Who do you have your home and auto insurance with?

[cytech]

Home insurance is through Allied, Business auto is with Pekin, Business liability, building workmans comp, and umbrella is with westfield.

When I was in college and had a none company car I had progressive, my car was broken into and the claim process was great.

 

[CYdTracked]

Grinnell Mutual here but I am tempted to start shopping around again. I had great expirience with Progressive and if you are under 25 they are very competitive but switched once I turned 25 and other companies beat them out on pricing. But since my accident last winter (just my car and a phone pole trying to avoid an accident at the bottom of a snowy hill where a cop car already had the street blocked) they have really cranked up my rates so I'm tempted to see if someone else would undercut them enough to make me switch.

 

[cycopath25]

Auto and renter's insurance through Safeco

Motorcycle through Dairyland

 

[Clones85']

Nationwide Insurance Agent Adam Gray! That guy is the best! :wink:

 

[jdoggivjc]

State Farm for both home and auto. My family has used the same agent for years so he is familiar to us. Never had a problem with claims.

 

[heyguy85]

Grinnell Mutual. They had better prices for combined home/auto than State Farm here.

 

[jsb]

State Farm. Mostly happy with them and they have good rates. But did have a problem a few years ago. My 2001 car was hit in a hit and run in a parking lot while I slept. As I was thinking about getting a new car soon, I was unsure if I wanted to total it out or get it repaired. They were kind of crabby about sending out an adjuster who did an estimate of $2000 worth of repairs. $3000 would have totaled it out. I decide to get it repaired and the total ends up being $3500. Luckily I sold the car to a family member who knew about the damage and didn't care, but I would have been riddled with a salvage title if I didn't have that option.

 

[CycloneErik]

The key is go to an agent you trust. If there is ever a problem with a claim you want to make sure your agent has your back and is looking out for your best interest. The GEICOs of the world are OK for pricing but would be the first to stab you in the back on a claim because there is no direct relationship with the insured.

The 2 largest property and casualty writers in the state are State Farm and Nationwide (Allied). Since they are the largest in premium their swings are less volitile then the others (law of large numbers). Plus they are staffed very well in the state from a claims standpoint.

But again, go to an agent you trust first.... if you do not know one, call a friend who may. i would not recommend getting your insurance off the internet. That is when problems start to arise

I've had USAA for 20+ years. They don't have local offices, and thus no personal relationship with me as a customer. I have never had a single bit of trouble or delay. They are easy to work with on my part and on the part of whatever business I need to work with as well.

Before we were married, revkah had some other insurance company (don't remember which one), purchased by her parents through a local agent. We had to use it once, and got run around after run-around, delay after delay. It was a real nightmare to work with, and her family had been with that agent for a good 20 years or more.

It's not the local agent that matters. It's the company that you deal with.

 

[Clones85']

It's not the local agent that matters. It's the company that you deal with.

Take it back!!! :sad::wink:

 

[CycloneErik]

Take it back!!! :sad::wink:

Are you a local agent?

 

[Clones85']

Are you a local agent?

Yes sir

 

[CycloneErik]

Yes sir

See, I have a natural gift for finding those things out right after saying something.

I've only dealt with the one bad local agent. Otherwise, it's all been over the phone for me.

 

[CyPride]

I had State Farm for a long time, and didn't have any problems with them with a couple of claims on auto. Have Nationwide now and haven't had any claims, so no idea on how they handle everything.

Who do you have and what have your experiences been? I'm doing a little shopping around.

I would tell anyone and everyone I come in contact with to avoid state farm. good luck on claims, especially if it is an area that has been hit by a storm, etc. Personal experience.

 

[ISU42]

I call bs on Geico. They have very few office locations which keeps the prices very low and competitive. You can go on their website and get a quote in minutes. State Farm tends to be high, ill give you that one.

Think what you want about Geico. If you have had success with Geico, hats off to you. In my dealings, they have been higher.

 

[CySmitty]

When we moved back in to the county I shoped around a lot. I really wanted a local agent mostly because I would rather a local guy take a cut.

Long story short Progressive online beat out everyone by $100. They beat out State Farm by $300 and I got better coverage. My father sells Progressive and he love working with them. Says they are a great company. For my renters I ended up with Allstate because they could give me a 250 deductible and they would cover my bicycles. It pays to shop around.

 

[Clones85']

See, I have a natural gift for finding those things out right after saying something.

I've only dealt with the one bad local agent. Otherwise, it's all been over the phone for me.

Haha you have a talent that is for sure!

 

[JY07]

I originally had progressive with my car insurance and didn't have any problems with them...

A couple of months ago I bought a house, did some quotes, and ended up signing up with geico for home insurance, and switched to them for auto insurance (auto was about the same, but progressive was going to raise my rate; home insurance through geico was less than half of what progressive wanted)

I haven't had a claim through either, so I can't tell you anything service-wise how it's gone

 

[MoreCowbell]

Farm Bureau for everything. They've been great. Can't say how the prices are compared to others, but we've never had any issues.

 

[simply1]

I had a State Farm agent in Ames for a long time, thing is when I called I never talked to him, I talked to someone else who did what I wanted, so I don't really want that again. I don't mind the guy I work with now, however I think my rates are higher than I can get elsewhere while still having a comfortable relationship.

Like I said, it's a bit tough because I like this gentleman, but I've not had an adverse event since I've been there so I don't know how the claims handling is. It's all good when they're selling you stuff, it's how the commitment is handled that's most important to me.

Do local agents have any say at all in how a company handles you from a loss/claims perspective?

 

[simply1]

I appreciate all of the input, and even the solicitations via email. I'd make a "looking for a supermodel" thread if I thought I'd get solicitations for that, lol.