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Annoying dilemma about factoring "age" into car insurance rates?

Okay this is annoying me. My car insurance policy is up for renewal very soon. It is a 6-mo policy. I am currently 24 yrs old but turning 25 literally 7 days after my policy renews. As you might know, generally car insurance rates decrease when you turn 25, because 25 is the age threshold that is no longer considered to be a "high risk" age group. However, my car insurance company insists on rating my entire 6-mo policy as a 24-yr-old...which means that for literally 96.2% of my policy period, I will be 25 yrs old but paying the higher rates of a 24-yr-old. This does not make me feel happy or appreciated. >:( So I was wondering...what would you do? Should I switch insurance companies shortly after turning 25 so that I can get a better rate, and then perhaps switch back to my old company sometime shortly later? Is there a way I can negotiate with a manager so that he/she will re-rate me shortly after my 25th birthday? Thanks for the feedback. To Duce: That sounds like a good idea, but they claim that they are unable to make any adjustments midway through the policy. I spoke to a rep from Travelers about it today on the phone. Perhaps I should ask for someone else, and who? Check out the "best answer" that Amber M. said for a related question: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AhkVRS_uq5DUxF7I80OTpEgjzKIX?qid=20070531131126AAyIK05 Basically she said that her car insurance company only gives the "over 25 yrs old" car ins. discount at the start of the new policy that occurs after you turn 25. That is what I'm experiencing now...and what sux for me is, that I will have to wait nearly my whole policy all over again before I can get my justified discount. >:( To John S: You stated a good idea, and trust me I thought about doing that, since I take mass transit to work anyway(I only drive on weekends for "pleasure driving"). But my Mustang is financed, so it is MANDATORY that it stays insured. If the bank discovers that a period went by where it was uninsured, they will retroactively bill me THEIR insurance rates for that period, which are probably a lot higher than my current rip-off policy.

Public Comments

1. Just call them after your birthday and they should adjust your premium
2. make an appointment after you turn 25, make belive you are going out of town and that you will be back by then. That is if you want to stay with your ins. company. Or talk to your representative if you trust him/her that much
3. just pay for one month of insurance and then go back to 6 months after your birthday
4. I would change companies. Every company I have been with makes these changed automatically. USAA, Progressive and Statefarm have all been really good about those sorts of things for me. If your current holder isn't going to do this for you what other problems will you run into down the line?
5. I have the option of paying monthly, quarterly, half or full year. It costs me $1 more to do less than 6 month policy. Pay them for one month of coverage. Then pay 6 months when due again.
6. if you,ve only got a week to go park the car up and use public transport then on your birthday find a much cheaper quote and change companys it would help to know where you are if you,r in england try swinton or someone like that if you,r in the states you must have insurance agents out there
7. Hello. I work for Allstate so I wanted to shed some light on this for you. If you live in California, your insurance policy is not based on your age but your driving experience (how many years you've been licensed.) The biggest myth of all is that your insurance goes down at age 25. You should ask your insurance company if that is their policy. You can always shop around & maybe find a lower rate. Also, you should call your insurance company and see what other discounts you may qualify for that you're not receiving. Hope this helps.
8. Why are you making such a big deal out of this? Your rates won't go down enough to put so much effort into this situation. Damn.
9. Your rate doesn't go down as much as you think it is going to. It goes down steadlily each year after a 3 year clean driving record.
10. First, if this was done, EVERYONE would be asking for this & it would be a paperwork NIGHTMARE. No changes to rating are done midterm, they are done on renewal only. Feel lucky you have a 6 month policy & not an annual policy. The same is true for surcharges, if you have an at fault accident 7 days into a policy, would you want the insurance company to add a surcharge midterm? I'm sure not. If there was a rate increase, would you want it done midterm? Surcharges and age changes are done on renewal only. Did you actually get a quote to see what it is when you turn 25? If you switch insurance companies after you turn 25, there usually is a 10% early cancellation fee. Is the savings to go to another company worth that? Then you have all the paperwork to do, a new downpayment too. Can you afford to pay 2 insurance companies within a week for 2 policies? The cancellation of your old policy will probably take at least a few weeks to process before you get any money back from them. Then when you switch back, you will have the same issues. You will probably be wasting more money on cancellation fees and your time & effort than the savings for when you turn 25. There is no negotiation on this one. If they offer it to you they have to offer it to everyone & that is just not going to happen.
11. You really should think about switching to someone else for that six month period. If you make a switch to a new company, they'll rate you as a 25 year old if you're going to turn that age within the first 30 days. Then after you've sat with them for six months, have your old (current, whatever) company requote you and switch back. If you do it for just six months, any sort of discounts you get for being a long-term policyholder will likely be given back to you. Cancellation will NOT take a few weeks (seriously, what?), it goes into effect immediately. Easy way to do this is to just make that payment that you would have given your current company to the new company and save your money right there. Since they'll be requoting you to come back to them after the six months, they can't go back to you not being 25-years old. That's just not even possible. Trust me.. I help people out with this all the time! :)