Let's Talk Home & Auto Insurance Companies

[Finn16]

We've had American Family Insurance for home and auto for the past 14 years. The rates are decent but I'm not happy with the coverage and the recent rate increase. The backstory - We had a bunch of shingles blow off the roof a few years ago when the house was 16 years old. I contacted our agent who said due to the age of the roo,the pro-rated coverage wouldn't be worth a claim. I talked to a couple of roofers who told me that is total BS and many insurance companies would have paid for a new roof.

On the auto side, we've never had a claim until last month when I had a $2500 claim on my truck. While deciding whether to file a claim or not, I asked about accident forgiveness for a first accident and she said, yes you have it, and then said, oh wait, you are grandfathered in with an old policy that didn't offer that. The newer policies offer it but the premium is higher. So I asked if my premium would go up if I filed a claim and was told it would but only slightly but she couldn't give me a $ amount. So last week I received my bill for renewal last week and my insurance went up $270 a year for the $2500 claim.

I'm ready to jump ship and am looking for suggestions as to which companies you guys have used that you are satisfied with pricing, service and coverage. Thanks.

 

[go_deep]

You just have to call around and get quotes. We were with the same company for 11 years and prices started to climb fast with no claims.
Ended up at another large company at about a 40% reduction in premium without giving up a penny in coverage, actually better coverage.

 

[Silveroddo]

I’ll be watching this with interest. I haven’t paid attention lately, but I feel like you will experience the same thing with most auto policy’s these days. A coworker’s wife had a claim on a vehicle, they traded it a few months later and his pickup policy went up. He had a policy with this State Farm agent for 20 years, when asked about the increase they basically said it was because of the previous claim on the vehicle they no longer had.

 

[IDVortex]

Use to own a business (still do, just now work for a road department), always shop for insurance every year or few years. Since my wife and I have been married 6 years, ive gone through 3 companies, my business has changed every year, so 4 different companies.

I don't remember the exact name of it, but you'll have to notify your agent now or request a release statement to shop for new insurance or get quotes. But get multiple quotes and compare them word for word.

Next to a politician, the next biggest scum of the earth is insurance. Only way to ever trust insurance companies is them being windchimes in a tree.

 

[Roosterstraw]

Our insurance company just raised rates by 18% and claimed the reason was because of inflation.

 

[7mm-08]

I likely have a different take on this subject than most. I don't shop for cheap insurance. The reason is that cheap insurance isn't cheap (at all) when you make a claim. I've seen friends and family go through nightmares dealing with budget insurance companies to get them to pay out on claims that were clearly covered in their policies. The last nightmare I witnessed was a friend who had a fire in his big shop and it took him years negotiating with his insurance company to get them to perform. For this reason, we are big fans of USAA. Yes, they're more expensive than (fill in the blank here), but their philosophy of not nickel and diming their policyholders when a claim is made is worth the extra premiums we pay. I've stood on the sideline and seen that one play out and for this reason, we'll never buy insurance from a different carrier.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

All I know is my insurance (SAFECO) has gone WAY up in the last couple years with zero claims. I know some of this is the market here but in need to shop around. My homeowners went from 2022: $2800, 2023: $4400, 2024: $6200. I haven’t seen my auto renewal yet but that jumped similarly between 2022 and 2023. It’s ridiculous.

I don’t live in a wildfire zone, I don’t live in a high hail zone (my roof is a 2015 install for instance), yet my premiums are doubling?

 

[TheGrayRider]

USAA, USAA, USAA!

 

[HuntHarder]

Look for an insurance broker. They do all the shopping for you and are usually paid for by the insurance companies.

 

[nphunter]

Mine just almost doubled last month and I was told it was due to OR inflation at the beginning of the year. It’s total bullshit, I called and they requoted it and said it would be less got a call back and said they were wrong and it went up because I just went through a renewal. I pay for 6 months so I will be shopping before it’s due again.

I’m considering just dropping full coverage and going liability only on everything, I think it would be better in the long run unless a person has a brand new vehicle.

 

[torrey.harris.5]

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[torrey.harris.5]

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[expertwitness]

I work in the property and casualty insurance space. Unfortunately with the way reinsurance rates were set over the last few years it has been catching up with consumers and carriers have been taking rate everyone, even those with a clean loss history. State Farm was recently downgraded in California to a B rating which is a terrible sign.

