Home and Auto Insurance increase - best rates?

[nhcycling]

Amica just raised my rates ~20% on bundled home and auto; no claims in umteenth years - no car accidents etc. And why this increase now? But that’s another topic.

Let me first say that, yes, I’m naive, appreciate in advance for your patient and gentle responses.

I’ve never shopped for insurance. Where do I start? Do I just get quotes from the big companies? Progressive, Liberty Mutual, Geico? Is there a reliable site or 2 to compare quotes?

Thanks!

 

[jazz4cash]

Amica just raised my rates ~20% on bundled home and auto; no claims in umteenth years - no car accidents etc. And why this increase now? But that’s another topic.

Let me first say that, yes, I’m naive, appreciate in advance for your patient and gentle responses.

I’ve never shopped for insurance. Where do I start? Do I just get quotes from the big companies? Progressive, Liberty Mutual, Geico? Is there a reliable site or 2 to compare quotes?

Thanks!

I've always heard great things about Amica. In general it pays to shop around every few years and unfortunately it does not pay to remain loyal.
My homeowner's jumped 20% also but they just paid a claim for us (wind damage to roof). Once you have a feel for rates and competition you could call Amica back and ask for a review of the rates. That Liberty Mutual ad ("Only pay for what you need") strikes a chord with me because my auto insurance includes pet coverage and lost key reimbursement. I don't have pets but apparently I'm contributing to pay for all the owners who do.

Also decide if you want/need personal interaction. Some places are more online self service oriented than others.

 

[Bamaman]

Amica's the top rated insurance company with USAA second. 20% is a little high of an increase if there's been no claims--or calamity that happened in your state.

I had a burglary a year ago and a theft 3 years ago in another house I owned at the time. My home insurance quotes were double that of a normal homeowners' policy before I found a company that wrote me at standard rates. I could write you a book on home and auto insurance--but it wouldn't be too positive. You certainly don't want to turn in any loss as the info goes into Lexis-Nexus reporting agency and you will be discriminated against as high risk.

 

[Amethyst]

I loathe shopping for insurance. Yes, you do ask for quotes. Every company will quote your declarations (the things they will cover and the level of coverage you are buying) a bit differently, trying to make it look as if they are charging less, while in fact they are shaving your coverage.

I did not find what I felt to be a satisfactory insurance-comparison web site. So I made a spreadsheet of my current declarations, to try to compare apples with apples, but it is a challenge. You also have to factor in whatever loyalty discounts you may be getting, and how those change from company to company. For example, when I changed our auto insurance from Nationwide to Geico, our premiums went down - but we lost our first- accident and ticket forgiveness, and had to wait, I think, 3 years to earn them from Geico.

There are even differences with the same company from state to state, since different states are rated differently for safety (I wasn't surprised to pay more for homeowners' in Florida - but I was shocked to have our auto insurance nearly double, even though it's the same company.

Amica just raised my rates ~20% on bundled home and auto; no claims in umteenth years - no car accidents etc. And why this increase now? But that’s another topic.

Let me first say that, yes, I’m naive, appreciate in advance for your patient and gentle responses.

I’ve never shopped for insurance. Where do I start? Do I just get quotes from the big companies? Progressive, Liberty Mutual, Geico? Is there a reliable site or 2 to compare quotes?

Thanks!

 

[OldShooter]

My approach is to make copies of all my policy declaration ("deck") pages with the premium $ blacked out and send them to two independent agents, asking them to shop the market.

I avoid single-company "tied" agents like State Farm, because their loyalty is necessarily to the company if there is a disagreement. An independent agent is loyal to his/her customer first and the insurance companies understand that if they pi$$ him/her off there could be some future business from that agency walking out the door.

I also ask the agent what company he/she uses personally and if not the company being recommended then why? Every two or three years I ask the agent to re-shop the business too. They typically will not do that on their own just because it is extra work.

This seems to work but it is hard to tell for sure.

 

[grasshopper]

Yikes, Progressive is shaving $13 a month off my car insurance for the next 2 months because there is no place to go. I shop my car insurance every 2 years, house insurance never.

