit above 7500 at that point. I was straightforward with my response, my rates did not change and I've never been asked again - after seven years my average is 6,000 miles per year.

I have never been asked about mileage on my primary vehicles (40+ years). The only two questions asked are when I initially insure a vehicle and they are: "Will the vehicle be driven more than 7500 miles annually?" and, "will it be driven to and from work."

Apparently this varies with the insurance company.
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by kaneohe »

Firewood42 wrote:Do all auto insurance companies charge more for high mileage drivers? My present insurance company has raised my rates because I drive so many miles, in spite of the fact that I have been with them for 10 years and have a perfect driving record. I don't remember other car insurance companies I had in the past, checking on how many miles I drove and raising their rates accordingly.
I might be remembering incorrectly but I thought State Farm offered a choice to elect into the mileage plan or not........it was a benefit for me so I did. If you didn't elect in, you weren't eligible for the discount but you wouldn't be charged more (than you were currently paying).......in a way this is kind of playing with words like the credit card people do.........in CA, you can't get charged more for using a credit card but you can get a discount for paying w/ cash.
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by Mudpuppy »

One policy renewal period, even though I had sent in the paperwork saying I only commuted 3 miles one-way to work and put on 6500 miles that year, the renewal came in at the next category up in both commute and total mileage, and it was about $40 more for the 6 month period. It was a rather easy fix, but I was a bit surprised that such a small difference led to such a large rate increase. Now I make sure to check that portion of the policy renewal declaration just to make sure it hasn't crept up to the next category again.
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by lexie2000 »

I have State Farm and they just started asking us our mileage about 2 years ago. We put less than 5K miles/yr. on either vehicle so it drastically reduced our rates. I was bummed they didn't ask earlier.
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by roymeo »

pennstater2005 wrote:That's a good question. They typically only ask your yearly average mileage upon initiating the insurance. I have never had an insurance company contact me to ask what my mileage was from year to year. I guess your best bet would be to shop your insurance around and do a little investigating.
GEICO sent a letter this year asking me to confirm my low reported mileage of 3K/year. And said they'd bump it up to 12K/year if they didn't hear back. I was able to really see what the mileage was due to tracking miles for business.
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by Tiekoon »

How timely the question, I just mailed my actual vehicle mileage verification back to insurance company today for renewal. I’ve been with Auto Club of Southern California (AAA) for thirty plus years and seems like they have requested this for at least the last ten or so. They claim it is for discount relative to use, so with seven vehicles insured (five low usage), I never hesitate to comply. Now I’m wondering the parameters and amount of discount, don’t think I’ve ever seen actual detail on that. I will surely follow up now. Thanks.

Jack
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by CABob »

I have Farmers Insurance and they have always had tiered rates based on mileage. For the past several years they have been checking more often asking what my mileage for the prior year has been.
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by AQ »

I was asked by my insurance company (AAA) for the milage I drove, and without second thought, I put my actual number for the year when I had two long distance road trips (in a typical year, none). The next thing I know, AAA boosted my rate with a significant amount. When I went to explain, the response is that I could update my milage again next year with presumably a lower number. Then they'll adjust my rate to the lower milage.. What can I do?
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by FrugalInvestor »

AQ wrote:I was asked by my insurance company (AAA) for the milage I drove, and without second thought, I put my actual number for the year when I had two long distance road trips (in a typical year, none). The next thing I know, AAA boosted my rate with a significant amount. When I went to explain, the response is that I could update my milage again next year with presumably a lower number. Then they'll adjust my rate to the lower milage.. What can I do?
The first thing I'd do is go up the ladder. Your rate, in my opinion, should be based on your average mileage and I'd argue that respectfully to someone with more authority.

If that doesn't work and the dollars are big enough to justify it you can always shop for a different insurance company.
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Firewood42
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by Firewood42 »

Have asked some high mileage drivers I know and they are not having a problem with being asked mileage on their vehicles and then having their rates jacked up. So I went to my old insurance agent and applied. She said she was pretty sure we could get a company that doesn't base rates as much on mileage. Will get my quote and let you all know.
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Firewood42
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Re: Miles Driven and Car Insurance

Post by Firewood42 »

Just signed up with my old insurance agent. Saved over $300 on house, auto and umbrella policy with better coverage. I won't have my current company bugging me about how many miles I drive every year either. So it does pay to shop around.

I could have saved a lot more but I have a manufactured home. Even though it is as nice as one as you can buy with all the upgrades and on a block foundation with a crawl space, the mention of a manufactured home turns off many companies. So I couldn't get the discount for having my insurance on both the house and the autos with the same company that had the best price. But we found a company that would do it and I am saving money.
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