LEXIRX330

Wow Paul you found something not on AOL! :P That is one ugly car by the way!

Yea...I am on board with you guys too.

Rey- you are 100% right! First if any of my bills go up I would want to know why...if I get the attitude on the other end of the phone I will find someone else to do business with. Working with an independent agency is a good thing because you are able to deal with the same person with multiple carriers. One of my famous sayings in the office is "its all in how you talks to dem". Kind of a joke but not really. Most people if you take your time and work with them they are fine... There are to many companies that want "your" business!

Welcome to LOC!

What are the chances that you will have a total loss? That's what people don't understand...today cars are not totaled unless there is some major damage. When you order the parts to repair your car it actually could be higher for a previous model car unless companies have started to make after market parts too. That is why you don't see a drop from year to year as your car depreciates in value. That and the premiums on your BI is increasing because of lawsuits. Also there are many carriers that give new car credits. So once the car goes into the 3rd year of ownership the premiums go up slightly. Carriers have found that "most" people will take better care and drive their new baby better than someone who has owned a car for a few years. If people think auto insurance is such a ripoff it's simple drop your coverage to the lowest allowed by the state and take full coverage off of your car and self insure it. You can take your chances... There are just to many factors with rates and how they are determined. Most people can save money on their policies but they just don't review their own policies or work with someone who can do it for them.

That's right Auto insurance is a "rip off"

Thank you ARMY for your service! Stay safe and Keep us posted when you can...

No Paul don't know of anyone around me that does either. However I do recall going to a meeting for some select agencies and I got talking to one of the big guys there and he went on and on about how great of a carrier they are.

All true! And since 21st century was bought by farmers insurance and rolled into the aig book of business that they also bought it makes perfect sense to me. The company has lost direction and they are trying to find themselves and they are changing. 21st century is to be a direct brand...farmers will be Exclusive like a state farm, and foremost will be the independent brand. You absolutely should compare your rates no question.

That's strange. All other functions work but the sat radio?

Welcome to LOC!

To be honest they usually are not even cheaper comparing apples to apples. There are all kinds of tricks that direct carriers use, raising comp deductibles, having confusing terms on their websites. I have seen some relatively smart people make some dumb mistakes that have cost them some big money because they thought they understood what they were doing. I have a license in all states that I sell in I have to complete CE classes, have e and o insurance...how much knowledge does the average person have and if they are wrong what kind of insurance do they have if they make a mistake? Geico spends much more advertising trying to get people to call than most companies pay out in commission. It's a business like anything else they win a few they loose a few...they have actually found that people prefer having a local office and are opening more local agencies which I find amusing. Progressive which I do use here and there is a total different thing. They took a name built by independent agencies and tried to steal it a few years back and change agents over to drive insurance. This didn't work out well and have went back however 90% of their ads are for direct which makes me sick. I took down both of my progressive signs in front of my offices and don't know if I will ever put them back up.

Well I know you said that you did not have a agent but a lot depends on your agent...how far he or she is willing to go up the chain...and the company. Just today I had a carrier reinstate a policy that has been canceled since 03/06 he had only been with the company for two years. I have a geat relationship with the underwriter so most of the time when I ask for a favor they do it. Most carriers will bend over backwards if you have over 10 years with them. Paul don't feel bad Nationwide drops a lot of people. I love Nationwide most of the time when someone gets dropped by them I can still save them money even with the claim. They have gotten so bad in our area when someone calls my agency for a quote we know we can save them at least 30%. If you haven't already pull the home so you can get your multi policy discount too. Oh yea...shake and bake! NC! Ricky-Bobby is the man...

Paul that's a shame...did you talk to your agent and see if he could ask for any kind of exception?

