Time for new insurance company

[Super Bee]

I've heard Erie and Farmers are good?
I know all will most likely be more expensive than state Farm

I have had Erie for years, no complaints at all.

 

[Ingomike]

What I want from insurance is reasonable price and fair claims payouts.

Riddle me this? If an insurance company is paying sports stars millions running commercials constantly it seems how can they even do that?

Beware of folks claims that the big TV advertisers took great care of them, not because it did not happen for those folks but because there is a business reason it did. The insurance industry as a whole buys re-insurance. My observations are that companies like SF, knowing they have a specific amount to spend before the re-insurance kicks in will approve about anything, then when the deductible is met the r—insurer will require SF administer the policies to the strictest of standards.

If you get damage from a storm get that claim going fast…

 

[manifest destiny]

Insurance is de facto gambling. Both the insured and the insurance company are at risk. Imagine an insurance company that offers hurricane insurance to homeowners in Florida. Depending on the location of the insured property, it would be reasonable to assume (as the insurance co.) there might be a claim for a total loss every 7-21ys. The insurance company is for profit. They'd neccessarily need to account for the occurrence, and....$$$ premium. Tough dicotomy.

 

[Brandon]

Insurance is de facto gambling. Both the insured and the insurance company are at risk. Imagine an insurance company that offers hurricane insurance to homeowners in Florida. Depending on the location of the insured property, it would be reasonable to assume (as the insurance co.) there might be a claim for a total loss every 7-21ys. The insurance company is for profit. They'd neccessarily need to account for the occurrence, and....$$$ premium. Tough dicotomy.

Understood.

However don't tell me I have hail damage and proceed to only cover bits and pieces.

 

[Ingomike]

Agent just takes money and offers no help.

Another riddle me this question for the group, how can an employee of the insurance company be your agent, which I define as representing the clients interests?

 

[OurDee]

Barb Mason
Agency Producer
Colliver Insurance
www.colliverins.com
317-241-3332

I have had a great experience with Barb handling my Insurance needs, Rayburn Stockinger

PS you can tell her I sent you

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Everyone has their own experiences. I say this based on personal experience, that of friends/family, and rapidly growing more and more outdated experience with auto insurance companies reaching out post-crash when I was still taking accidents:

Companies I would avoid:
State farm (if they do pay, they are likely to drop you soon)
Allstate (all around sucks)

USAA used to be really solid, but got more hit/miss. Their financials may reflect this. I was a long term customer who left.

Geico has been pretty solid, but you'll still find people who had issues.

 

[Expat]

It isn’t unusual for there to be dings on the soft metal vents and no damage to the shingles. Shingles in good condition should withstand hail up to around 1.2 inch. The shingle companies spend millions a year designing them to be durable to normal weather events.

 

[blain]

So what company is better than state farm?

I'm on the Farm too. I've been scouting for a different company, but have stuck with them.
We've had State Farm for over 20 years, for 3 vehicles and our home.
I've never submitted a claim on the house or cars, every. The ONLY thing we've collected on were tow bills, twice.

MY TAKE on insurance companies...
* Lowest rates don't impress me at all, for real.
* Covering what I want matters.
* Low premiums are pointless IF the company doesn't step up to the plate and deliver, when the time comes.

My wheels got to turning on finding a new company, that has a stellar customer service reviews.
These type of reviews are hard to narrow down. But from what I've dug up on customer loyalty (biggest sign to me the company follows through), was...
AMICA INSURANCE

I went through the process of getting a quote. Be prepared to provive plenty of info on your vehicles, not a ton on your home. For me, AMICA was a little less total for my house & cars, than State Farm was. But looking closer, Amica didn't have earthquake coverage included. Once I added that coverage they came out fairly close. So me being the lazy procrastinator that I am, just paid the annual bill to State Farm.
IF my memory is correct, Amica has a loyalty program where premiums drop lower the longer you stay with them. Don't quote me on that, but it's something that swirling in my brain about the company.

 

[Magyars]

Erie has always been good for us.

Ditto on Erie

 

[bigretic]

Erie has always been good for us.

Same here. No complaints. No major claims either though... thank god.

 

[gassprint1]

After 2 years, settled an auto claim against SF. Been 3 month and they still haven't paid 3 of my doctor bills. All companies are crooks including my current for more than 10yrs with progressive. They raised my premiums by almost $100. Gecko for military was more than progressive and indiana farm bureau was too.

 

[1nderbeard]

Selective processed our hail claim in like 48 hours. We had zero issues.

 

[tmschuller]

Last year the company I had for over 15 years, buckeye raised our farm policy 9k for a year... 9K... as in thousand. So we changed, it pays to have a local insurance agent who looks out for our needs. And no I did not have any claims on the property. Most insurance folks are parasites..

 

[63PGP]

My parents have Hartford Insurance. A few years ago they had a claim. Everything from the insurance side went smooth and it was a good experience dealing with them.

Can't say the same for a specific local contractor that specializes in insurance claim rebuilds.

 

[Destro]

If you decide to switch using a local broker, make sure they are making apples to apples comparisons on price.

Seems every time I shop around, the local guys like to try and manipulate coverage levels to look less than what I am paying.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

It isn’t unusual for there to be dings on the soft metal vents and no damage to the shingles. Shingles in good condition should withstand hail up to around 1.2 inch. The shingle companies spend millions a year designing them to be durable to normal weather events.

When I had SF replace my roof last year, in the investigation phase, they told me for them to ”find damage” there had to be (I think it was) 9 hits within a 10x10 area. My contractor agreed to come out and meet the adjuster and show him where he found damage. I’m not sure how many contractors will do that but I’m pretty sure SF would have denied our claim without that help.

We had very little sheet metal damage…which I found odd and thought that would be some sort of flag for claim denial for SF.

 

[Ingomike]

Seems every time I shop around, the local guys like to try and manipulate coverage levels to look less than what I am paying.

And I find the opposite is true, the SF types offer low rates made possible by gutting coverage. They also jack rates after you have claims or tickets that make it hard for people to get other insurance.

 

[Ingomike]

Geico has been pretty solid

Geico (and Progressive) are what we called high risk insurance companies by in the day.

 

[Destro]

And I find the opposite is true, the SF types offer low rates made possible by gutting coverage. They also jack rates after you have claims or tickets that make it hard for people to get other insurance.

So they are changing policy limits you set without notifying you or giving you an option? That is nasty.

I know when I see brokers they use phrases like "over insured" or will say things like "nobody has a $250 deductible anymore, lets set it to $1,000" and manipulate other policy limits to give a better price. One flat out refused to include a flood quote I explicitly asked for because "he checked for me and it is not required''. I am 100% sure there are honest and hard working insurance brokers out there, friends and family just seem to recommend me the less scrupulous ones.