Talk to me about Insurance: Auto, Home, personal liability

[adrenalated]

A couple of points. If you are not the driver at fault your insurer should cover your repairs minus your deductible right away. They then go to the other driver's insurance and get reimbursed for their cost plus you get your deductible back. At least that's how it works in CA. (Pro tip--never get hit by someone who has the same insurance company as you or you will find yourself 50% at fault.)

Yes I know this was an option. Few things:
1) only works if you carry collision (I do on this vehicle but don't on all vehicles)
2) it's in my best interest to not have a claim on my insurance regardless of fault
3) I had no desire to be out my deductible, even temporarily
4) the at fault insurance company should sack the fuck up and admit fault, not try to fuck around and weasel their way out of it.

State Farm is probably just the same as all the others (edit: as Danno's story above illustrates) but so far they're the only one to try and fuck me, so I won't be giving them my business.

Edit 2: I switched to Progressive briefly for auto and they pulled the bait and switch rate increase described by others.

[Danno]

State Farm is probably just the same as all the others (edit: as Danno's story above illustrates) but so far they're the only one to try and fuck me, so I won't be giving them my business.

Heh, the wife won't let me even consider Geico when I go shopping, for the same reason.

[evdog]

A couple of points. If you are not the driver at fault your insurer should cover your repairs minus your deductible right away. They then go to the other driver's insurance and get reimbursed for their cost plus you get your deductible back. At least that's how it works in CA. (Pro tip--never get hit by someone who has the same insurance company as you or you will find yourself 50% at fault.)

Had this happen when I was with State Farm. Had a crash where the other driver was 100% at fault and was also with State Farm. It took about six months of harassing them to get my deductible back. Had I not pursued it I never would have seen the money again.

My state farm rep didn't do shit when they dropped me from homeowners. 20+ year customer. Problem is they only look at the liability based on each property owned. I was a policy holder both auto and home owners since 1996 different homes though (NJ 2x and Utah). 2 pipe/flood claim issues over last 10 years. Like just under $20k and see ya. Didn't look at any customer history..nothing. in 20 years the above 2 claims and 2 small (under 10k) car claims. Nothing more. You're always one claim away from being dropped. It's numbers now, not customer service.

That's what happened to me too. My truck got broken into one year while on a road trip, bunch of stuff stolen. Two years later had a bike stolen. Both were claims on my renter's insurance at about $3k each. State Farm was awesome to deal with on both claims, very happy with that part of it. Before claim #2 I asked if making the claim would cause my rates to go up. They said no. What they didn't say is that they would decline to renew my policy. Found out the hard way that if you have 2 claims on a renters/homeowner policy in a five year period a lot of companies won't insure you - with three claims pretty much none will. Not sure this applies to all types of claims on those policies but definitely applies to theft claims. I got an insurance agent who found me a new renters policy, can't recall who with - but it was double the rate I had with State Farm for the same coverage. Dropped State Farm for auto at that point.

Now have homeowner and auto insurance with Safeco. They've been good so far, one claim for hitting a deer. But they keep raising my rates. I should be out of the 5-year window from my last claim later this year, so will do some shopping at that point. Anyone use Mercury? Have heard good things about them....

[hutash]

Having just had my house and autos/motorcycles burn down, plus totaling a car a week later, I have dealt with a lot of insurance lately. Still anecdotal, but this was my experience. Home was insurance with Travelers, an they are doing a great job so far. Quick to pay out money, and admit we deserve pay out of our total policy, then just write us a several 100K check. Still dealing with the personal contents part, but they will likely pay maximum on that soon as well. Motorcycle was with progressive...quick pay out for what the bike was worth plus panniers and upgrades. They actually paid more then the bike was worth Cars were with Mercury, and they sucked every step of the way an will soon be short one customer. Two claims, one for the fire and one for the accident and both were a nightmare of hassles and shitty adjusters. One got settled amicably, the other I got screwed on, but got tired of fighting. I did manage to get my pay up increased $2,500, but still a couple K short of what I should have got.

I have been talking to a lot of Thomas fire victims, (nearly 1,000 homes lots), and most of the complaints I hear are about State Farm. Much slower to pay out, an ore hassles. The partial victims, i.e. smoke damage, or just a small amount of fire damage, have been the ones getting screwed the worst by State Farm an others. Farmers, Allstate, Autoclub, USAA, all are common in the area and have done an okay job, but not stellar from reports.

We are involved in a lawsuit against SCE, who started the fire, so have been talking with lawyers, retired insurance adjusters, and such, an they all think your average insurance companies pretty much suck. Some of the best in their experience has been Chubb, and Travelers, and a third I can't recall (AIG maybe?). You pay more in premiums, but get much better service when the time comes. Like most things in life, you get what you pay for. Absolutely stay away from cut rate insurers like General. The law firm we are with has litigated 100's of millions of dollars worth of claims for wild fires through out the west (mostly California and Texas since we seem to have a few of them.) They have dealt with a fair amount of insurers.

