Picking a new insurance company based on claims experiences. tips tricks or hints?

I currently have a popular insurance company for automotive and renters insurance. I currently have 3 vehicles insured for myself. I have had this company for almost 8 years and made my first claim this spring. It was a terrible experience.

I want to vote with my money, and switch to an insurance company that is known for good customer satisfaction with claims.

I'm not trying to get the latest discount, or the greatest price. I have a clean driving record and this previous claim was from a hit and run while the car was (legally) parked.

State farm is out. If I ever treated a paying customer the way they treated me I know I would have been fired.

Allstate seems to have middle of the road ratings. My parents have allstate, I recall an argument over totaling a vehicle; they wouldn't offer more than $1500 for the vehicle write off due to high mileage (it was newer, driven a lot), yet I could not find a replacement with similar high mileage for less than $7k at the time. However, I was not very involved in this transaction, so I do not know how much the adjuster pressured to settle at an unreasonable amount. But initial reaction is I want to avoid them too.

Progressive seems to just have lower ratings all around. Good sales gimmicks however.

Geico seems to have decent ratings. Honestly, I never thought highly of them due to their advertising gimmicks, perhaps they represent a decent product? Anyone have experience with a claim?

Liberty Mutual has caught my eye based on their current commercials, it sounds like what I want, but they seem to also have lower ratings. Anyone have any experience with claims?

Amica mutual seems to have high ratings all around, but I have never heard of them?

Finally, I was thinking negatively, and was wondering if all insurance companies work with guaranteed profit instead of allowable risk. In other words, will they all try to screw me over on a legit claim? If so, I will simply get minimum required legal insurance at the cheapest price I can find, and place the difference of expenses in a savings account. Although this seems the smartest, it will be a royal pain to deal with, especially so if I have something expensive happen in a short time.

Any feedback welcome! I know most of you are insured!

I use State Auto.

I was floored at how much they paid me when some meth head cut the cat out of SWMBO's XJ.

They've always been very professional, downright friendly in fact.

Now, my local producer? She sucks. Never calls me back and is impossible to get ahold of. I just call the main office directly now up front and tell them i need to add/remove a vehicle/make a change and i can't get ahold of my producer, and they rattle the cage and i get a call back in a day or two. Much easier than playing phone tag.

So... i like the company. Hate my local agent.

I was seriously impressed with my one (in my life) accident involving a deer when I had geico. It was in my 5 month old rx8, and the agent didn't blink when I said I wanted to only deal with one shop in the area (they were a great shop who also sponsored our scca chapter). They were also great to deal with with my wife's accident.

I've had two windshield claims with my current company, American Commerce, and those went fine, but I've luckily never had to call on them for anything major. They were majorly cheaper, too, but only available through a broker.

I had to make a claim with GEICO in January. I used an affiliated body shop, even though I didn't have to, because GEICO kept an adjuster full time on site. The process was just a little short of an A+, mostly because the car wasn't ready as soon as expected, or even on the morning when I was told to be there. Really, it was mostly the final inspection the adjuster was supposed to do prior to pickup that was missed. Two badges were sitting in the back rather than stuck to the outside of the car, and there was dust all over. So, really, it was having to wait an extra 45 minutes after arriving on time to get the car. They were extremely thorough in assessing the damage, even replacing the aftermarket vent visors.

I can recommend.

My daughter totaled a car that was insured with Liberty Mutual. The claim was settled quickly and for twice what I expected. I figured she would've dropped, but when shopping for a policy for the replacement, Liberty Mutual was still the cheapest.

I've had 2 claims through Geico, AKA "The Lizard." Both were very good. I, too, went with the affiliated body shop. I recommend. Now, let me tell you about USAA, THE berkeleyING WORST INSURANCE COMPANY ON THE PLANET.

Datsun1500 wrote: Find your local Erie agent. You'll never go back to anyone else.

Our local Erie agent sucks. It was very much a matter of him trying to sell me the policy that put the most cash in his pocket. YMMV

I have had a great experience with Erie. We have full coverage on all cars and home insurance through them. Local agent is great, no issues. We get a discounted rate when we have more than two vehicles.

In reply to EastCoastMojo: Cincinnati mutual insurance CinFinFinacial if there is an agent close to you. Agents act as adjusters on claims up to $5,000, have had them for going on 20 years. I get comparative quotes every 2 years and no one comes close on price as a package

In reply to Mark57:

Thanks, but I'm not looking to switch. Perhaps this was intended for the OP?

