Triple-H

Well it's about time for my 6-month car insurance policy to expire- end of October/first of November

I have had a horrible experience with Allstate regarding my home owner's policy, they sort of held me over a barrel and promised they would drop me if I did not do certain things to the house, in a frighteningly short time period. I was able to do the things requested and although I could not meet their impossible schedule I was clearly able to demonstrate I was trying, the speed of my home contractor sort of also had me over the same barrel. Good news though this issue is all behind me and my home owner's policy is fine, but I cannot forget the hell they put me through.

At this point in time I have my cars and truck with Allstate as well, and it's my opinion that they should now loose my entire account, and I want to begin with the car/truck portion.

Here are my questions, any reply would be appreciated.

1- Do you have your car(s) and your home together?
2- If you have your car(s) and home separate why have you done this?
3- What is/are your insurance company or companies, and which policies do you have with them?
4- How long have you been with this/these company or companies?
5- Are you happy with your company or companies and would you recommend them?

Thanks in advance

NNY S2k

Doug, I have separate companies for house/vehicles. I guess it goes back to the early 80's when Metropolitan wouldn't cover my Trans Am. I dropped them shortly thereafter.
I suggest you go to a local insurance agency that represents a bunch of differant companies and have them work numbers with differant outfits. I have a differant agency for both the car & home and they both check for current rates etc. My insurance companies seem get switched around every few years.
At 1 time I had Allstate for auto ins. till their rates went super crazy when my kid became driving age....man that was 16 yrs ago! How time flies.
Good luck
Levi

Conedodger

1- Do you have your car(s) and your home together? Yes
2- If you have your car(s) and home separate why have you done this? N/A
3- What is/are your insurance company or companies, and which policies do you have with them? Hartford for cars and house. Progressive for VFR.
4- How long have you been with this/these company or companies? Hartford-2 years, Progressive-10+ years
5- Are you happy with your company or companies and would you recommend them? Haven't had any claims, so no contact other than bills every 6 months

I was a loyal Allstate customer for many years. Their rates were steadily climbing. Hartford gave me better coverage on the cars for 40% less. The house coverage was about the same.

jsenclosure

I have Allstate for everything. I recently called around and they've got anyone else beat by at least $1000 a year. Plus, they insure my caged car, which a couple places won't.

Crazy_Schizo

1) Yes
2) N/A
3) USAA - I do all my auto & home insurance with them, plus banking and investments
4) 10+ years
5) Extremely happy. Will I pay a bit more with USAA? Maybe, but they are non-profit, and at the end of the year I usually get a check from them because they took in more insurance payments than they paid out in claims. With the recent hail damage on the car, I just picked my shop, took it in, and they do all the work. They really didn't ask me any questions or make me jump through hoops. I also had a recent claim on the house for the water damage for the leaking roof. One visit by the adjuster, and I had a check from them in days.

Is it worth saving a few bucks to later fight the insurance company when you make a claim? In my case, I say no.

Triple-H

Thanks all
I need to start shopping around

NH_s2k_Guy

1- Do you have your car(s) and your home together? No

2- If you have your car(s) and home separate why have you done this? Had Allstate for 22 years for the house, cars have just always been under another company, no particular reason, moved all my cars to Progressive years ago because that's where my motorcycle insurance was.

3- What is/are your insurance company or companies, and which policies do you have with them? See above

4- How long have you been with this/these company or companies? Allstate: 22+ years, Progressive: 14+

5- Are you happy with your company or companies and would you recommend them? Never had a claim with Allstate, Progressive I would recommend because I filed my claim for the hail damage on a Sunday and even with the question about replacing the tail light, I had a check AND had all repairs done less than 5 days later.

Riche

For your home take a look at:
New York Central Mutual Fire Insurance Company
1899 Central Plaza
East Edmeston, NY 13335
1-888-234-6926

Testut

1- Do you have your car(s) and your home together? Yes
2- If you have your car(s) and home separate why have you done this? N/A
3- What is/are your insurance company or companies, and which policies do you have with them? AMICA for cars, house and umbrella.
4- How long have you been with this/these company or companies? Amica-2 years, before that Allstate-5 years and State Farm 33 years
5- Are you happy with your company or companies and would you recommend them? Definitely!

Doug, every 3-5 years I do a check to be certain that I'm getting a good deal. For many years, State Farm was pretty hard to beat and when it was I wasn't willing to give up what I thought was excellent claim service and personal attention. About six years ago my homeowners rates went up by almost 50% (and I'd never had a claim in 33 years). The agent gave an explanation, but it was clear he had absolutely no idea why, either, so I did a comparison and went with Allstate. The feel wasn't good, though. The local agent always referred me to an "800" number to answer questions, didn't understand any questions I had about my coverage, and they were always sending me forms about how many miles driven or asking me to resubmit information I had sent out several months before. I decided that I needed to switch again. AMICA was top rated in consumer service, their prices were comparable, and my contact actually seemed to understand the insurance business and my needs. What a concept!

Conedodger

I totally forgot about that. Allstate did that to me too. Always felt like they were trying to catch me in a lie, even though I was truthful on the questionnaires.