The renewal packet came in the mail back in April, the same week as the kids' spring picture-day forms, which felt like a cruel joke. Our home and auto bundle, covering the house, the minivan and Mike's pickup, was going up $290 for the year. No accidents. No tickets. Nothing changed on our end except that the trucks and I are all a year older.
We'd been with the same company for years and had never really compared. So over two afternoons that spring, with Rosie watching a movie and a notepad on the kitchen table, I called five insurance companies, our own included, and got quotes. I wrote up the bundle-versus-split math back in May; a few of you asked about the phone calls themselves, so this is that part. This isn't advice on who you should use, and I'm not an insurance professional. It's just what I learned doing it, and what I'd tell my sister if she asked.
Before you call anyone, gather this
The first call went badly because I didn't have anything ready. I was running to the van to read the VIN off the dashboard while the agent waited. After that I made a single sheet with everything on it:
- Your current declarations pages (the summary pages that list every coverage, limit and deductible)
- VINs for each vehicle
- Driver's license numbers and dates of birth for every driver
- Approximate annual mileage for each car
- Dates of any accidents, claims, or tickets in the last several years
- Whether the cars are paid off or financed (lenders often require certain coverages)
The declarations page is the most important piece. Without it, you can't compare apples to apples, and apples to apples is the whole point.
What I learned from five phone calls
1. Quotes are only useful if the coverage matches
The fourth company gave me a number that was almost $30 a month cheaper than our renewal. I got excited. Then I read through what they'd quoted, and they had dropped our liability limits to the state minimum and put a $2,500 deductible on the house instead of our $1,000. Once I asked them to match our current limits exactly, the savings mostly disappeared. Always ask them to quote the exact same limits and deductibles you have now, then decide separately whether you want to change anything.
2. The prices were all over the place
With identical coverage, here's roughly how the five compared, per month, for the house and both vehicles:
| Company | Monthly quote | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Our current insurer (renewal) | $278 | Up from $254 |
| First company | $301 | Higher than renewal |
| Second company | $259 | Home and auto bundled |
| Third company | $270 | Wanted a driving-tracking app |
| Fourth company | $276 | After matching our limits |
That's a $42 spread for the same coverage on the same house, the same two vehicles and the same two drivers. I really didn't expect the gap to be that wide. The first company was so far off that I didn't even bother putting it in my spreadsheet.
3. Discounts don't apply themselves
Several companies asked about things I'd never have thought to mention: Mike's employer, whether we'd paid in full versus monthly, whether I'd switched to paperless, whether either of us had taken a defensive driving course. Every company was different. I started asking directly at the end of each call, "Are there any other discounts I might qualify for?" Twice, that question knocked a few more dollars off.
4. Bundling mattered, but less than I thought
I also priced taking the home policy from the third company and the cars from the fourth. Once the coverage matched, that split came to about $265 a month, close, but still more than the second company's bundle. That doesn't mean bundling is always cheaper. For us, this year, it happened to be.
5. Calling my current company was worth it
Before switching anything, I called our existing insurer, told them I'd received lower quotes with the same coverage, and asked whether anything could be reviewed. They found a discount for paying in full and another for paperless billing. The renewal dropped to about $269 a month. Not the lowest, but closer.
What we decided
We ended up moving both cars and the house to the second company's bundle, the same one I wrote about in May. Our combined bill for home and auto went down about $19 a month compared to the renewal, which works out to roughly $230 a year. For two afternoons of phone calls, I'll take it.
A few things I made sure of before switching: the new policy's start date matched the old one's cancellation date exactly, so there was never a day without coverage. I printed the new insurance cards and put them in both glove boxes. And I asked the old company in writing about any refund for the unused part of our term.
I also didn't pick the third company, even though their price was decent, because I wasn't comfortable with the tracking app. That's a personal call, and plenty of people are fine with it.
What I'd do differently
I'd put a reminder on the calendar about 45 days before renewal instead of waiting for the packet to show up. That gives time to compare without feeling rushed. And I'd do this every year or two, not wait until a price jump forces it. Loyalty, it turns out, didn't earn us much of anything.
If you've never shopped around, I'd start with your declarations pages and a free afternoon. You might find nothing. We found about $230 a year.
