car / homeowner's insurance

[tea4me]

My car and homeowner's insurance is due in May. I have been with American Family for a couple of years now. I think I might shop around for a better price this time.

How often do you shop around for a better price?

Do you keep it local? (I lean towards local insurance agents thinking I might bet better customer service if needed.)

[Deleted]

I thought I would basically "bump" this for you since you hadn't gotten any responses.

My response won't be very helpful. My ex's whole family used Alfa, and the mantra was that you stayed with the same company forever, and they take care of you. I don't believe this nowadays, but I had a homeowners claim about a year ago so I'm not in a position to shop around. We also have an umbrella policy so it's easier if everything is with the same company.

Easier does not equal cheaper.

[sapphire12]

I have Erie for both car and home. I recently became eligible for USAA and had them run quotes for me. They couldn't touch my rates. The rep asked if I had been with the company for awhile and I said, "Yes". So I think some companies do give discounts for length of service. I also prefer Erie because my car policy is an annual policy and many insurance companies don't offer those. I'll check again this year when it's time to renew, but I don't see me leaving Erie unless I move to a state where Erie doesn't issue policies.

[jkapp]

I've had State Farm my entire life and they have treated me very well...I had one agent that really sucked, but every other one I've had has been great.

[frep]

I had state farm for 15 years. I bought a house in 2004 and in 2010 my home owners insurance premium was almost double what it started at with no claims on the property so I shopped around. I went with auto-owners insurance my annual homeowners insurance premium dropped around $250. For roughly the same coverage from what I could figure out and questions I had. Now my 2011 home insurance premium increased by 20% still with no claims. My auto insurance between the two were about the same.

[kimber45]

I will shop around every few years. I am with progressive for our autos and I can't remember who for our homeowners. We have a local agent that we deal with. It is very handy, easy to deal with and very prompt with changes, etc.

[illinicheme]

I've never had anything other than State Farm. They've treated me really well, so I haven't bothered to shop around. At this point, a potential few dollars savings isn't worth the hassle and the risk of ending up with a crappier service.

[alabamagal]

I have USAA. Even though there is no "local agent" they are the best about service. Every time I call their customer service is super helpful. I have auto (over 25 years!) with them, and a couple years ago switched my homeowners to them. Every time I have shopped around they have been the best. But even though they are great, there are some things that they don't insure (or don't want to insure) so they go up on the rates, basically so that you go elsewhere. My parents had this happen on their motor home insurance (they kept auto with USAA) and we had this happen with auto insurance for my husband's business vehicle (now with Progressive).

Their rates are low, and since they are non-profit, they usually return money back to all members in December, usually about 5% of the auto insurance rates for the year. They also allow you to pay monthly without any extra charge (this is important for me with auto insurance for 3 teen drivers and homeowners).

[lynnerself]

I am with State Farm also and haven't shopped around in over 20 years. Once a very long time ago I had someone else that dropped me like a hot potato after a fender bender.
State Farm has my home, 4 cars and umbrella.
We have had great service.
DH put the Miata in a ditch on a Sunday and had to call a random tow company to come tow us out.
We called our agent Monday and had a check for the tow bill by Friday.

[tskeeter]

While I haven't routinely shopped insurance every few years, I found out a year ago that you should probably do it every year or two. Last year I reduced my home owner's/earthquake premium by over $700. Shopped the insurance just for kicks, then went back to my existing carrier and had them re-calculate the premium based on the current replacement cost, not the peak of the market 2006 replacement cost from when we bought the house. I'm going to do the same thing this year, as I believe that construction costs have come down some more in my area.

[sheilaincali]

We have USAA and have had them since we got married in 1996. They have been great to work with. Shopping around premiums from time to time out of curiosity and we have never found anyone cheaper than them. We have home and auto through them, do some banking with them and have our car loan with them. I would highly recommend them to anyone that is eligible.

