Are you happy with your auto insurance company?

[Carpediem]

We have been USAA car insurance (2 cars) customers for years and have been happy with their service/performance. However, it seems like their rates keep creeping up so I was thinking about checking around. To that end, was wondering if others were happy with their auto insurance company and if you're comfortable saying who you use, I'd love to hear recommendations.

 

[steelyman]

I switched to Amica in 2006 and have been happy with them. I’ve had auto claims that were handled well.

2009 and 2010 were unlucky years for me: people kept running into my vehicle and driving away.

 

[SumDay]

We've been with State Farm for decades. The multi-line discount saves us a ton (home, 2 cars, umbrella) and, they saved my rear-end by defending me in a frivolous lawsuit, thanks to the umbrella policy. They cultivated some loyalty there. Rates go up a little every year or so, but nothing so bad as to make me want to jump ship.

 

[braumeister]

It's certainly worth shopping around.
Some here have found lower rates elsewhere, while others (including me) have not. But the only way to find out is to get quotes from other companies.

 

[Bamaman]

Amica and USAA are tops in the industry. But I here complaints about Amica being expensive and USAA's recent rate increases. I have 2 cars with State Farm, and they're bragging about lowering some state auto rates. My other 2 cars are with Allstate, and they have been cheaper than State Farm in the past.

Geico is another giant in the industry and they're mostly an online company. I have Essurance (also online) on my homeowners, and they're substantially cheaper than my previous insurance company. I've found them to be pretty conservative on underwriting. They too write auto insurance, but I don't how their rates are.

 

[davebarnes]

AMICA since 1970.
I am happy with service. And, sadly, I have had claims.
I don't shop price.
$900/year for one car in the Socialist Paradise of the City & County of Denver.

 

[AnneG]

It seems like insurance companies these days almost encourage you to shop around. They offer you a good intro price and then it slowly creeps up. We went with Liberty Mutual and there was no slow creep to it, it increased 25% a year and on the 4th year I shopped around and decided on AAA. So far so good. This will be our 3rd year with them and last year there was no increase. I'll stick with them until it's time to shop around again.

 

[imoldernu]

Jeanie's brother was a Vice President of Amica, when we lived in Rhode Island.... but back then, we couldn't afford them for insurance. Probably Allstate if I remember .

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Was with USAA for 10+ years, rates kept creeping up with no claims, eventually bailed and went with Amica.

Was very happy w/ Amica, but again...rate creep started back. When we bought our latest home, USAA was then the cheaper choice (by about $300 for the year), so back to USAA.

I would guess in a couple of years I will be go back to Amica since they are comparable in AM Best ratings w/ USAA.

 

[Rustic23]

USAA since 1966

 

[zinger1457]

Very happy with Progressive, lowest rate I could find and very reasonable rate increases (if any), service has been good the few times I needed it, been with them over 15 years.

 

[NanoSour]

USAA for 32 years and haven't found better rates. Over the past couple years we've had to add 2 teenagers to our 2 car policy. We drive cars that are over 10 years old and worth less than 10K so we don't carry Comp/Collision. This is a big money saver for us. When my DD got her license at 17 she added $27/month to the policy. DS added $43/month. Friends told me that was much lower than they had to pay when adding their teens. Of course, that depends on the coverage. We max liability for our state at 300/500K.

One thing I wasn't happy about is how much our USAA umbrella insurance went up upon adding the teen drivers to the mix. They'll eventually move out right...........right?!!!

 

[JDARNELL]

I was with USAA for everything then when we had kids driving age my USAA complimentary FP pulled the door and recommended I look at Geico for the kid years. He said USAA is not in the business of insuring young drivers. Evidently he had done the same thing. 3 weeks after we changed the policy #1 son totaled a vehicle. Geico paid out within 24 hrs. Last week 2 yrs later #2 son slid on ice and hit a parked car. Geico is on top of the claim and so far so good. We will be relocating this fall and I will shop all insurance at the new location with USAA, GEICO, Progressive, and others.

I am sure most insurance companies are having to increase rates due to the complexity of new cars and the potential liability of something not being fixed correctly. Par for the course I guess.

 

[Car-Guy]

I've been with Framers (Home, Autos and Umbrella) for more than 25 years now and I plan to stay. They may not be the cheapest but they do insure my ultra high performance vehicles without charging me a premium. I've had the same agent all those years and he knows me and my policies very well and "jumps" whenever I need anything. (Priceless)

 

[travelover]

Every couple of years you should definitely shop around. I'm back with Amica, like their service and, in my area, prices are competitive.

