State Farm Insurance, Time to Leave

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Triple digit golfer
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Re: State Farm Insurance, Time to Leave

Post by Triple digit golfer »

I had Geico auto insurance for years. Rates went up slightly, but nothing to get upset over. I decided to rate shop and found that Allstate was far cheaper for the same coverage, so I switched. Six months, Allstate rates increased 15%. I switched back to Geico and have not looked back.

I had one claim with Geico years ago and it was a very positive experience. I highly recommend them.
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dm200
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Re: State Farm Insurance, Time to Leave

Post by dm200 »

I ended up with State Farm 45 years ago (and been with them ever since) vs. GEICO due to a bureaucratic "fluke" at GEICO.

I was in the military and joined while a resident of NY State. After initial training, I was assigned the remainder of my enlistment in Virginia, where I still live. I retained the NY State registration/plates on my car and the auto insurance from NY state. When I finished my enlistment in the Navy, I chose to take several months off and do some travel before returning to my Megacorp employer, then in the Washington DC area. Because I was an enlisted military person (not an officer) GEICO refused to insure me - even though they would have insured me if actually employed at Megacorp.

So, I went to State Farm - been there even since - only one contested claim issue (eventually State farm gave in to my contention) in all those years and I believe rates are fine.
Houe
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Re: State Farm Insurance, Time to Leave

Post by Houe »

I have state farm for 2 auto's and home insurance. I have noticed the auto insurance has been inching up every 6 months (we pay 6 months at a time). This seems a bit odd considering the cars are becoming less and less valuable. Should I get a rate decrease? Anyway I just renewed because I just don't have the time to deal with this now. But I think my time with state farm is coming to an end.
vested1
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Re: State Farm Insurance, Time to Leave

Post by vested1 »

We had AAA for over 30 years and were very pleased with the service until one incident where they refused to waive the deductible on a hit and run. This caused me to shoot myself in the foot and switch everything to State Farm. What a mistake. Although the premiums were a bit cheaper the coverage was far worse, and some aspects, like a decreased deductible that we had with AAA were unavailable at State Farm. They messed up our impound account on our mortgage for property taxes several times, issuing checks to us that we had to turn around and give back to them with proof that they were wrong.

We had two claims with State Farm on accidents that were entirely the fault of the other driver. Both times State Farm refused to do anything and told us we could call the other insurance if we wanted to, but that they wouldn't. They said that we could get the damage repaired out of pocket and then apply to get reimbursed if the other driver's insurance gave us a problem. They said we could only get the work done at a shop about 150 miles from our home, even though there are numerous certified body shops within 5 miles of our home. They wouldn't provide a rental car. We had full coverage on three vehicles, a travel trailer, and home owners with them as well. They required us to provide our odometer readings every 6 months to prove that we qualified for the low mileage discount. Anecdotes do have meaning for the ones who are subjected to this type of treatment.

On the positive side State Farm was expert at continuously trying to sell us additional insurance which we didn't need nor want.

We are now back with AAA, which has far superior and friendly service, with better coverage at a small increase in price. State Farm appears to be unaware of our leaving as they continue to send us emails about our account, thanking us for our loyalty, even though we cancelled our insurance with them almost two years ago.
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dm200
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Re: State Farm Insurance, Time to Leave

Post by dm200 »

Houe wrote: Fri Dec 15, 2017 11:43 am I have state farm for 2 auto's and home insurance. I have noticed the auto insurance has been inching up every 6 months (we pay 6 months at a time). This seems a bit odd considering the cars are becoming less and less valuable. Should I get a rate decrease? Anyway I just renewed because I just don't have the time to deal with this now. But I think my time with state farm is coming to an end.
You can make changes to your coverage at any time - not just a renewal.
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steadyeddy
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Re: State Farm Insurance, Time to Leave

Post by steadyeddy »

