I spent seven years as a customer of Allstate Insurance Company for my car insurance. About three years ago, I was driving late at night when my car was rammed from the back at high speed by a full-sized truck. The truck hit my car so hard that it took nearly half a mile for me to stop my car. I actually believed I was going to die.
The person who hit me tried to get away, but he broke the front axle of his truck and the truck smashed into a ditch on the side of the road. Witnesses found me and made sure I was all right as another witness called the police. After everything was said and done, the driver of the truck was an illegal alien who did not have car insurance.
I called Allstate who informed me I did not have Underinsured motor vehicle insurance. My insurance rates skyrocketed until I was paying $1800 for six month of automobile insurance and the accident was not my fault. I was angry and had also hurt my shoulder in the car accident.
It took me two years of checking with automobile insurance companies only to find the accident had driven my insurance rates to a rate I could not afford. I had to do something and do it fast. Every time I called an insurance company, they would offer a much lower rate and it would skyrocket as I was about ready to sign the paperwork. I was disgusted and frustrated at the same time.
Automobile insurance companies continued to send flyers through the mail and offer me a better rate, but none of them held up to their promises. Finally, I received a flyer from an insurance company that I thought only dealt in life insurance. I called them and they told me they did deal in automobile insurance and they promised me a better rate.
I went through the process with this new insurance company and they cut my car insurance rate in half. I also found out Allstate was still not giving me underinsured motor vehicle insurance with the $300 they were charging me every month. The new insurance company cut my rate to $150 per month for the same insurance and this included underinsured motor vehicle insurance. After I changed automobile insurance, Allstate called me and asked why I cancelled. I told them why and told them my new rate. They agreed that I made the right choice to change my automobile insurance to this new company.
It took me two years of checking with many automobile insurance companies and learning bigger is not always better. I learned you are not always in good hands with Allstate and Geico really cannot save you 15 percent or more on your automobile insurance. I learned consumers are paying for all the television commercials made by these larger automobile insurance companies through their policies.
I learned you had to flip over every rock in the insurance business if you wanted to get a better rate on your car insurance. You have to find that better rate because it is not coming to find you. You have to look small sometimes and you have to pay attention to every piece of paperwork you sign. Allstate had me sign a waiver for underinsured automobile insurance without telling me and I had no idea until it became the most important time of my life.
I spent the better part of two years trying to find lower cost automobile insurance. My experience gave me the tools to keep my automobile insurance at a rate I can afford. I no longer believe what I hear in quirky commercials on TV. I search and look into every aspect of my insurance myself online and do not trust in what I hear from insurance agents. I pay attention to every contract I sign and make sure I never get ripped off by an automobile insurance company again.