How I Saved $652 on Car Insurance: My Geico vs. Esurance Story

I hate spending hard-earned money on things I don't actually get to enjoy, or even see for that matter. Like car insurance.

Insurance is one of those things in life that I know is important, but I absolutely hate making decisions on. How do I know what the right deductible is for me? Do I need Personal Injury Protection? Boring, boring, boring...yet crucial if you get into a wreck (which my husband says is imminent with the way I drive. He calls me "Braky McBrake" because I wait until the absolute last second to stop at red lights, stop signs, pedestrians, etc. I say he’s just a bad passenger).

And car insurance never goes away. You need it your entire driving life, and every six months I get a reminder from my insurance company that my premium is due yet again. Each time, I ask myself, do I need all of this coverage? Should I reevaluate my car insurance needs?

My Esurance premium

For instance, our 6-month premium with Esurance was $716 for two cars, both of which are more than five years old. I called Esurance before my latest premium was due and asked if there was anything they could do to lower my payments. A student discount perhaps? (My husband is in grad school.) No, afraid not, they said. How about a good driver discount? (We’ve had zero tickets or accidents for five years.) Nope, nothing.

Esurance couldn’t lower my premium a lick (unless I reduced my coverage, of course).

So I got a quote from a different company

I’ve never been a huge fan of the Geico commercials. The little lizard guy just looks weird to me. Plus, I’ve gotten a car insurance quote from them in the past, and it didn’t save me a cent over what I was paying Esurance. But I figured it was worth another try, especially since I had moved to another state recently. The online quote took a little bit of time, but I was shocked to discover that I would save over $300 with Geico for the exact same coverage I had with Esurance. That was, of course, too good to pass up.

Cancelling my current policy

I thought I’d give Esurance one last chance to match the price. I called to speak with someone in their cancellation department this time, and the experience was altogether different. Now, Esurance was pulling discounts rapid-fire out of thin air. They asked weird questions like, Do I have a PayPal account? They quickly got my premium reduced to $521 (a savings of $195), whereas the customer service rep I had talked to just a couple days before had said there was nothing they could do for me.

But $521 is not the $390 that Geico was offering, and I told them as much. Ultimately, Esurance could go no lower, so I cancelled my policy and signed on with Geico.

Esurance was a great insurer, don’t get me wrong. I never had any problems with them in the five years I was a customer. But as I said to the person cancelling my account, I have to go where I can save the most money.

And that's how I saved $326 on my car insurance premium, representing a savings of $652 each year.

Quote comparing will probably save you money

Next time your car insurance premium comes due, I strongly recommend getting a quote from one or two other insurers (especially if it's been a few years since you've done so). In fact, you don't even have to wait. You can usually cancel a policy mid-term without penalties. By shopping around you just might have a similar experience to mine, and find that you can save hundreds. Or at least a few twenties. Every little bit helps, right?

If you've saved money on car insurance recently, tell us about it in the comments section below!