I have bought all my insurance for the last 30 years through independent agents. Gives lot of options and choices.

[Marshall Tucker]

TN Ken, with a bike, you recommend $2m UIM coverage? Given that you're a dentist wink who do you recommend for the bike?

OP. So MT III played trumpet in the band for a little while in middle school. Ms. MT, unbenogst to her cheep ass accountant husband, bought MT III a $500 trumpet. So a fight breaks out at band practice two trumpets over a few days later, and in the course of the fight MT III's brand new trumpet gets stomped. So I call and "inquire" with USAA if the trumpet "might" be covered under homeowners. They filed it as a claim denied it and jacked my rates about $700. I got pissed and wanted to move to state farm, where i had the cars, and state farm wouldn't touch my homeowners with the claim. five years or so later I now got 3 teen drivers, and 4 cars total, and moving the cars from state farm to USAA is saving me about $1.5k a year in preimiums.

[Bobby Stainless]

Go the Digital Death method and self insure.

[Rideski]

American Family jacked my homeowners 20% last year without telling me.
I called and they said it should be higher so be happy and deal.
They do have a fairly good auto rate, but I need to shop around.

[TNKen]

TN Ken, with a bike, you recommend $2m UIM coverage? Given that you're a dentist wink who do you recommend for the bike?

I had my dirt bike insured as a street ready bike with Cincinnati. FYI, no one will apparently issue med-pay on a bike.

Right now, it is my understanding that there are only a very few carriers that will add UIM to an umbrella. Cincinnati, Travelers, Erie, and a couple more. None of the cut rates will, nor will Allstate, Nationwide, State Farm. and Farm Bureau.

You have to bring all the coverages to a certain minimum before they will place you with an umbrella policy. My $5mm umbrella costs about $500/year.

[Marshall Tucker]

thx TNKen, very helpful! looking into both umbrella and bike with cinicnatti now (bike is progressive paid up through 4-20).

[fastfred]

you guys need to learn to play hardball with insurance companies, their job is to pay nothing and deny
one of my favorite things is to ass fuck them when I can
health insurance is my favorite, taking hospitals doctors and the insurance companies to court is funny, because they think the average person is an idiot, but when you make some doosh bag exec show up in court they get really pissed off, really pissed off
had a small fender bender once with a commerical driver, by the time I was done with them I had a rental car in the driveway and walked out of the repair shop with without paying the deductible
it's easy to let people take advantage of you

[mcski]

Anyone have experience filling a claim w Metromile?

[iceman]

It's all about the odds. Odds are you will save money by going uninsured. Insurance companies aren't dumb.

Do ya feel lucky, punk?

[old goat]

Hutash or any other Californian--any experience referring denials or underpayments to the insurance commissioner? No issues at the moment, just curious.

I had a dispute with an airline re a cancelled flight and referred it to the Dept of Transportation. That got the airline's attention in a hurry--they had a dept devoted to dealing with DOT complaints--and I got my money back ASAP. Wondering if the same thing happens with referrals to the insurance commissioner--gets the insurance company's attention.

I'll be surprised if in 10 years the whole state of california doesn't have to get homeowners through the FAIR (high risk pool) plan. Certainly a good part of the state. Between fires and floods the whole state is at risk (not to mention earthquakes, which requires separate coverage.)

[Talisman]

My only USAA claim involved hitting an elk at night with a rental car five miles from my house. The car and elk were "totaled" and the rental car was covered by my USAA insurance versus what Hertz offered. Between USAA and my bank card which covered my deductible I paid $0 out of pocket for destroying a rental car with ~7K miles on it. USAA was quick and easy to deal with.

[Danno]

A couple of points. If you are not the driver at fault your insurer should cover your repairs minus your deductible right away. They then go to the other driver's insurance and get reimbursed for their cost plus you get your deductible back. At least that's how it works in CA. (Pro tip--never get hit by someone who has the same insurance company as you or you will find yourself 50% at fault.)

For umbrella coverage, if that's what the OP is talking about when he says personal liability--you need your auto and home with the same insurer and need to carry a large amount of liability coverage on the home and auto.

I'd be leary of changing insurers if you live in a fire prone area. The longer you've been with a company may make a difference when they start not renewing policies, especially if you have multiple policies with the same company. Multiple policies and length you've been with a company usually brings the rates down.

You got sources for this info? I mean, you're a surgeon not an insurance broker, right? It's not clear if it's accurate, are you assuming that the insured has collision? Because if not, I think a complete and final determination of who is at fault will probably be required before the insurance pays out (but I have no source for that). And your comment re fire prone area, that sounds like a rumor. Do you have a source for that? Way too many rumors that turn out to be bullshit on this forum. I try to only pay attention to information from reliable sources, where the source is identified, ya know?

[GeezerSteve]

Because if not, I think a complete and final determination of who is at fault will probably be required before the insurance pays out (but I have no source for that).

Without collision coverage, this is close to correct. "Complete and final" might be a bit of an overstatement. The language of the policy would control.

