Insurance Question(s)

[Zee09]

Had State Farm, getting them to pay out anything was an act of congress. Switched to Erie and they have been excellent.

I had Erie for decades...dirt cheap but worthless if you need to use your insurance... they will drop you in a second too.
I will say their $50 deductible comp was actually great. Homeowners was a total joke however.

 

[Pew]

I will not change insurance companies over a small difference a year. JMHO.

I usually wouldn't for <$50/6mth but I added an edit to my post above where I was gonna switch from progressive to geico until geico decided to change my quote at the payment screen.

I also noticed when I had a quote saved from Geico back in October, they added on another $5 to the monthly every day if I didn't accept the quote.

 

[walterjay]

I had Erie for decades...dirt cheap but worthless if you need to use your insurance... they will drop you in a second too.
I will say their $50 deductible comp was actually great. Homeowners was a total joke however.

Good to know........I was going to get a quote from them.

 

[fdcg27]

Insurance is only a fungible good until you have a claim. You want your car half repaired and looking like it came from a buy here pay here lot then go with the cheapest insurer you can find. We see on here now and then stories from people who could not get a satisfactory repair completed. Even if an at-fault other party has joke insurance you can always subjugate and use your own good insurer.
One should look for a mutual company like State Farm, which is the insurer we've used for many years and have had zero problems with a number of claims over the years.

 

[Zee09]

Good to know........I was going to get a quote from them.

They were the ones that would not cover my damages in a home invasion because the perpetrators were not invited guests.
Enough said.

 

[CKN]

Source?

What you just said would be illegal.
A whole range of illegal activity. "price fixing" "collusion" and lets not leave out the Sherman Antitrust Act and that act is a killer to companies that attempt to stifle competition.

Anyway, would never, could never happen. So keep jumping around! best price always wins!

One of the many factors used in the underwriting of rates and premiums is how long you have been with your current carrier; this is especially true when it comes to your personal automobile insurance policy.
https://www.crowleyinsurance.com/does-it-hurt-to-change-insurance-companies-each-year/

Any way-if it is or isn't true, I can't/won't jump around because my assets are such to where it's quite frankly not worth it over a couple of hundred bucks.

 

[CKN]

There are many of us who do business with Erie and it is to our benefit to do so.
However, there are many regional companies that do not have the national reach or huge budgets for asinine advertising that offer comparable value.
That is why I advocate getting an independent agent (or several) or an insurance broker to identify such opportunities.

Rates are very regional/state specific. I have never seen rates as low as what Erie offers with a company that is highly rated on AM Best-in Utah.

 

[alarmguy]

One of the many factors used in the underwriting of rates and premiums is how long you have been with your current carrier; this is especially true when it comes to your personal automobile insurance policy.
https://www.crowleyinsurance.com/does-it-hurt-to-change-insurance-companies-each-year/

Any way-if it is or isn't true, I can't/won't jump around because my assets are such to where it's quite frankly not worth it over a couple of hundred bucks.

Exactly we all spend on what things are worth to us

 

[Tdbo]

I had Erie for decades...dirt cheap but worthless if you need to use your insurance... they will drop you in a second too.
I will say their $50 deductible comp was actually great. Homeowners was a total joke however.

You must have really PO'd them then.
Some nutjob contract mail carrier plowed into my wife then sued us for 217K.
Everything from the handling of the claim to repair our van, and the legal representation they provided through the 7 year lawsuit that resulted in a total of 3 trials was nothing but first class.
During that time, our insurance rates actually went down.
Have dealt with them through two household claims, resulting in about a 17K payout total for both.
Never got cancelled, everything was dealt with promptly in an above board manner.
The only way the experience could have been better was if none of the above would have ever happened.
However, that's the reason that one carries insurance.

 

[PandaBear]

My answer to the insurance question is always "it depends on which bin you are in each company".

Say you have some no point accident, many insurance companies would look at it as "no traffic violation", and then there are those with "we forgive 1 accident at fault" and there are those who "we count everything even if there is no point".

I have consistently gotten cheaper insurance quote from AAA than GEICO because somehow GEICO think I am higher risk than AAA. I have also seen my coworker, who came from S Korea with 10 years of driving record there, getting cheaper insurance from Progressive than GEICO, because GEICO doesn't include proven foreign driving record and treat him like a new driver.

So, about why your insurance is cheaper in one company than the other, it is not always one way or another. I have gotten cheaper home and auto split up for a long time because I cannot find one company that is cheaper to me in both together, they either bin my home as high risk or me as high risk driver, or they suck in either home or auto insurance.

Same for mortgage as well. Rocket Mortgage is always the worse for me because they have some rules and then their sales don't believe it when I found something that beat them by 0.5% because some wholesale deal a broker had with some bank needing a certain type of portfolio to bundle into MBS and they pay some of their commission into a cashback to me.

About service quality in claims: I had about 4 not at fault accidents in my area recently, and I typically ask the body shop on advices like which company is easy to deal with and not easy to deal with. My opinion is my own only based on the annoyance level at the repair, and so far GEICO and Progressive are the most annoying in the repair department and AAA is the easiest, with most others in between. All State want you to pay for your own rental car first and then they reimburse you later, so if you are cash flow negative then that may be something to be aware of.

