Best Auto Insurance....

[zoo2tycoon]

My second son is getting his license on Tuesday!
So I am checking auto insurance rates.
Currently we have Allstate- but I have found Progressive and Geico to be cheaper (almost $650 per 6 months cheaper for same coverage when bundled with HO insurance). That is a huge difference.

Pros and Cons of either company.

Found Liberty Mutual had best rate but won't insure my home because of the roof age (would like to keep the policies with same company).
I did contact USAA who we used to have but they were $700 more than Allstate per 6 months and double HO rate. Tried other companies and they were more also (AMICA/METLIFE/NATIONWIDE).


I read online reviews and like everything you get the I LOVE THEM or I HATE THEM.

Thanks!

 

[Sadie22]

We have all our different types of insurance with the same company and get discounts for that, for length of time we've been with them, safe driver/accident free, multicar, and so on. There were discounts for the kids having good grades and for doing a driver safety program (meet with the agent, watch a video, keep a log book).

It's possible to end up spending a lot more due to hopping from company to company.

 

[tvguy]

How old is your roof? Never had an insurance company even ask about my roof.
We find with young drivers, that if you review which car they are on as primary driver every 6 months, you can shave $100-$150 off the total premium by making adjustments. We are all covered on all the cars, agent does this automatically with all his clients. But we have 6 cars and 4 drivers, so we have options.

 

[tvguy]

. There were discounts for the kids having good grades. QUOTE]

I remember being in high school in the early 70's and one semester (only )
having straight A's. My mom was excited about getting a good student discount on our auto insurance, but the agent said they didn't offer it anymore because they discovered good students tend to be more involved in more activities, tend to drive more and tend to have more accidents!

 

[Lisa71]

I cannot see your state on my iPhone but we love Wawanesa here in California. Saved us a bunch and good service.

 

[zoo2tycoon]

We live in Indiana.
Read more reviews online
Progressive is thru some company that had some terrible reviews so that threw them out.
It was Liberty Mutual who had roof issue- it is original to house (19 years). Had it checked and roofer said 3-4 more year on life of it last year so I am not replacing roof yet (son going off to college next month).
Geico read on community board about bait and switch.
Saw State Farm is fairly competative with Allstate who we have----thinking at this point we will stay where we are.
So hard to make changes but want to save too
BUT don't want to have claim or accident and be messed up !!!

Thanks!

 

[RitaE]

We also had to move away from Allstate when our oldest turned 16 and began driving because they used the opportunity to send our rates into the stratosphere. It actually really pissed me off because we had been Allstate customers for decades with no claims but the second they had an excuse to apply the screws to us they jumped. I was expecting a rate increase of course but what they tried to charge was just ridiculous and the agent was just like "Too bad, sucks to be you." I can't remember the exact numbers now but they wouldn't even come close to rates the other companies were quoting us.

We went with Geico. No problems. A couple of years ago my husband's car was parked on a street and somebody smashed into the left side bumper and took off. Geico handled the claim and the repair bills with no fuss at all. We remain with Geico still even though my oldest son is grown up and moved out of the house and I don't have a male teen driver here anymore.

I still every so often get marketing letters from Allstate telling me how much they miss me and wish I'd return. Yeah right. It's been 7 years now and I'm still bitter over those ridiculous rate increases.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

Allstate is a dirty word to people who lived through Katrina, Rita or Wilma. What I understand is that Allstate didn't get enough underwriting, so they disallowed many, many valid claims because they didn't have enough money to pay people.

FWIW, State Farm and Farmer's paid quickly.

I will never, ever have Allstate.

 

[dansamy]

Yup. Read hurricane claim reviews. Whoever handles a disaster like that quickly efficiently & gracefully is worth doing business with.

 

[Chelley00]

We live in Indiana.
Read more reviews online
Progressive is thru some company that had some terrible reviews so that threw them out.

We are also in Indiana. We switched to Progressive after State Farm dumped us for a house fire claim. (losers)

DS17 was in a horrible car accident in December. It was a fluke thing but is considered his fault (over corrected in some gravel) He had a passenger and both boys went to the ER. DS spent several days in ICU and spent another 6 months recovering.

Progressive was AMAZING. They paid everything they were supposed to as quick as possible, called to check on DS and called his passenger and encouraged both our family and theirs to make sure we thought about taking both boys to the dentist/eye doctor. I wouldn't have thought about the dentist because we were so focused on other injuries, but it turned out DS's passenger had a chipped tooth.

