DALLAS — We have talked about what a rough road we have been on for the last five years when our auto insurance premiums rose more than any other state. Well, keep your seatbelts on, because if we all do that it might help bring those premiums down. And you also need to keep them on because we may yet have a bumpy road still ahead.
Insurify has crunched some numbers and predicts our auto coverage rates here in Texas will go up another 23 percent by year’s end, which would put Texas firmly into their top 10 most expensive states for auto insurance.
You should shop around for insurance. But before you do, get a CLUE
Many people have messaged me about some steep increases and about how they are shopping around now for insurance. That’s always good to do. But before you do that, it’s also good to get a clue about what insurance companies—home and auto—think about you. And by getting a clue, I mean get your Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange report (CLUE report).
Insurance companies report claims to that exchange, and when they consider you for a policy they check it to see what all insurers have reported about you. It lists any claims you have been a part of in the last 7 years.
If you are buying a vehicle or a home, the Texas Department of Insurance suggests you might want to ask the seller to get and show you a CLUE report for the property or the vehicle. Yes, it is another item on your to-do list, but it matters a lot.
The CLUE report will continue to show claims related to that vehicle or house from the last 7 years even if you just bought it this year. Here’s why: If a car has been stolen 3 times in 7 years, an insurer wants to keep knowing that because it might suggest that the vehicle is too easy to steal. Maybe insurers won’t cover that vehicle or maybe they’ll charge you much more to insure it.
Be advised that roadside assistance calls may end up on your CLUE report
If you have emergency roadside assistance that’s not through an auto club like AAA, but it is coverage that is part of your auto insurance, you should definitely use that coverage if you have a roadside emergency. Just beware that using roadside assistance that is part of your insurance could be reported as a claim on your CLUE report, although there is reporting that it may not hurt you unless you have a number of those emergency assistance calls.
Sometimes the people compiling your CLUE report are the ones who need to get a clue
A word of caution: There have been news reports about how a CLUE report can contain mistakes that can cost you. So, you are allowed a free report once a year and you can dispute anything on there that is incorrect. Click here to get your free CLUE report.
On the subject of auto insurance…
One more note about auto insurance: A while back I was peppering my car insurer and the state of Texas with questions about an older car that I chose not to trade in because the dealer was hardly willing to give me anything for it. I planned to eventually sell it on my own, but first I wanted to drive it for a few road trips.
Since the insurance on it was expensive, I told my insurer I wanted to just keep it parked in a garage without insurance and activate coverage each time I drove it. One of my insurer’s representatives told me I couldn’t do that and that if the car is parked for a long time and is uninsured, I would need to return the registration for it to the state.
I knew that was incorrect, so I had to take that one to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles. They confirmed they do NOT, “have a requirement for registration to be returned if insurance is not maintained during the registration period”. I took that message back to my insurer. And indeed, before eventually getting rid of the car, I was able to turn on insurance when I used it and turn it off again when I parked it.