Looking for new auto insurance, any recommendations?

[traces7]

Our auto insurance has gone up a lot, by adding our 16 yr old DD and a new vehicle in the last 2 months. So, we are shopping around for new insurance. Right now we have Allstate for auto, homeowners and our boat. We've been with them for over 20 years. But are rate has tripled and is very expensive now. Can anyone recommend a company that has good, but not too expensive insurance?

We'll probably switch the auto and home. Two that I have found that are cheaper are Germantown and Erie. Not sure if these are just in the Midwest, we're in Wisconsin. Anyone know anything about either of them? Geico was third in cost so far.
Thanks so much for any help!

 

[NinaBella]

If

 

[havaneselover]

I use Geico and am very happy with their service. I checked with Ameriprise earlier in the year (I think you need to belong to Costco to use them) and they were much higher. I've also used Liberty Mutual and MetLife and been happy with both of those companies. Another company I'm hearing a lot about lately is Elephant. Every year or so I re-shop. It's amazing how much variation there is in quotes.

ETA we have Erie in VA and a co-worker used them for years and was very happy with them.

 

[traces7]

If you meet eligibility requirements, get a quote from USAA.

What eligibility requirements? I never heard of USAA, are they good?

 

[traces7]

I use Geico and am very happy with their service. I checked with Ameriprise earlier in the year (I think you need to belong to Costco to use them) and they were much higher. I've also used Liberty Mutual and MetLife and been happy with both of those companies. Another company I'm hearing a lot about lately is Elephant. Every year or so I re-shop. It's amazing how much variation there is in quotes.

ETA we have Erie in VA and a co-worker used them for years and was very happy with them.

Have you had a claim with Geico, how did you like them for handling it and did they raise your rates after? Do you know how Erie handled claims also? That's why I'm kind of concerned about switching. That we would would get dropped if we had a claim or rates would increase. (of course hopefully we won't have a claim!!)

 

[havaneselover]

Have you had a claim with Geico, how did you like them for handling it and did they raise your rates after? Do you know how Erie handled claims also? That's why I'm kind of concerned about switching. That we would would get dropped if we had a claim or rates would increase. (of course hopefully we won't have a claim!!)

Yes. In 2003 when I was pregnant with my DD I was in an accident on 495 in Northern Virginia. I was at fault. They did not raise my rate and the claims process was super smooth. I was surprised because everyone says Geico's cheap because they are cheap with claims but that wasn't my experience.

My co-worker made a claim on his homeowner's policy with Erie with no issues, but to my knowledge no auto claims.

 

[usnuzuloose]

To me, I would not be willing to pay a cheap rate for insurance with a teenage driver. I would want to know we are fully protected. But that is my HO.

 

[tvguy]

I'd ask your neighbors who they are insured with and if they are happy.
Companies have different rates in different regions, and the customer service can vary.
I've been with Allstate for 42 years, and every time I price shop they are the lowest. Customer service from Allstate has been good the 3 times I have needed. My long time agent retired, and the new agent seems a little put out by some of the things I need help with. I may try and switch agents, but I still like Allstate.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We had AAA and they were great and reasonably priced until it was time to add ds17 as a driver, still only 2 cars though. We shopped around and chose GEICO and it was $1000/year less than AAA for the same exact coverage. Why pay more?

 

[NinaBella]

What eligibility requirements? I never heard of USAA, are they good?

They are fantastic. I have been with USAA for over 15 years. There are eligibility requirements such as you or your spouse serving in the military, or any of your parents who served in the military who are members. If parents are deceased, they had to have had a USAA insurance product prior their death. There are legacy eligibility requirements to pass membership to children.

USAA is the United Services Automobile Association as it was founded by 25 military officers to insure each other's vehicles but it has grown to be a full service financial services (auto, life ins, homeowners ins, health ins, dental ins, banking, investments, auto loans, mortgage loans, college savings, IRAs, financial planning... they even offer pet insurance! LOL.).

A few (not all) accolades from their website: www.usaa.com

FORTUNE 500® Ranking
Ranked 141st in Revenue, 53rd in Assets and 57th in Net Worth (Ranked in 2014 for 2013 Results)

FORTUNE®
100 Best Companies to Work For (2010 to 2015)

World's Most Admired Company (2014 to 2015)


HERE IS THE LINK FOR WHO CAN JOIN: https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/why_choose_usaa_main?wa_ref=pub_global_usaaandu#

 

[KAYLI'S DAD]

We had AAA up until a few months ago and they went up 20-30% every year for the last 2-3 years so I just moved to Allstate after shopping around. Nobody was any cheaper than where I was at but I was fed up with AAA and I had to buy a membership. Talk to neighbors like other poster said, thats what I did.