Houe wrote: Fri Dec 15, 2017 11:43 am I have state farm for 2 auto's and home insurance. I have noticed the auto insurance has been inching up every 6 months (we pay 6 months at a time). This seems a bit odd considering the cars are becoming less and less valuable. Should I get a rate decrease? Anyway I just renewed because I just don't have the time to deal with this now. But I think my time with state farm is coming to an end.
Auto premiums are increasing nationwide. Auto claims have increased in frequency and severity to the point where the line has become unprofitable for many insurance carriers. Distracted driving due to mobile phones is driving frequency, and the legal climate has shifted such that fatality claims that used to result in a $2M judgement are now seeing juries award $20M. The insurance companies can’t keep paying $1.10 in claims and expenses for every $1.00 they charge in premiums forever.
Houe
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Re: State Farm Insurance, Time to Leave

Post by Houe »

dm200 wrote: Fri Dec 15, 2017 12:03 pm
Houe wrote: Fri Dec 15, 2017 11:43 am I have state farm for 2 auto's and home insurance. I have noticed the auto insurance has been inching up every 6 months (we pay 6 months at a time). This seems a bit odd considering the cars are becoming less and less valuable. Should I get a rate decrease? Anyway I just renewed because I just don't have the time to deal with this now. But I think my time with state farm is coming to an end.
You can make changes to your coverage at any time - not just a renewal.
Yeah good point. Thanks for the reminder.
CurlyDave
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Re: State Farm Insurance, Time to Leave

Post by CurlyDave »

UALflyer wrote: Thu Dec 14, 2017 7:01 am
CurlyDave wrote: Thu Dec 14, 2017 2:07 am...Now, admittedly this is only a single data point, but the fact that someone who presents more claims to insurance companies in a week than most people do in a lifetime has his own personal insurance with State Farm is all I needed to know.
What exactly does his answer tell you? A person who fights insurance companies for a living and knows how to maximize his recovery is likely to care a lot less about how his particular insurance carrier handles claims because he knows that either way he will get what is owed to him and is very comfortable fighting for it.
A very interesting point.

But, hiring a Public Adjustor is something anyone can do. He charged 6% of the payout, and easily quadrupled the payout from what they were offering before I hired him.

Anyone who negotiates a large or even medium insurance claim without either an attorney or a public adjustor will be taken to the cleaners, no matter what the company name.

The fact that anyone can hire the modern analog of Attila the Hun to extract his just settlement from an insurance company for a small percentage of the total payout makes it a very foolish move to not get Attila on your side.

You can get whatever insurance you want, but I am voting with my personal dollars for SF. I may need to hire a professional tough guy to extract my settlement, but if the tough guy likes SF, then that is also my choice.

* * * * * * * * *
Of course I have a different view of insurance than many. Insurance is to protect against large, life changing financial reverses. A house that represents 30-50% of our net worth is one of those. A fender-bender that costs a couple thousand to repair is not. If company X is willing to charge $100 a year less for their policy for that kind of stuff, the difference is lost in the noise. The convenience of one agent and an umbrella policy that covers me against all kinds of liability outweighs any potential savings.

I have insurance to protect against million dollar liability claims (auto & umbrella), loss of my house (homeowner's) and business liability (landlord policy). Other stuff is inconvenient, but inconsequential in the big picture. I have high deductibles on all policies, which cuts the the cost substantially.
Answering a question is easy -- asking the right question is the hard part.
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bertilak
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Re: State Farm Insurance, Time to Leave

Post by bertilak »

michaeljc70 wrote: Tue Dec 12, 2017 5:57 pm I dumped State Farm for Progressive around 7 years ago. No issues.
I have had State Farm since the early '70s. I used to check competitive rates years ago and nothing was ever significantly cheaper, but I haven't looked again in years.

I DO have an "issue" with Progressive. I had a short period where I was rear-ended three times. In two cases the other insurance company was easy to deal with. In One case I had to deal with Progressive -- a nightmare. The would only pay for a reconditioned bumper (I think from Progressive's approved supplier). My repair shop refused to install it because the paint on it was already flaking off. A second bumper was ordered and received with the same problem.

