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Reducing Expenses--Home and Auto Insurance

Posted: Sep 22, 2011

Having had to take some pay cuts, I am looking at every expense I have to try and make ends meet. In looking at my home and auto insurance, I took a look at Progressive on-line and it looks like we could save a little. My hubby has had our insurance through the same company forever. How do you compare the quality of insurance other than the price?

What's the good, bad, and/or ugly? TIA.

;

Personally wouldn't buy Progressive - Trampled underfoot

[ In Reply To ..]
I wouldn't deal with Progressive because it's owned by Peter Lewis, one of the major funders of leftist causes in the US. That's enough reason for me NOT to deal with them.

It's very hard to tell which companies are good to deal with unless you know someone who has had to rely on them to pay out. My son works in auto body and I know he said State Farm is good, Allstate is pretty poor. I don't know if he ever mentioned Progressive.

I had Progressive years ago - and would NEVER go back

[ In Reply To ..]
We had an accident and our previous payment before the accident was "lost in the mail." I know that I mailed the payment, had the carbon from the check in my checkbook, but somehow, that payment never made it to their office. They cancelled me on the day of my accident and refused to cover me. My car was totalled and I was on the hook for the other driver's car as well. Yay. We are currently with State Farm and are really happy with them. DH hit a pole in a parking lot (I guess it happens a lot) and things could not have been easier from start to finish.

Love, Love, LOVE Traveler's - momofjacks

[ In Reply To ..]
I went through an insurance agency locally and got 10 times the coverage with Traveler's than I had with Nationwide and Progressive, for a lot less money every month and with the same deductible. I had a homeowner's claim last year and they were nothing short of awesome. I think an independent agency can help you determine what kind of coverage you need or want and then will shop it around to different companies to get you the best price.

Love Traveler's commercials with the dog! - NDMT

[ In Reply To ..]
Nice to hear they are a good company as well as a clever one. Every time I see a commercial for Traveler's with that sweet dog (especially the one where he's worried about keeping his bone safe) I can hardly wait for my insurance with Nationwide to time out so I can switch. (Yes, I am a sucker for cute dogs and easily influenced...)

I like Allstate - Insurance

[ In Reply To ..]
I've never had to have Allstate pay out a claim, so I have no experience in that area, but the local agent I work with is great.

I had some issues with my homeowners insurance because my yard is not as groomed as it should be - it's a mess, quite frankly. Trinity flat out cancelled me and Allstate said sure, we'll take you. Had no issues for years until I had a lot of financial issues last year and let everything lapse while trying to pay the mortgage. Rewrote it with LIberty Mutual this year, who then cancelled it 2 months later after their home inspector said he didn't like the way my yard looked either. (Yes, there's a pattern there, and no, my yard isn't THAT bad. It's rocks and bark and some weeds. Not that great, but not horrible, either.) Went back to Allstate with my hat in my hand and they wrote my home again without any issues whatsoever.

My brother has State Farm and has had them for a long time and really likes them. I've only heard good things from State Farm customers, but my sister's car was creamed by a State Farm policy holder and their adjuster was a pain to work with - but she was on the other end of the deal for them.

Rather than flat out changing policies which sometimes is more trouble than it's worth, take a look at the various coverages. On your auto, do you have towing and is it worth getting rid of it. Are the cars paid off? If so, you might think about going to just liability coverage if the car is older. Take a higher deductible.

On the home, make sure you are not over insured - if your house can reasonably be rebuilt for $150,000, you don't want to insure the premises for $200k, for example. Make sure the contents coverage is reasonable - again if you could realistically replace everything in the house for $100k you don't want to have your contents covered for $200k. A higher deductible will also be something to consider there as well.

If the policies are through a local independent agent, make an appointment and have a sit down with them. The agent will be happy to go through your policies with you and rejigger the coverages to try to save you money. They would much rather keep your policy even if it's smaller than take a chance on losing it for good.

I had a really bad experience with Allstate. - Well, actually, two--you'd think I would

[ In Reply To ..]
have learned my lesson the first time. My husband had Allstate before we got married. He had Allstate for 10 years and NEVER made a late payment. They then changed the rules they have for financial worthiness and our premiums doubled because neither one of us had a bank account or credit card for more than 12 years. We were 27 at the time. They expected us to have had accounts since we were 15, so we cancelled them and went to Geico, with whom we were very happy, until...