 

[cvjw]

With a teenage driver, make sure you have great liability coverage. A wreck can happen in a split second, and you can be sued for any damages/injuries that are over and above your policy limits. My DS was hit by a motorcyclist who tried to have the fault for the accident changed for 2 years so he could sue my DS for his medical bills. The medical bills were in the hundreds of thousands. It was a very stressful 2 years - we now carry really high insurance limits.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

We left State Farm after many years and went to Ameriprise thru costco. Check with them if you have a membership.

 

[traces7]

To me, I would not be willing to pay a cheap rate for insurance with a teenage driver. I would want to know we are fully protected. But that is my HO.

I don't necessarily want "cheap" insurance. I want affordable insurance that has good coverage.

 

[traces7]

I'd ask your neighbors who they are insured with and if they are happy.
Companies have different rates in different regions, and the customer service can vary.
I've been with Allstate for 42 years, and every time I price shop they are the lowest. Customer service from Allstate has been good the 3 times I have needed. My long time agent retired, and the new agent seems a little put out by some of the things I need help with. I may try and switch agents, but I still like Allstate.

We've been very happy with Allstate with our auto claims. But just recently they went up a great deal because of the additional driver and vehicle. We've never filed a home claim, so don't know how they are on that. We've been with them for 20 years at least.

 

[traces7]

With a teenage driver, make sure you have great liability coverage. A wreck can happen in a split second, and you can be sued for any damages/injuries that are over and above your policy limits. My DS was hit by a motorcyclist who tried to have the fault for the accident changed for 2 years so he could sue my DS for his medical bills. The medical bills were in the hundreds of thousands. It was a very stressful 2 years - we now carry really high insurance limits.

Scary! How high are your liability limits?

 

[traces7]

Thanks for all the replies, I have been checking with neighbors and friends. Everyone has someone different. But not many people have ever filed a claim. We don't qualify for the USAA insurance and don't have a Costco membership or even one near us, but thanks! Still checking around. I'm also going to call back my Allstate agent and double check with them.

 

[tvguy]

Thanks for all the replies, I have been checking with neighbors and friends. Everyone has someone different. But not many people have ever filed a claim. We don't qualify for the USAA insurance and don't have a Costco membership or even one near us, but thanks! Still checking around. I'm also going to call back my Allstate agent and double check with them.

To clarify what my old Allstate agent did that my new Allstate agent doesn't so.

Old agent would:

1) review my auto policy every 6 months to check which car was cheapest to put DS and DD on as their primary car. Didn't matter which car they regularly drove since they were automatically covered on all of them.

2)When DS and DD hit college, he reviewed which zip code was cheaper to insure their car in.....because Allstate allows you in that case to use either their college residence zip, or your home zip for rating purposes because they moved home every summer.

 

[cvjw]

Scary! How high are your liability limits?

$1,000,000 on our teenager and ourselves. At the time of the accident, we only had liability coverage of $500,000. The motorcyclist's medical bills were way over the $500,000 limit. State Farm would have covered up to $500,000. The motorcyclist was trying to get fault changed so he could sue State Farm for the $500,000 and my teenager (us) for the rest Very scary. I learned alot about insurance, liability and the laws after this accident.

We thought we were covered with $500,000. One motorcyclist being airlifted to intensive care blows thru that amount in a matter of weeks.

We were very fortunate that some incredibly kind witnesses came to court on my son's behalf multiple times over the two years. The motorcyclist could not get fault changed because of them. He tried for the full two years.

 

[tvguy]

$1,000,000 on our teenager and ourselves. At the time of the accident, we only had liability coverage of $500,000. The motorcyclist's medical bills were way over the $500,000 limit. State Farm would have covered up to $500,000. The motorcyclist was trying to get fault changed so he could sue State Farm for the $500,000 and my teenager (us) for the rest Very scary. I learned alot about insurance, liability and the laws after this accident.

We thought we were covered with $500,000. One motorcyclist being airlifted to intensive care blows thru that amount in a matter of weeks.

We were very fortunate that some incredibly kind witnesses came to court on my son's behalf multiple times over the two years. The motorcyclist could not get fault changed because of them. He tried for the full two years.

This is why everyone needs an umbrella policy. It was actually cheaper to get a $5 million umbrella policy that boost my liability coverage on my cars and house.