| Author | Content |
Tir_Na_Nog
Houston
United States
(Zone 9b)
February 18, 2009
04:18 PM Post #6156863
| We have such a nice Farmers agent, who 2 years ago beat the State Farms pricing we had. Given the times and renewals coming up DH sought new quotes online. All of the online quotes came back and Allstate had the best pricing in Texas, for us.
We are near the gulf so I don't know how our home insurance compares to yours but ours is $1,500 a year. Our auto is going to be $800 for one vehicle per year. This is based on our new quote.
And I kid not, it is a savings of 700 BUCKS from our Farmers policy. Soooo it pays to do a simple online form and inquire of other companies and see where you can reduce your bills.
Oh, and the coverage is actually MORE for less $ to :) |
Tir_Na_Nog
Houston
United States
(Zone 9b)
February 18, 2009
04:39 PM Post #6156947
| Also don't forget. If you can save up your payment for a 6 month period and pay twice a year on that auto instead of monthly you get about a 10% discount! |
Tir_Na_Nog
Houston
United States
(Zone 9b)
February 18, 2009
08:43 PM Post #6158000
| Just an FYI. I let my Farmers agent know I was switching to save 700 bucks and besides being amazed he did say, "Yeah, we've NEVER been able to beat Allstates pricing" but when we signed our policies 2 years ago Allstate in our area was not taking new customers, hence we didn't compare prices with them.
Most insurance companies will tell you they'll save you 10% on auto if you've taken defensive driving. I asked Allstate about that and they said they already offer the lowest rates of anyone and offering that as a discount is the other companies trying a gimmick. They said we can turn in proof we've taken the course but it will not affect our rate.
Very interesting. Hate to sound like a commercial but it's always good to get ahold of your finances and I'm just blown away by how much you can save with a 10 minute phone call/internet inquiry! |
Tir_Na_Nog
Houston
United States
(Zone 9b)
February 19, 2009
12:08 PM Post #6160594
| Hmmmm here is something of concern from a friend of mine I trust:
| Quoted: | | Be cautious with Allstate. They may have the lowest rates, but it's because trying to get them to pay on a claim is darn near impossible. I don't know if there is a state agency you can check to see the number of complaints like the BBB, but Allstate is well known for being terrible. My agent is independent and compares our policies fairly often. He used to be a Farmers Agent. When DS got rear ended recently, the other lady was at fault since DS was stopped at a red light and she hit him, but her insurance was with Allstate. This happened months ago and Allstate still hasn't paid our claim. I have other friends who've had a terrible time with them too. Just thought you should know about them...if you haven't checked with Progressive on car, check them. They are the best company I've ever used for car insurance and were near the lowest quote. |
Other reviews on Allstate??? |
Tir_Na_Nog
Houston
United States
(Zone 9b)
February 19, 2009
12:13 PM Post #6160619
| I'll have to review the BBB site more thoroughly later. Seems I can't look up for a national rating on a company but specific locations???
Anyhow, it pulled Allstate up from a Chicago IL address and has an "unsatisfactory" rating.
While Farmers I could only pull up as a local address and it has a letter grade of C+.
??? |
Tir_Na_Nog
Houston
United States
(Zone 9b)
February 19, 2009
12:14 PM Post #6160625
| Ummm LOL. This may say a lot.
http://www.allstateinsurancesucks.com/ |
Tir_Na_Nog
Houston
United States
(Zone 9b)
February 19, 2009
12:16 PM Post #6160635
| Without having viewed the above link yet...it seems anyone with a beef can create a site. And they do.
http://www.farmersinsurancegroupsucks.com/ |
Tir_Na_Nog
Houston
United States
(Zone 9b)
February 25, 2009
05:19 PM Post #6189602
| Well I worried about this given my trusted friends review of Allstate.
And then today I get a bill from Farmers on my policy (already in the sending stage before I'd canceled with them) and ha, my rates went up $200 more on the home.
A home I never have made a claim on. And I've never made any insurance claim. Rates going up. Bah.
And as my DH reminded me I always say all insurance is a scam. So I'd rather pay less for that scam than more. |
Tir_Na_Nog
Houston
United States
(Zone 9b)
May 14, 2009
09:35 AM Post #6547098
| Article on sbc yahoo on home insurance. I've always heard you better never make a claim. You'll pay out the wazoo for it in price hikes or be dropped from your carrier altogether. So basically you're only "safe" as long as you keep paying in and ask for nothing. Really grates me but basically you can't do anything without "insurance". They referenced a neat website in the article for reading up about the major insurance carriers. I first was reading Allstate reviews (nice and detailed) and felt glum so I read about my former agent Farmers and yep, the same gloomy reviews! So I guess there is no good insurance company.
http://www.att.net/s/editorial.dll?bfromind=22866&eeid=65665...
| Quoted: | Most of us never file a serious claim against our homeowner's policy. Good thing, too, because as the complaints below attest, insurers will do just about anything to squirm out of paying a big claim.
If you are ever unfortunate enough to suffer a major loss -- from, say, a fire -- our advice is to hire an experienced attorney immediately, before you make any tape-recorded statement to the insurance adjuster. |
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/insurance/home.html |
dmj1218
west Houston, TX
(Zone 9a)
June 30, 2009
09:47 PM Post #6761334
| Allstate paid out first but paid the lowest after Ike--that was after never making a claim for 16 years. Allstate also has a habit of overvaluing home properties--you might also check into that.
