best homeowner and car insurer.

[imoldernu]

American Family...house and cars - nothing but excellent service over the past 13 years. New roof from hail damage, last year. I think it just covers 10 states. Personal call from agent a few times each year, not to sell, but to check on our satisfaction.

Before that, happy with Amica.. BIL was VP of the company so it was a natural.

[imoldernu]

American Family...house and cars - nothing but excellent service over the past 13 years. New roof from hail damage, last year. I think it just covers 10 states. A road breakdown in FL on a super hot day, handled in minutes, and a fender bender taken care of without any trouble at all. Personal call from agent a few times each year, not to sell, but to check on our satisfaction.

Before that, happy with Amica.. BIL was VP of the company so it was a natural. Totally customer oriented.

[jazz4cash]

It's like what's the best pizza? Best ice cream?

We had extremely great claims experience with State Farm Auto but the premium increases for homeowners policy (no claims ever with them or any other carrier) and antiquated billing system drove us away.

[bigcmagor]

We use Safeco, which is a Liberty Mutual owned company. Daughter totaled a two year old Honda Fit with 22,000 miles and the settlement check was for $2,000 less than I paid for it. This included a $1,000 deductible, so a real loss of $1,000. This was two years ago and our premiums never changed due to the claim. They also extend my liability coverage from our main residence in Indiana to cover liability claims on our Florida home for a $25 annual surcharge - we don't otherwise insure this property. They have also been great to work with on suspending coverage for cars that are only used seasonally.

[broadway]

I had Amica for nearly 20 years.
Two years ago I switched to NJ Manufacturers.

[Walt34]

We've been with Erie Insurance Co. for 30+ years. Usually their rates are competitive and we've been happy with a couple of claims experiences. I know they do not write in all states, mostly the eastern part of the country.

[Dash man]

USAA for 33 years. Two claims for a sump pump failure and flooded basement were resolved quickly. A lightening strike frying a lot of electronics took a letter to the CEO to finally resolve. Two car accidents with others at fault were handled well and settled quickly, including one totaled vehicle. My homeowners policy took a jump for some unknown reason this year. We may raise our deductible to offset it.

[cbo111]

I've been with USAA for 20+ years, including banking service. Very good customer service. But then again, I have yet to file a claim. I think most insurance companies are good until you file a claim. That's when you learn what the company is really like.

[rodi]

I had AAA for years until they decided they didn't want to insure us anymore. We tried adding a landlords policy on our granny flat once we get tenants. (They'd covered it as an accessory building for 7 years when MIL and FIL lived in it.) They didn't want to do the landlord policy and had us go outside AAA to a specialty insurance company... they quoted us - we agreed and went back to AAA (since we'd still be under them for our homeowner, cars, and umbrella)... that's when they said they'd cancel our umbrella because we live too close to a canyon (higher fire risk in So. Cal.).... The house hasn't moved and the canyon hasn't moved - and they'd been covering us for 15 years....

We knew the canyon was an issue... Amica had turned us down when we first bought the house. Turns out we are limited to 1 company if we want all our policies together... Farmers. We really like our agent, but have made no claims, so no idea if how they will respond if we need to make a claim.

AAA was easy to deal with on car claims. I had Amica when I lived back east and they were very good to work with when someone tripped on the sidewalk in front of my house.

[phil1ben]

I have been with one insurer for many years. The cost to insure 4 cars was $3,800.00 annually and my renewal is coming up. Progressive just quoted me $1,350.00 for six months. They claim that they do not write 1 year policies.

I am concerned that this is a teaser rate and it will change in 6 months. Does anyone have experience with Progressive quoting a very low rate and then drastically increasing the rate upon the 6 month renewal? Other companies have quoted me close to the $3,800 I am paying and a few more. We have 4 drivers and maximum coverage but with limited tort option. Just retired in January and it is nice that I now have the time to compare rates and think about such things.

Thank you.

[2soon2tell]

I've been with USAA for over 48 years for auto, home and life. During that time there have been very few issues and the annual and senior bonuses are very nice.

[RAE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fedup I have AAA and I think they are decent including customer service. But I have never claimed any thing on the house. For car insurance, they paid me almost the same price that I paid for my new Honda, 2 years early. I think perhaps they are not for profit, membership only type of club.

