OT: Who's your insurance provider?

[GloryDawg]

USAA base rates before dividends are consistently among the lowest in the business. It's a true non-profit, owned by the members. Their dividend is more like what other insurance companies pay to their stockholders than what other insurance companies pay as a policy dividend. This year, we got policy dividends monthly and an annual dividend at the end of the year.

Then they are a mutual company of what version casualty companies are. . An Stock company would be the one with participating. I do not know anything about USAA. They have good rates and it use to be better when they only allowed military officers. I am a veteran but it is not about price to me. It's about service and my company provides the best service. My parents have always been with them and I am with them. If my house is damaged they are there that day with a emergency check working the claim. If I wreck my car they are there the next day. If I have a accident with another person with insurance with the same company all deductible are waived. Just like everyone else I can down load a app to reduce my deductible. Everyone needs to go with who they like.

 

[dawgdreamin]

Independent insurance agent here.... the State Farm’s, farm bureau’s, Allstate’s, USAA’s are good companies, but you really limit yourself trying to find the best price unless you’re calling around every couple years and shopping it yourself. A good independent agent should be shopping your account every couple years to make sure he is providing you with the best price from a reputable company. Typically I move my account every 3 years or so.

 

[Trojanbulldog19]

Been with State Farm for 18 years. Had a couple of vehicle claims. Deductible was better than cost. I had a major claim fro a fire 10 years ago. My agent helped a lot to make sure we got everything taken care of. Since then I’ve felt like they’ve paid me back for premiums I’ve pid them through the years. Wife qualifies for USAA so we have thought about changing to that.

 

[HeCannotGo]

I was with Alfa for home and auto for about 20 years. My agent retired about two years ago, and I shopped around. Biggest lesson learned was that each major company has its loss leader on one type of coverage and claws it back on another. For me, State Farm was easily the best deal on auto coverage but one of the worst on homeowners. Allstate was the opposite. I ended up splitting my business and saved money even after losing some multipolicy discounts. And if you have a boat, umbrella, second home, etc., you can still probably get a multipolicy discount with both providers.

The added benefit to this was each of State Farm and Allstate aggressively competed for the business they didn't have. I'm now with State Farm for everything. I pay more than market for homeowners insurance but the savings on auto easily makes up for the difference.

 

[SSBGDog]

I work for SouthGroup in Biloxi. I’ve been an agent for more than 16 years. Coastal ins is complicated and expensive. I am the only certified ins councilor & certified personal risk mgr in the entire state. I specialize in new construction, large accounts, and high net worth clients. 228-220-1402 is my office number.

 

[grinnindawg]

Had a smart guy tell me to shop all your policies at least once every 2 years. He did it once a year.
Accountant isn't up for that so we do it every 2.

I like having auto, home, boat, and umbrella all with one company.
The past few: Geico(Travelers home), State Farm, Progressive, State Farm, Geico, State Farm
Travelers was a pain to deal with. Progressive was easy. Never had a claim with SF.

Every iteration has knocked $300 to $900 off the bill at the time.
I need to pay more attention to the creep up that seems to go on.

 

[SwampDawg]

State Farm is the worst. Avoid at all costs! Currently use Safeco, which is Liberty Mutual. No problems.

Agree about State Farm. Horrible experiences.

 

[jdbulldog]

State Farm has been great for us. We have been with our local agent over 20 years. We have had claims and they have promptly and fairly paid them. We would not change for lower premiums. Through my work I have seen quite a few occasions when carriers were downright ridiculous in the way the stances they took.

 

[dawgman42]

This is exactly what you do.

 

[MSUDAWGFAN]

I can disprove your final sentence easily with this post. I've had State Farm since 1994. Everything's been copacetic. My homeowners is a little more expensive than others, but they have good customer service and took care of me when we had the tornado claim last year.

I had myself, the wife, and the daughter on the auto policy and was paying about 350/month. Got my son a used car and added him to the insurance when he turned 16 last month. My insurance went up to 780/month. Ridiculous. I got quotes from six different insurance companies and every one of them can beat State Farm's rate by at least 300/month at this point.

I expected insurance to go up. I didn't expect it to more than double. So much for taking care of longtime customers.

If we held annoying commercials against insurance companies, nobody would have insurance. But I like what I see from Liberty Mutual and I have a neighbor who can't say enough nice things about them. Their monthly rate quoted is only slightly higher than my original rate was with State Farm.

I can disprove it also. I was a lifetime State Farm customer until a year and a half ago. I filed a roof claim and my agent suggested I get 2 roofers out to my house that he trusted. He said he trusted them more than he even trusted himself. They both said there is significant hail damage on my then house. The adjuster comes out and says it is not hail damage and won't pay the claim. When I moved, I didn't give the agent a chance to give me a price on my new house and he asked why. I told him that when it's time to pay a claim, I can do one of 2 things. I can either take it or I can vote with my wallet and I'm doing the latter. He said he can't blame me.

I had never had a claim and this one was legit. Even my agent said he thought it was too. I thought I was switching over to Alfa, but both my house and cars were sent to Progressive, but we switched to Alfa. My wife had a claim under Progressive and they almost had to salvage the van, but under MS law they didn't have to. When I spoke to the body shop owner, I asked about Progressive and he said they tried to get him to cut corners but he couldn't do it as it would make the vehicle unsafe. I said I was switching to Alfa and his comment to me was "Alfa is your best insurance, partner. They would fix this up no questions asked."

 

[catvet]

I have had Shelter for the past 15 years and am very satisfied. Three companies I'd stay away from due to terrible service or not taking care of their clients would be GEICO, Alfa and Farmers. GEICO is great for paying low bills until you actually need them and they will screw you over at that point. Alfa and Farmers make you do most of the work after a claim which makes you wonder why you need them at all. Progressive was good when I had them. But the main reason any of them are worth having is the agent. Doenst matter the company, if the agent works for you then that's who you need to be with.

 

[KentuckyDawg13]

USAA. My dad was in the military.

 

[dawgstudent]

Farm Bureau. Go with the home team.

 

[rem101]

You don't have to go through the wind pool. 2% could also be available. Several options available depending on age, value, etc.

 

[rem101]

I tell people all the time uninsured/underinsured motorist is probably the most important coverage in MS due to the amount of people driving around with state min limits or no coverage at all.

Umbrella is smart for the money as well.

 

[BigBully]

Following.....

I have LM and about to switch to Geico.....LM kept raising rates even though I haven't had any claims.

 

[Drebin]

Following.....

I have LM and about to switch to Geico.....LM kept raising rates even though I haven't had any claims.

I bit the bullet and went with LM because their rates are low. But I will be watching and will switch to something else if they start raising them. I appreciate all the feedback in this thread.

The main reason I selected LM is because my neighbor strongly recommends them and they did a good job with him when a tornado came to visit our area last year.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

Do you get reimbursed by insurance on new sales only or on recurring business? Always wondered how the compensation worked for independents.

 

[fishwater99]

Farm Bureau. Go with the home team.

Tell them DS sent you.