Does anyone like their insurer?

The Cosmic Avenger

The Cosmic Avenger

Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Joined
May 9, 2016
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2,989
Location
Mid-Atlantic
Getting fed up with USAA, their website keeps getting worse and worse, and instead of just solving my issue when I call, they always want to "review my coverage", and I'm getting tired of it. I pulled our financial accounts from them a few years ago.

Any recommendations for insurance? Bonus if you have homeowners, auto, and umbrella all together with the same insurer and/or are happy with they way they have handled claims, those are the ones we currently have with USAA.
 
FWIW, I've been with USAA for over 50 years and never found anyone better, despite looking every few years.
Their website and phone support got pretty bad for a while, but I think it has improved markedly in the last couple of years. Good luck finding a replacement.
 
Very happy with Shelter Insurance, but I use an independent broker and she shops our insurance every year. We had Progressive in the past with no issues.
 
I have Auto Owners and Progressive. We had a claim for ~30K or so a couple years ago due to storm damage and both were good to deal with. Only thing I don't love is the skyrocketing rates but I think that's across the board.
 
The Cosmic Avenger said:
Getting fed up with USAA, their website keeps getting worse and worse, and instead of just solving my issue when I call, they always want to "review my coverage", and I'm getting tired of it. I pulled our financial accounts from them a few years ago.

Any recommendations for insurance? Bonus if you have homeowners, auto, and umbrella all together with the same insurer and/or are happy with they way they have handled claims, those are the ones we currently have with USAA.
Click to expand...
June will mark 41 years in the business and I can tell you I've never been really impressed with any carrier I've had personally. Granted, there has been virtually no claim experience until recently when my wife brushed up against a snow bank pulling out of the driveway and creased the passenger door. I'm looking forward to getting the survey from Selective, my carrier, because they have been outstanding.

They have a great user website for self service if you want and robust coverage options. I would certainly recommend them if available in your market. You should check with your broker, or PM me and I'll refer you to someone on my team. I don't solicit business and would refer you if you needed help.
 
I've had Liberty Mutual, Auto-Owners, and for the past four years, State Farm. Of these three I find State Farm to be the best. (Faint praise, though.)

Liberty Mutual denied a roof hail damage claim even though many neighbors got new roofs. This led me to switch to Auto-Owners. Five years later Auto-Owners denied a roof hail claim, even as all my neighbors got new roofs, yes, even those that got new roofs when I had Liberty Mutual. Good bye Auto-Owners.

Now I've got State Farm, bundling auto, home, and umbrella. I picked State Farm because they have full roof replacement insurance available rather than pro-rated policies. State Farm's rates beat the other big insurers that I hadn't had like Allstate, American Family, Progressive, etc.

I've not made any claims as yet. My son has done a windshield claim and he needed to replace the replacement windshield, He has a Lexus with rain sensing wipers and the glass installer put in a cheap Chinese windshield that wouldn't work with his Lexus. State Farm agreed to put in an original Lexus windshield without much resistance.

State Farm's website is fairly easy to navigate.

I've got a local agent that I can call if I need to talk to a human.
 
braumeister said:
FWIW, I've been with USAA for over 50 years and never found anyone better, despite looking every few years.
Their website and phone support got pretty bad for a while, but I think it has improved markedly in the last couple of years. Good luck finding a replacement.
Click to expand...
Good points. We did have a claim a few years ago and I found them fairly easy to work with, but that can vary by claim rep. Right now I'm frustrated because their website said our payment credit card was expiring, and had a link to update the expiration date...that didn't work. I spend 30 minutes trying to update the credit card information with no luck, I had to call for help, and I used to be in web design/UX/UI.
 
IMO most insurers are about the same. Average to poor when you actually need them to do something other than take your money. Make sure to compare coverages and limits when shopping for a better price, of course, but in the end insurance is a commodity.

We've been recommended to check out Chubb and also Pure for both higher-end insurance products/coverages and claims handling experience. I obtained quotes and it definitely comes at a price, but the coverages are greater, broader. I don't know anyone who has had real-world claims experience with them and I'm told that's supposed to be the golden ticket with both companies. Coverage is one thing, I can put a value on that. Customer service and claims handling? Harder to measure and assign a value, IMO.
 
braumeister said:
FWIW, I've been with USAA for over 50 years and never found anyone better, despite looking every few years.
Their website and phone support got pretty bad for a while, but I think it has improved markedly in the last couple of years. Good luck finding a replacement.
Click to expand...
I've been with USAA for 46 years (auto, home and umbrella) and have no complaints.
 
