We're looking to replace our home and auto insurance. Rates keep creeping up with no claims. What companies have been best to work with for claims and settlement? What companies have been the worst?
Shopping for insurance
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HisTreeNut
Minister of Fire
Jan Pijpelink
Minister of Fire
When we came to the US, we got Allstate. Very expensive and poor service. We are now with GEICO since 2005 or so. Reasonable rates, great service. Had 1 claim, was done in a heartbeat without raising the premium.
Had Geico prior to our current insurer. They were great at first and also covered well on one auto claim. But like our current insurer, each year the rates crept up until after 5+ years the increase was considerable. We dropped several hundred dollars a year by switching to our current insurer (Pemco) but every year the premium creeps up, with no claims filed.
Progressive has given me the best quote so far. How long have you had them and have there been major rate increases during this period? Do you have auto, home or both?
Ashful
Minister of Fire
I was with Allstate for about 15 years. Never a claim, but my rates climbed every year. I’d call them maybe every 4th year, complain or threaten to leave, and they’d give me an enormous decrease in my rates. Then they’d climb back up over the following several years. They had a very responsive agent when I started, but I got pushed over to another agency in the last few years, and I had a lot of trouble getting ahold of the agent when I’d have a question.
So, I switched to State Farm about 7 years ago. One claim since, which was handled pretty well. My agent sucks, she doesn’t like to work, but at least I’m not doing the rate game every year anymore. I’ve had issues getting her to respond on questions and quotes (addition of wood stoves, addition of boats to policy, etc.), but she usually has a pretty good secretary that I can count on to get me answers.
I think a lot of it comes down the local agent you’re dealing with.
4 years i think not allot of change really we ony have auto through them right now but i need to get quotes for combining them
lsucet
Minister of Fire
Check into WAFD. Main branches/Bank is local to your state. My wife works for them here in New Mexico.
lsucet
Minister of Fire
My insurance is all bundled with State Farm. Car, Home and excess liability. I rarely have needed it but when I did they took care of it. When I needed insurance on my Unimog the agent rep said he couldnt do it as it was commercial due to its weight. I got his manager on the line and they looked at how long I had been a customer and I had a quote on my the next day. There seems to be lot of flexibility between agents on insurance.
Hated All State . . . local agent wasn't much better. When I called him for a better rate he gave me a quote which was still quite high. I shopped around and got a great rate through AAA with Travelers. When I called the local agent and told him I was leaving all he could say was, "But your family has been with me for years" to which I thought "So you're saying you've been sticking it to the whole family for all of these years?" I held my tongue though.
Travelers has been great . . . every once in a while I check around for rates and Travelers often has the best rates for me.
Travelers has been great . . . every once in a while I check around for rates and Travelers often has the best rates for me.
Yeah i really hated allstate. From working with insurance companies on claims state farm isnt much better.
By the way, climate change and the storms associated with it are going to be cranking up homeowners everywhere. The folks in the vulnerable areas like Florida already pay an arm and leg for coverage with incredible high deductibles and other coastal states will see the same as the companies will threaten to pull out of the markets. Even us folks inland are seeing more heavy rain, tornados and heavy snow events. The losses need to made up somehow and that means everyone pays more. The only options are upgrade a home and the property to handle the heavy weather events in your area and self insure the small losses. That may mean swapping power lines to underground, cutting any large trees that could hit the house especially on the prevailing wind side and going with more wind and hail resistant roofing. New homes shouldn't be built to meet the code which tends to lag weather events and should be built to be above code for the type of weather that is expected to be around for the indefinite future.
If you are in an area in a 100 year flood plan either move or jack the house up, 100 year flood events are happening every 5 or 10 years and politicians are playing games to keep the the flood plain maps out of date as it potentially impacts development. They just assume when it happens they will be long gone or the fed will bail them out. Talk to anyone in a area prone to hurricanes and getting fed assistance is a nightmare with many folks walking away with nothing. Fairly soon some real estate agent gets their hands on the federal money and they build the place right back to the way it was and then it happens again.
If you are in an area in a 100 year flood plan either move or jack the house up, 100 year flood events are happening every 5 or 10 years and politicians are playing games to keep the the flood plain maps out of date as it potentially impacts development. They just assume when it happens they will be long gone or the fed will bail them out. Talk to anyone in a area prone to hurricanes and getting fed assistance is a nightmare with many folks walking away with nothing. Fairly soon some real estate agent gets their hands on the federal money and they build the place right back to the way it was and then it happens again.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
One piece of advice I’ll give, for all of you folks who’ve never placed a claim, and are unlikely to do so for minor stuff. Why are you carrying a typical $500 deductible? That is costing you money. If you’re never going to submit a claim for anything under $10k, then raise your deductible to $10k.
My boss has a $500,000 deductible on his homeowners’ policy, but he is in a special class. I would think a $10k deductible may be more appropriate for many people, as the DIY types may often choose to fix problems smaller than that themselves, anyway.
My boss has a $500,000 deductible on his homeowners’ policy, but he is in a special class. I would think a $10k deductible may be more appropriate for many people, as the DIY types may often choose to fix problems smaller than that themselves, anyway.
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Hxxx fire, if I was running a 10k deductible there would not be any reason the to be paying them in the first place. I can understand a $1000 deductable perhaps that is what you meant? each area is different though. If you didn't know it already your rate quotes are tied to your credit scores ( more BS) If you are self employed for some reason they nick you harder. if looking at home insurance take the sq ft of home x$175.00 ( my area) for a rough estimate of the amount to cover house. Now that $175 is going to vary some by area like California ( Closer to $1750.00 guesstamit) or East Coast ($750+ guesstamit) basically it is the cost per ft to build a new home of similar quality. Insurance is just a legitimized version of what Guido and Vinny sold on the corner. course they don't show up and smash the place like the aforementioned duo did just your wallet. Sometimes I think I would rather deal with Vinny and Guido. At least I knew exactly where they stood in plain English well except for the heavy accents.
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Great post. I meant $10k, but everyone’s threshold will be different. I’ve had $3k-$5k repairs more than once, and just cover them myself, usually always DIY. Often it’s just easier than dealing with contractors, esp interior work.
As to the $10k deductible making it not worth carrying insurance, my interest is being covered for the $100k catastrophe, while hoping I never need it.
As to the $10k deductible making it not worth carrying insurance, my interest is being covered for the $100k catastrophe, while hoping I never need it.
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Homeowners is about liability too. When some friend of your kid comes over and chokes on a cherry pit.
We jacked up our deductible recently and it made a big difference in premiums. You could quickly determine how many years it would take to come out of ahead. Same with automotive. So many average people can't come up with 500$ for a deductible so it scares them when you select a higher number.
I use farmers for all but I have no claim experience. Happy with the price and agent though.
Farmers is advertising heavily in our area recently. I haven't gotten a quote from them yet. Will check on it if they are good about not jacking up rates constantly.
exactly- even that is getting a lot harder - I have had 3 quotes on my home all within apx $100 of each other. I did notice that they are getting quite crafty about how they present things - so much so that you have dig to find the true cost. So read the fine print.
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