NoSoup made some excellent suggestions, but I think that I need to elaborate/qualify a few of them.
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Originally Posted by NoSoup
Since you have the money saved up if you need it, I'd recommend getting your deductables set as high as you think is reasonable - liability covererage is relatively cheap, so you shouldn't have to go to extremes to keep it affordable.
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Back in the bad old days, I did quite a bit of commercial auto coverage (before my underwriter saw the writing on the wall, realized that his underwriting treaty/contract wasn't going to be renewed and decided to trash it, but that's a story for another day). The program that I did the vast majority of my business with wanted to put a liability deductible on every account to help with claims. That proved to be difficult since it wasn't approved/legal in several states. Insurance companies have to get approval for every endorsement that they use for auto coverage (personal and commercial) as well as tell the state what rates they will be charging. A liability deductible may not be available in your state or from the company that otherwise has the most competitive quote.
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Originally Posted by NoSoup
Although your results may vary, before I bought my house if I got renters insurance through the same company I had my car insurance through, it would drop my full covereage insurance approximately $450.00 per year. The rental insurance only cost about $120.00 per year, so obviously that was the way to go.
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This is an excellent idea. Although you'll end up with a larger bottom line at the end of the day, your home and your car will both be covered and, at least theoretically, at rates lower than if you bought the policies separately.
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Originally Posted by NoSoup
As far as getting quotes go, I personally use an independant insurance agent - but not just any agent. I'd get two recommendations from friends/family and play them against each other to see who gets you the better deal. Let each of them know that you are doing so - you'd be surprised as to how much more a motivated agent can save you.
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I'm all for this, but I'll caution you to do it without wasting anyone's time. Let both agents know that the other is involved and which companies the other will be going to. Once one agent has submitted something to a company, that will preclude another one from accessing the same company. You don't want the people you've got working for you getting frustrated and abandoning your cause.