G-Money said:
IMO most insurers are about the same. Average to poor when you actually need them to do something other than take your money. Make sure to compare coverages and limits when shopping for a better price, of course, but in the end insurance is a commodity.

We've been recommended to check out Chubb and also Pure for both higher-end insurance products/coverages and claims handling experience. I obtained quotes and it definitely comes at a price, but the coverages are greater, broader. I don't know anyone who has had real-world claims experience with them and I'm told that's supposed to be the golden ticket with both companies. Coverage is one thing, I can put a value on that. Customer service and claims handling? Harder to measure and assign a value, IMO.
Click to expand...
This is true, I know because I've compared the policy forms, but for the majority of people, the juice isn't worth the squeeze. I can replicate a Chubb "Deluxe" policy by adding a few standard endorsements to a typical homeowner policy and be well below the Chubb price point.

I've been both a customer and broker and my feelings over the years have soured, at least with Chubb.
 
Homeowners, two autos and umbrella all with State Farm. I 've been covered by SF since I started driving in 1966 and we've had SF for the house since for 45-50 years. The umbrella is relatively new. Our auto policies are guaranteed renewable, something they no longer offer in new policies. We'be had a few claims on cars over the years (mostly hail damage) and a couple of very small claims on the house (broken water pipe in the crawl space). All claims were handled no muss, no fuss. You can certainly find less expensive insurance but IMO premium cost is not the most important factor.
 
Unless you have a claim, now would you judge?

I've heard Amica is a better insurance provider, but every time I've gotten quotes they were significantly higher than anyone else. You get what you pay for?

My sister had a huge claim on her house with Travelers, a leak that destroyed her hardwood floors throughout the house. She fought with them for 9 months, but in the end they reimbursed her $91,000 for almost all the costs.

More than 20 years ago DW had a serious auto accident while we were with Liberty Mutual, $22,000 in repairs. They let us choose where to have it fixed, and paid the whole amount.

I had my only auto accident ever in 2022 while with Geico. They totaled the car and gave me $27,000. When I got the final paperwork from Geico it said it would have cost $14,000 to repair, I was shocked they didn't push that (cheaper) route - but I'm told it's not unusual to total a car where the airbags deployed.

You decide...
 
Hartford (through AARP). They are prompt in paying claims and rates seem to go up at a lower rate than other carriers in my area.
 
No recent claims - so no real answer for my present carrier: Quincy Mutual. But, back in NJ we had Allstate and they were great when Hurricane Sandy smashed trees in to my roof and crushed two cars in the driveway. They even paid for the kids swingset that got crushed as well. The only thing they would not pay for was the removal of 25 trees that were down on the property and the removal of a 100 ft Tulip Poplar that was tipped and precariously hanging over the home.
 
I have Amica. They were helpful when I went to them with a not at fault accident some 10 years ago. . . (I knew the other party would be paying I just didn't want to deal with anything) and a year or so ago they sent me a letter for some kind of messed up rate increase which was a mistake and they called to apologize as well as sending a correction letter. All this was prior to renewal so there was no overcharge. No other experience.
 
Had State Farm for almost 20 years and fired them after premiums went up 50% in one year. Their claims process was pretty good, including subrogating against the other insurer and I got my deductible back. We went to AAA (no claims experience) and then switched to Travelers now. No claims so I cannot comment on either AAA and Travelers.
 
We use State Farm and they were okay when I hit a deer.

Do I like my insurer? Megacorp had clients that were insurance companies. I've been inside the problem.
 
I’ve had USAA for 43 years with only one complaint 17 years ago that was resolved quickly with a letter to the CEO. Recently I had a homeowners claim where funds were transferred into my checking account within a week. I filed an auto claim on Monday for a parking lot dent and scratch that nobody owned up to. My car goes into the body shop on Monday with USAA covering all but my deductible. I love the year end distribution and the February senior distribution they make from the Subscriber’s Savings Accounts. That covers over half of my auto insurance each year.
 
Amica Mutual Insurance is a conservative mutual insurer known for strong claims handling, financial discipline, and unusually high customer satisfaction.

It is usually not the cheapest option, but many policyholders stay because the company has a reputation for behaving predictably and professionally when a claim matters.
 
Kings over Queens said:
This is true, I know because I've compared the policy forms, but for the majority of people, the juice isn't worth the squeeze. I can replicate a Chubb "Deluxe" policy by adding a few standard endorsements to a typical homeowner policy and be well below the Chubb price point.

I've been both a customer and broker and my feelings over the years have soured, at least with Chubb.
Click to expand...

What do you recommend adding to the typical homeowner policy?

My home is not worth enough for Chubb, et. al. to insure it.
 
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