Progressive shows how you can easily package together multiple lines of insurance in their “bundler”, just make sure to keep your hands out of it.

Summary

Commercial opens at the click of a mouse on the Progressive Logo to a man asking a question.

Man: What it that?

Flo: Oh, we call it ‘the bundler”. Let’s say you need home and auto insurance, you give us your information once online (Flo pushes BUNDLER button and the Bundler merges the home and auto boxes in the bundler together) and we give you a discount on both.

Man: Great.

Flo and the man look over to the side and there is a Progressive employee that is fumbling with something because he has boxes for hands.

Flo: Did I mention no hands in the bundler?

Flo waves at the employee and he waves back with one of his box hands, dropping what he was finally able to pick up.

Change to Progressive logo and vehicle.

Announcer: Bundling and saving made easy, now that’s Progressive. Call or click today.

Point of the Commercial

Writing multiple lines of insurance for a client and offering discounts on each policy for doing so is not a new concept. Almost every insurance company that writes in multiple lines offers this and they collect the same information all at the same time that Progressive is claiming they do.

What Progressive is trying to do is to make it look easier to get a quote on multiple lines of insurance with them as compared to getting quotes from other insurance companies.

What They Want you to Do

The commercial is targeting potential clients that have multiple lines of insurance that they may need to buy. The commercial only covered the auto and home insurance, but there are many lines of insurance that they write that you can bundle together.

Also from how the commercial opens up with a mouse click and ends with “click today”, Progressive is encouraging you to get your quotes online.

My Opinion

While this one is funny, Flo doesn’t seem to be her usual, over-the-top, perky self; which really makes the Progressive commercials for me. This commercial is also one of two versions that Progressive made of the same bundler commercial.

 The other version shows a half-horse/half-man Progressive employee that was created as a result of the bundler.  I find that the “no hands in the bundler” one is the funnier of the two and also seems more realistically humorous as compare to getting a man and a horse in the bundler.

Giving this one a thumbs up/thumbs down.

Drivers in the state of New York have some of the highest mandatory insurance coverages in the nation.

Once you live within the New York border your insurance requirements increase tremendously.

Each state that drivers live in have their own separate mandatory insurance coverage that they have to have. Some states have no bodily injury liability required, but instead require personal injury protection coverage. Other states have mandatory liability limits so low they are laughable.

New York on the other hand has so many required coverages to be able to drive that the state leaves little for you to add on your New York auto insurance yourself.

Mandatory New York Liability Coverage

New York auto insurance requirements include having to carry the minimum of $10,000 in liability coverage for damage done to the property of others. You are also required to carry the minimum limit of $25,000 in liability coverage for each person that is injured in a wreck that you cause and a minimum of $50,000 total in liability for all injuries that you cause.

While the minimums required on New York auto insurance for the injuries are set higher than most states and are adequate for most injuries, the property damage is questionably low.  If you were to total someone else’s vehicle chances are the $10,000 won’t be enough to cover it.

Mandatory New York PIP Coverage

Just like in the state of Florida, New York auto insurance requires that you carry personal injury protection (PIP) coverage on your insurance. This coverage is for injuries that happen to yourself and the passengers in your vehicle during an accident. PIP coverage can also extend to injuries that are obtained by members of your family in other vehicle accidents and as pedestrians.

Mandatory New York UIM Coverage

New York auto insurance also requires that drivers carry uninsured motorist coverage (UIM) on their policies. The UIM coverage required is for bodily injury only and not property damage. This coverage protects you in the case that an uninsured or underinsured motorist hits you and you are injured.

New York Car Insurance for Rentals

When you rent a car, in most states, you have the option of buying the insurance from the rental car company or just depending on your own insurance to kick in if anything happens to the rental.  The laws governing New York auto insurance however, are different. They require that the rental car company extend you the mandatory insurance coverages that are required in the state.

If you were to get into an accident with the rental car, your insurance policy would act as extra coverage on top of the required New York auto insurance that the rental car company is required to provide for you. Keep in mind though that the insurance that the rental car company has to provide for you does not cover the damages that may happen to the car that they rent to you.

It is best to have something in place in case that happens such as:

• Coverage from your own personal car insurance policy that will extend to cover damages to rental cars that you drive.
• Car insurance coverage for rental cars under the credit card that you use to rent the car.
• Purchasing a policy through the rental car company to cover damage that may happen to their car.

Infinity Insurance tries to make themselves out to be the insurance company that understands the needs of unique drivers, but falls short explaining why.

Summary

Commercial opens with a little, masked wrestler bobbling around in the back window of a vehicle. The picture switches to a diva doll in a rotating gold shoe in the next rear vehicle window and packages in the backseat of the cat. The next scene is flashing lights disco lights in another car and a little disco dancer in the rear window of this one. Each scene has background music and noise that fits the scene in the rear of the vehicle.

Spokesman: At Infinity we know that each driver is unique.

Scene changes to show the spokesman that is talking to us.

Spokesman: So call us today and switch to the auto insurance that’s right for you. For 60 years we’ve been serving our clients’ diverse needs with thousands of agents and local claims offices. It’s easy, call now and get the special attention that you deserve.

Scene changes from spokesman to an Infinity Insurance company vehicle. On bottom of the screen are the phone number, website address and the Infinity logo.

Spokesman: Infinity, always with you.

Point of the Commercial

Infinity is making the point that they can tailor your insurance to fit your specific needs; that they are not a “one-size-fits-all” insurance company. As they do not go into specifics on how they are different in fitting the “diverse needs” of clients in their commercial, I am not sure how they are any different than any other insurance company.