 

[bobandsherry]

You might want to reach out to broker, let them shop it for you. Worked for me. They found price that I didn't have access to and well rated company, Travelers. I couldn't get the same rate with Traveler's on my own.

 

[fh2000]

I have Auto, Home, Umbrella with Geico. They kept my Auto, Umbrella premium with no changes this year, but for the second year now they increased my Home premium by 20%.

I called each time, the answer is the same: California had across the board Homeowners insurance increase. They did not say why, but I suspect that this is due to the wild fire that went thru many communities for the past 2 years. I fear that this trend will likely continue. Next year, I will get an agent to search for another company that sell the trio combo if they can find one for me.

 

[Stormy Kromer]

Never, ever buy insurance from someone who doesn't take the time to review your coverage with you.


Don't just give them a copy of your existing policy and ask them to beat the price. How do they know what you need??


If an agent won't take the time to come to your house, do a replacement cost estimate, go back to their office and take the time to shop the market for you and give you the best proposal, don't do business with them.


When I say the best proposal, notice I didn't say the cheapest price. If you had different contractors bid on your roof or siding, would you expect the one with the lowest price to give you the best value?


Like any other business, the cheapest doesn't mean it's the best.


The sorry thing about insurance is you don't know who the best is until you need them. If the cheapest company doesn't pay the best at claims time it shouldn't be a surprise.


Don't pay more than you have to. Go to a reputable agent and ask them "who insures your house and auto?" Go to a body shop an ask them who does the best job repairing autos ? Go to your favorite contractor and ask them who does the best job repairing a house after a disaster? If you want the absolutely cheapest one, then just insure it yourself, self insure and save the premium every year.


I was a firefighter for decades, and believe me this..... when your house is on fire you don't care who the cheapest insurance company was. You care about the one who has your back.


Insurance is strange. Many people confuse "best" as the one with the lowest price. No, the cheapest one was just the one with the lowest price.


You don't have to overpay, please don't. But don't assume cheapest with best. If that were the case cheap beer would be as good as craft beer....it don't work that way.


Also, insurance is very cyclical and competitive. The best rates this year will likely be beat next year. look at who is going to be around and stable for the Next 10 years.


It's not fun, but when you're buying insurance think of who do you want to deal with when you run out of your house with nothing on your back as it's burning. Or, who do you want to call when you get a summons & complaint from that accident you caused....

 

[Sunset]

Yikes, Progressive is shaving $13 a month off my car insurance for the next 2 months because there is no place to go. I shop my car insurance every 2 years, house insurance never.

I shop ALL my insurance at the same time, as many places give a discount for having all insurance with them and it alone can be a large percentage.

I got my first $11 refund for this month due to a lack of driving .... I'm going to phone my agent and review how little I drive every year.

 

[IMATERP]

Currently with Progressive. We generally bundle Home and Auto together.

Five years ago we were with Geico - wifey hit a school bus (thus our rate doubled)

Shopped out rates and found a reasonable quote with Liberty Mutual. They went up 10% in year 1, 15% in year 2 - and they provided a quote 20% higher for year 3.

Shopped out rates and received a reasonable quote with Progressive. Their auto was 15% cheaper than Liberty and their Home Owners was 40% cheaper. We have been happy for the past 18 months with Progressive.

In November, wifey (hopefully) will have been accident free for 5 years and I plan to get a comparison quote from 2 other companies.

Unless Progressive goes up substantially, we will probably stay with them.

 

[njhowie]

We've had Amica for the past 30 years, and will be with them for the next 30 years. When we got our first policy with them, they were still a mutual company and we received annual dividend payments, which were generally about 20% of the policy premium. At the time, they only accepted your business as a new customer if you were referred by another policyholder. DW's family had been with them for at least 20 years prior to that.

