Ready
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I've been with Allstate for over 25 years, and with the same broker. Recently I received a solicitation from my partner's company to get a quote from Met Life, so I went ahead and gave them the information to quote our policies. Here is a summary of the two proposals:
Allstate Metlife
Homeowners $1,645.00 $1,338.00
Earthquake $1,096.00 $1,506.00
Auto $2,015.12 $2,318.00
Umbrella $905.00 $370.00
Total $5,661.12 $5,532.00
The total difference between the two policies is $129.00, barely a 2% difference. The thing that has me bugged a bit is the difference in the umbrella policy. This is excess liability up to $5M. Allstate is at $905, Metlife is $370. That's quite a difference!
Both companies will only quote umbrella coverage if they have the home and auto covered as well, which seems to make sense to me. And both brokers have told me that the prices are not negotiable, so there is nothing they can do to get more competitive to attempt to win my business.
So I guess I have two questions here:
1) What experience has everyone had with negotiating discounts on their policies? Do some insurance companies negotiate to win business, or is it pretty much take it or leave it?
2) Does anyone have any ideas on how to get my umbrella coverage down? Are there any third party insurance companies that might quote just the umbrella policy without having the other coverage?
It just seems crazy to me to pay almost $1K for umbrella coverage, especially when Met Life confirmed it would be under $400 through their policy. If I eliminated earthquake coverage, MetLife would be $500 less overall. It's probably ridiculous for me to carry earthquake coverage given that I have a 15% deductible anyway, but I've been paying for it for 20 years now, so it's a bit of a comfort to sleep at night coverage I guess.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
Allstate Metlife
Homeowners $1,645.00 $1,338.00
Earthquake $1,096.00 $1,506.00
Auto $2,015.12 $2,318.00
Umbrella $905.00 $370.00
Total $5,661.12 $5,532.00
The total difference between the two policies is $129.00, barely a 2% difference. The thing that has me bugged a bit is the difference in the umbrella policy. This is excess liability up to $5M. Allstate is at $905, Metlife is $370. That's quite a difference!
Both companies will only quote umbrella coverage if they have the home and auto covered as well, which seems to make sense to me. And both brokers have told me that the prices are not negotiable, so there is nothing they can do to get more competitive to attempt to win my business.
So I guess I have two questions here:
1) What experience has everyone had with negotiating discounts on their policies? Do some insurance companies negotiate to win business, or is it pretty much take it or leave it?
2) Does anyone have any ideas on how to get my umbrella coverage down? Are there any third party insurance companies that might quote just the umbrella policy without having the other coverage?
It just seems crazy to me to pay almost $1K for umbrella coverage, especially when Met Life confirmed it would be under $400 through their policy. If I eliminated earthquake coverage, MetLife would be $500 less overall. It's probably ridiculous for me to carry earthquake coverage given that I have a 15% deductible anyway, but I've been paying for it for 20 years now, so it's a bit of a comfort to sleep at night coverage I guess.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!