Anyone switch to AllState for Home Insurance recently - I got a ridiculous quote

[cyber888]

Has anyone switch to AllState recently. Today, I got a ridiculously low quote from them on my Home insurance.

My next home insurance bill is about $1,432. And AllState sent me a letter with the the specs of my house with a quote for $492 (annual rate). That's almost $1,000+ off. Went to their national website and sure enough found the insurance agent who sent me the quote.

What's your experience with AllState. I only see their ads "you are in good hands" and that's all I know about them. Not sure if this is a bait.

 

[bobandsherry]

Could it be your prior policy wasn't competitive and you've been overpaying? Have you shopped your policy with other companies and/or brokers? Maybe Allstate is competitive with other companies.

As for choosing Allstate, my experience.... Be prepared for large annual increases, then calling your agent who just happens to find a hidden discount, but your premium is still higher than it was. And do this for a couple years until you finally have enough and shop another company.

 

[CRLLS]

Homeowner's insurance is not like Medicare Supplements where all insurers offer the same coverage. Coverage and deductibles on homeowner's Insurance vary from company to company and by the coverages you choose. A 65+% reduction is certainly something to check out though. I have no experience with Allstate. I've been with SF forever.

 

[Sunset]

About 5 yrs ago, we switched from State Farm to AllState.

Still with AllState as the rates have not gone up wildly.
We have house, 2 autos and umbrella with them.

Haven't had an insurance claim, but the agent's office, and agent are very communicative and responsive - but this is a very local thing.

 

[Ready]

With Allstate your experience is largely dependent on the individual broker who you select to manage your policy. I was with them for almost 30 years and was always happy with them. Then my broker sold his business to his daughter, who was a complete disaster as a business person.

The final straw for me was when we moved our home into a trust and asked our broker to add the trust as an additionally insured on the policy. She refused to do so, stating it was against Allstate policy. I check with four other insurance companies and every one of them was agreeable to doing so. So we eventually switched to Amica. They have been great so far and their umbrella policy was half the price of Allstate. Amica has been rated #1 in customer satisfaction for 16 years in a row by JD Powers. We had one accident which totaled our Prius and their claim handling on it was flawless and incredibly generous.

 

[Car-Guy]

Switched from Farmers to Allstate just last month.... Auto's, home and umbrella policies... I did the best I could to compare apples to apples...Saved over 1000 a year and switching was quick and painless. (Most of that savings was on the home owners policy but some of it was on the cars. Umbrella was like $5 difference between the two companies) I haven't had any claims in almost 2 decades and I hope that continues.

 

[Texas Proud]

That is NOT a firm quote... read the fine print...


They add every discount known to man and you probably do not qualify for many of them...


I once checked out a scam mailing like this and the final quote, comparing apples to apples was higher than what I already had...


YMMV

 

[CoolRich59]

As for choosing Allstate, my experience.... Be prepared for large annual increases, then calling your agent who just happens to find a hidden discount, but your premium is still higher than it was. And do this for a couple years until you finally have enough and shop another company.

^^^ This.

We went with Allstate when we first got married. Initially, I didn't pay too much attention because I figured our "personal" agent was looking out for us.

When I started paying attention, I saw that our premiums had increased every year like clockwork. I called the office, but our agent never seemed to have time to take my call and I'd get handed off to his assistant.

I'd have been fine with that, but the assistant was either lazy or incompetent. After a number of requests to review coverages, change deductibles, etc. and it never happening, I dropped Allstate and went with another carrier.

 

[O2Bfree]

Our car premiums with Allstate kept increasing, but our homeowners premiums stayed in the ballpark of the quote you got. Our experience is that every company we've been with lowballs to get you in, then ratchets up the rates over the years. If you get only homeowners, I'd guess they'll up your rate each year.

Last year we cut our insurance bill by more than 1/3 by switching from Allstate to Pemco. I expect we'll switch again in some number of years.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

Never insure your house with an agent who hasn't been to your house, seen it, did a Replacement Cost Estimate and went through a check list of available coverages.


I was a professional firefighter for 24 years and never saw a property owner worry about who was the cheapest insurance company when we were sending attack crews into their house....


