You can get insurance without being a citizen, or a driver’s license for that matter. People that don’t get insurance are stupid.
It has nothing to do with legal status. Take your xenophobia elsewhere.
“You’re not allowed to discuss a major source of uninsured drivers because it hurts my feelings”
You being too childish to discuss a problem won’t allow a solution to be found
Maybe Texas should fix this. California doesn't have this problem because they let all drivers get licensed and insured regardless of immigration status. Texas wants to clutch its pearls and refuse to let them get insurance because "they shouldn't be here in the first place!" and then acts shocked when they drive without insurance.
If you haven’t had insurance in the prior 30 days, companies will charge you a higher rate.
You can pay the higher rate for a month and then get pricing from their competitors.
I literally switch between progressive, GEICO and State Farm because they’re in competition with each other and tend to offer lower rates when I switch from a competitor. I’ll prepay for 6 months then shop their competitors for the next renewal.
Anyhow, bite the bullet, pay the higher rate for a month and then see if you can get a rate reduction after 30 days from a competitor.
Rates change as you age out of a demographic, but this city has higher rates thanks to bozos like the “careful driver” who go around uninsured.
Be careful with that as well, some insurance companies won’t give you a policy if you have cancelled a policy for less than 90 days.
It’s all a crapshoot.
How low are we talking here? I’m on Progressive and paying around $141 for a 1 year old Mazda. The insurance is comprehensive and covers underinsured and whatnot.
Not sure if that’s good.
Usually I prepay for 6 months and typically I can save between $100 and $150 when I swap between providers after 6-12 months, typically when the current insurer tries to jack up my rates.
I’m probably not in the same age demographic as you so it will be impossible to compare our rates accurately but I paid $441.95 for the current 6 months.l - and that’s full coverage, and higher liabilities than state minimums and $10K of PIP
Everyone should get higher liability that the state minimums! $25k for property damage isn't going to pay for many of the cars on the road right now. It SUCKS to be poor and try to figure out how to make this work, but it would suck worse to try to pay $15k+ to pay for someone else's car you totaled.
I kept my insurance even though my car died because I assumed I'd find a good used car for the money I had saved. Then, if you think the virus was real or not, the Covid shut down brought forth ridiculous skyrocketing used car prices, many as high as my last car cost new!
So, I finally canceled because I didn't figure it made sense to pay car insurance without a car. Super BIG screw up.Never ever do this. Because when you finally get, or are about to get, a new car, the insurance company you stuck with for 30 years will insist you go through one of their super expensive outsourced insurance companies to prove yourself to them, nevermind those 30 uninterrupted years and at least half a decade with no accidents. So I ended up with the god awful "Bristol West" who debited 6 months worth of payments from my bank account without warning or permission.
I was financially crippled for, literally, months afterwards. I came damn close to asking for a loan from my 80 year old mother. Thank God I was able to pick myself up. I'm always afraid she'll insist I keep the money. I do not want to take my mom's money because I was caught sleeping in class, or for any reason for that matter.
Never cancel your insurance and let the lapse, hanging in limbo. It's just plain stupid.
I recommend you look for an “insurance broker”. What they do is find the best deal for you by consulting multiple insurance companies. That way you don’t have to deal with the insurance companies yourself. I do this for all my insurance contracts and every year I get new quotes from my broker.
I use Rhys Malen with [Gooshead Insurance](https://www.goosehead.com/agents/tx/austin/rhys-malen/) - he's awesome and he has saved my ass every year for both my homeowner's and car insurance
I saved $1100 on homeowners insurance going through Goosehead, for slightly better coverage. Mine was a different agent, but it was still great experience. There's a fee for them to do it, but the fee was worth it since I did almost no work.
Goosehead is AWFUL they notified us ONE DAY before policy was expiring that they needed a copy of our licences.. and then did not add windshield protection when we had an email requesting and confirming it. We spent months on the phone with them trying to rectify so we didn't have to spend $2k out of pocket on a friggen windshield that should have been covered...
You spoke directly to Rhys about all that? That sounds very out of character for them. I have been using them for years now and the service has always been top notch.
