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Household Finances

Looking for Homeowners/Auto Insurance

16 years ago

I am currently using Allstate for my 2 autos and homeowners policies. I am looking to switch to another company-Allstate seems to be getting more and more costly and the last time I filed a claim under homeowners it was not an easy process to collect from them. Does anyone have any suggestions-I am currently looking at State Farm and Liberty Mutual. Thanks.

Comments (10)

zone_8grandma
16 years ago
You might consider looking at an independent insurance broker.

We had State Farm for over 20 years (home and auto). The premiums just kept going up and up. I finally shopped around, getting quotes from both the big companies and brokers. We saved (overall) nearly 300/year by switching. A few years from now, if our new company (Safeco) keeps doing the same thing, I will shop around.

We had one claim with State Farm and it was not a pleasant experience.
bentruler
16 years ago
Ameriprise through Costso.
Cheapest I've seen.
Had one auto claim (100% not my fault). No problems, smooth. Auto rates dropped next renewl
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We shopped for insurance a year or so ago, and based on a similar thread like this, I got quotes from Amica, Anpac, AAA (the auto club), and USAA. Since we got married, we had been using Erie for our home and USAA for auto (oddly, it was cheaper that way, even with the discount you get for putting everything with one company), then about 5 years ago, Erie jacked up their homeowner rates statewide, so we moved everything over to AmEx through Costco - going through Costco got us a discount over the regular Amex rates and it was a significant savings (close to four digits) over the Erie/USAA combo. We were happy with the Costco coverage but decided to shop around a year ago because they cheesed me off when they started charging a $3/mo convenience fee to charge my premium to my credit card (it had been free for years and they didn't tell me they were going to start charging the fee - it just showed up one day). I didn't really expect to find anything cheaper since the Costco rates had thoroughly trounced everyone else when I went with them, and they hadn't really gone up that much. Anyhow, to make a long story short, Amica seemed to have good coverage, but there rates were MUCH higher than the Costco insurance. USAA was a bit higher than the Costco and AAA was right about even. We ended up going with Anpac (American Nattional Property and Casualty). They were a company that was recommended on the thread just like this one from someone who had filed a claim and been happy with the service. They have a local agent, their rates were fantastic (we saved almost $1K/year for the exact same coverage when we switched over from the Costco plan). Plus they have this thing where if you go claim free for 3 years, you start getting a percentage of your premium refunded to you at the end of each year. We're into our 2nd year now, so in another year and a half, we should start getting rebate checks from the insurance company - it's a significant percentage too -- something like 20%. I don't know how they're doing it since their premiums are already lower than all the competitors I checked. But I'm not going to complain, LOL! I (knock on wood) haven't needed to file a claim so I don't know how that will be, but the agent is very responsive and I have no reason to think the company would give me a hard time. We do have fairly high deductibles since we figure it would take a lot to get us to file a claim that would ruin our claim-free streak and cut off our rebate checks, LOL! Oh - for reference, we are in southeast PA - not a lot of significant weather stuff here, but we do get snow/ice/hail storms. We're in a fairly crime-free rural area and haven't filed a claim on either auto or home (other than a windshield chip or two) in about 10 years.
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I'm with State Farm. We get some breaks for having multiple thnigs insured by them: 3 cars, home, personal property, and an umbrella policy. I believe that if I shopped around I could find a little lower rate for some of these items, but at the expense of not having a local office and having to deal with 3rd party people in case of claims. We've dealt with our local insurance office for a number of years and have built a relationship with them. The agency recently passed from mother to son. Yes. it may be a little more expensive, but when you need to file a claim, it is very good to have help and guidance. Over a year ago, a driver ran a stop sign and t-boned my SUV. He hit it hard enough to roll it over. After the accident, everything went smoothly for me as my agent went after the other driver and his insurance. The settlement was fair, but before arbitration was settled with the opposing insurance, my insurance covered the cost right away. The arbitration process with the other company dragged out for a year. Over a lifetime of driving, I have had a couple of fender bender claims against a parties that had low cost, out of state insurance by mail, and that was a pain. For example, they wanted me to take time off my job to look up their independent claim adjuster, chase around and schedule meeting places. I felt that I could not take the time away from a critical project i was working on. After a few phone calls, I finally told them I will tell you where the car is parked and your guy can see it any time by contacting me. I am no longer going to do your job!. The claim adjuster came to my company's parking lot and examined the car. This one sample of what one might face with a fly-by-night operation. I had to become resistant else I would have been running all over town getting 3 estimates on my time. The fender did get repaired by a guy working out of his private garage at his residence and the paint job was less than spectacular, but acceptable for an every day driver. While it was being repaired, I had to use my other car - A loaner was not offered. Maybe a loaner was available, but again, one had to agitate to get it. In this case, it was not worth the hassle, but it led me to think about what it would have been like if that had been a major event with personal injury. Yes, standard insurance through a company's insurance agent and office may cost more, but in my opinion, the service provided by a local professional agent is worth it.
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Thank you for the information. I believe that every insurance policy should be approached wisely. You have to know what life insurance policies provide and insurance pyramid scheme to figure it out. I believe that cash value life insurance may be one of the missing links that your organization needs in order for your teams, your executives and your owners to reinvest their core efforts and get back to reaching new heights as a competitive and friendly organization.
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Very true Carol, cars are getting bigger and heavier. People are moving more to Trucks and SUV's and both are getting bigger. New model pickups are looking like billboards in the front and a fad similar to the fins on the cars in the 50's. Heavier too, the bigger size takes more materials, and electric cars weigh in at about 30% more than it's counterpart gas engine vehicle. You also have a good eye on those tires because they are getting bigger making those new huge cars look proportional. I got a big one, it's huge! The engine roars and tuned for performance, but when I wake up and look out the window all I see is a kia Rio.
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noodlesportland
16 years ago
Just switched back to Amica after originally being with them for over 15 years-they went high-switched to Ameriprise through Costco for about the last 8 years- which is now IDS for auto. Last week made "the calls' and ended up back at Amica. Amica just adjusted their prices and they are now lower, for what we wanted, than IDS. They said they adjust about one time a year-so we will call again and check in a year! We have learned over the years that you need to shop around and check your rates frequently.
steve_o
16 years ago
We had State Farm for over 20 years (home and auto). The premiums just kept going up and up. I finally shopped around, getting quotes from both the big companies and brokers. We saved (overall) nearly 300/year by switching.

