We are currently with Farmers Insurance for our cars/house. Our 6-month auto policy went up 400.00 and the Homeowners policy Doubled! And mind you, this is with no claims and never having had a ticket.

I stopped into the State Farm office (I previously said Allstate by mistake) office for a quote and their rates were HALF what Farmers is charging. The State Farm Agent said they are getting 1 to 2 people a day from Farmers and American Life into their office getting quotes, all because these two companies are increasing rates to extremes.

State Farm said they can expect small increases every year but not what Farmers and American are charging (yeah right)

So, from the brain trust here, what is your specific experience with these three companies?

We like an office where we can drop in and get personal service, not one that has no office and works via internet/phone/email..etc.

Thanks in advance


UPDATE: With all the help from the trust here and research across the board, we signed up the house and cars with State Farm insurance. $1918.00 dollar savings from the Farmers policy we had!! We also upped the coverage on the house AND took a lower deductible on the cars. And still a 1918.00 savings. Time will tell but an extra 2K in savings goes along way. Now time to head over to the Classifieds section

This message has been edited. Last edited by: urbanwarrior238,

They're all "good" at the beginning. Then, premium keeps going up each year. Then you shop around for better rate. That's how the game is played. Customers who stay long at one place are the ones getting the shaft.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
They're all "good" at the beginning. Then, premium keeps going up each year. Then you shop around for better rate. That's how the game is played. Customers who stay long at one place are the ones getting the shaft.

Not always the case.
I have had State Farm for 25 years now and the last 10 or so years have shopped around every January.
State Farm has yet to be beat. Which reminds me I need to get over to the places I check each year.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
Not always the case.
I have had State Farm for 25 years now and the last 10 or so years have shopped around every January.
State Farm has yet to be beat.

Same.

In addition, longer term loyalty earns you further discounts, and things like claim forgiveness.

So it's definitely worth shopping around on a regular basis to make sure, but you can't assume that if you don't actually change regularly that you're getting screwed.

You have to consider not just price, but value, i.e., how is their service when making a claim? My experience with Allstate was some 30 years ago, but when I had an accident that caused injuries, they came through for me.

GEICO, my company for the last 15 years, has not substantially raised my rate, even after two tickets within a week in 2012. Only when I recently voluntarily upped my limits did it increase, and then not by much. Roughly a year ago I got a quote with comparable limits from Libbity Bibbity (Liberty Mutual) and it was only 10% less than GEICO. The one time I needed my current policy (car rear-ended in 2010), they recovered my deductible from the other person's insurance.

I shop insurance annually for Home, Auto, and Umbrella. I have yet to stay with any company longer than 2 years.

I have USAA and their rates have quietly gone up each renewal. I have them on auto pay so I really didn't notice it until I actually looked and I was shocked at what I'm paying. I'm going shopping soon.

JP

Long story I will not elaborate but after 30 years as a claim free Allstate customer I would never give them or any of their affiliate's the time of day.

Insurance! What are you gonna do?
Shop it around, and go with a large-ish company that is offering the lowest rates.
Personally, my wife and I were with Hartford for a number of years until their rates became pretty high. We switched to Liberty for 1 or 2 years and now we are with Progressive. Might be time for us to see what the Caveman can do for us...

Switched to State Farm last year after longtime usaa policy holder. Cut my rates dramatically!

Amongst other factors, pricing will be regional for competitiveness. What’s cheaper in one area might not be in another. That and the fact that you have to leave in order to get a better deal if you chose to ever go back.

I've been with State Farm for 47 years. I finally responded to a couple of
the constant mailings, one was Allstate. By the time they added up to the same coverage
from their lowball mailer State Farm was still cheaper.
Maybe loyalty does matter. I've only filed one claim, about 18 months ago.
Rate went up just a little.

