Jenni emailed in the following tip:
My husband recently asked me if we were going to renew our AAA roadside assistance membership. I remembered that several of your readers had mentioned looking into whether or not auto insurance would offer that, so I looked up ours online and noticed that we did have it!
I called a customer service representative just to make sure the service was the same as what AAA offered, and found out that it was actually even more comprehensive than AAA. While I was looking at my policy and talking with the representative, I noticed that the coverage also included repair to windshield damage. We had a couple of chips that needed to be repaired, and even though they had occurred awhile ago, it was still covered.
We saved $80 by not renewing our AAA membership this year, and $75 for the windshield repair, so we saved over $150 in about 15 minutes (the time it took to review our policy and make a phone call). -Jenni
Diana says
Wow! I clicked on comments, and unexpectedly got sucked into all these comments. Now I’m about to figure out what this AAA is all about.
Michele says
Don’t forget that a lot of insurance companies give you a discount off your premium if you have AAA! If you call your local AAA office they can explain your options. You might have saved more money by keeping your AAA and getting a lower insurance rate!
Claire says
Um, I personally have an issue with this article because I really doubt that this author has compared insurance policies including AAA-offered insurance recently. We are saving hundreds of dollars per year on auto insurance by using Encompass Insurance which is only available to AAA members. Every couple of years, I get quotes from the major carriers, and Encompass is always cheapest by far. So, the savings in auto insurance far outweighs the expense of the AAA membership. Also, AAA offers plenty of other benefits outside of auto expenses. You can get all sorts of vacation-planning information for free and can get discounts at all sorts of stores just by showing your AAA card. So, I don’t feel that this author really weighed all of the pros and cons of having a AAA membership.
TN Mom says
Good morning! I used to work in Personal Lines insurance (Auto), both as an actuary & as product analyst (one that writes underwriting criteria as well as interprets actuarial data to determine rates.) I’d like to add one other thought to the discussion. Insurance is (mostly) a ‘shared risk’ model. The average insurance premium is calculated to ensure that the insurance company has enough money to pay claims. Then, premiums are adjusted up & down based on a number of factors (including claims made & paid) – the actual factors used vary wildly by company & state laws.
That being said, if people were to begin to ‘nickle & dime’ the insurance companies for small claims, then there is an increased likelihood that the average premiums paid by ALL will go up. Insurance companies are there to protect us & we buy insurance to be made whole. However, insurance companies are not charities & are, in the end, a business. A business must make money to stay in business. So, if the insurance companies are paying out a bunch of small claims, then you best believe that the average premium for that coverage will go up for everyone.
I agree with a previous poster. If you have the $$ to pay this yourself, please try to do so. Your claims may seem small (on a personal level) but may have global implications beyond just you.
Of course, if this is something that you feel must be done & cannot afford it out-of-pocket, then file that claim. That’s why insurance is there. But, I implore people to consider the global ramifications of filing insurance claims for just any ol’ claim!
Thanks for reading!!
TN Mom says
Ugh – I meant vary ‘widely’!! 🙂
Michelle says
I think it is great that she shopped around for this. I have roadside assistance with my auto insurance, but I also have AAA. Why? I have found that I completely recoup the AAA fee by just staying 2 hotel nights a year. Sometimes when we travel we have a specific hotel location that we need to stay in, I call or check online to see what the best price I can find, then I enter/ask for the AAA discount and always save! I discovered this years ago when we needed to stay at a hotel for 5 nights. I asked for their best price, then I asked out of curiousity what the AAA rate would be, it was $40 cheaper. So that was a $200 savings for the 5 nights, so I immediately went and purchased AAA. I too have found savings by having it, everything from online shopping discounts to saving on shipping my Christmas packages at UPS.
Elizabeth says
I agree. I declined the towing on my insurance (saved $25, I think) and keep my AAA. It gets me so many discounts that it is worth it, and I am covered, not just my car. Car insurance towing covers the car, not you. I used AAA one time when my sil locked us out of her car– it was so nice to have.
Brenda Van Riper says
I have AAA insurance I have had it for 2 years I have looked online at a couple of different insurance I have a older van not worth much so I only have PLPD on it and AAA seems to be the cheapest for me.
glas you found soemthing cheaper.
Brenda
Michele says
I like having AAA, because I use them for discounts on hotel rooms and amusement parks and other places of interest. I ususally get 10% off a hotel rate using AAA when I book online. And many tourist stops give AAA discounts. Recently I was at Jamestown with some friends and all of our kids and was about to purchase tickets at the door when I asked, “Do you give a discount for AAA?” The answer was yes, and we saved about $15 just by showing my card!
