Yearly Insurance renewal - Progressive vs Auto Owners

[jdcyclone19]

I use an independent agent for my insurance needs (home, auto, umbrella). I price check every year and if its less than $100/year I typically don't bother with it. However, every 2 years I do an in-depth review and search. I priced with another independent agent this year - just to make sure my agent is doing the best job for me. They actually came back pretty close and recommended the same company. Never hurts to make sure your agent is being honest.

I will be switching from Nationwide, who I've been with for the past two years, due to rising premiums. I will be saving ~$350/year due to switching. The question is, apples to apple for the most part on coverages the choice is between Progressive and Auto Owners, they're only a few dollars different.

Has anyone used either of these companies and would like to share your experiences? Leaning towards the auto owners because the umbrella seems to extend a bit more, is more flexible, and they have been ranked highly from JD Powers (even with as little faith as I normally put into those type of surveys). They also just seem to have a bit more coverage items and perks built into the insurance than progressive.
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[cytech]

If it is between progressive and auto owners, I would definitely go with progressive.

I have dealt with claims people with both companies, and I have had horrible experiences with Auto Owners.

Previously when I had Auto Owners, they were insuring my cleaning company. I had a person make a bogus claim against me 6 months after he claimed the incident happened. He claimed to get my detergent in his eye when I was cleaning a house. Not only did Auto Owners deny the claim because I used soap in the process of cleaning, they never even investigated the claim in the first place. If they had investigated the claim they would of found he had went to 3 doctors and none of them supported that he had an eye injury.

So I had to file a lawsuit against Auto Owners to force them to cover me, which they did do after I filled a lawsuit.

So I would highly recommend avoiding Auto Owners insurance at all cost.

 

[ISUAlum2002]

If it is between progressive and auto owners, I would definitely go with progressive.

I have dealt with claims people with both companies, and I have had horrible experiences with Auto Owners.

Previously when I had Auto Owners, they were insuring my cleaning company. I had a person make a bogus claim against me 6 months after he claimed the incident happened. He claimed to get my detergent in his eye when I was cleaning a house. Not only did Auto Owners deny the claim because I used soap in the process of cleaning, they never even investigated the claim in the first place. If they had investigated the claim they would of found he had went to 3 doctors and none of them supported that he had an eye injury.

So I had to file a lawsuit against Auto Owners to force them to cover me, which they did do after I filled a lawsuit.

So I would highly recommend avoiding Auto Owners insurance at all cost.

I'm not quite understanding what happened there. They denied the bogus claim made by someone else, but then you sued Auto Owners to force them to cover you for said bogus claim?

 

[khardbored]

I'm not quite understanding what happened there. They denied the bogus claim made by someone else, but then you sued Auto Owners to force them to cover you for said bogus claim?

I think rather than use the word "deny," what he meant is Auto-Owner's refused to provide coverage to the company he owned for the incident at first. IE, refused to take it on an an insurable matter.

But yeah, would like to hear more clarification.

 

[TOFB4ISU]

Isn't the role of all insurance companies to do all it takes to deny claims?

 

[nfrine]

Nationwide has been very expensive. When I reviewed my policy several years ago (car, home, rental property, boat) it was over $1,000 higher than State Farm, West Bend and Farmers for the same coverage. I guess sponsoring Dale Earnhart Jr was costly.

 

[jdcyclone19]

Nationwide has been very expensive. When I reviewed my policy several years ago (car, home, rental property, boat) it was over $1,000 higher than State Farm, West Bend and Farmers for the same coverage. I guess sponsoring Dale Earnhart Jr was costly.

I actually switched from State Farm to Nationwide. At the time Nationwide was the cheapest option surprisingly.

 

[Macloney]

I've had Auto-Owners for about 10 years and the only claim I have made was for a no-fault 2 mile an hour back-up that caused a $2200 dent to my trunk deck lid that was maybe the size of a golf ball.

They paid it immediately and were a pleasure to deal with. I would highly recommend.

 

[UnCytely]

I've had Auto-Owners for about 10 years and the only claim I have made was for a no-fault 2 mile an hour back-up that caused a $2200 dent to my trunk deck lid that was maybe the size of a golf ball.

They paid it immediately and were a pleasure to deal with. I would highly recommend.

A 2-mph collision caused $2,200 damage? They sure don't make trucks like they used do.

 

[Cydkar]

We've had 2 major accidents in the last 1.5 years and the claim response was outstanding with State Farm. I'm tempted to review the price I pay but I hate to give up the service I've gotten. I'll take a look and decide after.

 

[BCClone]

A 2-mph collision caused $2,200 damage? They sure don't make trucks like they used do.

