Good point about mileage—I mentioned that to my agent last year and it shaved a bit off my premium too. Another thing I've found helpful is taking those defensive driving courses. Yeah, they're a bit tedious, but insurers seem to love them, and honestly, I picked up a few useful tips for handling icy roads. Anything that keeps me out of the ditch at 2am (donuts or no donuts) is worth the effort...
"Another thing I've found helpful is taking those defensive driving courses. Yeah, they're a bit tedious, but insurers seem to love them..."
Has anyone else noticed if the type of defensive driving course matters much? I took one online last winter—pretty basic stuff, mostly clicking through slides—but it still knocked my premium down a bit. Makes me wonder if insurers value in-person courses more, or if they're all pretty much equal in their eyes?
Also curious if anyone's tried bundling policies (like home and auto) up here and actually seen decent savings. A buddy of mine swears by it, but when I looked into it briefly, the difference seemed minimal. Maybe it's just my insurer?
And speaking of mileage discounts—does anyone know how strictly insurance companies verify your mileage? I gave an estimate last renewal, but nobody ever checked... just wondering how accurate you really need to be.
Honestly, mileage discounts aren't something I'd mess around with. My insurer asked for an odometer reading once—caught me off guard. Bundling didn't save me much either... might depend heavily on your insurer or even your agent. Worth shopping around occasionally.
Mileage discounts never did much for me either, but bundling was actually pretty decent in my case. A couple things I've noticed though:
- Defensive driving courses are underrated—sounds lame, I know, but hey, shaving off a few bucks is shaving off a few bucks.
- Weirdly enough, adding my spouse lowered our rate. Apparently two boring drivers are safer than one? Who knew...
- And yeah, shopping around is key. Loyalty doesn't always pay off in the insurance world. Learned that the hard way!
Totally agree on defensive driving—felt silly sitting through it, but hey, money saved is money saved. One thing I'd add:
- Check if your insurer gives discounts for winter tires. Didn't expect much, but it knocked off a decent chunk for me...worth asking about at least.
