As soon i had to receive this form from the insurance, that i am insured and got my drivers licence, the insurance (Geico) added for only 3 month 1500.-$ just for me!! They told us, because i have to start as a newbie from zero again, (even if i drive 23 years) the amount is that high.... But, even if its like this, for God sake, i am sure, no normal person ( not millionaire) can pay 700$ per month only for the car insurance ! My hubby is only working, i am still waiting for the greencard. i have a 5 year old child in top. and i have to bring her 3 times a week to the day care. so, i need to use the car, as well for shopping and so... dokes anybody as well has to pay such a crazy amount? or is it just this insurance??? i wonder how that amount can be payed.... we cant... thanks for ur advices!

That's outrageous.

We have 3 vehicles, and 3 drivers on our policy (one is my US citizen husband, one is me, immigrant from Canada, and one is my daughter, 19 years old, immigrant from Canada) and we only pay $1,300.00 for 6 months of insurance.

Two vehicles are new, one is 10 years old.

And my daughter is a new driver (has had license for less than a year).

You should probably call around to find cheaper insurance. We use Safeco.

I do believe I would call around. There are insurance companies a dime a dozen in this country...there is NO way that can be the only premium around. I do hope you'll resolve this soon. Best of luck.

We pay about $475 a month for two cars, but we're in Massachusetts. Notorious for high rates and strict regulation, so we have no other choices. I would say that you should be able to find something *much* cheaper than $700 in NC.

Unbelievable

We live in California and even when my husband added me to his original car insurance his premium hardly went up. Now after just one year I have good driver discount.

On our premiun for which we pay $400 per month we have one old car (mine)
one brand new car (husband) 2006 Infiniti FX 35 sport SUV, one 2000 Ford Mustang which is driven by our 17 year old son who has literally only just passed his test in January 2007. Our insurance doesn't allow weighing by car, i.e. you can deselect the highest risk driver from driving certain cars on some policies but not on ours so that $400 includes him being able to drive any of the cars on our insurance policy.

We are insured with Unitrin Direct and I have nothing but praise for them. Their customer service has always been first class. You can get an instant quote online - I sure would give it a shot as when I compared ours most companies were charging for 6 months what Unitrin charges per year. Worth a try!

Let us know how it works out.

That's insane.. we only pay 165 a month for 2 cars.. i'm pretty sure that my experience started over when I got here too.. we are with Esurance (Not sure if they cover NC, but you can check.. its www.esurance.com).. you can also try progressive and i'm sure there are more that you can even just do an online quote..

I called around last month for car insurance quotes. Geico was much more expensive than the insurance provider (Nationwide) I currently use. Try checking into Nationwide. I have been with them for years and will continue to do so. I have no complaints with them and their prices are more than reasonable.

Mel

Hi!
$700 amonth? That's ridiculous.
We live in Durham and have two cars:one old and one new and we( two drivers) pay $530 for six months. We're with State Farm. I've been paying $350 for 6 months for so many years and when my spouse joined me, it went up to $530.

Geico seems to have a higher rate because when I searched for quotes on Geico a few months ago they were going to charge me about $600 for a 6 month policy. Now I got Progressive I only pay $87 a month.

I'm only a permenant resident and I've only got my driver license for 6 months(no driving experience before that!)and I can get that low on one vehicle(99' Jeep Cherokee)..so I would definitely call other places and keep looking..it sounds like there's no way it should be that high.

when we re-insured our car we added my name to it and all she asked was if i had a good driving record in Canada and I said yup.... We only pay about $90 a month for our one car.... and the lady said if we want to add a second car it will only be about another 30 bucks a month...

I would suggest shopping around.....

Shop around, using INSweb.

This is unfortunately, all-too-typical of Geico (for all their advertising on radio about "saving"). I've called them many times.

A rate-quote comparison per month (for $100K total value policy, $500 deductible) in 1998 (Cobb County, GA):

• State Farm, $87 (which was whom I was with at the time)
• Allstate, $89
• AAA, $99
• Nationwide, $91
• Geico, $238

I have CONSISTENTLY gotten sky-high quotes with Geico. Now for a real rub: I know several people who work at Geico's HQ in Bethesda who insure with other carriers--and each of them has told me that [b]even with employee discounts[/i], Geico is too pricey!

Try AIG. I live in Ct. Have two cars fully insured and pay them 1800 a year

Thank you all so muich for the replies.. how nice to get so much help here... i will start now with all the advices i got and go through all of them.. hope it will be much cheaper... thanks again

Also - shop around for a company that will accept your foreign driving experience for the good driver discount.
I brought my No Claims Discount certificate with me from England - and my current insurer (Farmers) accepts that (Geiko would not). It makes a huge difference.

Another comment: We pay $281 every six months for one car and that's full coverage through Georgia Farm Bureau. No, I don't own a farm nor are we farmers. We pay a $25 year membership fee and are eligible for auto and home insurance. The more you insure with them the cheaper the rates seem to be. I've been with them for 25 years now and so far I haven't found anyone to meet or beat their rate.