I've had Amica for the past 13 years. When I first enlisted, I had USAA. Their customer service was pretty good but their rates sucked. I had a buddy suggest Amica. I called them up and they gave me the lowest premium out of all the major companies, so being young and broke, I went with them. I've had nothing but an excellent experience with them but I have not filed a claim through them.

Also shop around for small independent insurance agents. Some of my friends have found great rates using them.

I had great experiences with state farm when I had them and had to make claims, but that was probably 10 years ago.

State Farm can suck a fat one. It was a long drawn out line of bull E36 M3 from them.

Progressive was ok, but we never had a claim. After a few years it just kept going up for no reason. Our agent was horrible.

Now with all state. Going from Progressive saved us over $100 a month on 2 cars. Our new agent is ok. Yet to have a claim so I can't comment on that.

I added a 3rd vehicle to my policy (93 Ford Ranger). I wasn't expecting my price to go up much, but Progressive sent me an $18 check instead of the price going up at all. Thats all I have to add.

Progressive screwed me out of two claims. I even lawyered up and they said "bring it." One was a hail storm that totaled my wife's Mercedes. I made the claim, said the damage happened at about 6pm and they said that the NWS records showed that the storm didn't hit my area until 6:30pm. I collected claims from a dozen of my friends to show that it actually happened at 6 and they laughed at it. Another one was my Impala. Someone broke in and stole the stereo, battered the dash, and broke two windows. My neighbor was there when I discovered it, but no one saw it happen. They denied the claim because I didn't have contact information for my neighbor so they could verify the story. I lawyered up, the lawyer found the neighbor but still Progressive said "bring it." Both times my lawyer told me to just walk away because no one wins claims against Progressive. So in total, they collected premiums from me for three years and then screwed me out of $14,000. Never again.

I had Geico for a little. Mostly because they would insure my box truck (commercial) with my other cars on one bill. I never had a claim with them, but customer service was horrible and foreign. I could never understand what they were saying and I was just a number.

After we bought a house, we used Liberty Mutual to put everything on one bill (house and cars). They were wonderful, but expensive. With the "bundling" discount it was acceptable but still more than most. No claims, but I've heard they are pretty loose with settling.

After my divorce I got Esurance just to get something quick. Same thing; no claims but expensive. I kinda liked the fact that I signed up online, never got any mail about "try our safe driver discount," and there was always a helpful person on a phone if I needed it. It was zero impact, auto debit, no pressure, but good service if I needed it.

Twice in my life I have been hit by other drivers who had State Farm and I was treated like gold. Not sure how they treated their insured drivers, but it was enough that I am giving them a shot now. Only had it for a few months, but its so much cheaper. I'm insuring the LeMans, the motorcycle, and the Impala (and not that limited mileage classic car stuff either) for less than just the Impala and bike with Esurance.

A long time ago I was with Horace Mann. They insure primarily teachers, but its pretty easy to get in if you know a teacher, like teaching, or taught someone how to tie their shoes. I would call them concierge-level service. (at least when I had them 15 years ago) but mom and dad are still with them and love them. They are pretty expensive, but they pay out at the drop of a hat. My sister hit a deer with mom and dad's car and Horace Mann told us they would fix it for no deductible because it was an "act of god." Just this spring dad had some wiring chewed on his truck from a groundhog and it was the same deal.

I had a truck broken into when I was insured by Horace Mann. It was a 95 Ford. They stole the radio and put a tiny blemish on one piece of the dash. They also took my leather trenchcoat and maybe some CDs. I got a check for $1400 which included an estimate to replace the whole dash, the CD player, the trenchcoat, and a line item of $350 for "incidentals." I called them to make sure it was right. They said the "incidentals" were for other things that may have been stolen that I hadn't discovered or if there was any more damage in the dash. Long story short, I went to a junkyard and bought a Ford stereo for $18 and pocketed the rest. They asked me how much the value of the stolen items was and never asked for a receipt or proof of anything.

I also had Mercury when I was in L.A. because it was the cheapest I could find. Had a couple claims with them and I was happy.

A tip on Geico: If you buy stock in Berkshire Hathaway (even the cheaper B stock) you get a discount. It only takes a single share for the discount.

