Shopping Around for Insurance

[Marita40]

I have three policies with State Farm--auto, home, umbrella. My policies come due in January.
The rates creep up every year with no explanation. There's a vague area in the statement telling me about all the huge discounts I'm getting (safe driving, etc) but it is not broken down into the amounts of each supposed discount.
Does everyone experience higher rates every year, and what % is normal? How often do you shop around for better rates, if at all?

 

[travelover]

It seems like all the insurance companies do it. Periodically I shop all the brand name companies and switch everything (car, home, umbrella insurance) to the lowest bidder. Rinse and repeat. I have been with AAA for about 5 years and have found their increases to be reasonable, though I should re-shop to confirm.

A few years ago I went to an independent insurance broker who hooked me up with the insurance company from hell, but they were small and initially cheaper. I dropped them after one year.

Increasing deductibles helps contain the cost.

 

[bingybear]

I expect I'll be shopping this year. policy year end is early April. I stayed too long with my last insurance .. decades. I'm just making it a practice to shop every few years. It's like cable and internet... they jack your prices if you don't look at leaving. Really don't like the business model. they don't benefit the loyal customer.

 

[Golden sunsets]

We experience the same thing. We are with State Farm as well and have the same policies you have plus a personal articles policy. We did "shop" the policies a few years ago and ended up staying with State Farm. The one thing you must do, if you compare quotes, is to make sure you are comparing apples to apples, which may not be completely obvious. In our case our auto policies and umbrella include "uninsured motorists" coverage , which apparently is not routinely included in policies, but which is very valuable.

I did discover that once State Farm became aware that we were shopping around, that a few other discounts materialized. Also, we asked the SF agent what changes we could make to reduce our premiums without gutting coverage. We were able to reduce the cost basis of our home without reducing coverage, as the policy promises full replacement value as long as the cost estimate is correct. The policy has an automatic inflation rider that bumps coverage automatically annually, which over time can over insure you. The agent will go through a detailed list of questions with you, or even visit your home to establish cost/replacement value. Remember that the land value of your home does not need to be covered. We also increased the deductible to $5,000, which for us made sense as the premium savings is significant and we have never had a claim on our homeowner's in 36 years as homeowners. Another savings came from reducing our liability coverage on the Homeowners policy as the Umbrella Policy kicks in after $100,000 I believe. We were also able to reduce the auto premiums due to our decreased driving. This is a matter of miles per year that each vehicle travels.


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[braumeister]

There's a vague area in the statement telling me about all the huge discounts I'm getting (safe driving, etc) but it is not broken down into the amounts of each supposed discount.

I'm surprised at that.
My renewal form from USAA shows them specifically. Have you asked your agent to break them out for you?

For example, the following discounts on each car are listed with a dollar amount for each:

• Anti-theft
• Automatic payment plan
• Daytime running lights
• Multi-car
• Passive restraint
• Premier driver

Similarly, these discounts are listed for my home policy, also with a dollar amount for each:

• Auto and home combination
• Claims free

 

[RAE]

I've found that you have to shop around every few years. I will say that AAA has been better than most........reasonable rate increases, and no hassle at all with the couple of claims we've had. I've heard that USAA is pretty good also, though I have no direct experience with them. One insurance company I will NEVER deal with is Progressive; stepdaughter had Progressive car insurance, and her experience with them (on a claim she had with her car) was horrible, to put it mildly.

 

[KM]

I frequently experienced the same thing.....low starter rates and then ridiculous increases every year. Five years ago we switched to Amica. I called them for a quote, they answered my litany of questions for an hour, I ended up with better coverage than I had with "insurance company not to be named" (but suffice to say I even had an employee discount with them and they were way too much), added an umbrella policy, and reduced my total insurance bill by about $700. Annual increases have been non-existent or minimal. VERY happy with Amica.

Disclaimer - other than a glass claim, we've never had a claim...

 

[karen1972]

All my plans went up 8-10%, though honestly the initial rate seemed too good to be true anyway. Given my honey made a claim this year and they didn't get jacked up even more and we are still eligible for accident forgiveness, I think I'll just take it as a blessing and pay the few extra dollars.

And yes the apples to apples .. when we shopped I was amazed by the fine print. Some house insurance didn't cover storm damage .. ummm ok then whats the point? Our current insurers were like yeh we may need a different policy if we lived within x miles of the ocean to cover hurricanes but we are 100+miles inland, so no, nothing special needed. Auto insurance that didn't cover uninsured and underinsured.. I just wasn't use to policies that didn't include things that I assumed were standard. Typically the only things I had to add were towing&rental or additional coverage for high value jewerly, art, electronics.