The repair shop eventually got a factory-new bumper and installed that. There was a lot of behind-the-scenes activity to get someone (I don't know who) to pay for the new bumper. I made a couple of personal visits to the local Progressive agent urging action. (Yes, they do have local agents with offices that need to be paid for -- just like SF.) Perhaps they just decided to cut their losses on the car rental as this dragged out.
May neither drought nor rain nor blizzard disturb the joy juice in your gizzard. -- Squire Omar Barker (aka S.O.B.), the Cowboy Poet
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PFInterest
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Re: State Farm Insurance, Time to Leave

Post by PFInterest »

Houe wrote: Fri Dec 15, 2017 11:43 am I have state farm for 2 auto's and home insurance. I have noticed the auto insurance has been inching up every 6 months (we pay 6 months at a time). This seems a bit odd considering the cars are becoming less and less valuable. Should I get a rate decrease? Anyway I just renewed because I just don't have the time to deal with this now. But I think my time with state farm is coming to an end.
this is literally the thing bugging me. our 25% increase is on a 17 year old car, with no collision coverage!
im finally at that point where, no i need to have the time to look into this.
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PFInterest
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Re: State Farm Insurance, Time to Leave

Post by PFInterest »

steadyeddy wrote: Fri Dec 15, 2017 12:26 pm Auto premiums are increasing nationwide. Auto claims have increased in frequency and severity to the point where the line has become unprofitable for many insurance carriers. Distracted driving due to mobile phones is driving frequency, and the legal climate has shifted such that fatality claims that used to result in a $2M judgement are now seeing juries award $20M. The insurance companies can’t keep paying $1.10 in claims and expenses for every $1.00 they charge in premiums forever.
true, they are a business, and this is insurance, its for those unfortunate events. and when you have to cover the whole pool you get the good with the bad.
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PFInterest
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Re: State Farm Insurance, Time to Leave

Post by PFInterest »

bertilak wrote: Sun Dec 17, 2017 7:05 am
michaeljc70 wrote: Tue Dec 12, 2017 5:57 pm I dumped State Farm for Progressive around 7 years ago. No issues.
I have had State Farm since the early '70s. I used to check competitive rates years ago and nothing was ever significantly cheaper, but I haven't looked again in years.

I DO have an "issue" with Progressive. I had a short period where I was rear-ended three times. In two cases the other insurance company was easy to deal with. In One case I had to deal with Progressive -- a nightmare. The would only pay for a reconditioned bumper (I think from Progressive's approved supplier). My repair shop refused to install it because the paint on it was already flaking off. A second bumper was ordered and received with the same problem.

The repair shop eventually got a factory-new bumper and installed that. There was a lot of behind-the-scenes activity to get someone (I don't know who) to pay for the new bumper. I made a couple of personal visits to the local Progressive agent urging action. (Yes, they do have local agents with offices that need to be paid for -- just like SF.) Perhaps they just decided to cut their losses on the car rental as this dragged out.
interesting. funny, my only experience with progressive was amazing. we have a service/repair center nearby. showed up on the same day i made an apt, given a rental car right there covered, and my car was fixed exactly as i wanted (requested OEM parts and had some aftermarket items that they replaced as well). they even had to wait an extra day on me because i could not get off of work in time once the car was done and didnt ask me for anything out of pocket. funny because i had never had such a good experience up until that point.
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topper1296
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Re: State Farm Insurance, Time to Leave

Post by topper1296 »

Everyone should shop around every couple years. I recently did and received quotes from 5 different carriers for auto, condo and umbrella. I currently have State Farm and Liberty Mutual was cheaper for me, however not enough to mess around with switching carriers. I'll check again in a few more years.
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PFInterest
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Re: State Farm Insurance, Time to Leave

Post by PFInterest »

OP here, finally made the switch to geico.
saving 29% over my old coverage, same limits. actually increased some coverage as well on the renters.
did it all on the phone. super nice people (spoke with 3 different departments).

for all those out there who havent shopped around in a while....do it.
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