Ditto. State Farm customer for 20 years and saw the premiums keep going up even though the houses and cars and I all were getting older and they had paid out only once (minor accident). When I left, I didn't even get a phone call from anyone at State Farm (not even my agent) wondering why a good 20-year customer left. Don't let the door hit you, guys....

I'm now with American Family and saving a bundle over what SF was charging. But I do watch and I do shop around, and, if AF starts getting unfriendly, I'm elsewhere.
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acdesignsky
16 years ago
We have MetLife for home and auto. When we switched last year from Liberty Mutual, our auto premiums dropped by 30%. We've also had Allstate, State Farm, and Harleysville. AS and SF were by far the most expensive and least customer friendly.
debr
Original Author
16 years ago
Wow, I didn't even realize that there were options thru Costco and Metlife, etc. I will certainly look into these options as Allstate premiums are thru the roof. Thanks, everyone.
Jonesy
16 years ago
We have Farmers Insurance Group and have had since my husband was a young man, even the same insurance man. We haven't had a claim in a long time, but when we did there was none of this, "heres a check for a down payment on the repairs, we will pay the balance when the work is done." They just wrote us out a check for the damages. We have our auto, home and an Umbrella Policy with them and never had a problem.
quiltglo
16 years ago
We've had pretty good treatment with State Farm. They are also about the only ones doing earthquake policies here. Which I consider essential. We also have 11 policies with them, which helps our rates. I was irritated with our agent once and my DH called him and said "Make nice with her or we change to a different agent." He called. Made nice. I'm still going to changed to a different State Farm agent, though. I shouldn't get a call only because the DH makes him do so.

Gloria
chelone
16 years ago
Another satisfied Amica customer. They've insured me since I was 18 yrs. old. And they've had the policy on our home for the past 16 years.
bill_h
16 years ago
try grange, went from allstate to grange a few yrs ago, better coverage, at 2 3rds the cost.

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