Law Students

Drivers Who Switched?

By Pete

This bothers me a bit every time I hear it. It seems that every auto insurance company has been trumpeting a relatively useless statistic. “Drivers who switched to _____ saved an average of…” and then they give some large-sounding number.

You want to save hundreds of dollars, right? Of course you do. Who doesn’t?

The claim is somewhat silly, though, isn’t it? I mean, the implication is that everyone who switches would save lots of money. The reality is that switching insurance carriers is a bit of a hassle, so you’re probably not going to switch to save $20 a year, and if your insurance isn’t very high to begin with, you’re probably not even going to be shopping around.

In some ways, it reminds me of the saying “You always find something in the last place you look for it.” Well nooooo kidding. If you keep looking for it after that, you’re a moron. The number of people who would switch insurance carriers to one that would charge them more is negligible at best, so of course the people who switch are going to be saving money, and probably a non-trivial amount of it, to boot.

Don’t get me wrong, I guess it’s a clever marketing strategy, because unless you actually think critically about it, it sounds pretty neat, but I still roll my eyes when I notice it.

Full post as published by PeteHoliday.com on November 05, 2009 (boomark / email).