AARP Online Community and Discussion Forums - I resolved The Hartford insurance rate increase an...

VintageDrummer · ‎06-04-2024

Here's how I successfully resolved the interrelated problem with The Hartford raising the insurance premium dramatically for my auto insurance even though I have an excellent driving history, and AARP acting helpless to leverage the matter with its business partner (i.e., The Hartford) ...

I recently dropped The Hartford at renewal time in favor of a different carrier (Progressive) and, in the process, save substantial money.

I subsequently called AARP and cancelled my membership and will be receiving a prorated refund of my five-year membership payment (more savings for me). If more people took this approach and there was a decrease in membership, perhaps AARP leadership would redirect its energies to be more member centric?

It seems that AARP has lost its way helping members in favor of income from royalties paid by business partnerships.

MartynP267354 · ‎04-22-2025

I'm FREE, bye, bye Hartford. It's a wonderful feeling to kick Hartford down the road. A bit like that first time as a kid when you learn to ride a two wheel bicycle without falling off. AARP members, follow me, I'm the Pied Piper.....

SpringIsHereVA · ‎04-22-2025

Martyn @MartynP267354 , who did you switch to? I have Allstate in Virginia. Take care, Nicole 👵

[*** @MartynP267354 wrote 4/22/25:
I'm FREE, bye, bye Hartford. It's a wonderful feeling to kick Hartford down the road. A bit like that first time as a kid when you learn to ride a two wheel bicycle without falling off. AARP members, follow me, I'm the Pied Piper..... ***]

BalbonisMoleskine · ‎04-08-2025

For those of you who switch every year other than two, how many hoops do you usually have to jump through to get coverage? When I switched to Hartford, I had to either allow an agent to inspect my home or use their app to take photos. Not too bad but not something I want to have to endure every year or two.

What is Progressive like in that regard? State Farm? GEICO? Others?

MauraG724900 · ‎04-30-2025

The Hartford increased my premium by $1800. And I wanted to know why, they had no response for me.Only that in new york, the rates have gone up, nice try. That was not the case at all. They use a database with info from Lexus Nexus, which had me confused with somebody else. How did I know that well? I never got into an accident in those 3 years, and they had a date, tows, apparently Lexus Nexus is full of errors. It has different information on me, apparently mixed with other people. If they don't stop using lexus nexus, they will lose a lot of people! I got an abstract of my driving record from dnv online. It was just a few dollars, and I emailed it to geico, who gave me a wonderful premium. Much less than what i've been paying the last three years. The rest of my family has progressive, which is very competitive, pretty good.

GailL1 · ‎04-30-2025

@MauraG724900

Lexis Nexis is a huge company that provides all kinds of database information globally. For auto insurance it is a place where your record of driving is kept. It also reports on whom else may be able to drive your car within the household. For insurance purposes, it is known as a A CLUE (Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange) report.

Generated by Lexis Nexis, it is a detailed record of insurance claims made on a specific property or vehicle within the past few years. Insurance companies use it to assess risk and determine premiums.

It is like your credit report except on driving and your autos. As such, you have the right to get your Lexis Nexis report (CLUE), review it and if applicable correct it.

Since the info it contains comes from some other place, it might be a good indication that the original source is also incorrect and will also need to be corrected too. Just depends on what the info might be - Any database can have errors since the human factor is usually responsible for feeding in the info from whatever the source.

In most states, it is a requirement that IF a Lexi’s Nexis (CLUE) report was used then there s/h/b a disclosure of this within the renewal declaration stating this and also tell you how to order your report, review it and if an error is there, what you do to correct it. Your state Dept of Insurance should also have the contact info for securing your report. Or you can order your report from their website.

Everybody should review their own Lexi’s Nexis (CLUE) report for correctness periodically - especially if it has been used to rate an insurance premium. The report is also used for risk assessment on other types of property for which insurance coverage is sought by the consumer.

