How Important Are Base Rates for Auto Insurance?

[SpartansRock]

I know that the base rate does not necessarily equate to the final price, but how much stock do you guys put into these numbers?

First post on the forums.

 

[djs]

Not sure what you mean. The only thing that matters is the final, actual premium.

You do tend to learn what carriers have an appetite for what and more importantly, what they don't want. Doesn't matter what they say, it matters how it reflects in their premium.

Dan

 

[SpartansRock]

Not sure what you mean. The only thing that matters is the final, actual premium.

You do tend to learn what carriers have an appetite for what and more importantly, what they don't want. Doesn't matter what they say, it matters how it reflects in their premium.

Dan

I mean do agents pay attention to what base rates are in their area to influence where they buy leads? Or do the final premiums more or less even out after all the multiples/deductions are taken into account?

 

[marindependent]

Where are you getting your information on base rates from?

 

[SpartansRock]

Where are you getting your information on base rates from?

I am getting the information from public filings with the state. I am wondering how much agents take these number into account, or even if they find them useful at all.

 

[djs]

Oh, state filing rates are pretty useless for the agent. Once upon a time, I tried to compare them to actual quotes, it was an exercise in futility.

Somewhere, the CA DOI has an auto insurance rate comparison calculator based on this info. The rates I got from that were not that close (it gave a range) to what I got when I actually ran a quote for the same risk. There are simply to many adjustments made to the base rates on an actual quote.

Don't spend time worrying about these things. It is good to pay attention to them for rate trends for a carrier, but other then 'inside the ballpark' stuff, it doesn't affect an agent day to day in any worthwhile manner.

Dan