I've been with State Farm for a little over 7 years. We have home, car, life, and disability with them. I wouldn't be surprised if I could get coverage a little cheaper elsewhere, but IMO, a great agent makes a difference. We have had to file a few claims over the years, and my agent has always intervened on our behalf when the claims center tried to lowball us. In every case, they've been able to get things resolved in our favor with a few phone calls. Who knows...this could all be a big show for my benefit (and it's really standard fare to get things resolved when you press the issue). We moved about 30 miles away from our agent last year, and he told us that if we stayed with him, he'd drive out to meet us whenever needed. And so far, he's kept his word.

I do have my engagement & wedding rings insured with Chubb. No one can beat their personal valuables policy. I am thinking of getting a quote on their homeowner's coverage because we have a historic home, and I worry that State Farm wouldn't rebuild the house the way we want (my agent only has so much power). Chubb seems like they'd be more willing to replace things like my pricey millwork without a major fight.

tooshy said:Liberty Mutual will give an additional discount (10%) if you are a Penfed member or with a few other association affiliation. I recently requested a rate quote with AARP Hartford for auto but Liberty Mutual with the affiliate discount was cheaper.I also requested quotes from Ameriprise and AIG but LM was consistently lower....but this morning I saw a post in one of these FW threads (can't remember which one) that suggested GEICO with a Penfed discount, saved $200/yr.

Just to clarify, the savings weren't entirely from the Penfed discount (saved $100/yr), but probably due to different underwriting weights depending on your profile. So it pays to shop around every renewal. Also I earned 500 Delta skymiles for the Ameriprise quote & 250 Hawaiian miles for the AIG quote.

your pricing is really low rigor, doubt youd find better ANYWHERE else

To Rigor - two questions:

1) When was your house last inspected (or appraised) by Allstate?
2) What kind of replacement cost does your policy include? Is it Guaranteed or do they cap it at 150% or is it 80% of the amount listed on your policy page?

The ony reason I ask is because I saw 2 different news programs about Allstate being sued over underinsuring the home value (to keep premium down) and at the time of a total loss - not being able to rebuild the home.

Just curious if that great price includes coverages as good as my homeowners policy.
Thanks!

rigor said:how much are you guys paying? my house is covered at 300K (non-land) $400/year allstate.

so im curious if the savings are all that??

its a newer house with active alarm. Also has a extra $10-20K rider for bling.


just curious how much others are actually paying. i mean if i could save $200 off 400 thats great, but if you guys are paying alot more then that might not be so hot, do you mind sharing the actual cost per year?

I'm paying $432/yr on a ~$210k house with small alarm discount.

My house was hit by lightning in 2005 and approx. $4,500 after deductible of electronics were zapped from the strike. I just received a letter from State Farm that they were not renewing my coverage. I have been a State Farm customer for over 15 years. There was only one other claim and it occurred in 2003 from personal property of approximately $900 after deductible that was lost in a car fire. Long story short, thank you to everyone that recommended Erie Insurance. My coverage is substantially increased and my premiums decreased by approx. $150 per year.

Just a note for anybody from Massachusetts:

All auto rates in MA are set by the state, so shopping around is virtually useless. I learned this the hard way when I moved to MA from CT. I tried shopping around and the first problem I had is that many of the national carriers do not write policies in MA (including Geico, Allstate, Progressive, etc). There are a few that do though, including USAA and Liberty Mutual. The second problem is that once you find somebody to write a policy, all the rates are identical since the rates are set by the state. It is really screwed up here, and that is why so many insurers will not write auto policies in MA.

The only discounts that I know of is to belong to an association or group like an employer group discount, AAA, etc. This can be 5 to 10% discount. The second way is to have Multi-policy discounts (like having your auto and home with the same company).

There is much debate in MA politics to change this as MA is completely different than the other 49 states. One thing that I noticed is that if great drivers end up paying more than other states. Really bad drivers do pay substantially higher rates, but not as high as bad drivers in other states - so it really penalizes the good drivers and rewards the bad drivers (relative to other states). The other interesting thing is that since the rates are set by the state, no insurer can take into account your credit history or other external factors. I guess this is the one good thing (but, actually bad for me since I do have good credit).

Thanks for the Ameriprise auto insurance recommendation. I think its worth it to switch providers every couple years as chances are, your existing provider jacks up the rates every year. Anyway, I just signed up with Ameriprise and got two cars covered with Bodily Injury/Property Damage $100,000 / 300,000 / 100,000 coverage for just $282/6 months. This is much better coverage AND lower total price than my old insurance with Unitrin Direct.

They also have a discoutn on homeowners insurance if you have an auto policy with them. I have requested a quote but have not recieved one yet.

MarketVViz said:Thanks for the Ameriprise auto insurance recommendation. I think its worth it to switch providers every couple years as chances are, your existing provider jacks up the rates every year. Anyway, I just signed up with Ameriprise and got two cars covered with Bodily Injury/Property Damage $100,000 / 300,000 / 100,000 coverage for just $282/6 months. This is much better coverage AND lower total price than my old insurance with Unitrin Direct.

They also have a discoutn on homeowners insurance if you have an auto policy with them. I have requested a quote but have not recieved one yet.

MarketVViz, The rate that you received is one of the best rates that i ever heard. Feeling jealous

Currently Iam with Unitrin Direct and Iam looking around.. Since we are paying $1200/6 months for two cars with Bodily Injury/Property Damage $100,000 / 300,000 / 100,000 coverage. This is ridiculous. I had very less driving record in US (nearly 2 years) so was declined a quote from Ameriprise last time when i contacted. They asked me to contact after few months when i will become eligible for their minimum driving experience in US.

Would like to know how long is ur driving record to get this quote?

If you have any tickets or other negative information on your car insurance, pay close attention to the dates.

Tickets are only supposed to be counted against you for 35 months (at least for me in MD), so if your tickets "expires" in the middle of your policy term, give them a call to see if they can adjust your premium. I just did this with my car insurance and I am getting about 6% back (~$30) of my 6-month premium . Not bad for a 10 minute phone call.