Alright, so I recently moved to Montana and my driving record isn't exactly spotless... had a couple speeding tickets and one minor fender-bender in the past couple years. Now, trying to find affordable insurance is turning into a real headache. After some digging around, here's what I've done so far:
1. Checked out smaller local insurance agencies instead of the big national ones—heard they might be more forgiving.
2. Took a defensive driving course online to hopefully lower my premiums a bit.
3. Raised my deductible a little to bring down monthly payments (risky, but hey, gotta save somewhere).
4. Bundled my renter's insurance with auto hoping for a discount.
It's helped a little, but honestly, I'm still paying way more than I'd like. Wondering if there's something obvious I'm missing or if anyone else has been in this boat and found a better workaround. Maybe there's some secret Montana-specific trick I don't know about, haha. Any tips or ideas appreciated.
Man, I feel your pain. Had a similar situation when I moved here a few years back—couple speeding tickets from my younger (and dumber) days followed me around like a bad smell. Sounds like you've already covered most of the bases, honestly.
One thing that helped me was checking into usage-based insurance programs. You know, those little devices or apps that track your driving habits? Yeah, it feels kinda Big Brother-ish at first, but if you're actually driving safer now (or at least pretending to), it can shave off a decent chunk from your premiums after a few months. Worked pretty well for me.
Also, not sure if you've tried this yet, but sometimes tweaking your coverage limits slightly can make a noticeable difference. Obviously don't go too low and leave yourself hanging if something happens...but adjusting things like collision or comprehensive coverage just a bit might help ease the monthly sting.
And hey, Montana winters are no joke—maybe mentioning you switched to winter tires could score you some brownie points with certain insurers? Worth asking about anyway.
Good luck out there...insurance is basically legalized robbery sometimes, haha.