The insurance rates that you pay are dependent on many factors such as your age, credit, marital status, your car type, your driving record, prior insurance, and the area you reside in. You may want to check with your agent about other discounts such as discounts for education, good student, paperless billing, owning a home, multiple policy discounts. One of the most costly mistakes you can make is letting your current policy cancel without replacing coverage. This will create a lapse in your insurance, which can cause fines to start with the state the vehicle is registered in. The fines may only be the start of your problems if you have a lien holder they can force place coverage to protect their interest, which can easily double your current premiums. Also if you are involved in an accident you can find yourself in a huge legal mess. Many states have the technology today to use tag readers on the back of state police and other state cars. When the scanners pull a registration that has been suspended due to a lapse in insurance your car may be impounded and you can face some huge fines to get your car back. If you find yourself in a situation that your policy may cancel call your agent and ask if there are any options before letting your policy lapse for non-payment. Other great ideas to lower your cost on your policies are: Keep a clean driving record. Speeding tickets and accidents can and usually result in higher premiums. Most carriers offer good driving discounts but will also surcharge for claims and tickets. Avoid filing small claims since the surcharge or loss of a discount may be more than you get back from the insurance company. When it comes to glass claims and other comprehensive claims they are viewed differently by carriers and generally don’t cause surcharges and loss of discounts, as a collision would so check with your agent. Carry higher deductibles for coverage’s such as collision. The deductible is the amount that you must pay before your insurance company will pay for the damage. Years ago it was typical for people to carry $100 or maybe $250 collision deductibles. Raising your collision deductible to $500 or even $1000 could reduce your premium by 20% or more. This can lead to a higher out of pocket expense if you are involved in a claim however the saving could easily offset this in a few years. Watch raising your comprehensive deductible though as this usually will not result in a huge savings for you and comprehensive covers claims such as glass breakage, vandalism, fire, theft, etc. Also most insurance carriers do not surcharge for comprehensive losses but they can be used for discounts. When comparing your insurance check with an independent agency that can use multiple carriers to run quotes for you. This can save you a lot of time. Instead of having to give the same information out to 10 companies you can give it to one person and they can take care of running all of the quotes for you. Be sure to compare apples to apples and keep deductibles the same in all quotes to get an accurate comparison. If you have excess vehicles don’t carry rental coverage. If you have a spare car or two why pay for rental reimbursement coverage unless you want to. Your rental coverage will only pay when you are involved in a claim for the period of time that your car is in the shop or for the period of time that it takes to settle the claim. If you add up the cost of rental for 4 cars you may be spending $100 or more per year. Drop towing off of new cars that have roadside assistance, or towing. Even though this type of coverage is relatively inexpensive if you already have the coverage why pay for it twice. Take full coverage off of older cars that are not worth much. How much? That is only decision that can be made by you. Look up the value of your car using tools such as www.kbb.com or www.nada.com now if you totaled your car yesterday would it be worth it to save what you are paying in premiums? Some things that are bad ideas: Lowering your coverage’s to state minimums. With today’s litigious society it is more important than ever to carry adequate coverage. Many times this can result in you actually getting placed in a non-standard tier also. Some companies have prior limit requirements in order to qualify to go with the preferred tier and only offer higher coverage’s in the preferred tier. Failing to list young operators or operators with bad driving records. Make sure you add all drivers in the household. Letting excluded operator’s drive your car. They are excluded meaning they are not covered to drive. Letting others borrow your car. Remember insurance follows the vehicle not the driver. So if someone has a claim driving your car…you will be the one paying with higher premiums.

NC! That's a GOOD one...

22% ? Just a guess? :)

If your ??? Is about the system it is for client files, forms, log notes, real time rating and many other agency system tools. Trust me I think it should do more to but it is almost impossible not to use something like this. There are cheaper systems but that's just it they are cheaper. I wish it was that easy. I wish everyone worked off of commission but since someone has to do the service work that's just not possible. I guess to give you some background. I own an insurance agency (me and the bank :) ) I have some producers that are paid commission but I also have csrs that handle the service work and they are paid hourly. I have two offices and obviously I can't be at both places at the same time. So everyone is responsible to fill out their own time cards. Used to be ok when there were only 3 people but now it is just too much and I always like to inspect what I expect if you know what I mean. There are a couple of times that I think there is a discrepancy but I have no proof. So that needs to change.

The thing that makes me so mad is one of the programs that everyone has to login to everyday when they get in should be able to do this. I can tell at anytime who is logged in but it will not show when they logged in or out. This is one of our automation/ management systems and it cost $1,150 per month. Lenore I guess my problem with the email is I can email from my phone so it's not effective. A system that they would have to do from their computer or from the office would be better. Thanks for the suggestions guys!

Thanks Kyle!

My offices are starting to get a little larger and I have added on some new staff. In the old days it was simple everyone was at the same office and the hours were easy to track. Now...it seems that someone is always out of the office. Everyone is responsible to keep their own time card...I don't need to elaborate on how I think that is going. So my question anyone here using a good software based system that can be installed on each computer...that can be tracked on the web by an administrator? I have looked at several options online...but would like to here from someone who actually is using something that works well. I have approx 8 employees that I need to keep track of the time? Thanks guys...and gals...thought someone here might have something that they use...

:) sleep! I have little ones... I am always up... Am I wrong to assume that the 91 and 93 octane still uses ethanol? All the pumps around here say that 10% ethanol? So i just assumed that all grades contained ethanol...Besides one place that advertises ethanol free...and they are .50 higher than anyone else per gallon.

Everytime I see a Genesis I have to do a double take. Don't think that I will get one quite yet... ;)

We have 93 around here everywhere...some places have 91. I always run 91 or 93 in my cars but it's starting to hurt my pocket a little more! :( I knew you drank the Kool-Aid Paul...Cherry huh?

OK like the title says list a few of your favorite APPS. I love Pandora Radio, Calendar, Google, Ebay, BUMP...to name a few. I have loads more but I want to see what some of you guys and gals are using! By the way I use the Iphone...but on my Ipad I love the USA today APP, Calendar, Flipboard, BUMP...etc OK...let me know if I am missing any good ones...