I would recommend working with an independent agent with access to multiple different A+ rated carriers. You may be able to find a better deal, but you may also find that the 250 dollar increase wasn't bad compared with the other quotes you obtain. There isn't much your agent can control when it comes to rate other than giving you good risk management advice and only filing claims for serious losses. In hindsight I probably would not have turned in that 2500 claim, but I also understand it's frustrating to pay for insurance and not be able to use it for something like that.

A side note about business insurance - depending on the size of your company it is generally not advised to shop every year. It also does not always make sense to ask for quotes with multiple agents - reason being, once you approach a carrier, every other agent is blocked from accessing that carrier. Pick one agent you want to represent you, let them approach each carrier and negotiate on your behalf. If the underwriters that work at these carriers see that you shop frequently and have multiple agencies spamming your account across the board, they might not take you seriously or decline to quote your account all together.

 

[MuleyFever]

You should shop around with a broker every few years.

 

[Crusader]

We have 5 vehicles and house to insure, bundled together. For years had American Family then about 10-12 years ago shopped around and better deal with Safeco. Three years ago daughter got married and son in law was shopping for insurance, I recommended Safeco. He got a better deal with State Farm so I looked into it and found the same thing so we switched to SF. Happy so far, rates haven't gone up much in the last few years, though no claims on cars or house. We're in Missouri (STL region), for reference.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

We have been with the same Co. for many, many years. So far, when we shop around ours is still the best rate for the same coverage. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

 

[Schism]

There isn't much your agent can control when it comes to rate other than giving you good risk management advice and only filing claims for serious losses. In hindsight I probably would not have turned in that 2500 claim, but I also understand it's frustrating to pay for insurance and not be able to use it for something like that.

This is what irritates and confuses me. It irritates me because actually using the insurance that often times has been paid on time and in full for many years or decades results in premium increases if a claim is filed. It confuses me because we are often "encouraged" to carry policies with $500 or $1000 deductibles but then told not to file claims of $2500 for example. Why then not increase the deductible to $2500 or more since we are encouraged not to file those claims anyway?

 

[ramsdude47]

You should shop around with a broker every few years.

100% this is the answer. Stick with a big name, but switch it up every 2 or 3 years. They can say whatever they want but they jack their rates up because people get comfortable, set their bills on autopay, etc.

I was shocked how much my rate dropped when I switched from Farmers. And every single competitor was lower by a fair amount for the same exact coverage.

 

[expertwitness]

This is what irritates and confuses me. It irritates me because actually using the insurance that often times has been paid on time and in full for many years or decades results in premium increases if a claim is filed. It confuses me because we are often "encouraged" to carry policies with $500 or $1000 deductibles but then told not to file claims of $2500 for example. Why then not increase the deductible to $2500 or more since we are encouraged not to file those claims anyway?

That is what many businesses and individuals have actually been doing as a way of retaining more risk but saving money (albeit not very much) money.

Keep in mind claim frequency matters more than claim severity. If they see a series of small claims, they're much more likely to non-renew you or take big rate then if you only have 1 shock loss. Different perils are also treated with higher scrutiny (eg. a water claim from a burst pipe is worse than a hail claim you had no control over). The increases you are seeing on people that have clean loss history aren't due to anything they did wrong, it's due to the actuaries not pricing the insurance product adequately enough along with social inflation (frivolous lawsuits), cost of goods, natural disasters and reinsurance.

It's difficult to predict future losses because many losses (mainly liability claims, property claims are usually settled quickly) aren't reported until much later. If you look at the combined ratio (basically whether the insurance carrier made a profit or not) of many, they are all over 100%, which means they had an underwriting loss and only made money with investment income. Many have no choice but to adjust rates or further risk insolvency down the line.

 

[Ross]

@expertwitness would read his posts twice. I retired from Safeco as property adjuster last year after 30 yrs. Many variables go into the rate process and as the cost of everything has risen that means the cost of repair has risen, thus loss ratios and is then passed on to us. Sometimes the cheaper rate will seem great but you better Read the fine print of the policy. Do you have replacement on both home and contents, what are your internal limits, is there a roof schedule, do you have a specific % deductible for hail events, is there a specific sump endorsement. Lots and lots of things within a policy that an agent can help guide you with. Two years ago my rate in Wa went way up, I called and found out the silly stupid insurance commissioner no longer allowed credit use in the black box as it was discrimatory rates went up for those with good credit. Many many things affect rates. Know what you are buying and don’t plead ignorance when your theft limit for jewelry is $1000 it is up to you to know what you bought and not just throw the policy in the draw Good luck