Negotiating Car Insurance - Beat Your Renewal Quote

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Here's the scenario. You've been insured with company A for years but you decided to weigh your options and shopped around for a new car insurance policy. You found a quote that is lower than what you're currently paying but you really like your current carrier and the customer service team you're used to dealing with. Is there any reason to change carriers? Not if you can convince your current insurance company to beat the quote you have from the competition.

Is that even possible to do? It's difficult but yes. Your automobile insurance carrier will review your account and decide if yours is a policy worth saving. If they find that you have been a loyal customer with a good driving record they'll often try to find a way to add a discount or two to the policy. Here are a few things to ask your agent if you'd like to renegotiate you rates.

Ask About Client Loyalty

Many companies give customer loyalty car insurance discounts to customers who have remained insured with them for 3, 5, or more years. Ask your company if they're willing to add a client loyalty discount a year early in order to keep your business. They might be able to find a way to take a rather large percentage off of your premium.

Ask Your Current Company to Review Your Quote

While you may think it strange to give your current carrier a copy of your quote you may find it beneficial. First of all, your current company would die to see what they're doing wrong when it comes to premium and losing customers. Second, a professional is essentially comparing your quotes – free of charge. Your agent may see a discount the competition is offering that you should not be getting – or one that inspires him to amend the rates they're charging.

Make Sure You're Receiving Discounts

Has anything change in your life that your current auto insurance carrier doesn't know about but that you might have considered when requesting your new quotes? For example, have you gotten married or hit a new age milestone (18, 21, or especially 25)? Make sure your current carrier has this information. It's likely to change your premium and bring both your current and new quote into perspective.

Just Tell the Agent

Don't play around with discounts, coverage limits, and silly options. Just call your agent and tell him you're shopping around. Unless you never pay your bills on time and have a terrible payment history they won't want to see you go (and if you do have payment problems and a bad record, don't even bother calling). Sometimes just letting your agent know you have a better quote from the competition is enough and, if you can prove what quote you have, they might just match it.

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