Any Ideas For Insurance Companies? OT

[Bingster]

In another potsing I explained the problems with getting a new windshield installed on my family car.

I want to change insurance companies from State Farm to . . . ???

Any ideas on do's and don'ts?

[Plymouthy Adams]

you gotta shop..some areas are different from other in what they underwrite...your state commisson mandates the minimums..and when you have minimums..odds are that is what you gonna get..drive to a local baseball game with a couple extra baseballs in your hand..

[Oldguy48]

I've been very pleased with Allstate. About 5 years ago, a turkey flew into my windshield on the Interstate. Arranged for a glass company to replace it, but the installer scratched the hood, damaged the dashboard, left glass fragments all over, and there were drips of blood in the truck from the guy installing the glass (all this from a "Professional" ). Allstate paid for all of the repairs, and then went after the glass company for reimbursement. Maybe not all of their agents are as good as mine, but I've had no complaints with Allstate.

[dezeldoc]

I went from state farm junk to Nationwide 15+ years ago and not had one problem from them, paying claims no hassles, windows easy, not to many co will beat their price, i have tried!

[desoto1939]

I have been a member of GEICO for over 25 years. They have always treated me fairly druing accidents and repairs and overall rates.

Rich Hartung

[Robert Horne]

I have had AIG for many years. I have no insurance claims with them, so do not know how they are on that aspect. AIG is much cheaper than any other insurance company I can find. Geico, State Farm, and Allstate were about double what I pay.

[oldodge41]

Insurance and exhaust are the two worst parts of the car hobby. I had Nationwide for 30 years. No problems until my agent died and my rates started going up with the new guy every time I got a renewal. Switched to Liberty Mutual a couple years ago. I get a discount thru my employer that makes them a lot cheaper. For years I stayed loyal to a company that had no loyalty to me. Turns out they are only as good as their agent. Imagine that, the human element still matters.

[Don Coatney]

Insurance and exhaust are the two worst parts of the car hobby. I had Nationwide for 30 years. No problems until my agent died and my rates started going up with the new guy every time I got a renewal. Switched to Liberty Mutual a couple years ago. I get a discount thru my employer that makes them a lot cheaper. For years I stayed loyal to a company that had no loyalty to me. Turns out they are only as good as their agent. Imagine that, the human element still matters.

That is exactly what I found a couple years ago. My insurance agent kept jacking the price up. When I called them and ask why they told me they did not have time to research the best deal for me. But they did have time to send me the higher price invoices. I ask if they really had the customer (me) in mind and they had no answer. So I gave them an answer and you can guess what it was. I am now with a company called Montgomery. I have not had any car claims with them but they also have my homeowners and I did have a claim. They treated me well.

[dezeldoc]

Insurance and exhaust are the two worst parts of the car hobby. I had Nationwide for 30 years. No problems until my agent died and my rates started going up with the new guy every time I got a renewal. Switched to Liberty Mutual a couple years ago. I get a discount thru my employer that makes them a lot cheaper. For years I stayed loyal to a company that had no loyalty to me. Turns out they are only as good as their agent. Imagine that, the human element still matters.

Thats kinda funny as up till the last 6 months we never had an agent, direct with the co. in fact in cali i don't think they had any here. you are the first that i have heard of that says the rates were high.

[oldodge41]

Thats kinda funny as up till the last 6 months we never had an agent, direct with the co. in fact in cali i don't think they had any here. you are the first that i have heard of that says the rates were high.

When my original agent retired I was "assigned" a new agent by the company. I didn't like his location. It wasn't convenient for me. I had to petition to have another local agent. The new agent looked at my policy and asked me why I had certain things. I told him my old agent said that is the way the company worked and I had no choice. He made some changes and saved me some money. Stuck with him until he passed away unexpectedly. The new agent I was assigned to went to singing the company only does it one way song and raising prices so I left. I did deal directly with the company for awhile between agents the first time with no issues. When I notified them I was leaving after 30 years no-one even asked why. I think that said it all. Was a tough decision for me as I felt we had a loyal relationship. Apparently that was only one way, so I moved my homeowners as well. I don't recommend any one insurance company over another but I would make sure you have an agent you can trust to be "on your side". Pun intended.

[JerseyHarold]

We had AIG on the everyday cars and they became 21st Century a few years ago and then became State Farm. Some little weasel hit our Lumina when our daughter was driving. Even though State Farm was fully reimbursed by the other company, they raised our rates anyway and, when questioned, only had lame and vague responses as to why. We have to dump them, but I haven't gotten around to shopping for a new company yet.

We had Liberty Mutual homeowner's insurance since we bought our house in 1997. The rates continued to climb every year and hit $2100. a few years ago so I decided to shop around. I got another company with the same coverage for $700! When I called Liberty Mutual, they offered several ways to reduce the premium, all of which involved drastically lowering the coverage so no real discount. Needless to say, I dropped them and went with the cheaper company.

[Don Coatney]

In the olden days there was such a thing as loyalty. These days there is not such a thing. I suggest everyone shop when the insurance renewal time comes around and I stress do this only when the renewal date comes around. One thing I have learned over the years is that if you change companies before your policy renewal date you can forget any refund. Your new company will tell you to change now and your old company will pro-rate the refund. DONT DO IT! The old company will send you pennies on the dollar. They already have the money in the bank and will give you a song and dance as to why they cannot refund the pro-rated ammount. Do not make the change until one day before your old policy expires.

[james49ply]

I also had Nationwide insurance for over 35 years, the rates went up and up andup, I asked why and they said my vehicle was expensive to repair, (I had it for many years), switched to Gieco, added my motorcycles (2), and my home and saved well over $1,000.00 a year. Loyalty is expected from the purchaser, but not the other way around.

[53_Suburban]

Working in a body shop, I've had experience with most of the major insurance companies. Here in California IMO, the least hassle free companies seem to be Geico, Nationwide, USAA, and even State Farm. Avoid Farmers Insurance. Farmers has recently purchased 21st Century. Even if you have a great agent, once the claims dept gets involved you're in deep do do.

It took me 2 years to settle a BI claim with Farmers and they ended up paying me less than my actual medical bills. I only settled because the statute was running out. Fortunately my own insurance covered the bills under my medical payments coverage.

I used to work for 21st Century back when they used only genuine factory parts and some of the most knowlegeable appraisers in the industry.

Once Farmers bought them, they had a series of "valuations" which slowly eliminated the old employees so they could replace them with 22 yr olds who knew absolutely nothing about cars or how to repair them.