I could never understand when it comes to insurance that people think "cheapest means best" Do you think Heinz ketchup should be cheaper than Hunts or Kraft Mac and cheese should be cheaper than others


You don't have to overpay, but don't be surprised that cheapest doesn't mean best. You're likely to use your auto or home insurance once in your life and you don't want a discount company rebuilding your house or defending you against an auto injury... save money somewhere else. This stuff can cost you everything. I would like to see Floe's face when she is served with a subpoena for an underinsured driver that she saved money for.


Insurance is an overbeaten mule....find an agent you like and beat them up.

 

[Ready]

I could never understand when it comes to insurance that people think "cheapest means best" Do you think Heinz ketchup should be cheaper than Hunts or Kraft Mac and cheese should be cheaper than others

In theory I agree with you. But I’m not convinced there is a correlation between how much an insurance company charges and how well they will handle a claim. A lot of it comes down to how good the broker is, and some really bad brokers work for good insurance companies and vice versa. You can try to read reviews of different insurance companies to get some idea of how they are rated. But even then it’s difficult to know for sure who the best one is, as the reviews can vary greatly.

 

[ILikeStarTrek]

That is NOT a firm quote... read the fine print...

They add every discount known to man and you probably do not qualify for many of them...

I once checked out a scam mailing like this and the final quote, comparing apples to apples was higher than what I already had...

YMMV

+1

The letter is more like an advertisement.

I used to have my homeowners with Allstate. I'm giving figures from memory, but it was something like $1000/yr. A couple years ago I switched to Auto-Owners. It was more like $800/yr. Within a few months of when I switched, I started getting letters from Allstate telling me I could insure my home for $500/yr! (If that was really the case, why didn't I find that out before I switched to Auto-Owners?) But I have seen letters similar to this before. Like the other poster said, it's not a real quote but something to get you to call them and they will try to negotiate you into paying more money.

I didn't call them.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

In theory I agree with you. But I’m not convinced there is a correlation between how much an insurance company charges and how well they will handle a claim. A lot of it comes down to how good the broker is, and some really bad brokers work for good insurance companies and vice versa. You can try to read reviews of different insurance companies to get some idea of how they are rated. But even then it’s difficult to know for sure who the best one is, as the reviews can vary greatly.

Did the broker come to your house, measure it, do a replacement cost estimate and recommend how much to insure your house for ? Did they review the optional coverages that you may need or could do without ?
Did they review how much liability insurance you may need to consider or at least offer you an umbrella ? Did they ask if you had any business concerns or other property you may be responsible for ? Did they ask if you had any watercraft, atv's or rental property ? If not.
Find another broker.

Paying more in premium doesn't guarantee better coverage. But, having someone to look out for you doesn't have to cost you anything extra. I'm convinced a good broker or agent can find help me before and after I may have a claim.

After that, don't expect a company to have any loyalty to you.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

I've been watching my homeowner's rate steadily increase with Progressive and have been shopping around. Allstate has been the cheapest so far, by far, with the others being in the ballpark with my current policy. I'll be watching this thread with interest.

When I lived in Richmond I had insurance with The Mutual Assurance Society of Virginia, which is rather different. It was founded in the 1700s (they insured Monticello for Thomas Jefferson) and operates as a society owned by the membership. You pay a membership fee up front - around what typical insurers wanted for their yearly bills - and then pay a much smaller annual fee based on their costs for the previous year. I bought my house in 1999 for just under $200k and my annual insurance cost was $48. I had to call the mortgage company before closing because they thought it was a typo and figured my escrow at $480 per year. I had a claim one year and had no issues. I wish I could still use them; I moved out of their service area.

 

[Bamaman]

Homeowners insurance has to be bundled with auto policies to get the best rates on each. Agents feed all the info on your home into a computer program they subscribe to. And they get a risk code on you from Lexus/Nexus that's like a credit bureau based on past claims. They also get a FICO score from a credit bureau. All info is taken into consideration by their underwriters and then you get coverage.

Insurance rates are charged by the $1,000 per year. And they take the computer generated "cost of replacement" value on your home. Insurance companies will often start you with a "lowball" price. But they increase rates yearly because "the computer analysis" indicates your home cost of rebuilding is up. The $200K home you insured in 5 years will be insured for $500K, and you'll be paying rates on the full amount.

What's bad is that you may have $500K insurance on a home that might be worth $300K on the retail market. If your home burned, they would only pay you $500K if it cost that much to replace it AND if you rebuilt. If you chose to just buy another house down the street for $300K, the insurance company would "depreciate" your home--despite they've been charging you for a $500K home.