I would never recommend Farmers insurance. Hurricane Ike caused damage in my former town south of Houston. I only lost my wood fence and had some minor roof leaks. I had to fight them for everything while my neighbors who had other insurers had new fences up within weeks. Many others across my town had major roof damage. A year later, blue FEMA tarps still adorned about 10% of the roofs. “Must be a Farmers insured house!” was the common remark. Farmers screwed the whole town. Musta given adjusters bonuses for denying claims. As a final middle finger gesture to the community, 2 months after the storm, Farmers cancelled all policies and ceased business in the community leaving everyone to fend for themselves. So much for years of loyalty. Finding a new insurer after a major storm was a task. Screw Farmers. Note: Farmers Insurance is not the same company as State Farm iirc.

Let us never forget that one’s insurance is only as good as the companies agent, customer service, and adjustors.

I have heard nightmare stories from friends who have purchased reduced rate insurance that has no local agent or office - may not the case with all remote insurance companies, but I know many times you have to wait for an adjustor to be in your area….

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
They're all "good" at the beginning. Then, premium keeps going up each year. Then you shop around for better rate. That's how the game is played. Customers who stay long at one place are the ones getting the shaft.

WRT Liberty Mutual ... this is certainly the case. I always threaten to leave and they suddenly find some discounts I didn't have.

Lots of things drive up the cost of insurance so best to shop around once and a while to find the best rates.

I've been with State Farm for almost 20 years, and have never had a claim. Their rates have been creeping up lately and that pissed me off so I went to a local independent agent to get some quotes from some competitors. He warned me ahead of time that the market is really bad right now, as inflation and the cost of materials and labor going up has also driven up insurance. He quoted 3 different companies (Grange, Erie, and Farm Bureau), and they all came back pretty close to what I'm already paying to State Farm. Some were a little more, some were a little less, but nobody was drastically different. I decided to stay with State Farm because it wouldn't have saved me enough money to be worth the hassle of making the change.

My brother has worked for State Farm and Allstate in the past. He was ok with State Farm. He told me never to do business with Allstate. His job involved processing and adjusting claims over the phone, and said they were way understaffed. Their adjusters had unmanageable cases loads, and they were working obscene amounts of mandatory overtime. They also leveraged their bureaucracy to avoid paying claims whenever possible. If Allstate is offering you rates at half of what the competition is, I'd take a long hard look at the coverages that they're offering and make sure they're in-line with what you're currently getting.

We shop every year. For the past ten years or so, we have not had a quote that would justify moving away from Travelers. Amica comes close, but not enough to kill our history with Travelers.

Progressive was horrible, both in terms of customer NO-service interaction, and constantly increasing rates.

quote:

Let us never forget that one’s insurance is only as good as the companies agent, customer service, and adjustors.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Good point. Been through Katrina, Elena,Georges Zeta and others. State farm has been up and down. After a large storm rates are adjusted. Good luck

Decades ago as a young Air Force officer, I thought that USAA was great. Flash forward two decades or more, and I no longer felt and thought that way. USAA dragged their feet on paying for repairs to a car (Honda) stolen and recovered by the police with suspects in hand (who turned out to be illegal immigrants from El Salvador). Next issue, I wanted an Umbrella policy, but USAA did not like the fact I wanted to own a German Shepherd. A very helpful insurance agent pointed me in the direction of a company that I have remained with for well over 20 years. Yes, rates are higher but coverage and claims service is much better. Sometimes we need to balance service and claims against the cost of the policy. Totally different, here in South Carolina, some use the FEMA hurricane insurance only to discover the limits of the policy: no exterior structures, like garages and pools covered, and low values on homes. To a large extent, you get what you pay for.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
They're all "good" at the beginning. Then, premium keeps going up each year. Then you shop around for better rate. That's how the game is played. Customers who stay long at one place are the ones getting the shaft.

Not always the case, depends on the company. Also depends on your location, age, credit score etc. Sometimes one will be much cheaper in one part of the state, but much more in other parts.