 

[VFK57]

I am with the Allstate for home, auto, umbrella and experienced same thing as auto ins went up a bit every 6 month at the renewal. Every 2 years I shop for insurance quotes and got this year almost same cost from the Liberty but decided to stay with Allstate since there was no saving in switching.

 

[athena53]

The one thing you must do, if you compare quotes, is to make sure you are comparing apples to apples, which may not be completely obvious. In our case our auto policies and umbrella include "uninsured motorists" coverage , which apparently is not routinely included in policies, but which is very valuable.

This is huge; an article in the CPCU (an insurance industry group) Journal pointed out some places where the companies that mostly tout their cheap rates chisel away at the coverages. Given the number of people who drive with no insurance or minimum limits (which are a joke), having uninsured AND underinsured motorists is important. The article also mentioned an example of a more restrictive definition of insured driver- I believe one policy didn't cover someone who borrowed a car you rented with your permission.

I don't shop very often; claim costs go up so of course premiums go up. I do keep an eye on the insured value of the house; our last house was a 30-year old McMansion, standard builder stuff, and they insisted the replacement cost was something like twice the market value (with market value including the land). Then it's time to shop. And make sure you agree on the value before the policy is written. I once got a lowball quote and when they came and looked at the house they decided the replacement value was something crazy and my premium "savings" evaporated.

 

[FiveDriver]

I've also heard good things about USAA -- do you have to be a Military Veteran to get their Insurance ??

Our Car Insurance is with Hartford through the AARP. They've treated us well for a few years running. We took their on-line Defensive Driving course and it was worth a nice discount. We also keep a high deductible.

Our Home Insurance gets shopped around every few years. It's pretty easy to do a comparison, these Insurance companies all speak the same language. I copy the Declarations page with my costs white-out. Give that to an Agent for his quote. One thing you have to watch for -- they estimate the Value of your Home only (not the Land) and they get that Estimate using the price per sq foot from a Cost Manual.
If they guess wrong on the Living Area or on the Quality Level.....that Value is going to be wrong. They usually err on the side of caution, and over-estimate the value. Just verify the Agent has your correct Living Area (no Garages or Porches) and that he can justify the cost per square foot to rebuild in your Market Area. No sense paying for Coverage you don't need.

 

[Nords]

Does everyone experience higher rates every year, and what % is normal? How often do you shop around for better rates, if at all?

We've been flat for over a decade with USAA. Part of that is dropping our collision & comprehensive insurance and just carrying liability plus UM/UIM. Another part of that is being retirees at the same address for over 15 years and driving less than 3000 miles/year on a 600-mile-square island.

This year our six-month premium went up 4%-- a huge increase by comparison to the rest of this century.

That's for two drivers and two cars, from a total of $421.69 to $439.08. Oddly enough, most of the boost was for our 12-year-old Prius that we drive less than 1000 miles per year. Our 11-year-old Prius only went up by a few bucks.

A couple weeks ago I spoke with a USAA exec about rising insurance rates. Everything's going up nationwide across the industry this year because gas is cheap (more cars sold, more crowded roads, more miles driven) and distracted driving accident rates are rising. In addition, vehicles are now more expensive than ever to repair yet are much more damaged during collisions (crumple zones, breakaway parts). I hope to do an interview with him next month and get more statistics & details.

I've also heard good things about USAA -- do you have to be a Military Veteran to get their Insurance ??

"All who served honorably, and their families."

If you're in the military (or a veteran with an honorable or general discharge) then you're eligible for membership and vehicle insurance with a Subscriber's Savings Account (an additional rebate on your insurance premium). If you're the child or immediate family member of a USAA member then you can become a USAA member too, but perhaps without a SSA.
https://www.usaa.com/inet/wc/why_choose_usaa_main

If your parents were in the military but they're not currently members of USAA, then they have to sign up for USAA membership (as vets) before you can be eligible for the family affiliation membership.

Everyone (not just military) can sign up for USAA's investments (brokerage account, mutual funds) and life insurance.

 

[athena53]

A couple weeks ago I spoke with a USAA exec about rising insurance rates. Everything's going up nationwide across the industry this year because gas is cheap (more cars sold, more crowded roads, more miles driven) and distracted driving accident rates are rising. In addition, vehicles are now more expensive than ever to repair yet are much more damaged during collisions (crumple zones, breakaway parts). I hope to do an interview with him next month and get more statistics & details.

Two states I drove through on my recent trip (TN and MO) showed YTD traffic fatalities compared to last year on their highway signs and both were up from last year. I don't remember the figures but probably around 10%. It's not the fatalities that add to insurance costs as much as the serious injuries people survive and the ensuing expensive ongoing treatment but I'm guessing those are up, too.

USAA is a class act. I have no service affiliation but was able to get an on-line checking account and I'm very happy with them.

