Bait and Switch
I forgot to mention another aggravating insurance situation I am dealing with. You may recall my frustration with the dramatic increase in my property insurance this year. This is a statewide issue that has gotten so bad that they are doing an emergency legislative session about it. Well maybe they should add auto insurance to the list.
Back in June of 2020 I got tired of Allstate raising my premiums every policy cycle. I had been with Allstate for something like 20 years. To me, as a man in his 50’s with a clean driving record my premiums should be going down over time, not up. When I called them up to complain they just basically shoulder shrugged me so I started looking at alternatives. My agent got me a quote from Travelers. My AllState monthly premium had crept up to around $200 a month. With Travelers it dropped down to $138 so I pulled the trigger and jumped ship for the 30% savings. I was pleased. Two years later I am no longer pleased.
After the first renewal year the premium jumped dramatically from $138 to $191. When I inquired why they said it was because of Tesla repair costs. I told them I had a Tesla when I started the policy, they said it was an adjustment due to the cost of Tesla claims since then. Um ok, I was annoyed but did not feel like doing a switch only a year later.
Fast forward to last week when I got my new renewal notice. The price has now sky rocketed another $30 to $220 per month. WTF…. In the span of two years they have jacked the rate now well past what I already considered high. I called again yesterday to the local agent office. I told him point blank how shitty this practice was, a clear bait and switch. He more or less agreed with me but the only remedy he could give me was to shop around again for a more competitive rate. I really would prefer to not be an auto insurance carousel every year but I have friends of mine that have been doing exactly that for years. Evidently the insurance industry is banking on people being too lazy to change companies when they jack rates with no just cause. I plan to buck that trend, bastards.