Thinking of switching auto insurance companies

Contrary to popular belief, insurance companies are not obligated to replace with OEM parts unless prescribed by state law
I know a lot of people are anal about that and it can be silly. For one, are OEM parts (body parts) even available for a vehicle after "X" years ? Second, parts pulled off a salvage yard vehicle are OEM but oh no, that's not good enough either... "I want new parts". Sure, put a brand new fender on your 12 year old car.... Makes perfect sense ! 😂
 
I found this out when I wanted to change agents within the same company....
Just curious, but did they make any hassle about switching ? We had Erie with the same agent as our in-laws and the agent screwed them over on something so I decided to drop him. I called another Erie rep (independent agent) and told him I needed to switch agents. He told me Erie's policies with their reps is it's not allowed - they don't want agents stealing clients from each other, which I can understand. I told him "we're dropping that agent so if that means put me with another company, that's what I'll do". He told Erie's regional manager/supervisor and they allowed it as an exception.

I have a feeling this isn't an uncommon policy with insurance companies.
 
I'd have to leave bluetooth on all the time on my phone as well as location all the time

The whole having to leave location on all the time is a deal breaker
 
The bottom line is one needs to shop around every few years. Especially if your situation changes like adding a driver or removing a driver or moving. No insurance company is best for everyone. USAA is worth considering if you are in the military.
 
Insurance definitely varies by state, in MI the insurance companies OWN Lansing, our big "reform" we supposedly got a couple of years ago didnt net anything real as far as prices, in fact mine went up the next year to a price higher than before the "reform" It was a political stunt much like everything else that comes out of Lansing.
Those trackers have no context, if you make an evasive maneuver because some idiot on their cell phone is left of center, it doesnt know that, it only knows you made an unsafe lane change. Same with braking because some fool turned in front of you. The entire thing is flawed.
 
Just curious, but did they make any hassle about switching ? We had Erie with the same agent as our in-laws and the agent screwed them over on something so I decided to drop him. I called another Erie rep (independent agent) and told him I needed to switch agents. He told me Erie's policies with their reps is it's not allowed - they don't want agents stealing clients from each other, which I can understand. I told him "we're dropping that agent so if that means put me with another company, that's what I'll do". He told Erie's regional manager/supervisor and they allowed it as an exception.

I have a feeling this isn't an uncommon policy with insurance companies.

That's almost exactly my experience, and yes, I'm with Erie.
When I first went with Erie, there were not a lot of agents in my area, so I had to go to one about 30 miles away.
I found out (in short order) that he was a flaming a**hat, that suffered tremendously from Napoleon Complex.
The both of us had gotten into it about some items on the policy, pricing, discounts, etc., but I promptly put him in his place.
The last straw was when Mrs. Tdbo had to call in regarding a claim, and he went off on her to the point she was in tears.
Less than 10 minutes after that, his secretary called me back apologizing for him. After I apologized to her for being put in that position, I asked her to get a piece of paper to dictate a response for her boss. Moderation here will not allow me to repeat the message, but let's just say that the theme of it revolved a comparison to him and poultry feces.
Then I got a call from the agent's wife, who was also an agent in the store. She informed me that she would be my new agent, and that I would no longer have to deal with her husband. My response was that I wasn't dealing with either of them, because I was taking my business to another agency. She told me that I couldn't do that. I told her that she didn't have the right to tell me what I could do, and it would be done, and if not, there are plenty of insurance companies in the state that would gladly take my check.
I found the agency that I wanted to go with (an independent who also sold Erie.) He told me that I would probably not be able to change agents. I told him to get the company on the phone. He was on the phone with his supervisor who told him no. I told him to put me on the phone. She started explaining to me why she couldn't, however I cut her short and said that she had a choice, either make the change or loose a customer. When she saw that I was serious, she approved it.
However, here is the thing with Erie (and some companies.) In a mutual company like State Farm, the company owns the policy. Agents for them merely service it, and thus can be assigned/reassigned. With Erie, the agent owns the policy. So to make the change, they had to totally rewrite my Home/Auto, and then go back and cancel the other policy. Yes, in my case, I actually ended up with better coverage for less money with the same company. Actually, I think that was agent driven as I said previously.
So, if you are a good customer they will do it. However, they don't like to.
 
I just signed up with State Farm, I had her take off the drive safe and save which is not something I really want, to me it's just way too intrusive. Since they already created the bill they are just going to send me a separate invoice on the remaining balance.
 
When we added our kids as drivers, our insurance sent us those gadgets to put in our cars. I actually tried to use them 'cause they paid $$$ for good driving (they sent gift cards). A few issues I had with them (some valid, mind you) were:

- One road we drive frequently reduces speed from 55 to 35 then has a semi-sharp curve. I would slow down to 35-40 for the curve but I wasn't doing it soon enough based on the signs and their GPS data is that accurate to notice.
- I replaced the brakes on one of our cars and when I was done, I took it out to "bed" the brakes. It detected ~12 "hard or sudden stops" and dinged me. 😂
- After this one got me twice, I threw them in the trash. See the map image to understand more but basically, I was driving on I-75 at ~65 mph and their system thought I was on Union Rd which has a 45 mph speed limit.

