Any experience with Erie Insurance

It's about time to shop car, motorcyle and home insurance again. There is no independent agent in town and I haven't had much luck finding one in the next town over. Currently am with a company that rhymes with "No Harm" and while generally happy with the service so far, I'm also aware that regular shopping is required to keep the premiums under control.

One of the agents in town peddles Erie insurance and I seem to remember that they have a pretty decent reputation (but I might be wrong about that). Does anybody have any first hand experience with Erie?

Looks like the other option would be Amica and despite their stellar reputation, the quotes we got from them in the past were decidedly in the "HFM?" category.

I have Erie  for home and auto through a local agent. The rates are reasonable but I haven't shopped it around for a awhile since I'm happy with my agent. I haven't had to file any claims so no idea on that side of it.

My only experience is a kid who's parents had Erie hit me.  In talking with the claims guy at the body shop he said Erie is the best in terms of hassle looking from their side of things.

I've had Erie for home and auto for 12 years. Rates are good and claim service was decent when I needed it.  I also work in the industry (not for Erie), so I've dealt with them all, Erie is one of the better ones to deal with all around.  

I'm on erie too and my wife has had a few things happen. No hassles, you get to interface with the local agent and not dissapear into robo phones. I had a glass claim recently too and no trouble. They were best rate for us all together when we bought the house.

Erie's use of aftermarket parts is pretty limited. IIRC they don't use any sheet metal parts (hoods, fenders) nor headlights. They have consistently had above average service though you may pay slightly more for it. When I used to work for the 'Eagle' people would often ask me about switching. If they said they were with Erie I always told them to stay where they were. Most of the rest are all copying each other nowadays and doing everything as cheaply as possible to be competitive. Erie still seems to do their own thing.

I had them for a while about 10 years ago, but our local agent sucked & was way more concerned with maximizing his profits vs. saving us money, so we ended up switching bot agent & carrier.  

My parents had them through a local agenct when I was growing up, they were fine until I was old enough to drive, and insurance went from reasonable to insane.

Great friend of mine has all of his coverage through Erie.  Recently, his wife's car was hit in a restaurant parking lot by a police officer on duty in his cruiser.  Oddly enough, the police department is somehow not liable (?!?).  Erie has been taking great care of them despite this oddity.

my coverage is through Met Life Auto and Home via an independent agent, but I am keeping Erie in mind if a change ever is in order.  No complaints about Met Life though at this point, and they hugely cut my bill vs. where I was with American Family despite increasing home valuation coverage, same autos coverage, plus triple the umbrella coverage when I shopped our bundle three years ago.

Hope this info helps.

RevRico said:

My parents had them through a local agenct when I was growing up, they were fine until I was old enough to drive, and insurance went from reasonable to insane.

Isn't that something that mostly has to do with having a teenage driver in the household and not necessarily with any specific insurance company?

I have Erie for everything and have for years. My local agent is why, his service is unbeatable. I've had a few claims, and it has never been a hassle. I know I could find cheaper, can't find better. I can text him when buying a car and have a insurance card in my email in 5 mins. 

I have Erie for home and auto. All good experiences wth them. Nice local agent, easy to get in touch with. Over the last 15 years we had one car that was involved in a hit and run (caused $8000 in damage to our car) and one water damage home claim. Rates didn't go up and they took care of both issues very well. 

Thanks for all the feedback so far (and please keep it coming). Definitely sounds like I should talk to the local agent then.

Above average service for a below average price.  We had them when we lived in pa and had two accidents fixed easily through them. 

only negative note I have is that the glass claim I had plus my wife getting rear ended twice put us over a claim limit and we have a price increase for the next few years.  If I had known I would have done the glass out of pocket and saved money. 

I have Erie for the cars and house and have been happy with them for 20+ years. 

Zombie thread.

EvanB (Forum Supporter) said:

I have Erie  for home and auto through a local agent. The rates are reasonable but I haven't shopped it around for a awhile since I'm happy with my agent. I haven't had to file any claims so no idea on that side of it.

Same boat here. Home and auto rates were great, been with them for ~3-4 years. No claims, so can't speak to that. My in laws homeowners claim on a metal carport seemed to be pretty painless with Erie fairly recently. 

I just realised I never updated the thread - I did get a quote from the local Erie agent, but it was so much higher than what I'm paying for with State Farm that I might as well stay with State Farm or go to Amica.

In reply to BoxheadTim :

My experience is the opposite of yours.  For me Erie offered much lower rates. I'd been with State Farm for decades before the change. 

In reply to M2Pilot :

I was really surprised by that, too. Based on what I read about them I expected them to come in roughly in the same price range, but the difference was significant enough to stay with State Farm.

Been on there for 20yr+ with home and auto and never gotten a cheaper one. The one auto claim I had on it where my e46 was totalled was about as painless as it could have been.

I tried Erie when I moved to Erie, Pa to support something local and the rates were comparable to other companies for the same service.  My issue was changing my policy when adding and removing vehicles which happens pretty often as a GRMer.  Eventually I went back to the gecko for the ease of making changes.

Mrs. DX has had Erie for over 20 years and no issue. I've started using them and no issues or complaints.