I periodically do a quick check of what others would charge for our auto, and it's not even close. Amica is a full 30% lower than the lowest I can find. Home is about the same as with others. However, most importantly, we know Amica values our business as it was demonstrated when we had a complicated and very involved and lengthy claim on our homeowners policy maybe 10 or 15 years ago. When we inquired if we were covered, Amica immediately stepped in and took ownership of the entire situation, assigned a special group and case manager who handled all aspects of what needed to happen. To be honest, I don't even think we paid our deductible in the situation. Amica made what is generally known to be a difficult and expensive situation, into a completely pain free experience with a very successful outcome that cost us almost nothing, if anything.

Over the years, we've had minor auto incidents and our rates had never been affected by them. In each case, Amica acted quickly, and provided immediate support in getting things taken care of.

About 6 months ago, we added an umbrella policy, and they gave us a discount/refund on our home and auto policies with it.

Obviously we're extremely happy with Amica, and sorry that they've raised your rates so much in one shot for what appears to be no reason.

If after searching around for other rates you find that Amica is higher but not by a meaningful amount, consider sticking with them as it's also important how the insurer handles claims.

 

[mrfeh]

You might want to reach out to broker, let them shop it for you. Worked for me. They found price that I didn't have access to and well rated company, Travelers. I couldn't get the same rate with Traveler's on my own.

This is a good option for those that don't want to bother w/ shopping themselves.

We went this route 3-4 years ago, but the broker couldn't beat what we were already paying w/ State Farm.

 

[VanWinkle]

I shop my coverage yearly for both home and auto. I have been with the same self service(internet)company for 3 years now. My Insurance rates went from 1800 per year to 1050 when I changed 3 years ago. Since then the auto policy has remained flat on premiums, and the homeowners has increased about 7%.
I can't describe their claim process as I seem to never have claims(looking for wood to knock on). Loyalty is not rewarded in Casualty Insurance. I retired from a Casualty company, and that's the 1800 premium policy I replaced.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I have found that if I bounce back and forth between USAA and AMICA, I can keep the rates reasonable. The "sweet spot" for me is about 2 years, although I do compare rates every year. I will *not* use another insurer, only USAA and AMICA. I hear way too often of issues with other large insurance companies.

 

[travelover]

You might want to reach out to broker, let them shop it for you. Worked for me. They found price that I didn't have access to and well rated company, Travelers. I couldn't get the same rate with Traveler's on my own.

My experience was not so good. I got hooked up with a sucky company that was constantly harassing me. When they sent me a bill for extra premiums because I had not submitted proof of insurance when I started with them (they never asked), I had enough and fired them and the broker. Yea, initially they were cheaper, but what a fustercluck.

 

[Born2BRetd]

I agree with Stony Kramer. Cheapest isn't always the best option. Unfortunately, you don't know how good your insurance is until you take it for a test drive. Half of our neighborhood burned down about 12 years ago. Believe me, people found out real fast which insurance company had their back.

 

[mystang52]

Several years ago I hopped for insurance on my own, calling the major companies. I used a spreadsheet to manage the information overload. I vowed that next time I'll use an independent agent. OP: I suggest the independent agent route.

 

[Chuckanut]

I agree with Stony Kramer. Cheapest isn't always the best option. Unfortunately, you don't know how good your insurance is until you take it for a test drive. Half of our neighborhood burned down about 12 years ago. Believe me, people found out real fast which insurance company had their back.

+1

My unfortunate loss of my parked car last year started wondering what would happen with my insurer had it been a more serious and messy accident. I ended up switching to a more highly rated company at about the same cost

 

[greengo523]

Several years ago I hopped for insurance on my own, calling the major companies. I used a spreadsheet to manage the information overload. I vowed that next time I'll use an independent agent. OP: I suggest the independent agent route.

I second the independent agent route. I just did this a couple of months ago and definitely did better than what my new rates were going to be.

 

[bobandsherry]

My experience was not so good. I got hooked up with a sucky company that was constantly harassing me. When they sent me a bill for extra premiums because I had not submitted proof of insurance when I started with them (they never asked), I had enough and fired them and the broker. Yea, initially they were cheaper, but what a fustercluck.