It's crazy - shop around! There are insurance companies that will take into consideration your driving experience outside the US. Farmers Insurance, for example, will do it.

What side ofthe road do you drive on in Switzerland? If on the left that might make a difference

No, Switzerland (like the rest of the European mainland) drives on right--otherwise, its road connexions to France, Italy, Austria and Germany would be A MESS to administer.

I'm with state farm and have a 1 yr old sports car and my insurance is $87 a month for full coverage and all of my liabiliy coverages are upgraded to max. As well in Kansas kids can get their learners permit at 14 and my Son is now driving on my insurance with only a permit at 14.

You're making a joke....right?

Thanks again for more comments and help! and, no no no, switzerland is driving on the right.. all eurpoe, expect england.. well, i know, north carolina might not have all those cheap insurances some of you have talked about. but, i will check them all aout... and see what is the cheapest in NC....

I started looking a quotes as I passed my test last weekend (many years driving in UK) Geico wanted 1860 for 6 months. The cheapest was 475. That is a HUGE difference! Interesting about farmers though and the no claims certificate. I will check that out

I'm with Allstate. Been with them for years. The few times that I've had a claim, they delivered the check to me, in person, at my place of employment or my home, depending upon the time.

I have 2 vehicles on my policy; one with full-coverage and one with just basic coverage. I pay $95/month.

I have never had a problem with Allstate.

edsperfect may actually not be knowledgible about Europe vs. UK.

However, the REAL joke is Geico's claim of "saving" customers lots of $$--when I'm not the only one who has found Geico quotes substantially higher (rather similar in magnitude to the difference of airfare between United and Delta/American that I got for a return Atlanta-Calgary flight in 1997), even to those who WORK at Geico's Bethesda HQ!

We're in NC too and we are covered by State Farm. For 3 (old) cars, a mini-van and an old camper we are paying about $600 every 6 months.

I am not looking forward to adding our two 15-year olds who just got their learner's permits. I'm hoping the premium won't go up too much as all our vehicles are old. We'll have to check if it's possible to exclude our sons on some cars (like my husband's 1969 Le Mans convertible) but then again, I'm sure they'll do everything they can to convince their dad to let them drive his cool car.

We are with All State too and pay $145 a month for 2 cars - full coverage - and a small utility trailer. Definitely shop around! My husband has been with them for years and has always had excellent service (yeah, he has had a few accidents over the years - but then he is driving the Atlanta Interstate 'parking lot').

One has to shop around in the USA for everything.

Bonjour de la californie, It's always good also to give it a try, let the insurer knows how long you have been driving and provide them a copy of your switzeland driver's license. when added my wife to my car insurance, my agent asked us a few questions that lower our premium even more. Multi car discount, Good driver's discount, Beleive it or not They have discount for professional or engineer, Degree and so on, that was with farmers so i am not sure if it applies to all others. A +

Thanks again! I tried some out, i came quite low with allstate, even more, cokz we have our home insurance with them.. for the quotation they only asked , how long i have a drivers license, and i replied 23 years, coz its true. will see what they say if they realise that i got the NC license just recently...well, i can show them my swiss license, and am sure, if they want, i can get somehow the good conduct or how its called... have no idea how thet call it over there....

if you husband is retired/active duty military or government service employee, send me a pm.
i'm consistently amazed at the prices of auto insurance. to give you an idea of what i'm paying, it's about $120 a month with nessa added (no driving record for her, a new driver) on an 11 year old car and 4 year old truck, both with full coverage. $250 collision and $200 comprehensive deductible btw.
i'd say squash that darn gecko.

what did they quote you for a rate then? (if you care to share)

All I can say is this thread cracks me up (only because...) each time I read one of these (Nationwide, State Farm,etc etc) all I think of is their jingles and/or commercials in my head!

"Nationwide is on your sideeeee"
"State Farm is thereeeee"
"You're in good hands, with All State" "That's All State's stand" and...Geico may be the worst/most expensive...but GAWDDDDDDD do I LOVEEEEEEE those commercials!!!!

Hope you find a great rate! M.

Thanks charles, well, my hubbie is in the national guard and hes a police officer as well.. if it helps to get a cheaper rate even... at the moment allstate looks quite good, we have as well the homeowners insurance with them.. they gave us a quote of 745.- or so... the cheapest so far is AMICA, only 605.-but still, if the realise that i have the NC license just shortly, maybe they will go up again..i will try to see if i can get a drivers record from switzerland... Progressive, nationwide and AIG are a bit more, like in the 900 s so far...

