Our current auto and homeowner’s insurance policies are up for renewal next month. But I have the renewal paperwork in front of me and I’m feeling overwhelemed. Last we added an umbrella policy and yet they have more questionairre I need to do. I don’t exactly know why either.

Plus since the state (MA) has changed their rules about making auto insurance competitive it means I have to shop around for cheaper coverage and get multiple quotes. Well I tried calling this past week about 5 different places, but all of them were unable to process the quote. They were very unfamiliar with how to compare insurance, and thus now I am sitting here scanning in my current policy so I can fax off our current coverages so the insurance sales people can match it.

Unfortunately this change from state regulated insurance to competetive insurance is turning out to be rocky. I am more familiar than many agents because it’s just like the CA system we had before. But many agents here have no idea why I’m shopping around or how much it can vary or aren’t very familiar with products from other companies or how to bundle multiple policies.

Before May 2008, there were only 4 major insurance companies with state set insurance rates. It didn’t matter who you used, they were all the same. Major insurance companies hated MA and refused to do business because there was limited profitability in the state because of the regulated rates.

Anyway, because of this deregulation I got in the mail also our driving records (SDIP), which if I’m reading correctly my DH’s 4 pt accident will go down by one point 11/01/08 when it’s 3 years without an incident. So I have to now discuss what happens to our rate because in CA when that occurs, the rate changes mid-year. Previously in MA, the rate does not change for the whole year because of the regulation. This is a huge deal according to the agents I talked with previously because 4 points is a lot.

Also because we have had auto-deduct on our car and home insurance I need to cancel our billing if we switch. And since we have a low mileage discount I also have to send in paperwork detailing the mileage on the car. This is taken from the annual safety inspection which both cars are due for.

I feel overwhelemed. Plus I called our current company and they refused to give me a legitimate quote before 8/1/08. I am not sure if this is a way to make me too frustrated to switch or not. They could only “estimate” but unless I’m within 30 days of my renewal 8/30/08 it’s not a valid quote.