I’m not paying for your commercials any more, Liberty Mutual.

Let’s get something straight right here and now. Auto insurance is an extortion racket. You’re told that your rates will go up if you get a moving violation ticket. You’re told that your rates will go up if your car doesn’t have safety features. You’re told that your rates will go up unless you pass a defensive driving course.

And when you possess a squeaky-clean driving record, complete with a fully-safe vehicle with and an NHTSA certificate stating that you’ve completed a defensive driving course … your rates still go up through the roof.

And that’s what happened with me and Liberty Mutual.

I joined up with Liberty Mutual after my long run with Allstate ended. I was tired of Allstate pulling their nickel-and-dime stunts on me, and it was time to move on. So I looked around, and Liberty Mutual promised me a good deal.

Um, yeah. Despite having no accidents or moving violations or anything even remotely connected to same … my rates started creeping up. And we’re not talking annual rates. I was getting charged semi-annual rates that looked like annual rates. Yikes.

I contacted Liberty Mutual and asked what could we do about this. I asked why my rates were flying higher than a pothead with a bag of Acapulco Gold. “Oh, Mr. Miller,” the representative said in a kindergarten teacher voice, “your car is a Chevrolet Volt. It’s so hard to find parts for that car, in case anything happens to it. And if we can’t find parts, we have to charge you more.”

Horseshit. Everybody knows that all car manufacturers have to make parts available for all model cars for ten years after the cars’ model year. And even when those parts aren’t available through the manufacturer, they DO become available at NAPA and Pep Boys and all the other outlets. It’s a Chevrolet, for crying out loud. I’m not driving a Bugatti Royale.

“Well, Mr. Miller, how about this. If you raise your deductible, we can lower your bill. How about that?”

I gritted my teeth. I don’t want to get stuck with a $1,000 deductible. But it’s all a gamble anyway. If I drive safely, then I don’t have to pay that $1,000 deductible. Okay, let’s do that.

Six months later, I received a renewal notice from Liberty Mutual.

And get this – the renewal amount was HIGHER than the previous amount that DIDN’T include the $1,000 deductible adjustment. So I got snookered into paying more.

Oh, Liberty Mutual. Have you not learned from reading this blog? When a corporation treats me like their personal money siphon, I take offense. Ask Verizon. Ask Allstate. Ask Sears.

And with that, I did the one thing Liberty Mutual hoped I would never do.

I contacted a local insurance broker. And he found me a better deal. Same coverage, but with a company that doesn’t spend millions of dollars on goony advertisements starring talking geckos or cavemen or jump-suited insurance fangirls named Flo. Same full coverage. But at one-third the rate Liberty Mutual charged me.

So starting in 2025, I’ve moved to the New York-based Erie Insurance Company platform. Erie Insurance is only licensed in a few states, but it is well-recommended for coverage and customer service.

And they don’t have commercials with emus. Which I’m sure I sponsored at one point in time. Meh.

So bye bye, Liberty Mutual. It was not fun while it lasted. Maybe if you treated me as a customer rather than as a liability or as a walking ATM machine, I would have stayed.

But you didn’t.

So I’m not.

So go take your emu and stick it up your …