We moved from the West Coast to the Gulf Coast and because of hurricanes, our premiums with Geico doubled. We then bought a house and the Allstate agent told us that they would sell us wind/hail insurance, so we would not have to be in the wind pool, which made it about 1/2 the price. When I received my policy, it was NOT with Allstate, but a non-admitted insurance agency and specifically excluded ANY water, even wind driven, as flood. The problem is that flood insurance does not cover wind driven water, so in the case of a hurricane, if we had a window break and rain get in our house, it would not be covered and, as a non-admitted company, if there was a big hurricane (think Katrina) and the company could not pay, they are not guaranteed by the state, the way that other admitted companies are. When I complained to my agent, he yelled at me and called me stupid. I decided to pay the extra and go with the wind pool and USAA. I cancelled that policy 5 different times and never received my refund. I finally contacted the insurance commissioner and received a check 1.5 years after the cancellation. You would think that they would have to pay me interest, but they don't. I complained to anyone at Allstate who would listen and they did nothing, even though this non-admitted company (NorthLight) is owned in whole by Allstate. The problem is that it is a little company that they set up so that if there was a big hurricane, they would not have to pay all of their claims. I find that to be pretty dishonest, so I have learned my lesson now. I will NEVER insure with Allstate again. They also never paid me the $50 on a tow bill that they owe me. I gave the agent my receipt, so I could not refile, but the $50 was far less concerning than the $1300 that they owed me on the insurance cancellation.

Allstate - problems

[ In Reply To ..]
I am not discounting your experienced in any way, because they do sound bad, but honestly this sounds more like a really bad agent rather than a bad company. Especially when you say that they sold you a policy with a non-admitted company when there were policies available with admitted companies, which is ILLEGAL.

If you were doing all of your business through the agent rather than through the on-line portal, I'd lay money on your information never being passed along to where it needed to go.

I called anyone in Allstate who would listen and - nobody would help me.

[ In Reply To ..]
Granted, my agent was the worst, but the rest of the company wasn't much better.

Just a reminder... - Deductible

[ In Reply To ..]
When shopping around (and look at your current policies, too)make sure your deductible is as high as reasonably possible. Although this may seem obvious to some, take a lesson from me: I told a couple friends to check, which endd up saving them on premiums, but much later on I checked my own car and homeowner's policies and was embarrassed to find both deductibles were only $500, plus I was being charged extra for roadside assistance, when I already subscribe to another service. So, sorry, I know this does not answer your question, but could not resist the chance to bring it up.

Reducing expenses - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I had State Farm for years and they were the cheapest around, but don't get into an accident. They dropped me like I had leprosy (sp?) So you care full coverage on an older car? Chances are it isn't worth it. Liability is a state requirement, but it can be quitea substantial savings. I changed all my bulbs over to fluorescents (gonna happen anyway). If you have central heat (I don't - I can change the temp in eveyr room with a separate thermostat), you can adjust your heating bill. I only heat my bedroom, slightly because I can wear layers of clothes to bed, the living room because we are in there a lot (turned off at night). I don't heat the kitchen, stove does that pretty well). If you have central heat, try hanging up a blanket to cover the doorway in front of the most drafty part of the house. I wash with cold water, just as efficient, I put my blanket or comforter in the dryer for about 10-15 minutes before I go to bed. Once I am warm, I tend to stay that way. Put clear sheeting on you window - make a hug difference, put down the cute cloth tubes in front of door ways. Use your fireplace if you have one. Put an extra shower curtain rod in your bathroom over the tub, same length as your regular one. Use plastic hangers and hang up stuff you don't want to shrink or don't need in a hurry and let them air dry. Always wear socks or knit booties, even to bed sometimes. When your feet are cold, you feel cold all over. Look into putting up heavy blankets from say goodwill over large windows that lose the most heat. Seal your water heater pipes and the pipes going into the washer. Close the vents under your house if you have them. Use a cap full of baby oil or two to your bath. It will help seal in the heat and moisture (lotions while you're still warm helps too! Buy heat packs if you have to be outside for long periods, like shoveling. They really do work!! My office is in my kitchen, which is large. I don't heat my kitchen as I said before, but will run a small space heater for about 30 min in the morning just to unstiffen my hands to type. Cook hearty warm foods - chili - pot roast, chicken and noodles, Make hot chocolate wiht ice cream syrup, tastes so much better than the powdered kind. After you have cooked a meal, leave the oven doors open while it cools down - heats up the room great. Check out a book called the Tightwad gazette, I think she has three now. She thinks of things I never would have thought of in a million years, but GREAT info. Go Luck and cheers to lower heating bills this winter!!!!

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