 

[Bamaman]

To get decent rates on insurance, you've got to package auto and home insurance together. If not grouped you may get charged 35% more.

My problem is that insurance companies will start you on teaser rates, especially on homeowners, and then raise premiums 15% yearly. They say "replacement value" coverage goes up that much every year as inflation comes into place--and they're charging you by the $ thousand. Look up, and your home is insured for 150% of its worth. But if it burned down, they're only going to replace it--and not pay you anywhere close to what you've got it insured for.

I have 2 cars and 1 house insured with State Farm and they're medium expensive. Allstate is much cheaper for my other 2 cars and 2 other houses.

When I bought my new house this year, I went with Essurance online, another Allstate company. My premium's much less than half as expensive as my house insured with State Farm. They were very tight on underwriting, however, checking FICO scores, driving records and Lexis/Nexis reports on insurance claims on autos and homeowners' insurance.

It's very important to keep a low loss history, good driving record and a high FICO score. That way you can change insurance companies to a lower cost company every 3-5 years.

 

[pb4uski]

I just looked at mine... adjusting for certain items (like a condo now vs not in the past, 3 cars at one point but only two recently, etc.) my costs have be pretty consistent. Includes auto, boats, home, and umbrella. I have not bothered to adjust for changes in cars, etc. but our current fleet is newer than the baseline year so that is part of the reason for the increase.

2012-2013 100% (baseline)
2013-2014 81%
2014-2015 103%
2015-2016 103%
2016-2017 107%

While I occasionally shop around on my own and ask my agent to comparison shop every other year or so, our current carrier has been consistently cheapest and what little claim experience that we have had has been excellent.

 

[Looking4Ward]

Have had 21st Century for auto close to five years now. Rates would rise 8-10% every six months. No claims, no tickets.

2015 Jeep Wrangler
2016 Jeep Cherokee
2016 Ram 1500

Got my renewal last week and they went up from $759 to $853 for six months (100/300/100 with a $1K Comp/Coll deductible).

So I switched to Progressive for $714 (100/300/100 with a $2K Comp/Coll deductible). I'm sure that's only going to start going up each time as well.

 

[mamadogmamacat]

I am with the Allstate for home, auto, umbrella and experienced same thing as auto ins went up a bit every 6 month at the renewal. Every 2 years I shop for insurance quotes and got this year almost same cost from the Liberty but decided to stay with Allstate since there was no saving in switching.

I also have Allstate for all three. Have you ever had a homeowner's claim? And if so, were you satisfied with their response? I had my first claim ever, with any ins. company, this year. Allstate nickel and dimed me on the repairs to the nth degree. Glad I was retired to have the time to deal with the hassle. Very disappointed in them. But, unsure if this is a good time to change, approx. 6 months after a claim.

 

[Options]

I've tried shopping several times over the years, even with bundling, no one can beat Wawanesa for auto (California only) and Pacific Specialty for HO/Umbrella, even with rate increases.

 

[DrRoy]

We have had multiple coverages with State Farm for many years. The rates have gone up over time, and we have increased deductibles to hold them in line. We price others about once a year but have not found anything attractive enough to switch to.

 

[VFK57]

I also have Allstate for all three. Have you ever had a homeowner's claim? And if so, were you satisfied with their response? I had my first claim ever, with any ins. company, this year. Allstate nickel and dimed me on the repairs to the nth degree. Glad I was retired to have the time to deal with the hassle. Very disappointed in them. But, unsure if this is a good time to change, approx. 6 months after a claim.

About 6 years back I had a portion of our fence collapsed because of very strong wind. They checked a quote for replacement, deducted my deductible part and paid the rest ( a few hundreds$$).

 

[jazz4cash]

We had State Farm home and auto for several years and the home rates increased 7-10% a yr. I did the discount double check and they reduced the homeowner coverage which I accepted reluctantly. Six months later I dumped them because their billing was antiquated and I got a comparable homeowner policy for 50% less with Nationwide. We did the Plugin gadget to analyze driving behavior and save over 15%. Unfortunately being loyal to one insurance company for many years doesn't pay.

 

[Marita40]

Thanks all. As with everything else I have to balance the hassle factor with the money factor, but I think it is a year where I will call around for other rates. Was with a friend yesterday who has AAA and is very happy, so I'll start there.
I did have Allstate in the past but as I recall their rates were higher than State Farm.

 

[travelover]

...........I did have Allstate in the past but as I recall their rates were higher than State Farm.

It varies by location. AAA and Amica seem to be good companies.

 

[jazz4cash]

It varies by location. AAA and Amica seem to be good companies.

Yes, location is important and I also believe the phase of the moon when you request the quote may have an impact.

 

[Montecfo]

If you carry collision and comp, I wonder why you need uninsured motorist?