Car Insurance / Car Insurance Buying Guide / Reddit's Guide to Buying Car Insurance
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Top tips for buying car insurance on Reddit
Whether you're trying to buy insurance for the first time or just get cheaper rates, the internet is full of car insurance advice. Its hard to figure out what to trust, and Reddit is an online community seemingly made for this kind of request.
Reddit might be where you crowdsourced what type of car to buy or good neighborhoods to move into – why not trust them to get the best car insurance tips?
Is Reddit a good resource for car insurance advice?
Reddit is a huge social network where anyone can post. Even so, there are a few reasons we think Reddit can be a great resource for car insurance buying tips.
No sales pitches
Redditors can share unfiltered advice, offering insights without a hidden agenda. Depending on the subreddit, there might be strict rules that prevent solicitation and sales, even in DMs. On a strict, well-managed subreddit — thank you mods — that equals unfettered advice without the worry that your inbox fills up with spam.
Connect with experts
Maybe you've been told you should, “get an insurance guy”. But how do you do that? Getting in touch with professionals in any industry is tough for most people. On Reddit, however, you can get in touch with anyone. Your questions could connect you with real heavyweights in the insurance game — from savvy brokers to seasoned adjusters.
Niche communities, tailored insights
Reddit is full of niche communities for everything from inside jokes to deep dives into your hobby. When you ask Redditors a question, that means being able to focus your audience and get advice from people in communities that align with your financial philosophies, special interests or are just in the right geographic area.
Is Reddit the best place to get car insurance tips?
Reddit has millions of subreddits and users, and not a ton of oversight, especially depending on the subreddit. While Reddit can be a great place to get tailored advice from experts, it can also be a dangerous place to get financial advice — Gamestop anyone?
Here’s why we wouldn’t trust every piece of advice you get on Reddit.
Redditors are usually anonymous
Most Redditors post anonymously, making it easy to lie or exaggerate credentials. While you can look at someone’s post history to check if they’re a serial liar, you might also encounter someone who claims to be a 25-year insurance veteran when they are actually a rookie who wants to have more authority in r/insurance.
One size doesn't fit all
When asking for advice, even for your specific situation, Redditors usually respond with their personal experience. But times/laws/circumstances change, and what worked (or didn’t work for someone else) might not fit your unique scenario – especially when it comes to car insurance.
While you should take any car insurance advice with a grain of salt, especially the advice you get on Reddit, you know you’re still going to crowdsource your favorite subreddits for advice on some topics. Here are some of our favorite pieces of car insurance advice from Reddit.
Reddit's top ten tips for buying car insurance
Shopping around regularly keeps your prices low
When someone asked about car insurance companies and monthly payments in r/Albany, most of the advice was fairly standard. But we think u/soggy_muffinz got it exactly right for general advice that works for everyone (even if they’re not moving to Albany).
"The key is to constantly shop around and switch even though it is a huge pain in the ass. Companies know that you don’t have the time or want to shop for something so they slowly boil you in a pot of water and then after 5 years you suddenly look at your bill and can’t believe what you are paying."
Lying about your garaging address is a bad idea
Subreddits like r/AskLosAngeles are full of people trying to get advice on managing in a high cost-of-living city. Unfortunately, sometimes that advice can be dangerous for people who don't understand insurance law. Luckily u/chock72 steps in with this great advice about garaging addresses and how lying about where you park your car isn’t worth any savings.
"Don’t lie about your garaging address. That is material misrepresentation and could get any potential claims denied if they find out. The insurance companies are getting more aggressive about confirming information listed on the application at time of purchase and if they think you intentionally misrepresented anything on the application they will deny your claim and immediately terminate your policy. With the current state of the insurance industry in CA, I would not advise risking your coverage to save a few bucks. You’ll end up paying way more in the long run."
Always check your car insurance rates before buying a new car
When a user on r/Texas was confused about why their new vehicle had such high insurance quotes u/PersonalityKlutzy407 gave some useful advice on how to save money on premiums. More importantly they shared an important life lesson: get insurance quotes before you buy a new car to see if you can afford insurance on that car!
"I shop around every six months for our auto insurance. For the last 2+ years it has consistently increased but no one has been able to beat Progressive for us in that time. I also recommend, if you can, to pay the six month premium upfront. It can save you HUNDREDS. I pay with a 0% interest promo rate on one of my credit cards then pay it off monthly. Also, you’ve learned a valuable life lesson. Before buying any vehicle you ALWAYS get insurance quotes first. You always need to factor that in with the new car payment."