[Gardening Grandma]

I absolutely shop around every few years. I was with State Farm for over 20 years when I had a minor accident (my fault). They were awful. They insisted on paying only for third party parts (I had a Toyota and they refused to reimburse for Toyota parts). Although they've since changed their policy, I lost all loyalty to them. I've since switched to Safeco (saving about $300 overall) and so far am happy with their rates and service, but I will no longer be loyal to any insurance company. I shopped around last year, but did not find anyone (including State Farm) that could beat the rate I was paying.

[midjd]

I have Standard Mutual for both auto and home insurance... I'm pretty sure this is the best price, my mom is an agent and she ran a LOT of quotes for me. Prior to our move, we had Liberty Mutual for renters insurance and Progressive for auto.

Honestly, I am not crazy about Standard Mutual so far... a couple of weeks ago I got a bill dated 3/3, due date 3/31. The next day I got a bill with FINAL NOTICE in huge letters, dated 3/4, due 3/17. The bills were for different amounts, too. I REALLY liked Progressive, their online payment system was great and they were very responsive. Liberty Mutual was good, too. I guess you get what you pay for sometimes...

[DVM gone riding]

I too have state farm and have my whole life, being funny I haven't switched agents even though I live over 100 mi from my agent. They still know exactly who I am when I call, my parents have been with them 30+ yrs now and when you are in a wreck they send an adjuster to wherever you are anyway. I rarely shop around when I have I haven't found anything cheaper and they are good to me when I need them.

[DVM gone riding]

I think I would have to save a lot of money a month to make the hassle worth it to me and I don't see anyone doing that. My agent checks things for me yearly and my rates are usually dropping not increasing.

[rileyoday]

I shopped mine this year. I check every second year.
21st century for auto . not local
Prudential for home. local agent.

lowest price for my area in WV

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Another satisfied State Farm customer here. (We don't shop around.)

[TheOtherMe]

I don't shop around because I have been very happy with State Farm.

[hubertdavis]

I shop around for insurance every year at renewal time, though no one has been able to better the deal I get from The Hartford for both home and car insurance. The multi policy is a great way to get lower rates!

[bobosensei]

DH and I have USAA- we love them.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Another State Farm user here too. They were utterly outstanding last year when someone shot at my car with a pellet gun. I've not shopped for rates in the 10 years since I've been with them, but I'm not willing to quibble over a few $$ for excellent customer service.

[domeasingold]

Do yourself a favor. Shop around. Because we are in the internet age, it makes no sense to stay with a local agent.
Example, I was a loyal Allstate customer for 30 years. Bought new car, asked for quote. Asked the agent if this quote was best rate. Have three vehicles. With new car, rate increased 50%. Homeowners went up 20% same year. I have had no claims in last 10 years.
Shopped around. Because vehicles were GM, got a quote from GMAC. Rates quoted were 50% lower than previous Called my Allstate agent to cancel, he went balistic because he said I didn't give him a chance to be competitive. I told him he had 30 years to be competitive. GMAC also carries my homeowners now. Rate was same as Allstate but auto saved me $600 per year, and that was compared to Allstate before new car.

[Tiny]

I had State Farm for years and years without a claim.... and with premium staying pretty much the same year after year. But then my premium (on an 8 year old car) started jumping every year (by like $50.00!) and then I had a fender bender - where I lived with the dent/scrape on my 8 year old car and my premium really jumped - so I switched over to AllState (my insurance dropped nearly $400!!). A couple years later I got a new car (and my premium went up as expected as I had a loan) and 10 months later something flew up off the expressway (when the car infront of me switched lanes) damaged the hood of my car. I had good service and my car was fixed - and my premium didn't go up. It's been 10 years with All State (same car as got damaged) and last year I noticed my premiums are creeping up... I'll be checking Insurance prices in the Fall - State Farm sent me a dozen "Please come back" mails this months... I'm probably paying $200 or $300 more than I ought to.

FWIW: those two incidents I related have been the ONLY time I've needed to talk to my insurance agent - other than when I purchased the insurance - in over 25 years....