After all that, they didn't raise our rates at all and gave DS an accident forgiveness because he wasn't speeding and was a good student.

 

[rflorek]

Allstate is a dirty word to people who lived through Katrina, Rita or Wilma. What I understand is that Allstate didn't get enough underwriting, so they disallowed many, many valid claims because they didn't have enough money to pay people.

FWIW, State Farm and Farmer's paid quickly.

I will never, ever have Allstate.

If they were indeed valid claims (valid in the eyes of the company per the insurance documents in effect and not in the eyes of the Insured who may think they have coverage but did not have the proper coverage or assumed that they were covered for perils that they were not) then they would be compelled by the state insurance dept to pay the claim to the extent that the policies allow.

In addition, insurance companies purchase large amounts of reinsurance to cover them in the event of a large loss/catastrophe situation so they would've had enough to cover claims based on that level of coverage if what you are claiming is true.

That being said, I know many people in many parts of the country who recommend Allstate for all lines. I also have many friends who are long-time AAA members who received the best quotes through their local AAA offfice - worth checking it out

 

[Theaberdeenkid]

We have Erie insurance

http://www.erieinsurance.com/

Well rated by customers and peer reviews. We just relocated and had to find new insurance company.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

If they were indeed valid claims (valid in the eyes of the company per the insurance documents in effect and not in the eyes of the Insured who may think they have coverage but did not have the proper coverage or assumed that they were covered for perils that they were not) then they would be compelled by the state insurance dept to pay the claim to the extent that the policies allow.

In addition, insurance companies purchase large amounts of reinsurance to cover them in the event of a large loss/catastrophe situation so they would've had enough to cover claims based on that level of coverage if what you are claiming is true.

It turns out I was wrong, at least as pertains to Louisiana. My apologies. Allstate had no reinsurance in Louisiana when Katrina hit.

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2006/01/15/64205.htm

In addition, they tried to threaten Louisiana's Department of Insurance into excluding wind and hail damage or they'd leave the state.

http://www.ldi.la.gov/public_affair...latory_Action_in_Allstate_Matter_7-21-06.html

Then they improperly dropped coverage on some homeowners claiming they weren't back in their residences by a particular deadline, which was determined NOT to be true.

http://www.ldi.state.la.us/public_a...rs_Allstate_to_reinstate_policies_3-6-07.html


OTOH, from my quick Googling, it looks like State Farm had more than a few complaints as well - I just know they dealt fairly with my friends and family.

 

[cvjw]

Speaking as a parent of a 17 year old boy, I would recommend staying with a company where you have history.

When my DS was 16, he was hit by an older gentlemen driving a motorcycle. The accident was 100% the motorcyclist's fault, but since he was driving so fast, he was really injured when he hit my son's car. Even though my son wasn't at fault, we are facing a huge lawsuit because of the other man's medical bills. Under the law, you are free to sue, even though the accident was your fault - Go figure.

Thank goodness that we still had our State Farm policy that we have had for 30 years. We too, thought about changing to a cheaper policy when DS turned 16, because it is so much to insure him. We are so glad that we didn't switch, because State Farm will defend my son against the coming lawsuit. We know that they will provide a top notch defense for him, and it helps us to sleep a little better at night.

Bottom line, it only takes a second for something really bad to happen and your life can be changed for the worse - even if your child isn't at fault. Make sure that your insurance company will have your back!

 

[zoo2tycoon]

Speaking as a parent of a 17 year old boy, I would recommend staying with a company where you have history.

When my DS was 16, he was hit by an older gentlemen driving a motorcycle. The accident was 100% the motorcyclist's fault, but since he was driving so fast, he was really injured when he hit my son's car. Even though my son wasn't at fault, we are facing a huge lawsuit because of the other man's medical bills. Under the law, you are free to sue, even though the accident was your fault - Go figure.

Thank goodness that we still had our State Farm policy that we have had for 30 years. We too, thought about changing to a cheaper policy when DS turned 16, because it is so much to insure him. We are so glad that we didn't switch, because State Farm will defend my son against the coming lawsuit. We know that they will provide a top notch defense for him, and it helps us to sleep a little better at night.

Bottom line, it only takes a second for something really bad to happen and your life can be changed for the worse - even if your child isn't at fault. Make sure that your insurance company will have your back!

