Policy Question (Current Student)

[easleyjr96]

Hi everybody,

I am currently a full time student and live on campus at a large university. Because of this, I am not able to keep my car on campus. This means that I am not able to drive my car every month, but I would like to be able to drive it while I am on breaks. For example, the month of December or the month of March and during the summer. I also don't want to pay the top dollar bill each month while I'm at school, especially given that I'm not even driving the car.

Previously I had put a storage policy on the vehicle, and making that switch took my monthly bill from $88 to $27. This was a huge relief for me because making the monthly $88 payment was really stressful. I switched back to my normal policy for the month of December, but it went up to $98. I wasn't too worried about it at first, cause I figured it would only be for the month of January and February. When I called to have it switched back to the storage policy, the new monthly payment was $52. This is a HUGE jump from the $27 I was paying before. I couldn't understand why, and I asked the lady at the insurance company, but she didn't do a very good job of explaining it to me. She said it had something to do with how the premiums pro-rate.

So what I am looking for is an answer to how my policy almost doubled in price, and what are some of my options to keep my bill down for the months that I am not even able to drive the car, while still having the flexibility to drive it for the months that I wish. Thanks for any explanations and help.

Also, I insure through USAA/Liberty Mutual.

 

[KPIA]

I don't write for either of those companies, so I can't tell you.

Try calling them back and asking a different person. Enough tries and you're bound to get a knowledgeable call-center employee... Eventually... Hopefully...

Sucks not having an agent.

 

[Tiesto422]

This likely means that you still were paying for part of the full policy premium for the month paying $52. That's essentially the pro-rata adjustment. If it doesn't go down to $27 the next month then this is not the case. Like someone already said, just keep calling until you get someone more knowledgeable.

 

[indienoise]

Sounds as if it had everything to do with the timing of the changes. If you just paid a bill and then shortly after lower your coverage, then it has a more drastic effect on the coming months' payments since you've effectively paid more in advance. Conversely, if you add coverage right after paying a smaller bill, you have more of a shortage and end up having to spread that additional month coverage you didn't pay for yet over your remaining bills.

Of course, different carriers handle this differently. Some spread out the premium difference while others apply it entirely to the next bill.

 

[Georgesmith4747]

Hey,

I have car insurance through A Abana Auto Insurance and they recently published a blog post on how to get cheap insurance. You might find helpful even though you are with a different company.

a-abana.com/about-us/blog/surefire-ways-get-cheap-auto-insurance/

 

[InsCommentary]

I'm not sure what a "storage policy" is but if it's a suspension endorsement, be careful. I've seen several significant claims while coverage was suspended.