 

[Another Reader]

State Farm for over 40 years for everything. Good service. Claim for a new roof after a microburst tore off much of the east facing side last year in Arizona was handled with no hiccups.

However, the auto insurance rates have gone up dramatically in the last few years. Almost $1,100 annual premium for a six year old Toyota Corolla worth $8,000. Haven't had an auto claim since around 1990 when I was rear ended in traffic in the freeway. Perfect driving records. I called Amica and they were much higher, partly because the State Farm policies are bundled.

The car is parked for now and I removed the collision portion, saving $560. The car will be moving to Arizona at some point this spring. Cost of a similar policy will be $628 down there.

Literally millions of uninsured motorists in California. Many drivers are unlicensed. And everything costs more here.

 

[Midpack]

I was with Liberty Mutual for years, but they kept increasing rates too. I got better numbers from Progressive and Geico, so I switched auto, home and umbrella to Geico this month. Insurance companies don’t seem to reward repeat customers even if you’ve never filed a claim, so I don’t see any reasons to be loyal to them. Any big name is as good as another IMO.

 

[Dtail]

I have been with Liberty Mutual for years. Smallish increases and paid out market value on a totaled vehicle.
Though in a recent conversation, I asked them if there was a brand new customer, would he receive a better rate than me? They said YES.
So I asked them if I left them and came back the following year, would I get a better rate equal to being a "new" customer. They said YES.

Not much more I can say.........

 

[Breedlove]

Travelers , dropped Snake Farm ...tried All Snakes and dropped them Travelers !

 

[eroscott]

I'm generally of Howard Clark recommendations based on stats:
https://clark.com/insurance/best-auto-insurance-companies/

 

[38Chevy454]

I have Allstate for my newer vehicles, house and umbrella. My RV and classic vehicles are on specialty insurance for them.

 

[KM]

Another happy Amica customer here.

Im pretty sure all insurance companies lure you in with low new customer teaser rates. Then they hit you with big increase year two and onward. Im okay with getting an increase the first year. Im okay with paying a little more each year - but we were seeing increases of 7%-10% every year. It was ridiculous.

Anyway, we saved over $800 when we switched our auto and 2 homeowner policies from Liberty Mutual to Amica. And that included adding an umbrella policy and improving our overall coverage on all our policies without increasing our deductibles.

Our auto went up 10% the first year (of course.....), but since then it has gone DOWN 3 years, stayed the same two years and gone up one - for a grand total increase over 7 years of about 5%. No car or coverage changes during that time.

Homeowners has fluctuated a bit more. First year increase was up 7.4%. Then it was down slightly for 2 years (down 1.5% and 2.5%) and up slightly for 2 years (up 3% and up 2%). Then we changed the "replacement value" amount on our coverage, so we saw an 11% increase. Last year was another 5.7% increase. Total increase over 7 years has been 28% (but a chunk of that was the change in coverage).

We also have a fire only policy on another house. That one has gone up a total of 40% over the 7 years, but we also made an adjustment in the "replacement value" coverage.

Our umbrella policy has gone up a total 31% over the 7 years.


They did come out and look at both houses and made a couple of optional recommendations for us to implement. We chose to do them and notified them when we were done.

They also wanted to add my son (who was living with us at the time) to our auto policy. We declined, as he had his own car. They still wanted to add him, as he didn't have his own auto insurance (not mandatory in NH). I told them that he wasn't allowed to touch our cars, specifically because he didn't have insurance (we were very strict about this with him). They requested a letter stating that, which I promptly sent them....

I thought they were thorough and all their requests were reasonable.

 

[LOL!]

We have USAA. A couple years ago my son bumped a white car that left paint on their bumper and our car, but no visible damage. He exchanged insurance info with the other driver without telling me. I got a call from USAA about it. The other driver had called it in. So I said, give me an appointment to have my car looked at which they did. But instead of going to the collision damage place, I cancelled the appointment.

I don't know what the other driver did in the end, but we still get the "accident free" discounts a couple years later.

Since hurricane Harvey and others, I am not surprised that rates have gone up.

 

[Mr._Graybeard]

I'm liking Erie ... none of my premiums have risen more than a buck or two since we switched from State Farm in 2013.

 

[jazz4cash]

We have Nationwide for home and auto. It’s ok (no claims). The auto jumped up this yr and I called my broker for an explanation. He claimed most if not all insurers will need to hike premiums aggressively to cover losses on homes and autos mainly due to storm damage. I dunno. I shopped around and so did he. I found a fantastic rate using the AARP discount with The Hartford but we’re not eligible because we have a youngster (under 55) in the household. Also the savings was largely offset by higher homeowner premium. Hartford does 12 month auto policies instead of 6 months.