10202012

You read on all of these financial sites that you should regularly call and see what they can do for you in terms of the rate you are being charged. This is supposedly true for both entertainment utilities — cable and such — as well as premiums for various insurance. Saturday night my family is out and I’m trying to avoid grading papers so I decide it’s the perfect time to check on my car insurance. No matter what happens with Progressive, my rates seem to continue to go up. I get older and my driving record remains good and my premiums increase. In the past when I’ve called, they’ve told me that insurance keeps going up.

I call GEICO and within five minutes I’ve cut my premium (six months, paying it all up front) from $1250 to $450. I cannot understand how this is possible. I was so shocked I asked the agent to go line by line through the policy; apparently it’s possible. My question is how long were the Progressive folks sitting in an office thrilled that they’d screwed my family over because I was too lazy to call and see if they’d reduce my premiums.