Geico v Amica?

[Midpack]

I switched to Geico a few years ago - home, auto & umbrella. Haven't had problems, but then we've filed 1 auto insurance claim and 0 home insurance claims in our lives! I was thinking about switching to Amica, I hear good things about them, but I don't know any customers personally. I emailed Amica about a quote a few weeks ago - and got no response I've looked at their website, and it doesn't seem particularly advanced. But again, odds are we may never have a claim so service may not be an issue.

Any opinions based on personal experience with either/both?

 

[davebarnes]

AMICA
Auto since 1970. Excellent service. 7 claims for 2 cars. 5 of those other person’s fault.
House since 2011. Excellent service. 1 hailstorm claim for $37K in 2017.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

We go back and forth between Amica and USAA. I have heard through the grapevine of attorneys who deal w/ insurance claims and sounds like these are two of the best when it comes to your interest. Geico? I don't hear those same good things. Give 'em a call, it will be a pleasant interaction with the CSR, I can pretty much guarantee that.

 

[eytonxav]

In my opinion there is no better company. I have been with them since a 16 yo under my fathers coverage, and I am almost 71 now. Many accidents from wife and kids over the years, two which were fairly serious and 4 roof replacements. Never an issue in getting fast support and payout. I am not sure what number you called, but never had an issue contacting them.

 

[braumeister]

I've been with USAA for over 40 years and always been happy with them. Several years ago I was influenced by positive comments here to look at Amica, so I got a quote from them. Much to my surprise it was almost exactly double what I was paying USAA for the same coverage. So I filed that away and returned to inertia mode.

 

[REWahoo]

I've been with USAA for over 40 years and always been happy with them. Several years ago I was influenced by positive comments here to look at Amica, so I got a quote from them. Much to my surprise it was almost exactly double what I was paying USAA for the same coverage. So I filed that away and returned to inertia mode.

^ I had a very similar experience.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I've been with USAA for over 40 years and always been happy with them. Several years ago I was influenced by positive comments here to look at Amica, so I got a quote from them. Much to my surprise it was almost exactly double what I was paying USAA for the same coverage. So I filed that away and returned to inertia mode.

I find it odd how insurance companies price the policies. When I first went w/ Amica, the rates for homeowners was the same, but the auto insurance was 1/2 the cost of USAA. A few years later, I was quoted a little cheaper w/ USAA, so I went back to them. I compare rates between the two every year and once the savings are more than $75 a year, I switch.

 

[zinger1457]

I get regular mailings from Amica for their auto/home insurance and have received quotes but they have never been even close to competitive in their pricing. Their auto insurance quote is almost 4X what I pay with Progressive, no one is worth paying that additional amount. Not sure why they even market in my area with those prices.

 

[braumeister]

I find it odd how insurance companies price the policies.

That doesn't seem to be something you can discover unless you're in the industry. Years ago I heard it was mainly related to your zip code, but more recently I've heard it's mainly related to your credit score. I'm sure each company has some very sophisticated algorithms they use to determine pricing.

 

[Midpack]

I'm eligible so I've gotten quotes from USAA, but they're always significantly higher. I just requested an auto quote from Amica, and it came back 48% higher than Geico for the same coverages...

 

[REWahoo]

I'm eligible so I've gotten quotes from USAA, but they're always significantly higher. I just requested an auto quote from Amica, and it came back 48% higher than Geico for the same coverages...

I have very limited experience with Geico having only insured an RV with them for a couple of years. Rates were excellent the first year, OK the second year, and so high the third that I went elsewhere. I've heard that is a typical pattern for them, but beyond the RV example I really don't know.

 

[Midpack]

I have very limited experience with Geico having only insured an RV with them for a couple of years. Rates were excellent the first year, OK the second year, and so high the third that I went elsewhere. I've heard that is a typical pattern for them, but beyond the RV example I really don't know.

Makes sense, I've only been with Geico for about a year.

 

[aja8888]

Been with Amica 5 years and two claims, one new roof, and one water damage from Harvey (storm).

Quote from USAA was 1/3 more for combo house, car and umbrella.

 

[Cobra9777]

I've been curious about Amica based on favorable things I've read over the years. I recently shopped around for auto/home/umbrella. Amica was crazy high... 2X higher on auto alone compared to our current insurer; and 3X higher than a quote I got from Progressive.

Here's what Clark Howard says about the high first-year premium at Amica:

Unlike USAA, Amica Mutual has no artificial barriers to entry. But because Amica Mutual is a mutual company, it tends to be very expensive during your first year as a customer.

When you join a mutual company like Amica, there are no shareholders like there are with other public companies. You become a part owner of the company when you sign up for insurance.

So that first year, with the higher upfront costs, is basically you “buying into” the company. After that, customers typically get an annual premium rebate equal to about 20% of what they paid that year, subject to how the company is doing financially.

