Possibly Changing Insurance Agencies and Need Advice About This Page:

[simbarel]

I signed up with my current insurance agency when I was single and a renter and they quoted me the lowest rate for my first car in 1998. My situation has since changed and now I have my car, DH's van, homeowner's, and an umbrella policy. The insurance broker has always been very nice and cordial and accomodating....but I'm thinking I'm paying too much for homeowner's (in the mortgage biz and I see lots of rates cross my desk) so I spat our information into the internet and am now getting some quotes.
MetLife has quoted me lower than my current agency (State Farm) but some concerns are: a)should I break the State Farm long-term relationship?, b)should I present this info to State Farm and tell them I'm getting offered lower rates?, c)should I be paying particular attention to coverage specifics? And which ones? Overall I'm happy with my current coverage, but I've never had a claim either--so I have no idea how they'd perform if I DID have one. I'm looking to save a couple bucks a month AND a good value--Not wishing to screw myself in the end. The new agency is offering me monthly savings over the old one, after being with the old one for 8 years. Gosh, I HATE insurance, how do you all best handle your insurance dealings?

[graygables]

First make sure you are comparing apples with apples. Check the coverage carefully, and your agent should be willing to go over all that with you. I have USAA for suto/property and they are always willing to discuss my options. I happen to like having all my coverage in one place, so that's why I stick with them. If the coverage is the same (or similar) I would ask them to adjust the rate and explain that you will have to take your business elsewhere if they can't. I know there is a lot to be said about a relationship (and that's what ins companies are advertising right now), but when it comes down to it, it's your money and you shouldn't be spending more than you need to.

Good luck. I hate dealing with insurance myself!

[Teresa]

I agree with Dawn in that you need to make sure that you are comparing identical coverages.

Also, now that you probably have nicer things, you might want to think about making sure that your home owners covers replacement COST, not replacement VALUE.

Big diff. when my dad and step-mom had a fire, they ended up over 20,000 in DEBT to replace SOME of the things that were burned, because they found out things like: a 5 yr. TV is worth $10, etc.

[simbarel]

I hate to burden you all with this, but....

What's the difference? I HATE insurance! I hate investigating insurance and I hate dickering over it, I'm in over my head. I'm more comfy-er asking you all.

Cost v. Value--The quote I was given reflected our mortgage amount (80% of home's appraised value from our purchase date) not the full value, and we've made renovations since then..is that bad????? The new quote was $100/y less than what we currently pay...and all's I know is that if our house burns down, they give us $50K less than what our purchase price was.

How do I know where the apples vs. apples are? I swear I read everything, but I'm not sure WHAT is WHAT. Can I pay for a service? It seems important enough to pay a one-time fee. Is that an option?

[2princessmom]

I agree with what everyone else has said. I have State Farm for everything and have had a couple of claims and they have been absolutely wonderful! But I understand what you are going thru! Good luck!

[Happymommy]

I hope someone can help you. I don't know anything. I love my insurance agent (he was my dad's agent), he's a state farm agent. We go in to his office, and he pretty much tells us what we need (all around great guy)-- we were young when we bought our house, and he really explained everything to us. When I got pregnant, he also had us in the office and explained everything we needed to know about life insurance (term vs. whole), and he never tried to oversell us. I guess I just feel comfortable with him, so I go with what he says-- I don't knwo if that's really good or not. I've had a few car accidents, and we've never had any problem at all (I was at fault almost each time), and he never raised my rate, just called to see if I was ok, and that's it-- he just took care of it. Anyway, if you like your original agent, and you're only saving $100 a year by switching, I wouldn't do it. My husband had auto insurance through an agency that was not as personal (I think it was progressive), and he had alot of trouble when his Cherokee was stolen-- so we'd rather go with someone we trust. Other than that, I know I'm no help, but good luck!!!!

[graygables]

Here is what USAA calls "Replacement Value": The replacement value of your home is the amount of money it would take today to rebuild your home from the ground up. This does not include the cost for land, landscaping, other structures and intrinsic value (such as the neighborhood and the location within a city).