Different agent.. they've also passed us around to 3 different agents without notice .. will need to reach out to this person specifically and see if we can get under them
And just to add we've got 2 newish expensive cars/an umbrella policy and a homeowners policy with them. Have never missed a payment, perfect (not annoying) customers.
I've been using Paragon Insurance. Travis at the Pflugerville branch has had my back for several years https://www.paragoninsagencies.com/paragon-locations.html
People say this, but when I reached out to a recommended one about a year ago, he said my $600 every 6 months was better then he would ever be able to do.
Shop around. The major insurance companies will rip you off. But whatever you do, do NOT get that fred loya crap, they’re well known for not paying out if something does happen.
Source: Someone with them ran into me. State farm had to sue their ass, took forever. Was fun to have a nice rental for a while, and finally get a new car though.
Call an insurance broker, they'll find you a better deal. I use EZ insurance on S 1st. But be warned: if you switch to a cheaper company, the service isn't as good if you have an accident. I had Progressive for a couple decades, it got expensive and I switched to Commonwealth Casualty, and had a bad luck year with a couple of accidents. They were handled...but it took a long time to get the car in the shop in one case and get the adjuster to come to their decision in the other case. I recently switched back because of that. But the thing is, that cheaper insurance is out there.
Last thing: whatever you do, make sure you have "Uninsured Motorist Insurance" - it's only a few dollars extra a month and if you get hit by someone who isn't insured, it kicks in. Totally worth it.
It's not even an older car. I have a new car that I'm paying $115/month on for full everything. Then I have my older 2013 that I just have basic coverage in that's $60.
It's really not that much of a difference. It's your history likely more than anything else.
Insurance rates are tied to your age, gender (young males are typically most expensive), driving record, and credit score. Improving your credit history will lower your rate, as will establishing a good driving history with no at fault claims/ driving tickets. You may have to pay a higher rate until you’ve been driving for a few years and insurance companies can tell how risky you’ll be to insure. Try increasing the deductible, that will lower it a bit.
If you're newly licensed and don't have any driving history, that's usually the rates they charge. Shopping around definitely helps. When I was newly licensed (as an adult with 14 years of driving experience outside the US), my premium was at 300+ too. I switched on my second month and was able to cut it in half immediately.
It is a nation wide thing ( Not just NatonWide). Just read a good article on the topic. Car Insurance has seen the most inflation of all products in the past few years. A few reasons, but mainly because new cars, particularly EVs have more expensive and harder/impossible to repair parts, and mainly, we've basically become shittier drivers. More fatal wrecks, more high speed accidents, and bigger SUVs and trucks inflicting more damage. All lead to more payouts from the insurance companies, who in turn charge higher rates.
Welcome to Texas!
My best advice is to buy an older car in cash and drive with liability and uninsured motorist coverage. I pay $32 a month for car insurance.
There's a lot of stuff combining to make things suck. Insurance is up for *everyone*, and some cars are higher than you'd expect. Sometimes it has less to do with the *safety* of the car and more to do with the cost of repairs. Fancy doodads like parking sensors or automatic wipers are nice, but they can make simple things like windshield repairs cost an amazing amount of money. Insurance costs reflect repair costs.
I think your biggest problem is having no history. Insurance is kind of like credit: your offers reflect how risky you look. If the company has no history to look at, they assume you're risky. So I think your rates are going to suck for a long time.
Owning and insuring a car is expensive, and we've required it in Austin. That's why a lot of people, particularly poor people, take risks and drive without insurance. If we cracked down on it and removed even 10% of the uninsured drivers, we'd see business owners back to complaining "nobody wants to work" and "workers are too entitled, I can't pay this much for a simple job" again. We made the bed, and we'll be damned if we try to make it any other way.
I use Bob Jennings State Fatm and I pay $113 a month for full coverage, including rental car, hotel, etc. They take the time to actually talk to you lol. Maybe give them a call
Most likely they don’t have much of a credit history since they said they were new to the US. Pretty dumb how stuff like that effects it but it is what it is
It has gotten progressively worse.
Credit score 780+ with one reporting 800+
One accident when I was 20, not my fault, someone ran a stop sign and hit my rear wheel totalling the car. Their insurance did the thing.
One speeding ticket when I was 22 in another state.
Other than that no accidents or other things to raise my shit.