What old goat said is pretty much correct IF you have collision coverage. Again, the policy language controls. In most states, collision coverage requires prompt payment or repair irrespective of fault, although the fight is often over the amount of the payment. If the other party is eventually deemed to be at fault, your carrier can subrogate to your position to recover from the other party or its carrier whatever your carrier paid out to you.

We have a package price for homeowner + vehicles (collision, liability, UIM, comprehensive) + umbrella. If we carved out collision coverage, the premium would go up because we'd lose the package discount.

[Danno]

Without collision coverage, this is close to correct. "Complete and final" might be a bit of an overstatement. The language of the policy would control.

What old goat said is pretty much correct IF you have collision coverage. Again, the policy language controls. In most states, collision coverage requires prompt payment or repair irrespective of fault, although the fight is often over the amount of the payment. If the other party is eventually deemed to be at fault, your carrier can subrogate to your position to recover from the other party or its carrier whatever your carrier paid out to you.

We have a package price for homeowner + vehicles (collision, liability, UIM, comprehensive) + umbrella. If we carved out collision coverage, the premium would go up because we'd lose the package discount.

My post was mostly about needling old goat, because of this thread: https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...57#post5314457 where he takes someone to task for posting what that person heard without that person sourcing the references for his post, and old goat insists that he never does that, and told me to call him out if I find him "repeating unsourced information or rumor" in one of his posts.

[GeezerSteve]

oh, okay then

[G. Gordon Liddy]

Full disclosure: I'm an independent insurance agent when I'm not fixing teeth in the gondola.

There are some great points and stories here that I hear all the time. Farmers/State Farm OK at best. Good cheap home and auto - horrible rates on life, di, etc. Most of their premium dollars seem to go to NFL stars these days to pitch their product. Obviously biased, but going to an independent shop allows you to look at multiple carriers so you make sure you get exactly what you need for the right price... that being said, price isn't everything. Somebody mentioned AIG above. They are amazing, but they only insure homes with a replacement value over $1M. We've had great service with Safeco lately, but they can bounce around on their rates quite often. Nationwide is good if you can get to their private client group. I can go on and on about this stuff, but just find an agent you like/trust and let them do the dirty work. The savings you may get going direct won't mean shit, when you're stuck doing your own claim work in the future.

Business insurance... well that's a whole other beast!!

[4matic]

If I had a legit insurance dispute I’d hire a lawyer. How much money you talking about? My brother writes letters to insurance commissioners.

[fastfred]

Full disclosure: I'm an independent insurance agent when I'm not fixing teeth in the gondola.


Business insurance... well that's a whole other beast!!

you just close your eyes smile and take it like a man when it comes to business ins.

health insurance is where you get raped with no lube

[GiBo]

Full disclosure: I'm an independent insurance agent when I'm not fixing teeth in the gondola.

There are some great points and stories here that I hear all the time. Farmers/State Farm OK at best. Good cheap home and auto - horrible rates on life, di, etc. Most of their premium dollars seem to go to NFL stars these days to pitch their product. Obviously biased, but going to an independent shop allows you to look at multiple carriers so you make sure you get exactly what you need for the right price... that being said, price isn't everything. Somebody mentioned AIG above. They are amazing, but they only insure homes with a replacement value over $1M. We've had great service with Safeco lately, but they can bounce around on their rates quite often. Nationwide is good if you can get to their private client group. I can go on and on about this stuff, but just find an agent you like/trust and let them do the dirty work. The savings you may get going direct won't mean shit, when you're stuck doing your own claim work in the future.

Business insurance... well that's a whole other beast!!

What are your thoughts on umbrella policies? My agent (Farmers) talked me into buying one. She made good points, but she's geting a cut too.

I do agree with the 'find an agent you trust' part. When I first put my daughter on my insurance, she gave me her cell number and told me to put in my daughters phone. She told me to tell my daughter to call her anytime, day or night. She said even if she was just at a party and was buzzed and didn't want to call her parents. Maybe a little over-the-top, but I thought it was pretty nice of her.

[mud]

USAA is pretty good if you are a veteran.

You can also sign up if you are related to a veteran.
Worth it, excellent service.

[RootSkier]

1. Everyone with any assets or a good income should have an umbrella policy, they are cheap as hell.

2. All insurance companies suck in their own way, and it's always situation dependent.

3. Hire lawyers to fuck with insurance companies, and don't wait. In many states, if you are forced to hire an attorney and they get a goddamn penny more from the insurance company, the insurance company is on the hook for attorney fees.

disclaimer: this isn't legal advice but I looooooove to sue insurance companies.

[iceman]

My post was mostly about needling old goat, because of this thread: https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...57#post5314457 where he takes someone to task for posting what that person heard without that person sourcing the references for his post, and old goat insists that he never does that, and told me to call him out if I find him "repeating unsourced information or rumor" in one of his posts.

Don't cross Danno is the lesson here. He don't forget.