Sarah and I have received countless phone calls from Friends of the Firm who are upset, frustrated, overwhelmed, and bewildered by the astronomical increases in their auto insurance rates at the time of renewal of their policy.  Some people have even been dropped completely by their insurance company despite the fact that they have been with them for many years. Insurance agents are faced with these same issues as well with regard to insurance rates.
Unfortunately, this is the current economic and insurance climate we are in presently in the State of Florida. Florida’s legislature is very friendly to insurance companies and, thus, they are allowed to discontinue writing policies for certain types of insurance that they feel puts them at greater financial risk of making a lower profit, or they just raise their rates unfettered to increase their bottom-line returns.
We are repeatedly asked, “What can I do to reduce my auto insurance premiums?”
1. Call your agent, captive (such as State Farm, Allstate) or independent (sells auto insurance coverage for multiple companies) and see if they can shop your coverage for better rates, or for recommendations on how to lower your insurance rates.
2. If you have an adult child (18 or older) living in your household, then remove your name from their vehicle and transfer title solely to them. Then have them obtain their own policy of insurance. They can purchase the least amount of bodily injury liability coverage available (between $10,000.00 and $25,000.00), as they will not have the same liability exposure (due to a lack of assets) as you would have if you continued to have ownership interest in their vehicle. There are some potential exceptions to this, such as when you have an umbrella liability policy, then your insurance company might still require you to insure your adult child.
3. You still want to have all of your resident relatives, including your adult children listed on your policy so that they are covered if they have an accident in one of your vehicles.
4. Roadside assistance on your policy is NOT a benefit to you! Remove it from your policy if you are paying a premium for it or if it is just an add-on to the policy with no premium charged then DO NOT USE IT!! Insurance companies are treating each call for roadside assistance as an INSURANCE CLAIM under your policy and will raise your rates as if you had an accident claim when all you did was utilize the towing service at a cost of about $80.00 to the insurance company.
5. Check on the claims history that your insurance company has listed for you as it could be wrong. Get this corrected by disputing in writing any alleged claims that are not accurate as these will increase your rates as well.
6. Do your research as some companies will increase your rates just because you are a loyal customer and they do not expect you to shop your coverage due to years of complacent renewal. Consumer Reports magazine wrote an article some years ago and identified several companies that imposed a “loyalty penalty” rate increase hoping that your complacency would keep you paying the auto increases without question. Unfathomable, but true.
7. Remove anyone from your policy who no longer resides in the house and does not drive your cars on a regular basis.
8. Do not specifically exclude drivers who might at some time use your car while living in your household.
9. If at all economically possible, DO NOT drop Bodily Injury Liability coverage and Uninsured Motorist coverage from your policy. You will need to carry as much of these coverages as you need to protect your assets and your person/family. Dropping important coverages is not the wise financial decision.
10. An increase of deductibles on coverages that offer them can somewhat reduce your premiums (insurance rates) as well, but be careful as it exposes you financially to that deductible amount when you have a claim.
We highly recommend you take these actions to protect your financial interest the best you possibly can.
If you should have any further questions concerning this or any other legal issues, please contact us. We are always here for You!
Chuck and Sarah

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