[pfaffendorn]

No one has yet mentioned their local insurance broker. I have always let my agent find me the best insurance company for my situation. They do the legwork, get the costs and present you with the options. If the company you go with quits doing business in your state, your agent knows all about it in advance and keeps you covered with the best new policy.

My insurance broker got me covered by Penn National Insurance about 15 years ago and they have stuck with me through a number of speeding tickets and two expensive accidents, and when the bad stuff rotates off my record, the rates come back down. At the moment, I have three glaring items in the past year: a speeding ticket in my old car, my BRZ purchase a month later, and an at-fault accident in my new BRZ a month after that. It would be silly to quote you my current premium, but you know it's sky high. The miracle is they haven't dumped me. They simply paid to have my BRZ brought back to showroom condition without quibble ($7500 plus the truck I hit), and kept my policy at the first-class coverage levels it was at before. I feel like I'm paying them back for the accident out of my pocket, but what's so unfair about that?

I really am a good driver -- I just have this knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But maybe this tale will suggest to you the benefits of doing business with an insurance agent instead of going direct.

Stay safe, everybody!