How can I drive a car without having to pay the insurance companies so much money? -

Insurance companies rake in so much money ad find ways to charge fees and make "adjustments" to rip us off. Is there a way around this? Is there a non-profit insurance company? Can there be one owned by it's clients? Yes, there are "non-profit" insurance companies, called mutual companies, owned by their insureds. USAA is one that comes immediately to mind, and State Farm has a mutual, too. At the end of the year, any "profits" are returned to the policyholders. It's not much. Last year, we got a check for $17. And we pay almost $2,000 a year for our car insurance. Some states will allow you to post a cash bond instead of paying for insurance (usually it's about $35,000). Most people don't do that, because insurance is cheaper than the interest you can make on that kind of money. If you HAVE $35K, you invest it, pay insurance out of your profit, and pocket the difference. You get more coverage that way, too. Two states don't require you to carry insurance at all, NH and WI. So you can move there. Of course, if there's a LOAN on your car, you need to carry insurance, and a LOT of it. The BEST way to cut your insurance costs is to drive a car 4 years old or older, that's fully paid for. MOST insurance agents pay a lot more for their car insurance than you do. Their cars are used for business - sales calls - and it goes into a higher rating category than a to/from work driver. A few ways to reduce or eliminate your auto insurance costs: 1) Get a cheaper car, and own it outright. If you own your car, you can have $1000 deductibles on collision, or eliminate collision coverage entirely. If you owe money on your car, your lender usually makes you have collision insurance with no more than a $500 deductible. 2) Shop around. 3) Examine every coverage, and scrutinize whether you really need it. For example, in Indiana, I can buy "under insured motorists protection property damage", which gives me money if someone who is under insured (not uninsured) hits my car. This costs about $10/mo. But, the "minimum coverage" is $10k, and my car is worth $3k, so the state minimum coverage fully covers me - no one can be under insured. the coverage is useless. 4) If you are rich, you may be able to self-insure. Most states permit you to go without insurance if you can prove that you have the assets to pay up if you are sued. In Indiana, you need to file some paperwork and prove that you have $40k in an Indiana bank account (details in source). This costs nothing, and even pays interest, but if you are in an at-fault accident, you have to pay. Call Geico "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen." Insurance is one of the responsibilities and costs you assume when you buy a car. You can lessen the burden by chosing your car wisely, shopping around for insurance, raising your deductibles for collision/comprehensive and driving carefully. In addition to NoviceLi's advice, go for the largest allowable deductible, bearing in mind that amount of $ repairs will have to come out of your pocket. here in WA there is a thing called "self insurance" if you can prove you have money in the bank set aside for liability claims against you, you don't have to have insurance. Not sure how you go about it... i know you still have to have a slip in your car incase you get pulled over. but you can check into that if you are rich and have 50k to set aside just for insurance. Hmm? If you live in the US, every state requires a "proof of financial responsibility" to drive a car. For almost everybody, that "proof" comes in the form of liability insurance on your car. If you do have an accident, and are "liable" for damages or injury to another, how can you come up with the money to pay THEM, if you cannot pay car insurance? Well most people cannot, and that's why car insurance is a good idea. That said, premiums are different between car insurance companies. I learned that myself by doing some shopping for prices against my old policy and saved almost $800 a year! Go get you some price quotes :