I am glad I didn't have to deal with each company's lawyers yet, knock on wood. Another reason I took AAA is they have the highest amount of umbrella I can buy for my profile. Most of those others end up with a much lower number like 500k or 1M and AAA I think can go up by another 500k to 1M of coverage. In California you got to be careful of these things.

 

[CKN]

My answer to the insurance question is always "it depends on which bin you are in each company".

Say you have some no point accident, many insurance companies would look at it as "no traffic violation", and then there are those with "we forgive 1 accident at fault" and there are those who "we count everything even if there is no point".

I have consistently gotten cheaper insurance quote from AAA than GEICO because somehow GEICO think I am higher risk than AAA. I have also seen my coworker, who came from S Korea with 10 years of driving record there, getting cheaper insurance from Progressive than GEICO, because GEICO doesn't include proven foreign driving record and treat him like a new driver.

So, about why your insurance is cheaper in one company than the other, it is not always one way or another. I have gotten cheaper home and auto split up for a long time because I cannot find one company that is cheaper to me in both together, they either bin my home as high risk or me as high risk driver, or they suck in either home or auto insurance.

Same for mortgage as well. Rocket Mortgage is always the worse for me because they have some rules and then their sales don't believe it when I found something that beat them by 0.5% because some wholesale deal a broker had with some bank needing a certain type of portfolio to bundle into MBS and they pay some of their commission into a cashback to me.

About service quality in claims: I had about 4 not at fault accidents in my area recently, and I typically ask the body shop on advices like which company is easy to deal with and not easy to deal with. My opinion is my own only based on the annoyance level at the repair, and so far GEICO and Progressive are the most annoying in the repair department and AAA is the easiest, with most others in between. All State want you to pay for your own rental car first and then they reimburse you later, so if you are cash flow negative then that may be something to be aware of.

I am glad I didn't have to deal with each company's lawyers yet, knock on wood. Another reason I took AAA is they have the highest amount of umbrella I can buy for my profile. Most of those others end up with a much lower number like 500k or 1M and AAA I think can go up by another 500k to 1M of coverage. In California you got to be careful of these things.

Agree. In California if you own a home in a desirable area-you are a "Millionaire". At least on paper.

 

[Pew]

One of the many factors used in the underwriting of rates and premiums is how long you have been with your current carrier; this is especially true when it comes to your personal automobile insurance policy.
https://www.crowleyinsurance.com/does-it-hurt-to-change-insurance-companies-each-year/

Any way-if it is or isn't true, I can't/won't jump around because my assets are such to where it's quite frankly not worth it over a couple of hundred bucks.

One of the weird things that I find is that progressive and GEICO still show my loyalty, like it was paused when I switched companies and then continued when I switched back.

 

[TnT_M]

A few weeks ago got the 6-month premiums. Up about another 10%. Two 2017 cars (Subaru and Corolla) with $1k deductibles and upper end of coverage amounts. So not the cheapest policies but not maxed either.

Shopped around, and State Farm was SUBSTANTIALLY lower. State Farm was almost 50% less for similar/same coverages.

Anyone have State Farm? Do they do the usual "get you in the door then jack up rates in a couple years?" Currently with GEICO and other insurers I shopped were within a few dollars or more expensive. State Farm shocked me it's so much lower. It was the prices we were paying 10 years ago for insurance. Which is why I'm wondering if it's "too good to be true."

Anyone have thoughts?

I don't have any personal experience, but my neighbor has SF. He couldn't get them to pay for anything on his storm damage claims a few years back. I have also had other people complain to me about SF not paying out. So maybe SF = cheaper because they don't pay...? IDK

FWIW, my insurance company dealt with my house and camper claims more than equitably from the same storm that my neighbor was declined for. They even saved me the deductible for the RV because it was the same event.

 

[Rand]

State farm is horrible about house claims.. one of the worst in the business.

I had massive hail and wind damage.
they determined a tiny payout (less than $1000)
Also the claim adjuster snuck around and climbed all over my house without notice (2nd trip out)
I then got an additional check for <$100

State farm claims then ghosted for 4.5 months (I wanted a re-inspection)
and said AI determined it wasnt hail damage. no reinspection we arent interested and f-off.

Had 70+ mph wind gusts AND hail. lost a bunch of shingles.
lots of shingles all beat up too.



They seem to think I can have someone replace individual shingles and small sections on my roof and call it a day.

TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE from start to almost finish (not finished yet)

I had 0 claims car or home for 15+ years.. they just pocketed 25k+.

The whole "AI has determined it wasnt hail damage" was .... wow.. just stunning.
who the heck cares.. it was STORM DAMAGE from the same event.

 

[SupremePossum]

Good luck convincing your medical insurance to cover medical needs following an auto accident.

I can find absolutely nothing, other than opinions on reddit, stating that this is true

I started questioning it myself, because of course your health insurance would cover it, in my mind.

