Insurance advice

[Medsport]

So I'm about to buy a new (actually older, but better) house and not sure what to do for insurance coverage. I currently have Allstate with the vanishing deductible (down to 200 now) and pay 90 a month for my 16gt. They quoted me about 975 year for the house coverage. While the company I'm getting the new house from got me some quotes and the cheapest is State Auto out of Columbus. They are saying about 780 a year for the house and about 64 a month for the car if I bundle them. Both companies are pretty close to the same in coverage except State doesn't include rental insurance and no vanishing deductible. What do you guys think?

I'm tempted to stay with Allstate for the car and go with State for the house, but I would lose 20% savings on the house insurance if I don't include the auto with them so really not much of a difference if I stayed with Allstate for both. So I guess it comes down to paying a little less with the smaller company or knowing I would have little and soon no deductible for the car with the bigger company. Btw, I had planned on getting another car soon after I close, so maybe I should call both places and have them run say a Scat Pack and/or a Mach 1 for comparison?

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[01Romanss]

I don't know if you have access to Alfa Insurance but nobody beats them in my area of Georgia. Home and Auto can't be beat together. Other companies might beat the home rate but combined Alfa wins every year when I shop around. They have also paid quickly on claims.

 

[Medsport]

Never heard of Alfa. I'm not even sure if I've heard of State auto before, but apparently the mortgage company (huntington) did a search and it was the cheapest for me. Of course I know cheapest isn't always the best though. I haven't filed a claim in years, but you never know. I went thru a stretch in which I was having really bad luck and hit deer several years in a row, had a branch fall on my car and hit a ground hog or something and State Farm actually dropped me. I then went to Geico and they were cheap at first, but kept raising their rates so I switched to Allstate and now have the cheapest payment I've ever had. Although I am getting older with no recent tickets or claims so that helps.

 

[Cobra Jet]

Vanishing deductibles are a tease - it’s to get you to stay with a company that is already charging higher premium to begin with.... To put it simply, how many times have you needed to use your deductible on the house? In many cases, the answer will be “never”. So it wouldn’t matter if your deductible was $1k or $500.... or somehow “vanished”.

Insurance Co.’s are not losing any money, and they’re definitely not giving anything away; they are in the business to make money. That “vanishing” is being made up in the overall premium being passed down to the customer.

Also as with ANY insurance, always, always, always read all of the fine print and most importantly what is NOT covered. Many people get hooked on the Insurance jibberjabber that talks about how great the policy is - but you do not hear your agents telling you all the fine points of what is NOT covered. Sometimes in the event of a true claim, many folks find out they were not covered well enough and by then, it’s too late.

Definitely shop around and be sure your comparing total policy coverage AND what is NOT covered along with the same values across the board - BEFORE you decide on who’s best for your situation. You’ll find that some of those Company’s offering supposed “perks” really aren’t saving you diddly - and that’s why you’ll find another company who doesn’t have a “vanishing this or that” to be cheaper.

 

[Medsport]

Good points. Just to clarify though, the vanishing deductible is for the auto insurance and not the house. It is a good likelihood that I will have a claim on the car at some point and having a small or in a couple years, no deductible is a big plus. But then again, if I'm paying $25-30 more a month to have it (actually more like 40-50 if you consider the cost of the house insurance that would be more too), it would only really be of benefit for the next 6 months or so if something were to happen in that time and after that it would be more money that I would be paying every month. I guess when I think of it that way, its really a no-brainer and I should go with the cheaper company. The only thing is I'm sure the mortgage company doesn't want to know I'm thinking of getting a new car shortly after I get the house loan. Which makes me wonder if it may not be a good idea to call the prospective new insurance company for a quote on a new vehicle. But then again, they should be confidential with my info I would think. Plus I don't plan on getting the new car unless the payment is right around what I'm paying now, but no more than $50 more a month so it shouldn't be a big deal anyway.

 

[Interceptor]

What i have found over my decades of buying insurance, is to stick with a mainline company. Then find an agent you can befriend.
I refuse not to be able to call my insurance company and the agent not recognize me.
Agents can vary under the same mainline companies. I have change agents and kept same insurance

 

[sotek2345]

A someone who got in way to many (minor) accidents, and many different insurance companies when they were younger I strongly recommend staying with Allstate. After having dealth with many different companies Allstate has, by far, the best customer service of any company I have dealt with when you need them. I am willing to pay a little extra for that (though they are usually competitive).

 

[ctandc72]

I would check with Erie Insurance. Had them for years and the ONLY reason I left is because my son started driving. They do NOT do high risk. They don't even insure in all states. They consistently rank in the top for customer service and rates. Had several claims with them (home and auto) when I had them - ZERO issues. They don't even offer insurance in higher risk states...thus the lower rates.

 

[Medsport]

Dang, I about had my mind made up to go with State, but the last few posters have me reconsidering and staying with Allstate.

 

[Medsport]

Ok guys, now that I decided to go ahead with the house I have been getting some more quotes. I checked with the Travelers (not bad, close to current Allstate rates), the General (WTF, outrageous auto rate of 1236, but didn't even try the house insurance part), Geico (actually pretty good at 758 for the house and 756 for the car, but had them before and did not like them).

So I was about to give up and go with State, but thought I'd search for some online rates and tried Progressive. OMG glad I did! They came back with $815 for the house and $545 for the car. House a tad higher than State, but the auto is a terrific rate IMO. It was even lower for the basic coverages, but I adjusted it a little to lower the deductible to 500, add renters insurance and enroll in their deductible savings bank which only adds $7 to the 6 month policy. It subtracts $50 from the deductible for every 6 months you don't have a claim. Just for the heck of it I checked to see what a new Challenger 392 would run thinking it would be in the low-to-mid 100's, but no it came back only about $5 more than my 5 year old Mustang!

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