Like any business type, there's good ones and bad ones. I did my research before contacting a broker. I took to local community Facebook group, got recommendations from those in the community. Then went back and did a search for the broker in the community Facebook page, found their real rep and felt good with them. I found they had zero negative comments, had numerous positive comments and they also contributed to local causes and supported local businesses. I had three good leads in the end, let them price out my business. In the end I saved money on my home, auto and umbrella policy and all with very highly rated companies. The broker also suggested some changes to my policies, though minor, in the end I got a bit more coverage and lower cost.

 

[bobandsherry]

This is a good option for those that don't want to bother w/ shopping themselves.

We went this route 3-4 years ago, but the broker couldn't beat what we were already paying w/ State Farm.

I went down same path. I had done my own "shopping" for years. I've had brokers shop my policies in the past, they would come back and say they couldn't beat the prices. But this past year my auto and home went up and without any really good answer from the insurance company why. No accidents, no claims, same car. So I had reached back out to brokers and they were able to get me a better price. Seems one of their companies had changed their underwriting or something, perhaps me being older got me into a different demo group. I didn't give up anything in regards to quality of the companies, I don't go with cheap, I go with best value

So the purpose of the rambling is when you shop your own, let the broker compete for your business as well. I just shoot them over a copy of the deceleration page from my policy, blocking out the premium detail. Costs nothing.

 

[jesaco]

I got hit by another car while I was parked. The other driver's insurance was 100% liable but my mistake was calling my insurance company and reported it even though they never paid for any damages (stupid move on my part). 3 months later my son rear ended another vehicle during a snowstorm. Before my renewal, I received a letter from insurer that they will not renew my policy due to numerous claims. (even though there was no payout on their side on the 1st claim and had no claim for dozens of years). Just shows cheaper premiums is not better and do not report accidents when the other driver is 100% responsible. . I have auto, homeowners and umbrella policy with them.

 

[Z3Dreamer]

Was with one of the mega companies for many years. Every few years, I would shop to keep them honest. At some point, premiums went up too much and I switched to a smaller company. A few years in and I see why they are cheaper. They mess up so many aspects of the relationship. 1) You set up autodraft to pay the premiums. You call and say: "Is it set up correctly? Will it get paid?" "Yes". Then it doesn't get paid. They call home office. "Home office says you needed to have it set up by the date the bill was generated. Any setup after that will not work." Next time you call because the bill does not say that the bill is on autopay, so you pay it. And it comes out twice. Next time you call and they say that home office can't tell if it will come out. Still an issue because their site does not let you know that the credit card you have on file is expiring. 2) Biggest problem is that I sold a rental property with owner financing (me) and talked purchaser into staying with this company. At settlement I received a certificate of insurance naming me as the mortgage holder. A year later I think: "Gee, why didn't I get a notice of renewal?" I pursue it and I was never added to the policy. No one ever followed up on that certificate so it expired after 60 days. So for the last year, even thought the house was covered, I was not.

I could go on but you get the point.

 

[VanWinkle]

Was with one of the mega companies for many years. Every few years, I would shop to keep them honest. At some point, premiums went up too much and I switched to a smaller company. A few years in and I see why they are cheaper. They mess up so many aspects of the relationship. 1) You set up autodraft to pay the premiums. You call and say: "Is it set up correctly? Will it get paid?" "Yes". Then it doesn't get paid. They call home office. "Home office says you needed to have it set up by the date the bill was generated. Any setup after that will not work." Next time you call because the bill does not say that the bill is on autopay, so you pay it. And it comes out twice. Next time you call and they say that home office can't tell if it will come out. Still an issue because their site does not let you know that the credit card you have on file is expiring. 2) Biggest problem is that I sold a rental property with owner financing (me) and talked purchaser into staying with this company. At settlement I received a certificate of insurance naming me as the mortgage holder. A year later I think: "Gee, why didn't I get a notice of renewal?" I pursue it and I was never added to the policy. No one ever followed up on that certificate so it expired after 60 days. So for the last year, even thought the house was covered, I was not.

I could go on but you get the point.

Not all small companies are bad, but that one has issues for sure. I would also run from that one!! Don't let that one experience keep you from accessing good rates at smaller insurers.