Lynn says
Like others here, I spent many years in the insurance industry and I think the most important thing to remember is your insurance is rated (reviewed by underwriting for policy changes and premium increases) as part of a “big picture”. The questions I was most often asked was “will this make my rates increase”. The problem is there is not a truly good answer for that question. First, there are some states that are considered threshold states – in other words it is not just at fault vs not at fault, they consider the overall amount they pay out on your policy – not just whether or not an incident was your fault. Some states are fault only states, so it really just depends.
Also, when your policy is reviewed every 6 months to 1 year (depending on the company). They look at the big picture. Not just did you make a windshield repair claim, but how many of them did you make? Did you have any other claims? They use your history as a predictor of future claims, so if you make 10 windshield repair claims a year, this is likely to affect your premium or cost. Many insurance companies have had a policy of keeping a close watch for about a 3 year time period, although lately many are increasing the time frame they use for evaluation.
Yes, most large or reputable insurance companies have a CLUE report – it is a necessary reporting tool to help when you check rates at other companies. For example, if you have Ins Co A and have made 30 claims, when you call to check a rate at Ins Co B they are going to want to know how much to expect to pay out on your policy and thus they charge you accordingly (again, your history helps predict your future claims).
Most insurers will tell you because your history is watched, you should remember insurance if really for catastrophic claims or claims which you cannot afford to absorb yourself. You want to be responsible with it at all times, because if you make a small windshield claim now and then have a $4000 claim from an accident in 2 months, it now appears that you are reporting claims often.
It’s a personal decision, if you can’t afford the $75 for the windshield repair, then you may want to use your insurance policy for that. If there is a way you can afford to absorb and pay that amount yourself, it is probably a better choice in most states. If you have an agent, they can sometimes provide some guidance as well.
kate says
nice explanation. i’m in the insurance industry as well (personal lines underwriter) and have to go through this issue frequently with some broker or other.
Carly says
Roadside assistance may also be available through your cellphone provider. My RSA is 3.99 a month through Verizon, and is cheaper than opting for it on my insurance. The bonus is that I can use it on any vehicle as long as I am present. If my boyfriend’s or a friend’s car breaks down when I am with them, I can call the toll free number and get FREE assistance.
Kristine says
Pay attention to every 6 month policy renewal. Over the years, we have saved hundreds by asking about EVERY rate increase. Most are mandated by the state you live in, and unless you call and opt out, you will pay for extraneous insurance you may not need. I’m thankful my husband reads the policy every time. Read through both home (annual) and car insurance (biennial every 6 months) policies. Don’t be afraid to call and ask–you’ll be a better informed customer, and therefore a better customer. Also, higher deductibles may lower your rates significantly, too, if you have the savings to pay the deductible when that mishap occurs.
Tim says
I am the social media director for an insurance company in Maine. One thing to think about the “roadside service” though is that in most cases you are responsible for finding the towing company and for paying for the service and then later submitting the bill. If you are traveling in a different state and don’t know any “towing company” phone numbers it could be more trouble than it’s worth. I use AAA for the peace of mind and the ease that it affords.
jjfische says
I read an article a few years ago that insurance companies do count your use of the towing benefit against you (counts about the same as an accident). If you use them to tow too often (some say the magic number is 5, but every company has their own magic number), they will raise your rates or cancel your insurance. However, your use of AAA doesn’t get reported to your insurance company, nor does it impact your ability to switch auto insurance companies. A savings now, might end up costing you more in the future (depending upon your personal circumstances). Also keep in mind that with basic AAA, you don’t get many miles free, and any additional miles are out of pocket (which are expensive). Finally, don’t forget that depending upon the age of your car, you might still be covered for towing to an authorized repair facility by your car’s manufacturer (my husband’s car recently was and it is 5 years old).
monique says
It’s been years since I’ve seen companies increase your rates due to claims. Generally, they will require that you remove the coverage, or non-renew you – but that’s extreme. Most states have laws outlining the reasons why you can nonrenew a person an if too many accidents is a reason, they will specify a # and specify that it only applies to at fault accidents.
August says
I recently wrote an article about this type of thing. One thing that you should be aware of is CLUE. Basically, someone auto insurance companies have the right to report you claims to them. Then when you go for new company or even stay with your company, your rates can go up. Like I said, not all companies do this, but some of the big ones do. You should call them and ask if they report to CLUE, because if they do, after so many claims, you can be considered “uninsurable” or your rates are going to sky rocket. That’s why I personally, don’t recommend going through them. Just my opinion. You can read more about it here, http://www.autos.com/auto-insurance/car-insurance-companies-how-they-use-clue-reports. If I can find the story that MSNBC did on it, I’ll post the link.