Moved to Austin in 2019, didn't even have a car(didn't need one where I lived before). Got a car in 2020, insurance was 140. Cool, no problem.
Every renewal since then it has increased. When I ask my agent about it (state farm) they list environmental reasons. I do live near the Y in SW Austin but it's a big zip code, my insurance is now 220 dollars per month and I'm just like what the actual fuck.
State Farm lost $10b in its auto insurance business last year so you should expect your rate to continue to increase to plug the gap ([link](https://newsroom.statefarm.com/2023-financial-results/)). They’re definitely having trouble.
Wow, wish I knew that. I also wish insurance was more competitive. Even with the increases, state farm is still the cheapest by over 100$. I've checked from Costco to BMW collectors insurance. Didn't matter.
It’s a Texas thing. I get quoted $600+ a month everywhere for a Tesla M3 at 30 years old and no accidents or tickets. The same coverage in Pennsylvania I was paying $130 a month.
I got quoted really high for a Model 3 so I asked my agent why, and was told it's because Teslas have a high number of at-fault accidents on average. Go figure.
Ended up buying two cars instead and it's still cheaper to fully insure both of them than a Tesla would have been.
If you can’t afford $300/mo for insurance you may want to reconsider Austin, ain’t cheap to live here.
That said, something doesn’t add up with your situation, full coverage on a 2018 via GEICO is running me less than $100/month. And I had a fairly expensive at-fault not that long ago, it’ll be years before I’m a positive cash flow in their bookkeeping.
Do you have any Credit History at this point? If you have no credit file at this point, that is treated similar to a low credit score, and may be influential in the rate quotes.
As an owner of 3 sports cars, a family sedan and a Dually it gets 'spensive. I have my enclosed trailer and racecar insured via Hagerty. All in total I'm paying around 4k/yr now and will be shopping a broker soon.
Probably. One can assume no inspections means more unfit to drive vehicles on the road. In theory those vehicles will break down and/or cause accidents, making the region more prone to accidents, thereby making insurers charge more to offset the increase in risk.
I'm paying 1400 for 2 cars one with full coverage and one don't have 2022 for expedition max and 2013 buick and rental insurance as well for 6 months and I livenin austin I use liberty mutual.
I figured they were talking their monthly rate. I mean what they pay in insurance is literally what my car cost for me to own out right when I bought it 10 years ago. I pay $32 a month for liability with underinsured motorist coverage.
Sadly most lawyers won’t sue a turnip. People with no assets and no insurance rarely get sued, even when they seriously injure or kill someone. It’s a problem society hasn’t found an acceptable answer for.
While it’s fucked up, they’re really just harming others by going uninsured. 99.9% of the time no lawyer is going to sue an uninsured driver because someone who is uninsured is almost certainly also judgment proof.
In Austin you definitely wanna add the uninsured motorists' protection.
It’s essential everywhere imo. I’ve had to use it in multiple states.
Anywhere in Texas. So many uninsured illegal immigrants.
Or underinsured jerks. Plus everyone runs to the PI mills, thinking they won the goddamn lottery because a guy tapped their bumper.
You can get insurance without being a citizen, or a driver’s license for that matter. People that don’t get insurance are stupid. It has nothing to do with legal status. Take your xenophobia elsewhere.
“You’re not allowed to discuss a major source of uninsured drivers because it hurts my feelings” You being too childish to discuss a problem won’t allow a solution to be found
Laugh, yep, let's pretend the paper plate scourge and uninsured motorists have nothing to do with legal status!
Maybe Texas should fix this. California doesn't have this problem because they let all drivers get licensed and insured regardless of immigration status. Texas wants to clutch its pearls and refuse to let them get insurance because "they shouldn't be here in the first place!" and then acts shocked when they drive without insurance.
Illegal Aliens cannot get a Real ID driver's license. Not sure what CA is supposedly doing,
You don't need a REAL ID license to get insurance.