Mine is actually cheaper now from AllState than pre-Ike--but not until I made them decrease the property value.
You might also check into the numerous class action lawsuits into AllState overcharging customers--I got almost a yearly check back from them for this for over 16 years. Never thought much about it at the time.
I would say out of 43 homeowners in our neighborhood with serious Ike damage (and trust me we all got together and compared policies and pay outs--that's the only thing that resulted in all of us getting decent pay-outs) Farmers, State Farm, and even TX Windstorm folks came out better than the AllState people--they just had to wait about a month longer. Those of us that had homes that are paid off came out better with AllState--because they knew they weren't going to have to deal with mortgage companies with us. Mine was paid fairly decently--not worth hiring an attorney over; but Farmer's paid out neighbors much better (even with mortgage co to deal with).
Basically, I'm waiting until Sept to change over to USAA (dad was a colonel in AF) because I've had my car insurance with them for years--they are much cheaper than AllState even with homeowner's discount. |
Tir_Na_Nog
Houston
United States
(Zone 9b)
June 30, 2009
10:02 PM Post #6761437
| Thank you dmj. This is something I hear of often with Allstate.
Excuse me for asking though---on the Ike claims, isn't that under Fema insurance claims, they just go through your insurance carrier???? I wasn't aware that your regular home insurance would cover any damage from a natural cause???? Or at least exempts major storm damage? I don't know. Never made a claim and firsttimer in a coastal city as well. |
dmj1218
west Houston, TX
(Zone 9a)
June 30, 2009
10:12 PM Post #6761498
| fema will have nothing to do with you if you have homeowner's insurance--fema is for uninsured homeowner's only
yes you have "tropical windstorm" on your homeowner's policy--you'll notice you have a higher deductable for that too
edited to add--its that higher deductable that will kill you after a hurricane if your home is overvalued
This message was edited Jun 30, 2009 9:16 PM |
Tir_Na_Nog
Houston
United States
(Zone 9b)
June 30, 2009
10:52 PM Post #6761737
| I thought that it was a gov't backed insurance that you opt to have...for flooding at least...that your homeowners ins doesn't cover... |
dmj1218
west Houston, TX
(Zone 9a)
June 30, 2009
11:08 PM Post #6761822
| flood insurance is different--Ike wasn't a flood |
Tir_Na_Nog
Houston
United States
(Zone 9b)
July 01, 2009
09:44 AM Post #6762972
| No but it caused them. But thank-you for clarifying and posting, good tips to find out when securing home insurance. |
ecrane3
Dublin, CA
(Zone 9a)
July 01, 2009
09:50 AM Post #6762984
| Floods and earthquakes are the two things I know of that aren't covered by regular insurance and you have to get separate policies for. I don't know if there are other hazards in that category or not--those are the only two I know of. |
dmj1218
west Houston, TX
(Zone 9a)
July 01, 2009
10:13 AM Post #6763064
| depends on the county in Tx for hurricane coverage--Harris is still covered under tropical cyclone on homeowner's. Ike did not cause any flooding in our area; that was Galveston county. Galveston Co, like Jefferson co (Beaumont + Port Arthur), now has to have a separate hurricane policy from TX Windstorm (which sure paid out a lot better to my brother than AllState did--he lives in Jefferson CO)
If you don't know about the differences between flood and tropical cyclone coverage; and that FEMA doesn't cover people with homeowner's insurance--how can you possibly know you are saving $200?
Another tip on knowing who is a decent insurance co is who is writing policies at this time of year for this area---the really good ones aren't until later in the fall. Of course, AllState is because they've lost a lot of customers--and last we heard (in May, anyway) applying for a federal bail-out.
edited to add: Car insurance policies can only be written for 6 months in Harris County with fixed prices--how did you get a yearly quote out of AllState? I think if you look at that policy you'll find its only for 6 mo
This message was edited Jul 1, 2009 9:17 AM |
Tir_Na_Nog
Houston
United States
(Zone 9b)
July 01, 2009
11:27 AM Post #6763386
| Actually it's not a 200 buck savings dmj as I said above. I saved a combined 900 on my policies by moving them to Allstate. I said my Farmers went up an additional 200 from the price it already was. A savings of 900 by moving to Allstate.
Yes it's a 6 month paid-in-full auto policy that automatically renews and sends me a notice about rate changes, that's the same with Farmers, State Farms and Allstate of which we used all three and not made claims.
On the home insurance, you're right, I'm not that educated on them. And there is always more damage to worry about since we live in Houston from storms and crime. I've never had to deal with storm damage in other places we've lived. And I've not had any neighbors who had to make a claim from Ike on my street from which to ask.
If we suffer small damage like tree falls down (so long as not on the house or car!) or some roofing coming off those are things we pay out of pocket. I'd be leery of making any claim unless it was so huge I couldn't afford repairs on my own.
And I'm certainly not advocating people get Fema coverage :). We all know how well that works.
I just wanted to let people know by way of this thread it's a good idea to shop around for your area on policies. |
