Saving on Car Insurance

Another quiet week here chez AinD.com. Mostly it’s because we keep getting snowed on here in Toronto, and we’ve already matched out snowfall total from last winter, so it’s a little depressing.

BUT, one exciting thing that happened this week is that I saved over $200 on my car & home insurance renewal this year. My policy expires in February every year, and last year I did some research and found that I could save some money if I shopped around. So I decided that when the renewal came up, I was going to see about switching.

A little history first: I’ve been with my current insurance company for almost 7 years now, because for the longest time they were the cheapest. They gave me good discounts when I earned them, and offered me comprehensive coverage.

My university alumni association has deals with various companies to offer its alumni discounts on products, and one of them is with an insurance company. Last summer I was curious, and so got a quote. Imagine my surprise when I could get the same coverage and save almost $150 a year. I made a mental note to remember to call when my policy was up for renewal in Feb’09.

And here we are.

A few weeks ago I did the online quote thing, and got an excellent quote for my car. Since I live in the city of Toronto, I knew my rate was going to be a smidge higher than elsewhere, but I was pleasantly surprised to see how much cheaper it was. Now it was almost $175 cheaper than my current policy. Interesting. But I knew that I could get it down a bit more with my alumni discount plus adding in my home insurance. So I called them up about a week later to talk to a representative.

Would you know it, after all the discounts and such, I’m now saving over $200 a year? For the same coverage as I’ve got now? I’m impressed. Needless to say I told the rep to sign me up and I made the switch.

Chalk one up to me and my research. Boo-yah.