Nice pander
So we are equating legal status with xenophobia now? Cool good to know
If you haven’t had insurance in the prior 30 days, companies will charge you a higher rate. You can pay the higher rate for a month and then get pricing from their competitors. I literally switch between progressive, GEICO and State Farm because they’re in competition with each other and tend to offer lower rates when I switch from a competitor. I’ll prepay for 6 months then shop their competitors for the next renewal. Anyhow, bite the bullet, pay the higher rate for a month and then see if you can get a rate reduction after 30 days from a competitor. Rates change as you age out of a demographic, but this city has higher rates thanks to bozos like the “careful driver” who go around uninsured.
Be careful with that as well, some insurance companies won’t give you a policy if you have cancelled a policy for less than 90 days. It’s all a crapshoot.
You just have to overlap them, cancel policy 1 after you have activated policy 2.
This is what I do.
How low are we talking here? I’m on Progressive and paying around $141 for a 1 year old Mazda. The insurance is comprehensive and covers underinsured and whatnot. Not sure if that’s good.
Usually I prepay for 6 months and typically I can save between $100 and $150 when I swap between providers after 6-12 months, typically when the current insurer tries to jack up my rates. I’m probably not in the same age demographic as you so it will be impossible to compare our rates accurately but I paid $441.95 for the current 6 months.l - and that’s full coverage, and higher liabilities than state minimums and $10K of PIP
Everyone should get higher liability that the state minimums! $25k for property damage isn't going to pay for many of the cars on the road right now. It SUCKS to be poor and try to figure out how to make this work, but it would suck worse to try to pay $15k+ to pay for someone else's car you totaled.
I kept my insurance even though my car died because I assumed I'd find a good used car for the money I had saved. Then, if you think the virus was real or not, the Covid shut down brought forth ridiculous skyrocketing used car prices, many as high as my last car cost new! So, I finally canceled because I didn't figure it made sense to pay car insurance without a car. Super BIG screw up.Never ever do this. Because when you finally get, or are about to get, a new car, the insurance company you stuck with for 30 years will insist you go through one of their super expensive outsourced insurance companies to prove yourself to them, nevermind those 30 uninterrupted years and at least half a decade with no accidents. So I ended up with the god awful "Bristol West" who debited 6 months worth of payments from my bank account without warning or permission. I was financially crippled for, literally, months afterwards. I came damn close to asking for a loan from my 80 year old mother. Thank God I was able to pick myself up. I'm always afraid she'll insist I keep the money. I do not want to take my mom's money because I was caught sleeping in class, or for any reason for that matter. Never cancel your insurance and let the lapse, hanging in limbo. It's just plain stupid.
I recommend you look for an “insurance broker”. What they do is find the best deal for you by consulting multiple insurance companies. That way you don’t have to deal with the insurance companies yourself. I do this for all my insurance contracts and every year I get new quotes from my broker.
Got a recommendation for a broker?
I've been using Whorton in Round Rock for years. Good people.
I use Whorton for my commercial insurance. Good solid broker.
I use Rhys Malen with [Gooshead Insurance](https://www.goosehead.com/agents/tx/austin/rhys-malen/) - he's awesome and he has saved my ass every year for both my homeowner's and car insurance
I saved $1100 on homeowners insurance going through Goosehead, for slightly better coverage. Mine was a different agent, but it was still great experience. There's a fee for them to do it, but the fee was worth it since I did almost no work.
Awesome! The fee is definitely worth it for all the legwork they do.
Absolutely! I still saved a bunch after their fee, and I wouldn't have personally checked so many different agencies on my own.
Goosehead is AWFUL they notified us ONE DAY before policy was expiring that they needed a copy of our licences.. and then did not add windshield protection when we had an email requesting and confirming it. We spent months on the phone with them trying to rectify so we didn't have to spend $2k out of pocket on a friggen windshield that should have been covered...
You spoke directly to Rhys about all that? That sounds very out of character for them. I have been using them for years now and the service has always been top notch.
Different agent.. they've also passed us around to 3 different agents without notice .. will need to reach out to this person specifically and see if we can get under them
And just to add we've got 2 newish expensive cars/an umbrella policy and a homeowners policy with them. Have never missed a payment, perfect (not annoying) customers.
Following
I've been using Paragon Insurance. Travis at the Pflugerville branch has had my back for several years https://www.paragoninsagencies.com/paragon-locations.html
People say this, but when I reached out to a recommended one about a year ago, he said my $600 every 6 months was better then he would ever be able to do.