Amber says
If your insurance company doesn’t have free roadside assistance, you can also check with your credit card or cell phone companies. It was years ago, but a previous cell provider of mine offered roadside assistance for a few dollars a month, BUT you didn’t have to sign up ahead of time! You could actually call from the side of the road, have the $2.95 or whatever added to your bill, and get a tow truck right away. And then cancel the service before they billed you the next month. 🙂
Christina says
Your insurance premium should not go up for comprehensive losses. Also, check when you rent vehicles for pleasure-depending on your coverage (or state) a lot of times you do not have to purchase the rental car companies insurance-but call your insurance first and be honest on who will be driving-it is not worth paying out of pocket for a claim due to stipulations that you could’ve gotten covered with the rental companies insurance.
Amelia says
Your policy rate will go up next year because of the windshield claim. I work for an auto insurance company.
Lydia says
Your book is on sale here for $7:
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Mommy Me says
Often repairing chips in a windshield will not affect your policy rate, and the deductible doesn’t apply either. It makes sense that they’d rather fix the chips then have to pay for a whole new windshield if it cracks.
monique says
Some companies will do repairs without charge, but not all companies. For the ones that do charge, your deductible applies.
Justi Thomas says
We had our car broken into and had to have a window replaced, our insurance premium was not effected.
CFS says
I wonder if the price for your policy will go up because of using the windshield repair. I don’t know but ask because 2 weeks ago we got a crack in our windshield and my aunt was just telling me that when this happened to them, it cost more in an increase in their insurance than pay themselves to have the windshield replaced. Has anyone else had this experience?
Andrea says
Yes, we had that experience.
monique says
It will not. Only at fault accidents increase your price. There’s the possibility that you’ll lose a discount, but I doubt it.
What may happen is that – coincidentally, you filed a claim and at the next renewal the insurance company had already filed a rate increase with the state.
(former insurance agent and underwriter, current business analyst)
August says
That is not 100% true. It depends on the situation. Fault doesn’t really matter. What matters is how often you make the claim and if the company looks at things like you CLUE report.
monique says
What does the C.L.U.E. report have to do with a windshield repair? If you’re filing a claim for windshield repair it’s with your current insurance company. They wouldn’t need to order your C.L.U.E. report to see that claim.
I’ve been in the insurance industry since 1990 and I’ve never seen an insurance company increase your rate (surcharge) because of a windshield claim. I did state that you could lose a discount, but said it was not a likely scenario.
Other claims, sure, but we weren’t discussing other claims. Just windshield claims.
August says
CLUE has everything to do with a windshield repair or anything else that you use your car insurance for. If you use your car insurance to cover a window 10 times in the same year, that’s going to be reported to CLUE. Then if you go to another company or renew your policy they’ll see that and use it to determine your rates.
monique says
But the discussion is about reporting a claim to your current carrier. It’s not about switching carriers after reporting a claim. That’s why I’m confused. Your current carrier does not need to order a report from C.L.U.E. to know that you’ve reported 10 claims in the past year. They’ve paid the claims. They have the data stored in their OWN system. No need to pay C.L.U.E. for that information.
If the conversation was about changing carriers, that’s different – but it wasn’t. I’m not trying to be rude, but talking about C.L.U.E. in this particular comment confuses the issue.
August says
Kind of. The discussion is about her saving money by not renewing her AAA membership. Had she stayed with AAA, her claim would not go to C.L.U.E. but because she used her car insurance to cover it, they now have the option to report it to C.L.U.E.
Right now, it’s not a problem. But, when she renews her insurance policy or switches to a different company, that company might check her C.L.U.E. report. If she uses her insurance to cover several situations like this, chances are her rates are going to increase. Thus, she saved money now, but could potentially be costing herself a lot more in the long run.
C.L.U.E. is something that everyone should be aware of before making a decision like this, thus, it completely relevant to this comment.
monique says
I agree with you there – just about every insurance company reports to C.L.U.E. I’ve been involved with rating insurance policies – with underwriters and actuaries, and have supervised CSRs, and I’ve never seen rates increase because of windshield claims – or rates at new business be higher because of it. For the majority of people, what you’re describing – for windshield claims – will not happen. You’re potentially posting about something that will not happen with the great majority of people, if at all. I’ve never seen it. And this is literally what I do for a living. And prior to rating I wrote auto insurance in just about every state. And I didn’t see it then, either. What I did see was ill-trained CSRs blame every rate change on people’s claims history/driving record. When in reality it was simply a filed rate change by the insurance company.
Carly says
I have replaced windshields 2x a year with my vehicle and my insurance has never increased due to this. In fact, with rate adjustments, it tends to go down.
Marishannon @ My Spirited Adventure says
I think it depends on the state. In SC it does not.
August says
From what I’ve read, it depends on the insurance company, not the state. I could be wrong.
Patti says
In South Carolina, all windshield repairs are free.
Kristin says
They are in Florida as well.