Just got home ins. bill...went up $254.00..shopping for new coverage, who is good??

[Muushka]

WOW...I have certainly been schooled on this subject now....we have had state farm for yrs with our auto,home, and life...today DH had an accident (he totaled the car...not confirmed yet...but he did) we havent had claims in the past (never with home) this will be the 1st for him for auto ...i will have to look into this...hard!

I also hope your husband is ok.

Insurance is an interesting subject. When people speak of why they like their company, typically it is because it has low rates. But the true measure of a good insurance company is not what they charge, but how they handle you when you have a claim. (of course the $$ is a factor, but it should not be the only one).

We were hit by hurricane Fran in 1996. Our insurance company (Amica) was at our house within 2 days of the hurricane. The adjuster checked about everything, things that we didn't even notice (the gutters were damaged and we had not noticed and a couple of other things). He even asked about the food in our refrigerator and freezer if we had lost any. We had not, but it was nice that he asked. He cut us a check right then and there. And then when we submitted the final charges, they misunderstood and overpaid us by $500.00, which we promptly returned.

I was so glad that we did that because the following year we removed a cell shade on a palladium window and realized that the tree that fell on our house had also damaged that window. We contacted them, they told us to get any window we wanted ($1500.00) and they sent us a check for the entire amount because we had already met our deductible for that event.

The following year we had another hurricane. We had about $1000.00 worth of roof/ceiling damage. We ended up doing the repairs inside ourselves. I contacted them to say that and they told us to keep the extra $ we didn't spend.

Our rates have never increased. I really like Amica. Can you tell?

 

[Ericandjenng]

Met Life. We switched from AllState several years ago after having been with them for more than 10 years. Saved $700 between homeowners & car (2 new vehicles) and got even better coverage.

 

[Mom of 3 Princesses]

We just switched. Geico now has homeowners insurance. Our insurance through Liberty jumped OVER 50%. Ridiculous. We are absorbing the cost of insuring those people that live on the OBX and on the Sand bars.

Personally, if I am helping to pay their insurance, I think I should be able to stop by and use the house a while. (just a rant).

We ended up saving a bunch by switching.

 

[Suz D]

WOW...I have certainly been schooled on this subject now....we have had state farm for yrs with our auto,home, and life...today DH had an accident (he totaled the car...not confirmed yet...but he did) we havent had claims in the past (never with home) this will be the 1st for him for auto ...i will have to look into this...hard!

We have been with SF for years too (I worked for them as did my sister & father). When I was in my mid 20's I switched to another company and shortly after I did, I had my first accident. That company dropped me like a hot potato. I went back to SF and haven't looked back since.

We are guaranteed renewal so they can't drop us no matter what. That alone is worth it to me. I haven't even checked other companies (I'm supporting my dad's pension) but it's about more than money for me (as another poster pointed out). You are smart to ask around and see who is pleased with their current company.

BTW, I do realize that for many people it HAS to be about money. Even a difference of $100-200/year is a difference maker for lots of people.

I too hope your DH wasn't hurt!

 

[tenaseewalker]

I'm not sure who is good anymore, but the only thing I can say is stay away from Allstate.. I had their premium coverage. On May 30, 2010 while I was in Disney World, I had a house fire and to this date they still haven't settled my claim. My family has had to live in a fifth wheel since the fire (while we fight it out). I had to hire an attorney because the offer I received from Allstate wasn't enough for me to even begin to make the necessary repairs to my home. I had 5 different contractors tell me that they couldn't help me if that was all Allstate had to offer. FYI, I have had this policy for over 25 years without any claims and this is how they treat their loyal customers.

 

[HelenePA]

WOW...I have certainly been schooled on this subject now....we have had state farm for yrs with our auto,home, and life...today DH had an accident (he totaled the car...not confirmed yet...but he did) we havent had claims in the past (never with home) this will be the 1st for him for auto ...i will have to look into this...hard!

Hope he's okay! We have had two claims with them since 1999 one was dh's fault totally the other was not mine at all. They were VERY easy to work with! Oh wait we had 3 claims with them! I totally forgot they covered the cost of a new (used) engine when our car was vandalized 3 years ago... our rates have never gone up We have them for homeowners as well

 

[pixiewings71]

We have AAA, have had them for years (DBF has had his car ins. policy for 17 years, when we bought the house we added it so that's been on for 8 years), we had a house fire 5 years ago, had to rebuild the entire interior of the house (except the master closet, because that door was closed lol) and much of the exterior as well, it was a large loss claim. Our ins. skyrocketed for about 3 years after but there is NO way we will change....they have treated us so well thru claims (the fire and I had a car accident as well) we have filed that it's worth it for us to know we are well covered and well taken care of. If/when you file a claim your ins. goes up for 1-3 years, and since you did file a claim it's possible you won't find another ins. company with lower rates. After our fire and subsequent renewal (at a HUGE increase) we did check around, no one was able to offer us a lower rate for the ins. we currently had, we didn't want to lower our coverage so we stuck with AAA.