I had two homes--with my daughter living in one. I had a $5,000 theft of my ATV. 2 years later, we had a major burglary at our main home. I hadn't had any homeowners' claims in 40 years. If you have 2 claims of any kind in 3 years, the insurance company will double your insurance premiums--and those rates will go for years.

When I moved into my home a year ago, they hit me up for $4,000 a year at GEICO. Allstate also wanted big $ to insure me. I got insurance for $2,000 at Nationwide, but I still consider that too much. I just wish they'd let me insure my home at stated value--at what the home's worth on the retail market.

 

[aleabo]

Note, that AllState homeowner insurance doesn't include earthquake (if it is applicable in your area). You need to buy earthquake separately from another company and when you sum it will be on par with other companies. But without earthquake - Allstate cheaper.

 

[Ready]

Note, that AllState homeowner insurance doesn't include earthquake (if it is applicable in your area). You need to buy earthquake separately from another company and when you sum it will be on par with other companies. But without earthquake - Allstate cheaper.

I’m not sure what state you live in but in California earthquake insurance must be purchased from the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) and they charge the same price regardless of which insurance company provides your homeowner’s insurance.

When we first signed up for Amica two years ago they provided their own earthquake coverage, which was cheaper and provided better coverage than CEA. But they told us they were getting out of the business, and after the first year we would have to move to CEA to continue our earthquake coverage. I am not aware of any insurance companies currently providing an alternative coverage option to CEA at this point in California.

 

[Ready]

Did the broker come to your house, measure it, do a replacement cost estimate and recommend how much to insure your house for ? Did they review the optional coverages that you may need or could do without ?
Did they review how much liability insurance you may need to consider or at least offer you an umbrella ? Did they ask if you had any business concerns or other property you may be responsible for ? Did they ask if you had any watercraft, atv's or rental property ? If not.
Find another broker.

Paying more in premium doesn't guarantee better coverage. But, having someone to look out for you doesn't have to cost you anything extra. I'm convinced a good broker or agent can find help me before and after I may have a claim.

After that, don't expect a company to have any loyalty to you.

In the 30+ years that I’ve had homeowner’s insurance I have never once had a broker offer to come to my home to inspect it as part of the process of providing me a quote for coverage.

We built our home ourselves 20 years ago so we know the home very well. The general contractor we used 20 years ago is still building homes in the area so when we moved to Amica we asked him what it would cost to rebuild our home. I trust him more than some random agent who shows up to my house.

Amica did ask us extensive questions about the property and other exposures. We have a sizable umbrella policy along with auto and earthquake coverage.

If you can find a really smart broker it can be very valuable. But you will have to interview them to determine how smart they really are. And if you are qualified to determine this, you probably don’t need them in the first place. Sort of mirrors the financial advisor dilemma.

 

[aleabo]

I’m not sure what state you live in but in California earthquake insurance must be purchased from the California Earthquake Authority (CEA) and they charge the same price regardless of which insurance company provides your homeowner’s insurance.

When we first signed up for Amica two years ago they provided their own earthquake coverage, which was cheaper and provided better coverage than CEA. But they told us they were getting out of the business, and after the first year we would have to move to CEA to continue our earthquake coverage. I am not aware of any insurance companies currently providing an alternative coverage option to CEA at this point in California.

I'm in WA. You can have earthquake coverage included in your insurance from many other companies (we used to have). But in Allstate earthquake coverage through separate company.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I won't get into specifics*, but I have some experience with the SBA and their disaster loans (did you know that if you are in a declared disaster zone, you could be eligible for a low rate loan from the SBA...it doesn't even have to be a business?) There were some trends that emerged with some of the loans for the hurricane areas this year on the gulf coast and the derecho(s) in the Midwest also this year.. One of those trends was that Allstate was a PAIN IN THE ASS to deal with...on the processing side of the house and from the countless communications with policy holders.


*Not relevant is that I came out of "retirement" and did some w*rk with folks that were trying to get PPP loans and disaster loans through the SBA. When I get a few minutes, I will start another thread and tell my retirement addendum story.

 

[Surewhitey]

We've had them for years in TX. Just had a roof replaced by them and the experience was excellent. Roofing company had "negotiations" with Alstate and we had replacement value coverage. New roof & gutters for $71 in the end of it all.

 

[cyber888]

Thanks for your response, everyone.