21st Century Auto Insurance, Save Hundreds!!

Last year, 21st Century Insurance Company sent me a flyer in the mail. They were new to the state of Ohio, and were promoting their insurance. Usually, I throw such ads away, but something caught my eye. They were giving a $20 free gift card if you simply called in to get a quote and they could beat your current rate. I honestly didn't think they would be able to beat it, since I had tried previous companies. And, to boot, these other companies were through my husband's work, so we were getting discounted rates.



Anyway, I decided to spend 15 minutes giving 21st Century Insurance Company
information to get a quote and then my free $20! Or, so I thought. All of a sudden, they came back with a quote for both my cars that was lower than just ONE of my cars through my then current insurance company. I thought I heard wrong, so I asked them to repeat the quote. I couldn't believe it! I was savng hundreds of dollars! Hundreds a year! This can add up over time.

Of course, I didn't sign up immediately. I may like a bargain, but I also like researching and making informed decisions. So, I wasn't willing to switch from a company I had been with for 11 years, just to save a buck ( or hundreds ). I wanted to ensure they were reliable, upstanding and had good customer service. I had heard too many horror stories of companies that you pay minimum insurance premiums but you got little or no service or assistance when you were in an accident.

Now, I will be the first to admit I have not had an accident since I signed up over a year ago ( knock on wood ), but all the research I did came back with wonderful reviews for the most part. So, I can't truly say they handled an accident claim of mine, and I hope to never be able to tell you a story of what a great job they did. I would rather never know and never be in an accident. But, from everything I read on the wonderful world wide web, the reason they can keep their costs low are due to the fact they do NOT have local offices and all the overhead that goes along with that. When I have to call in, I talk to customer service over the phone and they have always been the ones to assist me. But, in all honesty, I could probably count on one hand the times I had actually talked personally and face to face with my insurance agent anyway. Was I really willing to pay hundreds of dollars a year to simply have the priviledge of talking to an agent face to face? NO!

Besides saving hundreds of dollars, I also get free roadside assistance with them. Yes, it is true. I now have their number programed in my cell phone, and if I ever get a flat or need a tow, I can call them immediately. What a nice added extra benefit. I was so excited!

Although I am personally excited about this company, call around if you are not. I guess my overall point to this article is to reevaluate your insurance every couple of years. It is a pain! It does take a good couple of hours on the phone, but the savings you reap will be so worth the headache! I am getting ready to do our home insurance this year, so I will definitely post if I find a great company for home insurance! Meanwhile, click on 21st Century Insurance Company
to get your free quote.

I will give some advice when it comes to getting quotes for insurance. Have them price out various deductibles. Have them give you a number for a $250, $500 or $1000 deductible. Then, look at the price variance. But, do some math here before just looking at the figure quickly and deciding. For example, say the $500 deductible would be $175 a half year and the $250 would be $200 a half year, you can figure out how long before you break even or come out ahead. In this situation, you would be saving $25 every six months by having a higher deductible. It would take 5 years before you spent an extra $250 if you went with the lower deductible of $250. Meaning, every year after that you would be losing money.

People constantly have these lower deductibles but have higher premiums. It makes no sense to me. If you are afraid you won't have $500 or $1000 liquid to pay a deductible in case of an accident, you are wrong. My advice? Go with the higher deductible ( we like the $1000 in my family ) and take the lower premium. Then take the differnce you would have been paying and put that extra $25 ( or whatever ) every six months in a savings account so you have it liquid. Within 5 years, you will have the difference in your deductible saved up and it will be earning interest for you, too. And, if you are ever in that much dreaded accident, you simply go to your savings account you created and take the deductible out of there. Can't imagine yourself being able to stomach the $1000 deductible right now? Then, just move up to the next level and work on saving that much first. Once you have that deductible amount in a handy, easy accessible account, then change your deductible again and work towards the $1000