I have been with Amica for 17 years. I have had auto, renters and home owners insurance through them at different times. I filed claims for auto and home owners. Everything was handled promptly and courteously. The better collision shops in my area are part of their direct repair network. It has been as good an experience with an insurance company as I am aware of. I am sure they are not the cheapest here in California. But at this point I don't care. It's worth it to me to be treated well when I have to make a claim.

I've never had a bad experience with USAA.

My only thing to add to this is get a good local agent. I have had the same agent for more than thirty years and they have been very helpful.

I also have had Liberty mutual for that same amount of time and not had any issues but i think a big part of this is due to my agent being very active in all aspects of my insurance needs.

Brett_Murphy wrote: I've never had a bad experience with USAA.

My experience with USAA is that it'll suck to be someone you hit. My wife's friend's daughter (16 years old, driving on learner's permit) backed her minivan into my Audi, caving in the driver's door. My parked, unoccupied Audi. It doesn't get any more "her fault" than that. She's covered by USAA.

I filed a claim with my company (State Farm), had the car fixed under my collision policy. Obviously I had to pay the deductible. Here we are, EIGHTEEN MONTHS LATER and USAA is still trying to claim it wasn't their driver's fault. WTF? There's no way that my wife's friend is saying it's not her daughter's fault, so I dunno what USAA is trying to pull.

I view this from a different perspective having worked for several of them and now am in the body shop business and see how most of them do business.

State Farm is huge and acts like it. They are constantly trying different things, most of which don't work. Administratively they are a nightmare. In my area they tend to fix cars the right way most of the time and don't use aftermarket parts, which is nice. Appraisers are really kept micro-managed though and have to follow very strict rules.

I like Donegal. They are very easy to deal with and aren't big on aftermarket parts.

I like Travelers. A little aftermarket happy but they don't give me grief if the stuff doesn't fit. I just replace it with OEM.

Erie is hands-down the best company I deal with. Very professional, safety conscious and even though they use aftermarket parts they are quite limited (no sheet metal parts or headlights). They usually don't choose direct repair shops only on 'agree-ability'; they actually seem to want quality work. Can't say enough good things about them.

Progressive: sucks. I hate their system, their estimating software and their arrogance.

GEICO: terrible to be an employee but but pretty good to be a customer. Aftermarket parts happy.

Nationwide: good but not spectacular. Their A/M parts program is better than most. They still manage to be cheapskates on occasion though.

Allstate: the worst. All shops hate them. They use the cheapest, poorest quality A/M parts they can find and then argue with you when they don't fit. Some shops in my area will simply refuse the job if its Allsnake.

Cincinnati, MMG, Westfield, etc are all small players in my market and run from 'meh' to 'okay'.

Unless you're with Erie I always recommend NOT using the direct repair shops. Most are chosen on how willing they are to cowtow to the Company and not for their work quality. This isn't to say there aren't good DRP shops out there but it is absolutely no guarantee you will get a good job. Do your research.

Anybody here have any experience with Safeco? I just switched to Safeco after State Farm raised my homeowner's rate by 54% over 5 years, despite my never having filed a claim of any kind. Saved a lot on premiums, but I'm a little concerned how it will go if/when I ever have a claim.

In reply to codrus:

That's funny. We have USAA and my wife was hit by a guy passing her in a double yellow no passing zone. Not quite as crystal clear of a fault situation as yours, but close. Our claim rep pretty much told my wife that she was 100% at fault and it took a huge amount of effort for us to go around her to her supervisor to get anybody to look at the facts and evidence of the accident.

Another "any experience with..." - any experience with Farmers?

I'm tired of State Farm increasing the premiums all the time despite no claim (home insurance just went up by approx 20%...) and one of my local car buddies here is a Farmers agent...

BoxheadTim wrote: Another "any experience with..." - any experience with Farmers? I'm tired of State Farm increasing the premiums all the time despite no claim (home insurance just went up by approx 20%...) and one of my local car buddies here is a Farmers agent...

(I used to work for State Farm)

My family went to Farmers from Amica after my brother was added to the drivers bill. We've had nothing but good experiences with them. The one annoying item was when my dad totaled (no fault/shared fault) my Maxima-we had purchased it 6 months earlier, it was a pristine 99 with manual. Well, this was probably the cleanest (or close to it) Maxima around, so what they wanted to give us could not replace that vehicle for us. And there weren't any manuals for sale in the area (and they didn't really care), so it took a few days of back and forth emails and phone calls with the folks to get more money out of them to actually replace the car to our standards. It was reasonable the whole time though, I'd recommend them.