Unless they are willing to provide a multi-year quote, or at minimum.. some kind of normal pricing expectations, there's no way for me to decide if that first year is worth it. Based on all the positive things I've read, I'm inclined to believe that it DOES in fact work out. I just don't understand that pricing strategy. Not sure I'm willing to dive in based on faith.

 

[eytonxav]

Amica also provides a dividend at the end of the year for some coverages if no claims are filed, and additional discounts come into play if you insure house and multiple cars, as well as some other things depending on coverage type. Need to make sure you receive an apples to apples comparison.

 

[nwsteve]

We were very long time State Farm customers but when we moved cross state last year, I shopped home, auto and umbrella with Amica. Because we had sold our house and moved to a CCRC in a more urban part of the state and sold our RV losing a multi-car discount, State Farms' new rates were not competitive for any of the policies. We got our first dividends as promised at our first anniversary last month as represented but Amica beat State Farm even before the dividend. Amica coverages are even better for the same dollar--eg no cost replacement of windshield without deductible.

 

[Lakedog]

I'm eligible so I've gotten quotes from USAA, but they're always significantly higher. I just requested an auto quote from Amica, and it came back 48% higher than Geico for the same coverages...

I've gotten quotes from Amica in the past and had a similar experience (about 50% higher).

Been with Geico for autos the last 8 years or so (along with RVs part of that time). My rates have never fluctuated more than a couple of dollars on a six month premium and have changed very little over the years. For RVs I could not find anyone close to Geico's rates.

 

[braumeister]

USAA already gave us a special COVID dividend of 20% of two month's auto insurance premium. Now they just gave another one of 20% of one month's premium. Kind of helps even things off since nobody has been driving much for the last few months. This has nothing to do with their regular annual dividends, so it's a nice gesture. I'm sure other companies are giving similar rebates.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

USAA already gave us a special COVID dividend of 20% of two month's auto insurance premium. Now they just gave another one of 20% of one month's premium. Kind of helps even things off since nobody has been driving much for the last few months. This has nothing to do with their regular annual dividends, so it's a nice gesture. I'm sure other companies are giving similar rebates.

I was happy to see the "refund" in premium....it *almost* covered the auto coverage rate increase for the next period.

 

[2soon2tell]

I've been with USAA since 1969 and have had few complaints. We have our auto, homeowners, flood and life insurance with them and see no need to switch companies.

It's also nice to receive the annual and senior bonuses paid out each year.

 

[badatmath]

Amica has had good customer service for me when I had filed my not-at-fault-but-I-don't-want-to-deal-with-the-other-party.

You can also get a non dividend policy from them at least from my state. I do not recall details as it has been awhile since I switched. You might ask about that when you are getting the quote.

 

[Chuckanut]

Last year I had an experience with my then insurer that left me feeling like they really didn’t care much about me or the the 7 years of no claims business they had with me - Home, Auto, Umbrella.

I checked out Amica and a regional company Pemco. Both are highly rated in Consumer Reports. Amica was $400 a year more for the total insurance package so I went with Pemco.

My previous insurance company and agent didn’t seem to care that I was leaving. Enough said.

FWIW, Clark Howard has said that some companies reward loyalty with higher premiums since they figure the insured is the type of person who probably won’t switch insurers easily.

 

[lauradrops]

We had Amica in NC and were very happy with them and their pricing. When we moved back to NY, Amica was very expensive, so we went with Geico. Their pricing all depends on where you are located. Great customer service though.

 

[T-Minus]

...Amica coverages are even better for the same dollar--eg no cost replacement of windshield without deductible.

My personal experience from just last week would contradict this statement. We had a rock fly up while on the freeway, cracking our windshield to the point where it had to be replaced. Amica worked with Safelite to come out and replace the windshield...and we were then presented with a bill for $100 (the anount of our deductible). We have a standard Amica dividend auto policy, and there is nothing either in writing or communicated verbally about any waived deductible, nor was any option offered to us for this.

 

[Cobra9777]

Amica also provides a dividend at the end of the year for some coverages if no claims are filed, and additional discounts come into play if you insure house and multiple cars, as well as some other things depending on coverage type. Need to make sure you receive an apples to apples comparison.

I took your advice and called instead of just doing online quotes. The sales rep was very helpful making sure the quotes were apples-to-apples with our current coverage. He later emailed all the quotes for 2 homes, 4 cars, and umbrella. The quotes included estimated dividends to be paid at the end of each policy period. Even with the dividends, multi-policy discounts, etc, Amica was still 42% higher than our current insurer, which is Liberty Mutual.

Even worse, they no longer offer 100% coverage on hail damage to roofs, which is very common here in North Texas. Both roofs are fairly old, so the reduction for depreciation would be huge. Liberty covers 100% of the cost for new roofs. So, the real long-term cost difference is way more than the 42% difference in premiums.

I know that Amica is a very popular company with great reviews for claims service. I get the impression from what I've read that the pricing gets better after you've been with them a few years with no claims. But there's no way I'm going to pay a 42%+ premium on faith. I can't envision a short payback on that.