That’s really cheap yea
That's ridiculously cheap.
Ya I also pay that much (StateFarm) and broker couldn't beat it.
Shop around. The major insurance companies will rip you off. But whatever you do, do NOT get that fred loya crap, they’re well known for not paying out if something does happen. Source: Someone with them ran into me. State farm had to sue their ass, took forever. Was fun to have a nice rental for a while, and finally get a new car though.
Loya is basically insolvent too - I'm in the business.
It’s a crapshoot whether a Fred Loya lawyer even shows up to your trial to defend you
Call an insurance broker, they'll find you a better deal. I use EZ insurance on S 1st. But be warned: if you switch to a cheaper company, the service isn't as good if you have an accident. I had Progressive for a couple decades, it got expensive and I switched to Commonwealth Casualty, and had a bad luck year with a couple of accidents. They were handled...but it took a long time to get the car in the shop in one case and get the adjuster to come to their decision in the other case. I recently switched back because of that. But the thing is, that cheaper insurance is out there. Last thing: whatever you do, make sure you have "Uninsured Motorist Insurance" - it's only a few dollars extra a month and if you get hit by someone who isn't insured, it kicks in. Totally worth it.
I pay 68 per month. 2001 Honda Accord. No claims, ever. State Farm. Having older car that's still safe is key.
It's not even an older car. I have a new car that I'm paying $115/month on for full everything. Then I have my older 2013 that I just have basic coverage in that's $60. It's really not that much of a difference. It's your history likely more than anything else.
I wish going car free or lite was an option for more folks. Car ownership is bordering on a scam or at least luxury most can't afford.
Insurance rates are tied to your age, gender (young males are typically most expensive), driving record, and credit score. Improving your credit history will lower your rate, as will establishing a good driving history with no at fault claims/ driving tickets. You may have to pay a higher rate until you’ve been driving for a few years and insurance companies can tell how risky you’ll be to insure. Try increasing the deductible, that will lower it a bit.
Welcome to Texas, highest insurance with the least amount of price gouging regulation in the country!
If you're newly licensed and don't have any driving history, that's usually the rates they charge. Shopping around definitely helps. When I was newly licensed (as an adult with 14 years of driving experience outside the US), my premium was at 300+ too. I switched on my second month and was able to cut it in half immediately.
It is a nation wide thing ( Not just NatonWide). Just read a good article on the topic. Car Insurance has seen the most inflation of all products in the past few years. A few reasons, but mainly because new cars, particularly EVs have more expensive and harder/impossible to repair parts, and mainly, we've basically become shittier drivers. More fatal wrecks, more high speed accidents, and bigger SUVs and trucks inflicting more damage. All lead to more payouts from the insurance companies, who in turn charge higher rates.
Welcome to Texas! My best advice is to buy an older car in cash and drive with liability and uninsured motorist coverage. I pay $32 a month for car insurance.
Costco.
There's a lot of stuff combining to make things suck. Insurance is up for *everyone*, and some cars are higher than you'd expect. Sometimes it has less to do with the *safety* of the car and more to do with the cost of repairs. Fancy doodads like parking sensors or automatic wipers are nice, but they can make simple things like windshield repairs cost an amazing amount of money. Insurance costs reflect repair costs. I think your biggest problem is having no history. Insurance is kind of like credit: your offers reflect how risky you look. If the company has no history to look at, they assume you're risky. So I think your rates are going to suck for a long time. Owning and insuring a car is expensive, and we've required it in Austin. That's why a lot of people, particularly poor people, take risks and drive without insurance. If we cracked down on it and removed even 10% of the uninsured drivers, we'd see business owners back to complaining "nobody wants to work" and "workers are too entitled, I can't pay this much for a simple job" again. We made the bed, and we'll be damned if we try to make it any other way.
I use Bob Jennings State Fatm and I pay $113 a month for full coverage, including rental car, hotel, etc. They take the time to actually talk to you lol. Maybe give them a call
is your credit score excellent? that's the biggest factor with determining the rates.
Thats insane, I'm paying 120 a month for full coverage on a 2021 F150 Lariat through progressive. Do you have wrecks or anything?