1670599342879.jpg
 
When we added our kids as drivers, our insurance sent us those gadgets to put in our cars. I actually tried to use them 'cause they paid $$$ for good driving (they sent gift cards). A few issues I had with them (some valid, mind you) were:

- One road we drive frequently reduces speed from 55 to 35 then has a semi-sharp curve. I would slow down to 35-40 for the curve but I wasn't doing it soon enough based on the signs and their GPS data is that accurate to notice.
- I replaced the brakes on one of our cars and when I was done, I took it out to "bed" the brakes. It detected ~12 "hard or sudden stops" and dinged me. 😂
- After this one got me twice, I threw them in the trash. See the map image to understand more but basically, I was driving on I-75 at ~65 mph and their system thought I was on Union Rd which has a 45 mph speed limit.

View attachment 129889
Thanks, and those are the things I've been reading, it's hit or miss, some people like them and some don't. One of the things I don't like is being dinged for driving at night, to me it can actually be safer, I know that visibility is terrible at night and also more creatures and other crazys out on the roads at night but generally it's a lot less traffic and way fewer red lights. Really my wellbeing and keeping my sanity is what made this decision.

I actually had to call Progressive to cancel and told them they didn't give me their best rate and that I found a better one elsewhere, I didn't say with whom. Progressive ran my credit back on Oct. when they sent me the renewal but my Experian score has increased by 10 points since that time... I hate Experian and having to play by their rules and can't ever seem to get ahead with them, either I have too few open accts, not having an auto loan, and average age of accts to low. I know I can open more accts to get make them happy but once I do it will totally reduce the average age of accts open so it's a catch 22. I feel like Equifax and Transunion treat me much much better.
 
While shopping around periodically is good advice, the flip side is that good customer service and claims experience counts for something as well.

Currently a Travelers customer home and auto through my broker. Just went through a property claim (hail damage), and only have positive things to say, minus the time period allowed to make repairs to claw back depreciation without notification. The flip side they clearly communicated I needed to notify them, and that's all I can ask. Every person along the line has been good to work with. Our roofer said the same. He did not have nice things to say about other companies (one that starts with an A and is in every state being one of them - and I am a former customer of them - never again.)
 
While shopping around periodically is good advice, the flip side is that good customer service and claims experience counts for something as well.

Currently a Travelers customer home and auto through my broker. Just went through a property claim (hail damage), and only have positive things to say, minus the time period allowed to make repairs to claw back depreciation without notification. The flip side they clearly communicated I needed to notify them, and that's all I can ask. Every person along the line has been good to work with. Our roofer said the same. He did not have nice things to say about other companies (one that starts with an A and is in every state being one of them - and I am a former customer of them - never again.)
Yes I've always been told it's good to shop for policies at least every 3 yrs but right now there's a ton of competition amongst the insurers. I'm not one to just typically switch on a whim and will typically stay with them but once I feel you are taking advantage of me I will shop around. Really you can't go wrong with any of the top insurers but need to shop around and get their rates.
 
Shop around. As a matter of fact, find a good independent agent or broker, that can give you an array of quotes.
I convinced my FIL to get quotes.
They had been with the same agency (and insurance companies) since the early 60's.
He now has better coverage, for his home and auto than he did before, at over a 2K savings per year.
Having one company for 50+ years IMHO is a mistake that you pay for at every premium due. Shop around or let a broker open your eyes.
 
Wife and I are going to meet with American Family this afternoon. I did their online quote thing and for the same coverages that we have with SF, AmFam could save us almost 50% in premiums. Plus SF really screwed the pooch this summer when our basement flooded in May. Lack of communication, being passed off to 5 different adjusters, taking 5 months to replace everything, forgetting to add compensation in, messing checks up, etc. For the amount that we pay, yeah, not happy at all.
 
Yes I've always been told it's good to shop for policies at least every 3 yrs but right now there's a ton of competition amongst the insurers. I'm not one to just typically switch on a whim and will typically stay with them but once I feel you are taking advantage of me I will shop around. Really you can't go wrong with any of the top insurers but need to shop around and get their rates.

All good and fine, but when it comes down to is saving $250 a year worth moving to company you have no experience dealing with versus knowing how you've been treated in the past.. Peace of mind is worth something as well... (At least that was my last experience when shopping - YMMV).
 
The bottom line is one needs to shop around every few years. Especially if your situation changes like adding a driver or removing a driver or moving. No insurance company is best for everyone. USAA is worth considering if you are in the military.
USAA is high af for premiums. They're almost double what I currently pay with SF.
 
All good and fine, but when it comes down to is saving $250 a year worth moving to company you have no experience dealing with versus knowing how you've been treated in the past.. Peace of mind is worth something as well... (At least that was my last experience when shopping - YMMV).
All good points but I'm not dealing with someone I don't know anything about. Yes I haven't had State Farm but supposedly they are the #2 insurer in the US so I hope that they can at least get it right. I have always heard good things about them, not so much about their prices but seems to be at least more in line with the other companies now.
 
Not checking insurance prices at least twice a year is like going to the same gas station year after year without looking at the price of gas that other stations are selling it for.

It’s ridiculous to think otherwise unless, of course the price you pay doesn’t matter to you.
 
We had Erie with the same agent as our in-laws and the agent screwed them over on something so I decided to drop him. I called another Erie rep (independent agent) and told him I needed to switch agents. He told me Erie's policies with their reps is it's not allowed - they don't want agents stealing clients from each other, which I can understand. I told him "we're dropping that agent so if that means put me with another company, that's what I'll do". He told Erie's regional manager/supervisor and they allowed it as an exception.

I have a feeling this isn't an uncommon policy with insurance companies.

Interesting since I have Erie now and have had them in the past with a different agent. But I did switch to another insurance company in between. With new Erie agent I haven't been rate jacked so I've stuck with them since 2017.
 
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