Lexis Nexis- Risk Solutions - Consumer Portal

SpringIsHereVA · ‎04-30-2025

Maura @MauraG724900 that is awful and congrats on switching to Geico!!! Take care, Nicole 👵

➡️[*** Maura wrote Wednesday 4/30/25: The Hartford increased my premium by $1800. And I wanted to know why, they had no response for me.Only that in new york, the rates have gone up, nice try. That was not the case at all. They use a database with info from Lexus Nexus, which had me confused with somebody else. How did I know that well? I never got into an accident in those 3 years, and they had a date, tows, apparently Lexus Nexus is full of errors. It has different information on me, apparently mixed with other people. If they don't stop using lexus nexus, they will lose a lot of people! I got an abstract of my driving record from dnv online. It was just a few dollars, and I emailed it to geico, who gave me a wonderful premium. Much less than what i've been paying the last three years. The rest of my family has progressive, which is very competitive, pretty good. ***]

VintageDrummer · ‎03-31-2025

Over 12,000 views to my June 2024 post above. And yet, in 3/4 of a year later, AARP clearly hasn’t been meaningfully responsive and isn’t doing much of anything substantive to help Members with the auto insurance rate problem with The Hartford. I cannot help but wonder why.

jg5115 · ‎03-25-2025

My elderly, retired father, living on SS paycheck to paycheck, has used AARP/The Hartford for decades. His rates began to go up exponentially as of 2023.

2022=$2019/yr

2023=$2665/yr,

2024=$3018/yr

2025 $4926/yr... they've gone up by $2261 in 2yrs and $1908 in 1yr... WHY??? He hasn't made a claim since 2012 which was for hail damage. If natural disasters are causing the rates to go up then only raise the rates for either those who made claims or those who live in the natural disaster areas, instead of across the board. I just dumped AARP/Hartford and added my dad to my State Farm account, 2 automobiles, 1 cargo trailer and Homeowners (with even more coverage than he had with AARP/Hartford) and it's only $2713/yr. Even Lloyd's of London admitted insurance is nothing but a Ponzi-style scheme, so just stop with the excuses and blame.

MillerH715495 · ‎04-07-2025

That's an utter shame and I feel for him. I just got hit with about a 50% increase in my premium, despite having no claims, accidents, or tickets. Will definitely be moving on from Hartford and likely dropping AARP, too.

MauraG724900 · ‎04-30-2025

They're using lexus nexus, which is full of errors, and that's what they're basing the premium on. Two insurance companies told me the same thing. Correcting Lexus Nexus is a project which I have to get on. But apparently it seems that there's so much insurance fraud. Somebody could be using your information. Basically, you have to prove that it wasn't you! So that's a project that I need to take care of but i'm dragging my feet. It sounds like a lot of you are going through the same thing with this a hike in premium without a good reason

TRL1111 · ‎04-30-2025

@MauraG724900 wrote:
It sounds like a lot of you are going through the same thing with this a hike in premium without a good reason

That's great information about LexisNexis. A few decades ago someone else's information started appearing on my credit report and proving it wasn't me was an almost impossible task. In fact, that person's address still appears on my credit report as a previous address, and is sometimes used in verification questions! At least I recognize it, so I know what's going on: "No, that's not a prior address of mine but it IS the address of someone whose credit report got mixed up with mine, so I don't know if I should answer 'yes' or 'no.'" That obviously works only if I'm talking to a person--if I'm clicking boxes on an online form, I'm screwed.

However, I'm not too sure about your "without a good reason." Even when one recent complainer was asked which part of his insurance went up, he didn't know and didn't seem inclined to look back and find out. So his increase might have been like yours, and due to an error in his driving record, which LexisNexis would reveal. But if it was the comprehensive portion of the premium that went up, that has nothing do with anybody's driving record.

That's what happened to me--the comprehensive portion doubled, which resulted in a 40% increase in my total premium. Screaming about how a 40% increase is ridiculous because I hadn't had any accidents or tickets might have felt good but it would have been meaningless.

I have a big motorhome and had the broken windshield replaced under my comprehensive coverage. Even though comprehensive claims are not the policyholder's fault and shouldn't factor into the premium, I was nervous. I was shocked when I got my renewal and my comprehensive annual premium went down, from $1,000 to $440. Yes, went DOWN, after filing a claim. And it stayed down for several years, until this year when it went up to $560. That's a 28% increase, but my collision premium went down at the same time, for unknown reasons, and the total premium increase ended up being 4.5%.