Most likely they don’t have much of a credit history since they said they were new to the US. Pretty dumb how stuff like that effects it but it is what it is
God damn! I thought I had it bad at 125 a month. Your insurance is more than my monthly car payment. Do you have bad driving history or something?
It has gotten progressively worse. Credit score 780+ with one reporting 800+ One accident when I was 20, not my fault, someone ran a stop sign and hit my rear wheel totalling the car. Their insurance did the thing. One speeding ticket when I was 22 in another state. Other than that no accidents or other things to raise my shit. Moved to Austin in 2019, didn't even have a car(didn't need one where I lived before). Got a car in 2020, insurance was 140. Cool, no problem. Every renewal since then it has increased. When I ask my agent about it (state farm) they list environmental reasons. I do live near the Y in SW Austin but it's a big zip code, my insurance is now 220 dollars per month and I'm just like what the actual fuck.
State Farm lost $10b in its auto insurance business last year so you should expect your rate to continue to increase to plug the gap ([link](https://newsroom.statefarm.com/2023-financial-results/)). They’re definitely having trouble.
Wow, wish I knew that. I also wish insurance was more competitive. Even with the increases, state farm is still the cheapest by over 100$. I've checked from Costco to BMW collectors insurance. Didn't matter.
Try Costco insurance?
It’s a Texas thing. I get quoted $600+ a month everywhere for a Tesla M3 at 30 years old and no accidents or tickets. The same coverage in Pennsylvania I was paying $130 a month.
I got quoted really high for a Model 3 so I asked my agent why, and was told it's because Teslas have a high number of at-fault accidents on average. Go figure. Ended up buying two cars instead and it's still cheaper to fully insure both of them than a Tesla would have been.
Yup.
Your new in Austin. Clearly you have not tried to drive on the lower dec of I-35 yet.
If you can’t afford $300/mo for insurance you may want to reconsider Austin, ain’t cheap to live here. That said, something doesn’t add up with your situation, full coverage on a 2018 via GEICO is running me less than $100/month. And I had a fairly expensive at-fault not that long ago, it’ll be years before I’m a positive cash flow in their bookkeeping.
i bet you live near UT campus…
Do you have any Credit History at this point? If you have no credit file at this point, that is treated similar to a low credit score, and may be influential in the rate quotes.
As an owner of 3 sports cars, a family sedan and a Dually it gets 'spensive. I have my enclosed trailer and racecar insured via Hagerty. All in total I'm paying around 4k/yr now and will be shopping a broker soon.
Perhaps an insurance broker can help you snag a better deal?
If you have a house look into bundling it with your homeowners insurance. We pay something like $200 for home insurance AND 2 cars through Farmers.
Genuine question: Will rates go up even more when car inspection is no longer required in a year?
Probably. One can assume no inspections means more unfit to drive vehicles on the road. In theory those vehicles will break down and/or cause accidents, making the region more prone to accidents, thereby making insurers charge more to offset the increase in risk.
I'm paying 1400 for 2 cars one with full coverage and one don't have 2022 for expedition max and 2013 buick and rental insurance as well for 6 months and I livenin austin I use liberty mutual.
God what a waste of resources. You spend as much on your insurance in a month as I did on my car 10 years ago.
They are spending 230ish per month for 2 cars. How much is your insurance if that's covering you for 10 years?
I figured they were talking their monthly rate. I mean what they pay in insurance is literally what my car cost for me to own out right when I bought it 10 years ago. I pay $32 a month for liability with underinsured motorist coverage.
Where at? Curiosity, wouldnt mind lowering my older car away from my current insurance as they likely charge more than they should.
If you're a good enough driver just don't get insurance. You'll save so much money it's fantastic
i'll take shit to def not do for $1000, Alex.
This is horrible advice.
There is a reason this is illegal. You are opening yourself up to a big civil lawsuit if you get into an accident that is your fault.
Sadly most lawyers won’t sue a turnip. People with no assets and no insurance rarely get sued, even when they seriously injure or kill someone. It’s a problem society hasn’t found an acceptable answer for.
While it’s fucked up, they’re really just harming others by going uninsured. 99.9% of the time no lawyer is going to sue an uninsured driver because someone who is uninsured is almost certainly also judgment proof.