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tiasman

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A piece of advice to everyone from a 25 year claims guy.

Get your home, autos and umbrella under one carrier with the same effective date and renewal date. Know the coverages you want, then shop around EVERY SINGLE YEAR 2 months before your renewal date. Go with the cheapest carrier that gives you the coverages you want/need. DO NOT remain with a carrier out of loyalty or laziness. They do not owe you for loyalty and will not pay your claim differently because of it even if they told you they did.

I am paying the same premium (actually a little lower) than I was 6 years ago because I shop and switch every single year. I have not paid more for the same coverages in 6 years.

The way it works is carriers that want to add PIF (policies in force) will offer lower rates to sign up new customers. Carriers that are over exposed will raise rates on policy holders even though they have had no claims to get rid of you. That's right, they don't want you anymore, gotta get the exposure down. Some of you tolerate the increases out of loyalty and the companies laugh to the bank.

I have only had the same carrier two years in a row one time in the last 20 years and thats because they were desperate for PIF and my premiums decreased year over year for 3 years.

This year I'm back with AllState that I was with 4 years go. I got the same cut premiums this year that they gave me 4 years ago as a come on. Same exact price almost to the dollar.

That's how it's done folks.

All the carriers are governed by the Oklahoma Department of Insurance and the policies are all very similar, with a few notable exceptions that are plain to see when quoting.
 

clintbailey

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As much as I hate trying to figure out the ins/outs of ANY insurance plan, what @tiasman says kinda makes sense to me...if ALL insurance companies are crooked, which I believe they are (auto/home/health/fill in the blank), you might as well pay the least possible year to year I guess
 

TinkerTanker

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A piece of advice to everyone from a 25 year claims guy.

Get your home, autos and umbrella under one carrier with the same effective date and renewal date. Know the coverages you want, then shop around EVERY SINGLE YEAR 2 months before your renewal date. Go with the cheapest carrier that gives you the coverages you want/need. DO NOT remain with a carrier out of loyalty or laziness. They do not owe you for loyalty and will not pay your claim differently because of it even if they told you they did.

I am paying the same premium (actually a little lower) than I was 6 years ago because I shop and switch every single year. I have not paid more for the same coverages in 6 years.

The way it works is carriers that want to add PIF (policies in force) will offer lower rates to sign up new customers. Carriers that are over exposed will raise rates on policy holders even though they have had no claims to get rid of you. That's right, they don't want you anymore, gotta get the exposure down. Some of you tolerate the increases out of loyalty and the companies laugh to the bank.

I have only had the same carrier two years in a row one time in the last 20 years and thats because they were desperate for PIF and my premiums decreased year over year for 3 years.

This year I'm back with AllState that I was with 4 years go. I got the same cut premiums this year that they gave me 4 years ago as a come on. Same exact price almost to the dollar.

That's how it's done folks.

All the carriers are governed by the Oklahoma Department of Insurance and the policies are all very similar, with a few notable exceptions that are plain to see when quoting.
How about paying claims? I'm tempted to hopscotch all over too but I'm worried I'll end up at a place, have hail damage or need a roof, and they won't pay out. I've stuck with State Farm so long for exactly this reason. I know if things are truly catastrophic, they have a good chance of being able to afford the bill, if they pay and don't find a loophole.


Also, do you have a list of companies you trust/recommend from your previous experience? If so, it'd make it easy to set up a reminder to call "Insurance list" every year and go from there.
 

tiasman

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How about paying claims? I'm tempted to hopscotch all over too but I'm worried I'll end up at a place, have hail damage or need a roof, and they won't pay out. I've stuck with State Farm so long for exactly this reason. I know if things are truly catastrophic, they have a good chance of being able to afford the bill, if they pay and don't find a loophole.


Also, do you have a list of companies you trust/recommend from your previous experience? If so, it'd make it easy to set up a reminder to call "Insurance list" every year and go from there.

Insolvency of an insurer is extremely rare, like don’t worry about it rare. They are highly regulated on money in reserve and they also have reinsurance, which is insurance for insurance companies. Insolvency is nothing to be concerned with.

I am still in claims but I work for myself now so I deal with all the companies all the time. These are the companies that I find are dependable in claim handling and I will insure with when the price is right. I’m not saying I like them, I’m saying they have decent claims departments and will pay what they owe:

Travelers, Allstate, State Farm, Safeco, Liberty Mutual, Esurance, Geico, Progressive, Hartford. I will never use Farmers because I hold a grudge but they are fine too.

Bear in mind I have seen all of these companies screw up from time to time and none of them do what is right all the time. I’ve also seen them all overpay here and there.

The company I’ve seen the most consistency from and I would keep forever if they’d keep price low all the time is Travelers.
 

HoLeChit

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A piece of advice to everyone from a 25 year claims guy.