I can only assume that the timing of my windshield replacement happened to coincide with a general decrease in comprehensive claims in my area, but I'll never know for sure because everything is so opaque. I deal with that opacity by understanding as much as I can, which helps me feel a little less like a victim.

SpringIsHereVA · ‎04-30-2025

Maura @MauraG724900 , sounds like everyone needs to check on this and pressure their insurance companies to replace Lexus Nexus with something else (IF they are using it). I have Allstate in Virginia. My daughter has Progressive in Florida. Thanks for this alert!!! Take care, Nicole 👵

➡️[*** Maura wrote Wednesday 4/30/25: They're using lexus nexus, which is full of errors, and that's what they're basing the premium on. Two insurance companies told me the same thing. Correcting Lexus Nexus is a project which I have to get on. But apparently it seems that there's so much insurance fraud. Somebody could be using your information. Basically, you have to prove that it wasn't you! So that's a project that I need to take care of but i'm dragging my feet. It sounds like a lot of you are going through the same thing with this a hike in premium without a good reason. ***]
@MauraG724900 wrote:
They're using lexus nexus, which is full of errors, and that's what they're basing the premium on. Two insurance companies told me the same thing. Correcting Lexus Nexus is a project which I have to get on. But apparently it seems that there's so much insurance fraud. Somebody could be using your information. Basically, you have to prove that it wasn't you! So that's a project that I need to take care of but i'm dragging my feet. It sounds like a lot of you are going through the same thing with this a hike in premium without a good reason. ***]

AARPConsumerCare · ‎04-08-2025

@MillerH715495 We're sorry to hear you're having trouble with rate increases with The Hartford. We are listening and would like the chance to help. Please visit https://help.aarp.org/s/article/contact-aarp to chat, text, or speak with a representative who can get you in touch with our Member Relations team. - Christy C.

MillerH715495 · ‎04-08-2025

Thank you for replying, but I will be going to GEICO. Their premium for six months is $130 less than what I am paying on current term with Hartford AARP. Bad look for both Hartford and AARP, but works out for me in the end.

GailL1 · ‎04-07-2025

WOW, that is a lot. Can you tell us the zip code where you live or area. What portion of your insurance went up the most - because Comprehensive would indicate a high auto theft rate in your area, whereas Collision would indicate car crashes and repair cost - all of which are expensive nowadays with the average car price over $40,000 and repair cost with all the electronics is very high too.

I guess it could also be UN or UNDER Insured Drivers which I am finding is also going up - I guess this is because some drivers are now driving without insurance or the minimum the state requires which is never enough.

MillerH715495 · ‎04-08-2025

Zip is 75025, which is Plano TX. It is a really low-crime area.

I don't know what part of my policy increased, specifically. I was so aggravated that I did not dig into it.

TRL1111 · ‎04-08-2025

@MillerH715495 wrote:

I don't know what part of my policy increased, specifically. I was so aggravated that I did not dig into it.

Most people don't, but it's vital if someone wants to be an informed consumer. But I think being an informed consumer is pretty low on most people's list of important things. Especially with insurance, which is wildly confusing, and the pricing can be inscrutable.

But I greatly appreciate the agent who took the time to explain why a comprehensive premium might spike dramatically, and might spike with one company but not with another. Didn't change the premium, but I understood how it could happen. And when I switched companies because of it, I understood that the same thing might happen next year with the new company, depending on their claims experience.

TRL1111 · ‎04-07-2025

@GailL1 wrote:
What portion of your insurance went up the most - because Comprehensive would indicate a high auto theft rate in your area,

Or probably more likely, weather-related events, like flooding and hail, which comprehensive coverage also covers.

I just checked my insurance coverage (not Hartford). I have a 25-year-old station wagon and a 25-year-old sports car. The comprehensive portion of the premium on the station wagon is $120 a year and the comprehensive portion of the premium on the sports car is $330 a year--almost three times higher. And that is even though the BMW is pretty much theft-proof, since it has a manual transmission. 😀

GailL1 · ‎04-07-2025

@TRL1111 -

The manual transmission in the BMW sports car is only a rite of passage in car theft rings - the difference is probably due more to the replace cost of the vehicles - is there any comparison of a 25 year old station wagon and a 25 year old imported sports car? Especially if it is Red!