+1. We've had AAA for both car and home for the last 5-6 years or so, and I have been very satisfied. We did have one claim (auto accident) and it was settled fairly quickly and reasonably. They did not raise our rates after that, either. Stepdaughter has had nothing but problems with Progressive. As someone else said, you do need to shop around every so often, just to see if the rates you are being charged are still in line. But I wouldn't necessarily go with the company with the cheapest rates, either; that is mostly why stepdaughter went with Progressive, and it was a mistake.

[KM]

Been with Amica for about 6 years. Switched our 2 homes and 2 cars to them, added a liability policy - and saved a total of $800/year over my previous insurer.

I've never had a claim, but I do a happy dance every year when I get my new rates and they haven't gone up significantly like they did with all my previous insurers.

[Greg V]

USAA for Auto and AFI (Armed Forces Insurance) for Homeowners, Personal Property and Umbrella. Both have been great to work with on claims and have good rates. Websites and phone service are good. You need a military connection to use these companies, though they have broadened their criteria through the years to be more inclusive.

[braumeister]

USAA for 49 years, except for a few years here and there while out of the USA.

During that time, four car claims, no home claims. All the claims were resolved quickly and very fairly IMHO. Also great rates as far as I can tell.

Last one was interesting. Someone in the next lane wasn't paying attention and tried to occupy the space I was in. He was most apologetic at the scene and admitted it was entirely his fault.

His insurance company was kind of flaky and tried to deny any fault so I decided to just use my own comprehensive and pay the $1,000 deductible. USAA went to bat for me and took it through two rounds of arbitration. Finally got it resolved about 8 months later and sent me a check for the $1,000. Can't beat service like that.

[JoeWras]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 We've been with Erie Insurance Co. for 30+ years. Usually their rates are competitive and we've been happy with a couple of claims experiences. I know they do not write in all states, mostly the eastern part of the country.

I don't have Erie, but I had a truck hit me and hence I had a claim with them.

Best experience ever. I was very impressed by the Erie service.

It got me thinking if I ever switch from Amica, Erie would be my first choice to check out.

[pullmyfinger]

USAA for homeowner's, car and umbrella. Have been with them for 23 years. Had to file a homeowner's claim 11 years ago for storm damage and they were wonderful. If you or your spouse are prior military I would highly recommend.

[zinger1457]

Quote:

Originally Posted by phil1ben I am concerned that this is a teaser rate and it will change in 6 months. Does anyone have experience with Progressive quoting a very low rate and then drastically increasing the rate upon the 6 month renewal? Other companies have quoted me close to the $3,800 I am paying and a few more. We have 4 drivers and maximum coverage but with limited tort option. Just retired in January and it is nice that I now have the time to compare rates and think about such things.

I've been with Progressive for over 10 years and very pleased with their service. Yes they only do 6 month policies but by experience has been very minimal increases if any and sometimes decreases. My previous vehicle was a Honda CRV that I had for ~9 years, the cost of my policy for year 9 was less than what it was for year 1. Bought a new vehicle last year and the policy cost went up ~$30. Have only had a couple claims with them, not counting windshield repairs, and they were handled quickly.

[AlbaCrush]

+1 Geico for car insurance. They provide great customer service and make it so easy to file a claim and get your car repaired.

I would never use Allstate. We had them for years and had to sue them because the DW was hit by a driver using a friends car. He had no license and received 6 citations from the police. Allstate tried fighting us on dental work. My wife had several teeth chipped when the airbag went off and slight nect and back pain. She missed a month of work. It went to arbitration, and we were awarded $13,000. I immediately left them and would never go back. We got cheaper rates and better service with Geico.

[H2ODude]

Interesting thread. I can't remember the last time I had any claims, I guess it was a shower leak that they paid me well more than what it cost me to repair. Think it was Nationwide. No auto claims ever I can recall.

I was happy enough w Geico costs except they kept increasing homeowners every year until it got to $1600 so I shopped around. Local Metlife agent gave us a price for home, two cars, and umbrella of $2400 a year. Have had no claims and in three years maybe $50 increase. Hope to never find out how well claims are paid. Unfortunately not long after signed up the agent left Met and now all we have is the 800 numbers.