Even those WORKING FOR the gecko already do that to get any reasonable insurance--which says plenty!

try this bunch. they beat usaa for homeowners insurance. they cover the following. you'll be surprised at the difference in prices between what they state and them other yahooos.

eligibility requirements:
Junior Enlisted who are on active duty, a reserve, and/or retired from active duty with a service related injury
All officers, noncommissioned, warrant, and commissioned active duty, reserves, National Guard, retired and former of the Armed Services, Public Health Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Currently employed as a DoD employee with a pay grade equivalent to GS-6 or above
The spouse, children, and former spouse of current or former AFI members
All cadets and midshipmen of the Armed Forces Academies and all midshipmen of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy
All cadets and midshipmen in advanced ROTC programs with contractual service obligations
Any person who was previously an AFI member

http://www.afi.org/welcome.asp

here is usaa:
eligibility requirements:
You may be eligible for membership.Active duty officers and enlisted personnel.
National Guard, Selected Reserve officers and enlisted personnel.
Officer candidates in commissioning programs.
Recently retired or separated military personnel.
Children of USAA members.
Former USAA members.

https://www.usaa.com/inet/ent_logon/Logon

edit to add: let me know how much you save a month

Were now with USAA for car and house coverage. Tehy have been excellent to deal with. Were not military, but wife's grandfather was, and her parents are with USAA, so we were able to join as well. Their car insurance was a lot cheaper than our previous insurer, our house premium went up a bit, but I belive we have better coverage. Both her aunts have had to make insurance claims against the house, USAA was great to deal with and there rates did not go up!!

I was driving this beast around Northern Virginia/DC paying around $1200 for a year if I remember when I lived there(I'm UK citizen). And I was only 22 at the time.... With Geico

Geico is owned by Mr. Warren Buffet...second richest man in the world...you dont think he got that way by giving discounts did you?

Geico just changed their policy of accepting foreign driver history. They do not do that anymore. They now only accept American DL histories, which means if you just came to America and traded your foreign DL in for an American, you count as a Newbie. Pretty stupid! We will change now to State Farm or Nationwide on a monthly basis until Mai when we will move to CA where my MIL is a Famer's Agent with a bunch of discounts

Even with old policy, the quotes I got from Geico were outrageously high.

Hubby (who is the USC) and I are with State Farm. He drives a 2005 Chevy Cavalier and I drive a 2001 Kia Rio, which I got last year. I obtained my driver's license in Aug. State Farm charges us only $110 every month for both cars. Hubby loves State Farm.

We will get our new quotes this week, hubbie called some agents around here. Geico used to be cheap for us (96 Explorer), but suddenly they decided that stupid thing not to accept the foreign driver's history anymore. Rant rant rant. They didn't even tell us until I read the post here, and hubbie called them to ask a few questions. They didn't tell us that they kinda cancelled it but wanted us to pay for it. A really bad company, they now top Sprint as the you-stink-company of my choice.

Aeeeehhh we just got off the phone with the State Farm agent who claims the following:

As of January 1st 2007 North Carolina prohibits all auto insurance companies to accept driving histories that are NON US. Which means: only driving history within the USA is accepted. We tried to google that but it is not to be found on the internet.

Does anybody know it that is true????

Contact your congressmens office and let them do some searching for you

damn damn damn.. sorry, but ist startign to piss me off to much now... yes... it seems to be true... i just got a quote from state farm.. they told me the same same ######. wonderful... grate.. yeah ,in usa driving seems realy to be absolutley diffrent then the rest of the world!! i drove cars all over in the world... and EVERYBODY accepted my swiss license!!! i drove cars for 10 years in africa... and this is real horror... but, now, in the grate other world, they dont want to accept this.. like am a foolish newbie.. after 23 years of big experience and never accident!! state farm gave me a quote of about 500 every month!! nice..... well, i will try out now AMICA, see what they say, then allstate... even this armed forces insurance was pretty high, but, maybee they accept my driving record....

I only had my license since Oct 06 and we are able to get the multiple drivers & good driving discount. My husband did not have any traffic violations for the last 3 years and I think that's what they counted. We filled out the online application and sent it to an agent after we got the quote. As far as I know, they did not use my driving experience outside of US. We tried progressive & state farm (on their website) and both give us more or less same quotes. We do not live in NC but it might worth the try.


Good luck !

Ok, grate, we got one now!!! after all the search, and dissapointments, and high quotes, i found now this grate insurance: AMICA insurance, we pay now only about 105 per month for 2 cars, one 7 years old one 3 years old. they never asked even about my driving license.... well, i am happy when we signed for it and its over! Thanks everybody!

I was with Progressive, and the rates were pretty high. Recently switched to Geico, went from $1700 for 6 months down to $900 for 6. Two cars 2004, 2005, wife and I driving. One claim last year, otherwise the rate would have been around $750.

Geico does penalise you with higher rates if you haven't been licensed in the US for 3 years or more.

Progressive is very stringent on credit history, lol they considered the fact that I didn't start a credit history till after the age of 25 to be a risk factor! Hard to build it up when I wasn't living here when I was 25. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

I have heard good things about AMICA, reputable company. I'll have to check them out next time.

We are now with Allstate. One car, both of us have 7 years of experience and it was no problem to accept my European driving history. We will pay $580 for 6 months. It is a little bit higher since my hubbie had a speeding ticket 3 years ago. But that's all, both of us never were involved in an accident. Phew this was aweful! So many bad companies and lying people out there, unbelievable!

So what cover/liability limits are you quoting for, the only number I have seen here mentioned is $100,000, which is obviously very low.

Bit like me saying I paid $1,000 for a new tv, could be either the best deal ever or one of the worst, without knowing which TV meaningless.