Hope you lose neither -

I think we should get credit for having a car garaged at a personal residence. Isn’t it safer from theft and from elements if it is?

TRL1111 · ‎04-08-2025

@GailL1 wrote:
The manual transmission in the BMW sports car is only a rite of passage in car theft rings - the difference is probably due more to the replace cost of the vehicles

Yeah, I know. I was kind of kidding. I think of the manual transmission more of as a way to help a bored teenager keep from making a very bad decision.

Plus this car would be the worst one to steal because they didn't make very many of them, so you almost never see them out in the wild, and they attract attention. Not to mention it's in terrible shape, compared to the garage queens that most of them are--dents, peeling clearcoat, ripped seats. Daily driver for 25 years takes a toll.

GailL1 · ‎04-08-2025

@TRL1111 wrote - Not to mention it's in terrible shape, compared to the garage queens that most of them are--dents, peeling clearcoat, ripped seats.

________________________________

Maybe send the insurance company a picture of it in its current shape -

AARPConsumerCare · ‎03-26-2025

I am so sorry to hear that your father experienced such an increase in his auto insurance rate with The Hartford. I have sent you a private message regarding this issue. Sue C.

VintageDrummer · ‎04-07-2025

@AARPConsumerCare
Can you please post examples of how you've helped significantly reduce auto insurance premiums from The Hartford? (no need to provide customer names, of course)

If there are none, what is the point of taking Community posts private, as is repeatedly the effort of AARP?

GailL1 · ‎03-25-2025

@jg5115

Some reasons why premium are increasing - everywhere.

1. The age of the driver i - you know why, right - not as agile- slower reflexes.

Premiums are high for those less than 25 - especially males. Premiums are also high for those over 70.

2. The cost of cars - not just the one that the insured is driving but the ones that they might hit. I read somewhere that with all the tech in cars today, that many are just claimed to be a total loss because of the cost of the repairs.

3. Under insured and UNinsured drivers are another reason and there are many driving around with little or no coverage so it is up to a person to insure against people that this.

5. Added liability to protect what one might have in cash, investments and in assets/resource.

I know there are more reasons - but I am running out of juice. Raise the deductibles, see if he might qualify for low mileage, talk to his agent to see what other discounts he may be eligible.

tklemen · ‎04-14-2025

The reason why "many driving around with little or no coverage" is because auto insurance is very high and there seems to be no limit in rate increases. I just asked for a low mileage adjustment/reduction to my policy from the Hartford now that I'm driving about 5k miles/year, and they increased my premium by 25%. Insurance rates increase every year, and my fixed income can't keep up.

AARPConsumerCare · ‎04-15-2025

I can understand your frustration about your increased premium, @tklemen. We are listening and would like to hear more about your experience. Please visit https://help.aarp.org/s/article/contact-aarp to chat, text, or speak with a representative who can get you in touch with our Member Relations team. We look forwards to hearing from you soon. - Daniela R.

SpringIsHereVA · ‎04-14-2025

@tklemen , I had asked for the same thing here in Virginia and mine went down. I have had Allstate since 2018. Retired when COVID hit in 2020 = less mileage.

➡️*** YOU WROTE: I just asked for a low mileage adjustment/reduction to my policy from the Hartford now that I'm driving about 5k miles/year, and they increased my premium by 25%.

Take care,

Nicole 👵

RosettaW353361 · ‎02-18-2025

I too got a Progressive quote which is $400 cheaper. However, when I did a customer review Progressive customer service rating is extremely poor.

VintageDrummer · ‎02-18-2025

@RosettaW353361

I needed to use my new Progressive coverage last year (after switching from The Hartford) to file a claim for windshield damage. The customer service I experienced was top notch, no hassles at all and the windshield was replaced professionally. This was my only experience with them and I have no complaints at all unlike my experience with The Hartford and AARP in terms of discussion about rate increase. I cannot attest to others' experience with Progressive; maybe others can chime in?