Reader question:
How often should I look at other companies’ rates?
Abel
There’s a good time and there’s a bad time, Abel.
As I mentioned before, it’s a great idea to look around at other companies’ rates whenever you’re making a big change to your policy. Your current company might be good to you under certain circumstances, but not as willing to twist and still give you good coverage at good prices like another company might. Even if your policy is staying the same and shows no signs of changing, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on the market. I mean, don’t get obsessed and go checking your quotes everyday. That’s unnecessary. But you should still look at competitors’ prices.
Once a year is a good rate to go about it. At the end of the year, companies tend to look over what they’ve done throughout the year and might make significant changes. Over a year’s time, laws may have been passed that affect your insurance policy. New discounts may arise. Every year, insurance premiums rise or fall by a different percent in every state. Even if nothing really changes, a year is still a good amount of time to wait before giving the competitors another chance.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.