Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bassexpander]

Well, my auto insurance came up, and we switched companies. I would like to share our experience, as I've done a podcast on this in the past.

Here is what we tried to do, and what we went through:

My wife thought we could get a better rate from a Korean car insurance company than what I pay through AIG. I knew I was paying a tad bit more with AIG, but valued the thought of being able to call someone and speak English if I had an accident. My wife, however, thought that some companies offered English service, so we looked around.

My wife had a flyer she'd found at Homeplus pushing auto insurance for Dongbu direct. Also, she tried Lotte, which purchased a reputable Korean insurance company called Daehan.

The problem we ran into was this: Because we had AIG insurance, which AIG says is considered non-Korean, we weren't in the computer system that the Korean companies can check to make sure we've had insurance on our car, and been accident free in the past. Because of this, Dongbu refused to insure me for the cheaper rate. They wouldn't even accept a statement from AIG that I'd had insurance with AIG for two years. The good news, though, is that Lotte DID eventually accept the statement from AIG. So we went with Lotte insurance and saved a pretty good chunk.

As it turns out, I saved about 150,000 won switching to Lotte direct car insurance (nearly comparable coverage, but slightly less). My AIG cost was 540,000 per year for my Matiz 2. Lotte sold it to me for 390,000.

Now, the downside of this (and I'm only making assumptions) is that if we move to the USA in the future, they probably wouldn't accept the Korean insurance paperwork as proof that I've been driving and had insurance. I'd be that they would accept AIG's paperwork, however. Moving back to the USA and not having insurance for some time can be expensive because they don't consider you've proven to be a safe driver, etc.

We plan on staying in Korea for quite a while, so we're happy to save money now.

[ajuma]

Lotte sounds a lot better than AIG!! Do you work at a uni? Ask them if they subscribe to Educar insurance. I get great rates through them. Maybe they'll take any teacher? Not sure, but they do have a Korean website.

[bassexpander]

Wow, thanks for the info... yep, I work at a uni. We already paid, so I'll keep educar in mind for next year!