Who do you use for insurance (home/auto/life)?
5I currently have State Farm, and they have been good to me. I had a fire several years ago, and they gave me no trouble at all. However, even as my incident ages, my premiums on everything continue to creep higher and higher.
I’m considering exploring other options for primary homeowner’s insurance as well as auto, term life, and umbrella coverage. Can anyone recommend a reasonably priced alternative that seems to have on-the-ball service for their claims?
Obviously any insurance company can offer cheap premiums but if their claims are a hassle, then it’s not worthwhile.
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I only know state farm, all the others are just curious funny commercial generators.
I currently use American Family Insurance, and am content with them. My premiums have risen very little over the past while (sorry, don’t remember how long I’ve used them). I used to use AAA (yes, the Auto people), but they sold it, and broke my heart. They were really great (before, not now).
I have used Amico, Safeco (although they were bought recently by Liberty Mutual and so their ratings have slipped), Erie, and Farmers. I am in the middle of a claim with Safeco and don’t know if that will end well or not (stuff, not car). Otherwise I haven’t had a claim since 1990 (25 car pile up on the freeway) so can’t tell you if they are easy to deal with, but you can no longer get most questions answered via an 800 number with Safeco which is irritating. They are cheaper than Amico (which is highly rated) but I may be dropping them anyway due to the 800 number issue and having to wait to deal with a local agent. With Safeco accident forgiveness is after 6 years with them. I think Amico gives you a rebate at the end of the year. They have discounts 2, 5 and I forget years out, total in the end is 5% off your premium.
One of them - I forget which (either Safeco or Amica) refuses to insure you if you have in wall electric heaters. I ran into that problem in Idaho.
If you can access a library database go look at see what consumer reports say about customer service satisfaction by their subscribers.
I use an independent agent that I’ve know for over two decades. He really takes the time to find the right fit for me, my cars, and my properties. I don’t have life insurance, I’ve aged out and can self-insure that aspect of my life.
However, I can share that insurance in general has risen much more than inflation the past few years. (Thanks Obama)
Everybody’s situation is different so it is hard to give a blanket answer. Sorry I don’t have a better answer, @SirLouie.
@therealjrn We use an agent also. Use Safeco right now.
Are you a member of USAA, or can you join? (This requires that you document that you, your spouse, your parent, or perhaps another close relative was in the military).
I don’t know the entire qualification process. My younger brother first got it when he married (his wife had it through family connections). Once you become a member, it’s for life. And you can then qualify some of your own relatives, certainty your spouse or kids.
When my younger brother realized how great USAA was, he talked my dad (a veteran) into qualifying. And so I was able to get it after my Dad had joined up.
I use Farmers for auto (happy). And the real property is insured through USAA.
I don’t think that proving the military connection for eligibility was hard. My brother took care of all of that for everyone tho.
I don’t know the exact rules about qualification. I think they have a very good rep?
@f00l They told me that even though dad was in WW2 I wouldn’t qualify.
@f00l I’ve heard many good things about USAA over the years.
That is a GREAT suggestion.
@Kidsandliz
I think your Dad has to join and purchase a policy? Any policy? Then you are eligiblel?
If your Dad is no longer living, or has not joined and taken out a policy, you can’t be added as a member thru that connection?
@f00l Dad’s dead so that is probably it.
USAA 4 lyfe.
@f00l We’ve been covered by USAA for the last year plus a few months. We haven’t needed them yet, but thus far we’re impressed. Good service, good rates, and they write auto policies for a full year, instead of the 6-months term most other companies will cover you for.
We also had Progressive for several years. We were victims of two parking-lot hit and runs; Progressive was good to work with. It was especially convenient that they worked with a couple of repair companies and had an Enterprise office on their premises. We took the car to the Progressive office, they gave us the keys to the midsize car we’d requested, and a week later we reversed that process. Great customer service and the best damned website I’ve ever used.
Before that I/we had GEICO coverage for 38 years. Yep, a full honest-to-god 38 years. It was like losing a part of the family when we changed companies. We’d never had a problem with GEICO, but each year when I did a comparison check, they raised rates more than anyone else. We were willing to swap off a couple hundred bucks a year for having an excellent company, but when the difference grew to $600/year, we went to Progressive.
All in all, based on personal experience I’d recommend all three companies without hesitation.
@f00l I’ve had USAA since I got married (20+ years) and wouldn’t consider anything else at this point (husband has been with USAA all his life; both he and his father were in the Air Force). I had GEICO at some point in the past and they made my life a living hell; I still get angry when they send me junk mail and get minor relief ripping it to shreds and throwing it away. We’ve made three claims to USAA that I can think of, two for cars and one for the house, and they have provided excellent service each time.
I’ve stayed with State Farm because I’m pretty sure they won’t declare bankruptcy when I need them.
The one with the cartoon general and penguin.
@medz Really? Their TV commercials are so hokey that I figured they’d either be really good or really bad. So I guess they’re on the good end of the scale?
@magic_cave not really
I tried that Progressive price tool thing and My current insurance beat them by over $200 bucks…home & auto. So Flo and Jamie feel through. My ins is with Mapfre
i have home and auto w/erie insurance. their premiums seem very reasonable to me. in the past i had state farm and farmers both of which had higher premiums than what i’ve found with erie. have never had to file a claim with erie but my folks (who also have their coverage there) did file a claim several years ago when they were rear-ended while in motion. the person who hit them was totally wasted and was underinsured. erie sent an agent out the very next day to evaluate their car and they issued a check for a new car w/in just a couple of days.