Get your home, autos and umbrella under one carrier with the same effective date and renewal date. Know the coverages you want, then shop around EVERY SINGLE YEAR 2 months before your renewal date. Go with the cheapest carrier that gives you the coverages you want/need. DO NOT remain with a carrier out of loyalty or laziness. They do not owe you for loyalty and will not pay your claim differently because of it even if they told you they did.

I am paying the same premium (actually a little lower) than I was 6 years ago because I shop and switch every single year. I have not paid more for the same coverages in 6 years.

The way it works is carriers that want to add PIF (policies in force) will offer lower rates to sign up new customers. Carriers that are over exposed will raise rates on policy holders even though they have had no claims to get rid of you. That's right, they don't want you anymore, gotta get the exposure down. Some of you tolerate the increases out of loyalty and the companies laugh to the bank.

I have only had the same carrier two years in a row one time in the last 20 years and thats because they were desperate for PIF and my premiums decreased year over year for 3 years.

This year I'm back with AllState that I was with 4 years go. I got the same cut premiums this year that they gave me 4 years ago as a come on. Same exact price almost to the dollar.

That's how it's done folks.

All the carriers are governed by the Oklahoma Department of Insurance and the policies are all very similar, with a few notable exceptions that are plain to see when quoting.
I’ve heard this from several people. Have a buddy who owns a good 15-20 rental homes. He shops around for insurance every year, and pays very little for insurance.
 

SlugSlinger

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I worked in that building for a few months as a total loss adjuster. It is the only job I didnt give at least two weeks notice when I left because I WANTED them to blacklist me from ever going back in a moment of desperation.

They intentionally gave you more claims than could be handled in a timely manner and if you werent logged out of your phone on the minute your 8 hours was up, just wait for the parade of leadership to discuss how OT was not being approved. So, we werent allowed to make new calls or accept incoming calls within 30min of our shift end so we didnt risk going over. That meant the following morning, we spent the first couple of hours returning calls where the customer was pissed they couldnt get someone 30min before our shift end. I had a good knack for working with disgruntled people (managing tech support for repo guys for a few years), so I approached it as rock n roll and I can be responsive enough to everyone in my claims list to not get yelled at for 2 hours every morning. Every week, they analyze the number of claims you close each day so they can add more the following week.

The only guy out of my onboarding class that lasted over a year figured out the game and hid in the bathroom for several hours a day until they decreased his claim load to something he felt like handling. It took them about 18 months to fire him, haha.

Farmers could charge half what we pay anywhere else and I will never send a penny their way.
Who do you insure with?
 

tiasman

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I left out USAA because they have never been competitive in price in my experience. Also, their service has went way downhill in claims the last few years.......I'm on hold with them right now and thought I should add them.

They certainly have plenty of reserves to pay claims when you can get them on the phone hehe.

ETA: Got a squirrely young lady this morning that wanted to be difficult. Two days ago, I got a friendly helpful one at USAA. This is typical for them, no consistency, like dealing with nitroglycerin.
 
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alank2

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I'm worried I'll end up at a place, have hail damage or need a roof, and they won't pay out. I've stuck with State Farm so long for exactly this reason.

I had the same thought too, but it is misplaced hope. My roof has been beaten on for years with various hail storms and State Farm told me to go pound sand. I had a roofer show me all the places where it has been hit again and again and it was nothing but excuses from refusal from State Farm. Not enough damage. Damage done too long ago even with a fresh storm with hail. They will tell you anything to get out of paying claims. They do it with a nice face though. They will come out and look at it, take pictures, and give you a nice reporting telling you they are screwing you.

I've been waiting for more hail just thinking I could get them to do it, but I think that is misplaced hope too. They no longer take care of customers like they used to. Doesn't matter if they charge so much that they've built replacement cost into your roof, they aren't going to actually replace it.

Who in the Tulsa/BA area specifically for an agent of another company is recommended? I'd like to hear about some people who like their company and agency.
 

TinkerTanker

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I had the same thought too, but it is misplaced hope. My roof has been beaten on for years with various hail storms and State Farm told me to go pound sand. I had a roofer show me all the places where it has been hit again and again and it was nothing but excuses from refusal from State Farm. Not enough damage. Damage done too long ago even with a fresh storm with hail. They will tell you anything to get out of paying claims. They do it with a nice face though. They will come out and look at it, take pictures, and give you a nice reporting telling you they are screwing you.

I've been waiting for more hail just thinking I could get them to do it, but I think that is misplaced hope too. They no longer take care of customers like they used to. Doesn't matter if they charge so much that they've built replacement cost into your roof, they aren't going to actually replace it.

Who in the Tulsa/BA area specifically for an agent of another company is recommended? I'd like to hear about some people who like their company and agency.
Liking your company and liking your agent are two galaxies apart. I really like my agent. He's fast with replies and quick with a quote. Usually within the hour. My company though (state farm) leaves a lot to be desired.
 

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