I called Blue Cross Blue Shield (My health insurance), and the lady seemed almost confused I was asking, she said of course it would be covered by my health insurance just as if I fell and broke my arm. It does not matter how the injury occurred

If, however I DID have medical coverage, it would be primary to cover costs and then my health insurance would kick in. Again, we are all being played for absolute fools and duplicating coverage. It would save me money in the accident having the coverage, as my deductible on my health insurance is higher than the car insurance. But, how often am I getting into car accidents?

Everyone saying I'm wrong about how insurance works, when the information is coming directly from an insurance company

 

[alarmguy]

I can find absolutely nothing, other than opinions on reddit, stating that this is true

I started questioning it myself, because of course your health insurance would cover it, in my mind.

I called Blue Cross Blue Shield (My health insurance), and the lady seemed almost confused I was asking, she said of course it would be covered by my health insurance just as if I fell and broke my arm. It does not matter how the injury occurred

If, however I DID have medical coverage, it would be primary to cover costs and then my health insurance would kick in. Again, we are all being played for absolute fools and duplicating coverage. It would save me money in the accident having the coverage, as my deductible on my health insurance is higher than the car insurance. But, how often am I getting into car accidents?

Everyone saying I'm wrong about how insurance works, when the information is coming directly from an insurance company

Does your medical insurance pay for loss of income and possible loss of your job?
Will medical insurance pay for a lifetime disability?

And what about all the occupants of your car?
Will, your medical insurance pay for their loss of job, their disabilities and anything else that happens to them?

It’s all good, we all have our idea of what we pay for and what is a value in our individual lives but not having uninsured and underinsured liability insurance the case you are presenting is just a small piece of the pie and the best case scenario

Source- https://www.5minuteinsure.com/artic...-or-underinsured-motorist-insurance-coverage/


A good read below
https://hawklawgroup.com/blog/uninsured-underinsured-motorist-coverage-georgia/

https://www.5minuteinsure.com/artic...-or-underinsured-motorist-insurance-coverage/

 

[HowAboutThis]

I can find absolutely nothing, other than opinions on reddit, stating that this is true

I started questioning it myself, because of course your health insurance would cover it, in my mind.

I called Blue Cross Blue Shield (My health insurance), and the lady seemed almost confused I was asking, she said of course it would be covered by my health insurance just as if I fell and broke my arm. It does not matter how the injury occurred

If, however I DID have medical coverage, it would be primary to cover costs and then my health insurance would kick in. Again, we are all being played for absolute fools and duplicating coverage. It would save me money in the accident having the coverage, as my deductible on my health insurance is higher than the car insurance. But, how often am I getting into car accidents?

Everyone saying I'm wrong about how insurance works, when the information is coming directly from an insurance company

We have the uninsured/underinsured stuff and, just checked, it is a big part of the premium. Yikes. I'm going to look into this more. Maybe sit down with the GEICO agent down the road.

For 250/500 on everything basically, and the under/un at 250/500, we are at about $75/mth per car. Was less than state averages, and less than most of the quotes I got from other places and online brokers (through various credit unions and elsewhere). AAA was a bit less, too. Anyone use them?

I went back through auto rates I'd paid back to 2017 from GEICO and they were BY FAR lowest back when I signed up with them and have increased about $275 total on both cars every 6 months as of our last premium a couple weeks ago.

So when State Farm came back even LOWER than our rates in 2017, it still seems like there's a catch. They can't, really, be offering lower rates than when I shopped them in 2017 can they? That just makes no sense to me given the extreme increases in the last 8 years...

 

[SShooterZ]

I had Erie for decades...dirt cheap but worthless if you need to use your insurance... they will drop you in a second too.
I will say their $50 deductible comp was actually great. Homeowners was a total joke however.

They’ve paid for a totaled snowmobile, a totaled car and new roof, siding and gutters on the house due to hail. Never an issue.

 

[Zee09]

They’ve paid for a totaled snowmobile, a totaled car and new roof, siding and gutters on the house due to hail. Never an issue.

I had hail damage on a 2 yr old truck and the agent told me a perfect sphere such as hail can't create damage....I'm serious....sounds like a clown show here

 

[SupremePossum]

Does your medical insurance pay for loss of income and possible loss of your job?
Will medical insurance pay for a lifetime disability?

And what about all the occupants of your car?
Will, your medical insurance pay for their loss of job, their disabilities and anything else that happens to them?

It’s all good, we all have our idea of what we pay for and what is a value in our individual lives but not having uninsured and underinsured liability insurance the case you are presenting is just a small piece of the pie and the best case scenario

Source- https://www.5minuteinsure.com/artic...-or-underinsured-motorist-insurance-coverage/


A good read below
https://hawklawgroup.com/blog/uninsured-underinsured-motorist-coverage-georgia/


https://www.5minuteinsure.com/artic...-or-underinsured-motorist-insurance-coverage/

Oh jeez, you're getting those OPINIONS (Yes, thats what they are!) from a... wait for it... AUTO INSURANCE WEBSITE. Of course they want to you to purchase redundant insurance, its like printing free money!

Guys. We have to do better.

You know what other insurance we involuntarily pay for? Unemployment insurance

Why on earth am I insuring other people in my car? They have their own insurance!

If we go down that rabbit hole, we're probably insuring a single person 6 times! Jesus.