What They Want you to Do

Infinity makes no mistake that they want you to call them at their toll free number as this pops up only 7 seconds into the commercial. In fact, in the span of the 32 second commercial, they show us their phone number 5 different times in different locations on the screen. Their website address shows up 3 different times during commercial.

So even though they are telling you about their local agents and claim service, they are encouraging you to contact them directly and apparently preferably by phone as this form of contact gets the most screen time.

My Opinion

I like the beginning of the commercial with the three different cars and how they are decorated. It’s fun and does help Infinity prove the point of drivers all being different. However, the majority of the commercial is a spokesman talking sales pitch and they never say why they are different from other insurance companies.

I would have to give this a thumbs up for the beginning of the commercial and a thumbs down for the 2^nd half of the commercial.

Texas car insurance is required just like in every other state, but in Texas the government keeps track of your insurance.

Texas car insurance is tracked electronically in the state of Texas to make sure that every registered vehicle is covered by insurance. If your insurance coverage does not meet minimum state requirements you will not be allowed to complete any required actions for your vehicle or your driver’s license.

For drivers living near the Mexican border, they will also find that their Texas car insurance doesn’t meet legal insurance requirements of the Mexican government.

Texas Car Insurance Requirements

Texas car insurance requires a driver to carry a minimum of $30,000 per person and $60,000 in liability coverage for injuries to others. Drivers are also required to carry a minimum liability limit of $25,000 for property damage done to others.

You have to be able to show proof of this insurance if you have an inspection on your car, renew or get your driver’s license and renew or register your vehicle in Texas. Just like in other states, you also have to supply proof of insurance if you get into a car accident or are asked by a police officer for it.

Going to Mexico with Texas Car Insurance

If you drive into Mexico the coverage on your basic Texas car insurance policy will not follow you into Mexico. You will need to contact your agent to add a special endorsement to your policy.

The basic policy endorsement on your Texas car insurance policy will generally cover you up to 25 miles past the U.S.-Mexican border and is good for up to 10 days. If you visiting longer or further into Mexico let your agent know. They may be able to find you a tourist type endorsement to add to your Texas car insurance policy that will give you the coverage you need to legally drive in Mexico.

TexasSure

Texas car insurance is verified by the authorities through a program called TexasSure. TexasSure allows the police, vehicle registration offices and any other allowed department to verify if you truly do have current Texas car insurance.

This program was designed to cut down on the number of uninsured motorists in the state of Texas. It works by matching your VIN number with the insurance database information to verify that your vehicle is insured. If your VIN does not match with an insurance record, you will be sent a notification from the system that you need to correct the situation.

The TexasSure system also prevents people from providing false or forged insurance information to the authorities.

Penalties

Your first offense for not carrying Texas car insurance is a fine that can range from $175.00 to $350.00. If you continue to be caught without insurance your fines increase to $350.00 and up to $1000.00, also your vehicle is impounded and your driver’s license is suspended.

While the first and second offense fines and penalties would stop most people, there are those that just don’t learn. If you are one of those and you still drive without insurance even after your license has been suspended, your fines can be up to $2000.00 and/or jail time. An accident that is caused by you that results in a serious injury or death increases your fine up to $4000.00 and/or a year in jail, if you are still driving without insurance.

Where you live can affect your car insurance rates as much as your driving record does.

Where you live in the country will determine your car insurance rates

As we have talked about many times before on this site, insurance companies base their car insurance rates off a number of different factors. Some you have control over, like your driving record, and some you just don’t. One of the biggest factors that you have no control over is the area that you live in.

Insurance companies use statistics to chart the factors that would eventually lead to claims in geographical areas. The higher the chance that a vehicle in a certain location would have a claim reported on it, the higher the car insurance rate will be for that area. So, unless you want to contact every insurance company in the nation to find out where they charge the cheapest rates and then move there; you really have no control over this.

What Increases Car Insurance Rates in a Location?

A location will see increased car insurance rates whenever there is a greater chance of a situation happening that a client will have to report a claim on their vehicle for. Locations that have high crime rates have a higher chance of a vehicle being stolen or vandalized. Locations that have a high number of irresponsible or less experienced drivers have greater chances of an accident in general happening.

Also locations that have roads with high speeds or high populations of drivers have a higher chance of a serious, possibly fatal, accident happening. This last category can have the greatest affect on insurance premiums. Serious accidents with injuries and fatalities are going to be the most costly for an insurance company in terms of the amount paid out on a claim. 

All of these situations and factors come into play when an insurance company is setting the car insurance rates for a certain area. They then have to submit a request for the rate to be approved by the Department of Insurance or Insurance Commissioner in the state they are setting the car insurance rates in. Until these rates are approved, they cannot begin to use them.

Cities that Would Have Higher Car Insurance Rates

The following 15 cities made the list as the most dangerous cities (population of 150,000 or more) to drive in according to information from the National Highway Traffic safety Administration (CNBC.com ).  This information was based on the number of car accident related deaths compared to population, which is just one of the factors that insurance companies use to calculate their insurance rates.

Even so, the people that live in these cities most likely pay higher car insurance rates than a person living somewhere else.

1. Fort Lauderdale, FL.
2. Orlando, FL.
3. Augusta-Richmond, GA.
4. Little Rock, AR.
5. San Bernardino, Ca.
6. Salt Lake City, UT.
7. Chattanooga, TN.
8. Jackson, MS.
9. Memphis, TN.
10. Lubbock, TX.
11. Jacksonville, FL.
12. St. Petersburg, FL.
13. Tulsa, OK.
14. Birmingham, AL.
15. Oklahoma, OK.

Does anyone else notice that there is one state in particular that makes a repeat appearance multiple times on this list? To think, I’ve always been worried about driving in Southern California.