Lets talk....insurance

[DaveTN]

3 hours ago, walthermitty said:

The big name companies seem (to me) to have fewer complaints than others.  And, lower rates do no good, if a righteous claim is denied, or used against you.  

Exactly, and therein lies the catch. I have no doubt I could get a better price on my insurance. But at what cost? If I have trouble getting a claim settled, or if they don’t fully back me in an accident that was my fault; it may be more expensive.

[jpx2rk]

I "kinda" track my annual insurance expense(s) by the renewal premiums (comparing last yr to the current bill) but also have the history going back about 10 yrs or so.  House insurance has basically doubled from 05 to current yr, just 2 companies and one claim from a hail storm (new roof on house and detached garage).  Car insurance has done basically the same if not more, I've had 2 accidents in 15 months (neither my fault) and the premiums have gone up, but not any more than before my 2 boo-boo's.   One agent when questioned about the increases, stated it was because of the tornadoes/hurricanes/pick your disaster that occur where they write insurance polices, and they spread the costs around.  Kinda sucks but I guess it is better than keeping the cost adjustments to "in state" to some extent.  If TN doesn't have any disasters, we still get to pay for those hurricanes and such in other states.

[Jeb48]

Just remembered one other rate increase event that y'all should watch for. A while back when Experian had the big security leak I put a lock on my credit reports. When my insurance policies came due I noticed one had increased a lot. I contact my agent and he said he would check and get back. A few days later he called and said that rates were partially based on my credit rating and the lock had sent back an error that they had interpreted as a big drop in credit rating. When they fixed that, the bill dropped back to about what it had been the year before. I then had him check my other policies and they had done the same thing and I just didn't notice so they send me a refund check.

[No_0ne]

8 hours ago, walthermitty said:

Every time I've asked why my rates increased, the explanations included something that led me to believe that they were based on state claims.  And, I was under the impression that rates had to be based on state claims.  Regardless, I've never been able to negotiate lowering a rate.  The agent basically says "pound sand."  And, the insurance company will never release anything close to full disclosure.  For all intents and purposes, it doesn't matter.  Accept the increase, or shop for another carrier.  

A google search of complaints against insurance companies is scary, however.  The big name companies seem (to me) to have fewer complaints than others.  And, lower rates do no good, if a righteous claim is denied, or used against you.  

Underwriters don't sell policies, they sell "insurance for insurers".  Their rates are based on total outlays worldwide, so when events occur which drive the underwriters costs up, this gets passed on to insurance companies, increasing their overhead. Thus, while technically your insurance company may be restricted by state rules from basing rates on out-of-states claims, the price they charge may be increased across the board due to increased fees from the underwriters.  One example, home insurance across the nation went up after the financial crisis when AIG (who happens to own one of the world's largest underwriting services) had their near-bankruptcy due to CDO losses, something totally unrelated to claims by individual policy-holders ...

[No_0ne]

double post deleted.

Edited April 22, 2019 by No_0ne

[Slappy]

Give Zander Insurance a call. It’s who Dave Ramsey recommends. I was exclusively with State Farm (family friend agent) at all the minimum liability coverages. No accidents....I called Zander and was able to max out all my coverages and add a $1m umbrella policy AND save a couple hundred a year. Incredible. 

Insurance brokers definitely the way to go. And if you go with zander, they reshop your insurance every year to make sure you keep paying the best price. They only work with insurance companies they have properly vetted so you’ll get a quality product no matter who you end up getting coverage with. 

[tnhawk]

On 4/11/2019 at 10:41 AM, walthermitty said:

State Farm, with zero claims, increased my premiums (well above inflation) for years.  Ten years in, after a particularly high increase, I changed to USAA.  They have pulled a couple of unusual moves, but I have been happy with them for more than 10 years, now.  

I say stick to a big name brand.  And, you really need to wait until you have 3 years accident free before shopping.  JMHO

I had a similar experience with State Farm.  After getting a quote from USAA, I've been with them for several years.

[walthermitty]

Be careful with brokers. just sayin ………… I was an insurance broker with Corroon &Black in the late '70s to '80s.  We had problems.  A business would want to change companies because of rates or they thought a claim should have been worth more $$.  We were never able to match coverage exactly, and always experienced future problems that the insurance company didn't go over correctly.  Bottom lines kept shifting.  A lawyer would probably cost more than changing insurance companies.  May have changed since then; I'm betting it hasn't.  However, I've forgotten more than I ever knew (if that's possible.)

Edited April 27, 2019 by walthermitty

[Oh Shoot]

20 hours ago, walthermitty said:

Be careful with brokers. just sayin ………… I was an insurance broker with Corroon &Black in the late '70s to '80s.  We had problems.  A business would want to change companies because of rates or they thought a claim should have been worth more $$.  We were never able to match coverage exactly, and always experienced future problems that the insurance company didn't go over correctly.  Bottom lines kept shifting.  A lawyer would probably cost more than changing insurance companies.  May have changed since then; I'm betting it hasn't.  However, I've forgotten more than I ever knew (if that's possible.)

I don't understand how a policy through a broker has "problems"?

Meaning, you get a policy (which is actually a contract) from an insurance company stating the coverage and terms, same as if you got it directly from that company, so?

- OS