Never seen a truck with a trunk

 

[khardbored]

Isn't the role of all insurance companies to do all it takes to deny claims?

Not really . . . think it over. Even if you assume they are all corrupt and shady, they still have to approve a good % of claims to avoid their reputation being ruined. Insurance companies live or die by reputation (in part). If they denied everything or almost everything, word would get around and they would lose all their business.

There has to be a balance. Certainly some are better at getting that right than others.

 

[cyclonestans]

A 2-mph collision caused $2,200 damage? They sure don't make trucks like they used do.

This is a big reason why insurance rates are going up all over the place. You can have $200 in damages but they labor ends up being $2000. For the most part all of the claims I have taken a look at the labor is 10x more than the damage.

 

[wxman1]

We have had progressive for six years or so with good experiences the whole time. We have had several claims in that period that includes one totaled, one door ding of another vehicle that was my fault, and one back up incident that was mutual fault that they fought with the other insurance (State Farm) to get to that point as state farm was not playing ball. With that our coverage for a 2016 Sienna and a 2013 Accord will be dropping $20/month to just above when we both drove beater cars when we got married.

 

[ruxCYtable]

As an independent agent myself, I can tell you that Nationwide has gone way downhill in just about every category since completing their merger with Allied. My agency cancelled its contract with Nationwide, as have some others in our area.

I sell both Auto-Owners and Progressive. They are both excellent companies. A lot of agents don't like Progressive because they pay a lower commission rate, but they have excellent claims service and their new homeowner's product -- offered through subsidiary ASI -- is a good product.

Auto-Owners is always near the top of the customer satisfaction ratings. The book on them is they're real good with the routine stuff, which would apply to most personal lines customers, but they are iffy on the commercial side.

Hope this was somewhat helpful.

 

[isu81]

We've had 2 major accidents in the last 1.5 years and the claim response was outstanding with State Farm. I'm tempted to review the price I pay but I hate to give up the service I've gotten. I'll take a look and decide after.

I feel the same way with regard to Nationwide. They are outstanding to work with. They also were the cheapest option when I last priced it.

 

[TheJackWePack5]

This is a big reason why insurance rates are going up all over the place. You can have $200 in damages but they labor ends up being $2000. For the most part all of the claims I have taken a look at the labor is 10x more than the damage.

This is the right answer. I had a fender bender last Spring. Labor was legitimately 2/3 of the cost.

 

[ruxCYtable]

This is the right answer. I had a fender bender last Spring. Labor was legitimately 2/3 of the cost.

Another reason is fraud. I was in a training class recently in which it was stated up to 70% of insurance claims are at least partially fraudulent.

I slid on ice and barely scraped the side of another vehicle a few weeks ago. There was no perceivable impact. The damage to the other vehicle was paint-only, about $800. I filed a claim because if it's less than $1,000 it doesn't count against me. Well now the other party is going to chiropractors and physical therapy. Complete and total scam.

 

[wxman1]

Another reason is fraud. I was in a training class recently in which it was stated up to 70% of insurance claims are at least partially fraudulent.

I slid on ice and barely scraped the side of another vehicle a few weeks ago. There was no perceivable impact. The damage to the other vehicle was paint-only, about $800. I filed a claim because if it's less than $1,000 it doesn't count against me. Well now the other party is going to chiropractors and physical therapy. Complete and total scam.

Last year I had my hands full and lost the grip of my door. The wind caught it enough to make contact (not hard) with the car next to me. Of course that lady had pulled in right after me and was still in her vehicle. She flipped out "Oh my gosh oh my gosh what did you do?!?!?" Like I am dumb enough to purposefully make contact with another persons vehicle especially with them sitting in it. I thought I had calmed the situation down and after looking at the damage it didn't look bad. Like you could hardly see scratches and offered to pay for some touch up paint. That was at noon. By 5 she called and said she took it to a body shop and they told her it was a deep scratch that would cost around $1,200 to get it fixed. I told her to go to another place that I trust and they had about the same estimate.

 

[TheJackWePack5]

Another reason is fraud. I was in a training class recently in which it was stated up to 70% of insurance claims are at least partially fraudulent.

I slid on ice and barely scraped the side of another vehicle a few weeks ago. There was no perceivable impact. The damage to the other vehicle was paint-only, about $800. I filed a claim because if it's less than $1,000 it doesn't count against me. Well now the other party is going to chiropractors and physical therapy. Complete and total scam.

There certainly are cases of that.

I had to get video surveillance of my incident to prove legitimacy. Luckily, it was in a Hyvee parking lot so that wasn't difficult to do.