[naterbug]

We're moving from Chicago to Portage in a few weeks and I'm in the early stages of shopping for insurance. The first agency I called, State Farm, tried to tell me that Michigan rates are higher than Illinois rates for both home and auto.

I told her she was nuts. Was she? For instance:

1. We have two cars. She said one would be at the same rate as it is in Chicago and the other would be $100 higher per 6 months compared to Chicago.

2. The Michigan house appraises at $223K purchased at $210 and she wants to charge me the same as I'm paying on my house in Chicago that appraises at $325K.

Obviously, I'm taking my business elsewhere but I just wanted to find out if there is any truth in Michigan's insurance rates being higher for some reason.

Thanks for any input or comments!

[scolls]

Depends on location. Harper Woods is much higher on auto insurance, but if I go a block east, it drops by 40%. State Farm is expensive anyways. I pay about $100 a month for full coverage on a 2009 Dodge Ram and about $800-900 a year on my home.

[michmoldman]

Originally Posted by naterbug

We're moving from Chicago to Portage in a few weeks and I'm in the early stages of shopping for insurance. The first agency I called, State Farm, tried to tell me that Michigan rates are higher than Illinois rates for both home and auto.

I told her she was nuts. Was she? For instance:

1. We have two cars. She said one would be at the same rate as it is in Chicago and the other would be $100 higher per 6 months compared to Chicago.

2. The Michigan house appraises at $223K purchased at $210 and she wants to charge me the same as I'm paying on my house in Chicago that appraises at $325K.

Obviously, I'm taking my business elsewhere but I just wanted to find out if there is any truth in Michigan's insurance rates being higher for some reason.

Thanks for any input or comments!

Shop around and you'll find some cheaper rates.

[Driller1]

Michigan has "no-fault" auto insurance.

That will make it hard to compare state to state.

It is a little higher but, if you need it the benefits are great.

Make sure to get uninsured and UNDERINSURED insured coverage.

At least $500,000/$500,000.

[Coldjensens]

When we moved here from California we were shocked by both the car insurance rates and the homewoners insurance rates.

We found otu that the car insurance here is higher due to a requriement for some kind of long term medical disability coverage that the insurers snuck into a ballot initiative on no fault that was apprved a few years back. From what I understand there are a tiny number of people who need this insurance, but it is very very expensive. This insurance is mandatory. Basically that insurance companies managed to get a tax on all michigan residents for the benefit of the insurance companies.

I do not know why homeowners insurance is so expenvie, but it is. I think our rates nearly tripled when we moved. It is also hard to find homewoners insurance that covers market value (which is what you lender will want) rather than only replacement ocst (or maybe it is the other way around, I cannot remember - however we were told by several insurance companies, including Progressive, they they could nto provide the kind of insurance in Michgian that we needed to satisfy the lender.

OUr homeowners and car insurance comes out to something like $680/month. That is for 3 cars and a house appraised at $350,000 (however when we tried to switch companies, they told us that in the insurance system, our house comes up at a value of $1,100,000. My response was "Sold!"

In any even, you will need to find out how they value the house. If they use the same dumb system that some of the insurers we talked to used, then it may come up way high and they have no means of basing the premium on a different number.

It is a crazy thing. When we were looking for alternate insruance, we had quotes everywhere from $14,000 per yer down to $4500. We did not switch. I think that our currnet insurnace is a bit cheaper than $4500 per year. It is with state farm. The coverage is not very good though. It seems like the policy excludes pretty much everything.

[Driller1]

Michigan Auto Accident Attorneys Handling Personal Injury Cases For Car, Truck & Motorcycle Accidents

There is a ton of great information on this web site about no-fault.

This law firm is the best!!!!

[jiminnm]

When we moved from Michigan to NM, our auto insurance dropped by more than 50% for the same coverage (actually a little better in some areas). It has declined as our cars have aged and we have had no claims, which I don't recall happening in Michigan. Our homeowners insurance here, for about the same value and coverage, is slightly less in than Michigan. We had AAA for both in Michigan, and the Hartford for both here.

[Driller1]

Originally Posted by jiminnm

When we moved from Michigan to NM, our auto insurance dropped by more than 50% for the same coverage (actually a little better in some areas). It has declined as our cars have aged and we have had no claims, which I don't recall happening in Michigan. Our homeowners insurance here, for about the same value and coverage, is slightly less in than Michigan. We had AAA for both in Michigan, and the Hartford for both here.

If it was not no-fault, it was not the same.

[us66]

Insurance rates are high in metro Detroit, but perhaps they'll be less in Portage in west Michigan. Certain areas in metro Detroit have very high auto theft rates for certain vehicles (three of my co-workers have lost Chrysler minivans out of the same parking lot in the last month, two the same day) but that's not a statewide problem. I used to have Geico and the car insurance rate was 40% less than my previous insurer. The market value versus replacement cost issue may be a problem too, as a lot of houses in MI are selling for less than replacement value.

[fallingwater]

Michigan does have higher insurance rates. I now live in Indiana and ours went down but don't get me started on plate costs here. ugh. Anyway, I was with Michigan Ins. company when I lived in the Metro Detroit area. I was with them for over 6 yrs and every so often I would price check to make sure I was still getting the best rate. No other company could beat what I was paying. I had my auto and home owners with them. Good luck!