Personal Property: Personal property includes items you own, wear or use. This coverage insures against losses to your personal property. In a basic policy, USAA insures your personal belongings for 40 or 50% of your dwelling coverage limit, depending on where you live. Higher limits are available. (our coverage is 110% of replacement value)

There is also Loss of Use, so if our home is uninhabitable b/c of a covered loss, we have unlimited coverage to help pay for another place to live until ours is replaced.

Basically, you need to make sure that they will pay for the replacement at today's prices of what you have and different companies call it different things. Just to give you a "fer-instance", a $200,000 dwelling replacement policy w/ $240,000 personal property and unlimited loss of use runs about $730 per year.

I'm sure some of that was clear as mud, but I hope it helps!

[minemoz1]

I would NOT go with MetLife if the homeowners/auto coverage is anything like their dental coverage. While I don't have them for any insurance (very happy with State Farm), I work for a dentist and we are in their dental network which was supposed to make our claims go through faster. They are, by far, the worst company to deal with. We have to jump through hoops just to get payment on procedures other ins co approve without any problems. I feel you get what you pay for. Good luck with your decision

[GATechGal]

Be sure that you have good replacement value in your insurance. A friend of ours had thier house struck by lightning and burn, pretty much, to the ground. Their daughter had to really fight with the insurance company to get them to replace the house to the original size. It took about 6 months to rebuild and in all that time they had to live in a near by apartment.

[HiddenMickey]

I've had the same insurance company for years too, Nationwide. First it was just my car (before DH), now it's two cars and our home. We get a discount because of longevity, no claims, and having home/car with them.

DH wants us to get a quote from Amica when we move late this fall. He thinks we'll get a better deal from them. They work a bit more like a credit union and you get money back at the end of the year if they don't pay out on too many claims.

[Jillybean]

We just switched over to AIG for our auto and home owners insurance. We are saving over $500 a year on the auto for the same coverage and we are paying the same for home owners but with much better replacement value. I also just called yesterday for a quote for AIG term life and that is going to save us a considerable amount also.

I think it's good to shop around and be aware of what's out there because there are savings to be had. It does help if you take your current policy and compare it line-by-line to the quote to make sure that you're coming out even.

Good Luck!

Jill

[deelee2]

As an insurance professional, I believe I can answer some of your questions. You should definitely have a replacement cost endorsement on your policy. By having this you are paid the actual cash value (replacement cost less depreciation, usually 10% a year depending on the items longevity) and when you replace the item(s) present the receipts to the insurace carrier to be reimbursed the full value. Make sure your amounts of coverage are the same and especially check your liability limits. These protect you against claims made against you. Make sure these are enough to protect the amount of assets you have. Claims service is so important and I am not certain MetLife could give you the "localized" claim service that State Farm would depending on where you live. They may hire independent adjusters to work your claim who are not even employees of met life. Hope this helps!

[DrDolphin]

One thing I would recommend EITHER way - get the coverage on the house REAPPRAISED!! you have sunk lots and lots of $$ into the house - if it is now woth 250k and your policy only replaces up to 210 - you are already in the hole for 40k.....

If it were me - I wold do the following:

Before anything - get out your policy and read it very very well - know all the details of it. Replacement value vs cost value (Mine is replacement - I will never go with anything less).

1) Print out the quote - take it to your insurance guy and see how is compares to your existing policy.
2) If the coverage is the SAME OR BETTER (and you have read all the really fine print), ask him to match. If he can't or won't - then consider a change. I would give him the chance. I would also look at more than one company for comparision. Look at a whole bunch. I know it's a headache - but it may end up being better for you.

[simbarel]

Sooo...should my replacement cost be same as appraised value? Cuz it's not now...it's only the original mortgage amount.

[poohmaine]

I am not sure about technical terms and if they change from one insurance company to the other. Your agent should be able to answer questions like, "so, if my house burns down, I would get the house replaced, the contents replaced, and a place to live while it's rebuilt, right?" Stuff like that. Ask many questions, get a lot of quotes.

I have AllState insurance on home, life, and car. At the time, they were the cheapest. Their customer service is fabulous. I have been in 4 auto accidents (all not my fault) and Allstate was quick (an adjuster got back to me in a few hours), helpful, nice, and my car was repaired in a day or two. Our house had roof ice damage, they were at the house the next day to appraise it. My agent is in South POrtland if you are interested in getting a quote from her.