Monday, April 28, 2008

Pennies saved, pennies earned

One of the things I've been meaning to do forever is shop around and see if we can get a better deal on our car and home insurance (No. 42 on my 101-things list). We've been with Nationwide for about six years and they have always seemed fine (untested, since we've never made a claim).

But recently there have been several incidents of significant confusion and unnecessary complications that killed any confidence I had in our agent (a guy in Wilmington -- we never switched to a local office after moving). I finally got around to calling the competition.

I'm glad I did. We're switching to a local State Farm office (the agent turns out to live on the street next to ours) and for identical coverage we will save about $135 per year on car insurance and pay about $25 more per year for homeowners insurance. Insurance on the rental house will stay about the same.

The overall price difference isn't huge by any stretch, but it is a difference. Plus, State Farm has a great reputation, I'm happy to have a local agent and I get the feeling this agency is more competent than my Nationwide guy. I feel good about this change, and it was a lot less trouble than I expected.

Also, today I found out that I'm getting a raise on the articles I write for one magazine. It's small, but every little bit is nice!

3 comments:

Amanda said...

Congrats on your raise!!

And like our mutual friend (whose name I won't reveal because they work at Nationwide) says, "Nationwide is NOT on your side." So congrats on the transfer!

Amanda said...

Oh, P.S. About your newest Chuck Norris poll. Did you know he's the commencement speaker at Liberty this year for graduation? Yeah. Stephen wants to go so bad.

Chuck Norris does not own a stove, oven, or microwave , because revenge is a dish best served cold.

Chuck Norris invented Kentucky Fried Chicken's famous secret recipe, with eleven herbs and spices. But nobody ever mentions the twelfth ingredient: Fear.

Jennifer Kirby said...

I don't get it.