We’ve had good luck with Progressive with the snapshot discount. They won’t insure our century-old house though, so I have a discount with liberty mutual that makes it slightly less awful. A few claims in the last few years have really hit us with increases though
I use Progressive for car and home and have for years. I love them & they have taken very good care of me & my family over the years. I don’t skimp on car insurance … never have & have always been glad I didn’t. But that’s just me. (Wait … is skimp even a word ?)
Your mentioning the snapshot thing reminded me to suggest checking with your insurance company for any kind of affiliation discounts. Progressive gave us a discount because we were credit union members. Once I’ve finished with my second round of cataract surgery I’ll probably sit through the AARP’s driving school class so I’ll qualify for another discount. I just turned 70 and have had no accidents in which I was at fault and only one speeding ticket from when I was 19 and hurrying home from someplace I wasn’t supposed to be. Check those little discounts; 2% - 3% of savings starts to add up to a real chunk of money.
I work as an independent agent. The family that I work for is great with finding our insurers good coverage. I also call in claims for our insured’s and while all the companies we have are good, I’ve found Erie (which I use for auto), Hanover and Travelers (which my mother uses for home and auto) to be among the best with response time and working with the insured. Personally, I would recommend working with an independent agent as they are more likely to find out enough about you to make sure you get the coverage you need at a reasonable price since they represent multiple companies. Aa opposed to something like State Farm where that is all they sell (in fact, I got my mom to leave State Farm for Travelers and it was a large savings, and way better coverage for her home)
@savvysapphire What is your opinion about Safeco and Amica?
@Kidsandliz well, we used to sell safeco, but no longer do. Their claims processing is good,however their premiums seem higher than a lot of the other carriers we use.
@savvysapphire glad to hear their claims processing is good. Other than dings in my windshield on the car, I am having my first renters insurance claim ever. When I temporarily moved from MS to AR they are cheaper than Amica but I had forgotten about the rebate Amica gives at the end of the year so might be the same. What are the problems with switching companies with a claim in process?
@Kidsandliz
Are you in AR now? They did the Medicaid assistance re the ACA.
@f00l Yeah but I also, for the moment, have group health insurance. CORBA isn’t going to be much cheaper than full price, but then it won’t be as limited either. Who knows what will happen next - back hud housing (presuming I can get back in - wait might be long again) and food stamps or if I am lucky another temp job… I’ll just have to wait and see.
@Kidsandliz
So you have to take the COBRA? If you are in AR, could you take an ACA with the Medicaid expansion instead?
The money you might save in insurance would mean you might not need HUD housing. AR housing often isn’t that pricy.
@f00l No I don’t have to take it - if I am really lucky I’ll have another job when this one is up. But I have no idea if medicaid here lets me go to MD Anderson Cancer Center. I need them in network. At least it is an alternative depending on what 2019 stupidity is dreamed up in DC over health care.
I use American Family and have for years ( since I started driving) I have had a few claims and never had any issues.
Thanks everyone for all the recommendations and experiences! I’ve got a lot to chew on.
Had Liberty Mutual, just dropped them after 8 years. Really it’s my fault. Let them creep my rates for years thinking I’m living in the city it must just be. My car Raye reached 5500 for 2 cars, and 1200 for home. My employer offeres a insurance broker so I let them search. Travelers came back at 2000 and 900. So I’ll give them a go for the year.
I use whiskey, some string, and good luck.
We have Nationwide for home and auto. They’ve always taken good care of us. Back in 2007 we had a house fire and they were very generous with the payouts. This year we had hail destroy our roof for the second time and again Nationwide had our backs. Including paying for some kid items that were taken out by hail (trampoline and basketball hoop). Both cars were totalled by hail and I was happily surprised by the payouts. No complaints here.
USAA auto & home insurance for over 55 years.
Premiums have been reasonable but the true quality/value has been the few times that we have had to make claims. We have lived in five states and USAA has been outstanding everywhere.
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I called around a few months back and priced insurance from 10 different providers. Most providers that advertise on TV were at least 20% higher than everyone else and their deductibles were higher as well. All of them over-insured me at about 150% of the true value of my home, and none of them would allow me to insure the property for less, even though I owe less than half of the actual value.
Nationwide had the lowest premium, but their deductible was 1% of the coverage amount ($368000, so $3680 – far too high to ever file a claim for a new roof, etc). This would make my insurance useless for just about anything short of a total loss.
USAA gave me a middle of the road quote but I wasn’t impressed with their inability to answer direct questions during the quote.
The winner? Farm Bureau of Tennessee. They had a quote comparable to what Nationwide offered, but with a flat $1000 deductible. When bundled with auto, it ended up being cheaper than what I was paying with Travelers by about $400 a year. They were good to work with when we had them years ago, so we feel good about our decision. They were also the only company that didn’t force me to insure my property for more than my loan value (I ended up insuring our home for about 50% over the loan value due to the amount of equity in the house and cost of replacement if we did suffer a total loss).
State farm for almost 40 yrs and they’ve been great all the way around every time.