‘Remember you get what you pay for.’
A woman in California is advising people to investigate Costco for a product you might not expect from the big box retailer—car insurance.
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The video comes from creator Vivi Perez (@vivi_yvonne), a lash artist in Turlock, California. She put this PSA up on Friday, and it has received more than 188,000 views as of Monday.
She says she switched from Direct Auto to Costco after being alerted to that car insurance’s existence through a TikTok video. Despite only nominal cost savings from making the switch, she claims that the policy offers more for the money.
“I have three vehicles: two, full coverage; one, liability,” she explains. “I was paying about $340 a month with them, and now I am saving myself a whopping $50 a year by switching to Costco.
“But OK, let me just tell you guys,” she continued. “So, with my old car insurance, I had $1,000 deductible for both cars and no extra, nothing … but now with Costco, it’s a couple dollars cheaper a month. But now I have roadside assistance, I have towing that’s included. And then a $500 deductible. So yeah, I would say I’m definitely getting more.”
More on Costco car insurance
According to Business Insider, Costco’s auto insurance policy is not available in all states. However, if you’re able to secure it, you should expect lower-than-average premiums, “complimentary benefits and unique perks,” as well as the possibility of gap insurance and accident forgiveness included with the policy.
Per The Zebra, Costco’s car insurance is actually through American Family Insurance. Though that site claims it offers considerable savings compared to the average policy, it also has low customer service ratings, and “the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) receives above average customer complaints for Costco.”
According to a Reddit thread that posted last year, switching to Costco might not save you as much as it once did.
“It was phenomenal until a rate hike this past year of 27%,” one claimed. “They were saving us tons of money till then, now they are in line with the rest of the money bag insurance companies. The insurance is great! Customer service is great. I’m just sad that they jacked their prices up so much. And you get additional benefits as an executive member.”
“After shopping around, I’m still with them as my provider as nothing else was really cheaper [or] worth the swap even with the massive increase,” another shared.
Viewers don’t think Costco insurance is worth it
The video brought commenters into the arena.
“They were great but this year they stopped servicing California and they quoted me $5k for 6 months LOL,” one claimed. “I’m sure they are only trying to get rid of their California customers.”
“My mom had Costco auto insurance,” another reported. “Yes, it was cheap but when she got hit, they gave her the run around. Had to do many calls to get her car fix[ed]. Remember you get what you pay for.”
“They doubled my payment out of nowhere after increasing it 30% last year,” someone else alleged. “I had to find new insurance.”
@vivi_yvonne #costco #autoinsurance #californiainsurance ♬ original sound – VIVI ✨
The Daily Dot has reached out to American Family Insurance via email and to the creator via email and TikTok direct message.
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Based in New York, Stephen Freeman is a Senior Editor at Trending Insurance News. Previously he has worked for Forbes and The Huffington Post. Steven is a graduate of Risk Management at the University of New York.