So sorry to hear this about your son. I keep reading reviews on all the insurance companies. We had USAA for years and loved them...until HO insurance kept going up and up and up for no reason (they couldn't explain why- no claims or anything). That is when I found ALLSTATE. My rates haven't gone up in the 3.5 years.

When you see company XYZ has super cheap rates you want to jump and save money...but then you see stories like yours and think I'd be better with a company I know.

I have read about all the major companies and for every bad you will read a few good...the bad are really bad and the good are really good.

Hope things work out for you====it is sad when people get so sue happy and your son didn't do anything. Hope your son is ok!

 

[tvguy]

Allstate is a dirty word to people who lived through Katrina, Rita or Wilma. What I understand is that Allstate didn't get enough underwriting, so they disallowed many, many valid claims because they didn't have enough money to pay people.

FWIW, State Farm and Farmer's paid quickly.

I will never, ever have Allstate.

. my wife's stepmom had Allstate in Texas and had to get a new roof after Rita. She had her claim payed weeks before her neighbors covered by other companies.............but to be honest all her neighbors had their claims paid well before materials and contractors were available.....they call Rita the forgotten hurricane because all the materials and contractors were diverted to the areas hit by Katrina

 

[snarlingcoyote]

. my wife's stepmom had Allstate in Texas and had to get a new roof after Rita. She had her claim payed weeks before her neighbors covered by other companies.............but to be honest all her neighbors had their claims paid well before materials and contractors were available.....they call Rita the forgotten hurricane because all the materials and contractors were diverted to the areas hit by Katrina

I'm glad your DM got her claim paid quickly. I have some friends who had Allstate who were fortunate enough to have money to buy a trailer with cash money, or they would've been on the street from the time Rita hit until after Christmas. (Rita hit dead on my home town and the home towns of my family and most of my friends.)

But the problem in the wait for her roof, probably wasn't supplies. The supply issue was a crisis for a short period of time, but not for long. It was labor that was in short supply for much, much longer.

One of my dear nieces was still in college and worked in the HR department of one of the big chain home improvement stores when Rita hit. (I honestly can't remember which.) She told me she vividly remembers having a job fair, taking applications and sorting them into piles for various jobs - but not putting ANY of the applications to the side as "not hired." If you had a warm body and could move things from place A to place B with direction - you were hired!

Dear goddaughter's husband was an assistant manager at a local grocery story when Rita hit - they found it impossible to keep employees afterwards. Anyone who was strong enough to go up a ladder and could tote things around or learn how to roof could get a job paying triple what his store could pay.

There weren't enough workers. The supplies were a short-term problem. The workers were the longer term issue, and one of the reasons people had to wait for roofs.

 

[amcnj]

Some companies may charge more as you are switching to them with a new driver. I had one company advise I stay where I was for three years and then apply to them as otherwise they would have to put me in the "higher risk" pool there where the insurance would be higher, and might prove harder to get out of this riskier tier than to jsut apply once the three years was over. Also, at least here, you can opt to have your health insurance be the primary for auto accidents. It did not make much difference when no young drivers were on the policy, but once they were, the auto medical costs went up tremendously, and by making my health insurance the primary (check with them and make sure they allow this), the auto insurance cost dropped significantly. Of course every state is different so this may not apply to all.

 

[IDoDis]

We have been with GEICO for 26 years. I have never had an issue with them paying on a claim. Their service is top notch. We also get one free accident, meaning that we won't see a rate increase if we are at fault since we have great driving records. Last year we added our home insurance to our policy and saved $600 a year compared to what we were paying separately.

One thing people don't do, is buy enough coverage, so make sure your limits are high, especially ou have a teen driver. If you carry low limits like 50k or 100k, the injured party will go after your personal assets if the damages are higher than your insurance limits. With skyrocketing medical costs, it's not hard to reach 100k. We carry $300,000/500,000. Make sure your coverage is at least what your home and assets are worth.

 

[SettinSail]

One thing people don't do, is buy enough coverage, so make sure your limits are high, especially ou have a teen driver. If you carry low limits like 50k or 100k, the injured party will go after your personal assets if the damages are higher than your insurance limits. With skyrocketing medical costs, it's not hard to reach 100k. We carry $300,000/500,000. Make sure your coverage is at least what your home and assets are worth.

Good point and we did the same and also took out a separate Umbrella Policy when DS started driving.