If you can't afford car insurance, don't just drop your policy
When your car payments get overwhelming, it can be easy to think you should just drop your policy and drive without insurance. u/Reddit1651 details some of the first steps anyone struggling should try first, and why – if you can’t afford insurance it’s a sign you can’t afford not to have insurance.
"Shop around. Ask your agent if they're applying all discounts. Remove comp and collision on an older car if you've paid it off and can save some of the money. Car insurance is one of the last things you want to skimp on. If the monthly payment is bad, then causing a fender bender and getting sued is even worse. Or getting pulled over and impounded and losing your job. Or getting hit by someone with no insurance and being hospitalized."
Keeping the insurance you bought years ago can make you under- and over-insured
A helpful user on r/cars decided to do a huge writeup on all the things he learned shopping for car insurance after a total loss. While u/RangerHikes had a ton to say on dealing with a carrier and reporting an accident – his biggest lesson was how inadequate his current policy was for needs.
"Perhaps the biggest lesson here - I did not realize how badly underinsured I was until I really started shopping around. When I was 22 I was looking for bare bones, cheap insurance. I was a broke college kid trying to get off my parents plan, so I took 25K property damage and 50K personal injury (woefully inadequate) but also took things I honestly didn't need like supplemental health, accidental death and loss of income benefits...Every time I shopped around for insurance in the past 10 years, I sent other insurers my standing policy and they basically tried to quote me equivalent or lower than that, cause they were trying to win me over on price. Nobody stopped to actually discuss my situation and how underinsured I was - and you know what? That's my fault. I was being negligent."
Drop comprehensive and collision when your savings can replace your car
r/PersonalFinance can be a great source of insurance advice when you’re trying to align car insurance with your personal finance goals. When a user asked when they should drop comprehensive and collision on a vehicle, u/MissAnth recommended waiting until you could afford to replace a car. Since that calculation can be hard to do, we also recommend using our collision coverage calculator.
"When you can afford to replace your car out of your emergency fund. (Or better yet, your new car fund.) You could jack up the deductibles instead if you can afford to cover them out of your emergency fund. That would lower your bill, but still protect you, and you would still get service from your insurance company in case of an accident."
Get umbrella coverage when your homeowners and car insurance can no longer protect your assets.
Car and homeowners insurance only protect you so much, and u/blaaaaaaaam hits the nail on the head when they provides this breakdown of umbrella insurance. For just a few hundred dollars, you can protect your household, your cars, your house, and even boats from liability claims that could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars more than your insurance covers.
"My auto policy covers $250K in single-person injury claims. If I cause a terrible accident and severely injure someone, the claim could exceed $250K and the remainder would come out of my pocket. With an umbrella policy, I get an additional $1M of protection. It is called "umbrella" because it covers many things. My homeowner's policy limits are also covered by it, and other things like boats would be if I owned one."
FIRE individuals should use their insurance to protect significant assets
For someone who is part of the Financial Independence & Retiring Early (FI/RE) community, standard insurance advice isn’t always the best option. One user asked about switching to a liability only policy and got great advice from u/Avalios on how to think about liability limits when you have significant savings.
"One bad at fault wreck could clear out your entire brokerage account. If you have "state minimums", and most people do it means you are on the hook for anything above and beyond that. Your house and retirement accounts are usually safe from lawsuits, your 500k taxable brokerage accounts are NOT. This puts FIRE people at more risk then most others. Imagine driving on the highway and you get hit with a violent sneeze, you hand slips off the wheel and you cause a 6 car pile up. Could happen to anyone. Total damages and medical bills end up at 800k. Your insurance only covers 200k. Only unlike most people you have assets worth going after in court. Goodbye savings, goodbye retirement."
Even if you don’t own a car, you can protect your net worth with non-owner insurance policies
r/FIRE users have plenty of strategies to save money and build wealth. But when one user brought up how not owning a car seemed to be saving them significant money compared to a friend with a car insurance claim, u/MisterIntentionality brought up some unexpected downsides. When you aren’t insured, even if it’s because you don’t own a car, you could be underinsured if you’re ever hit by a car, or drive cars you down own (such as borrowed or rental cars). Buying non-owner car insurance can get you extra protection, and even make you eligible for umbrella insurance!
"You know what really sucks about not owning a car and not carrying auto insurance? When you ride your bike everywhere and you get hit by a car and they flee the scene or they don't have insurance and you are told to go pound sand and [are] left holding medical bills, left to deal with no income because you can't work due to injuries. I would never sell my car and not own one simply because I need to coverages that auto-insurance provides me should anything bad happen. Plus never drive any vehicle without auto insurance. If you don't carry insurance don't drive a friends car and don't get a rental car. FYI You can own non-vehicle specific auto policies that cover you. Please do this."
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