Insurance Going Way Up

[Mgderf]

Insurance rates are up across the board, for personal or commercial.
My business Insurance went up almost 33%

 

[bobzilla]

Let’s be honest, like car makers, all insurance companies suck. Some just suck a little less sometimes.

 

[HoosierLife]

Many moons ago, I did roofing sales after hail storms.

So I dealt with a lot of insurance adjusters.

Back then, 15+ years ago, State Farm was one of the best for getting hail damage roof claims approved.

Allstate was the worst.

Each insurance company had a rule on how many hits happened in a 10’ x 10’ square.

SF was 6+ and they would buy the roof. Allstate was 15+.

Big difference.

And companies would change those internal numbers year to year.

Too many claims, change this unwritten rule to lower claim payouts.

I imagine these numbers change every year or so for every carrier.

You’d have to talk to a roofing contractor that does hail damage restoration primarily to get stats on this year to year.

 

[Ingomike]

Many moons ago, I did roofing sales after hail storms.

So I dealt with a lot of insurance adjusters.

Back then, 15+ years ago, State Farm was one of the best for getting hail damage roof claims approved.

Allstate was the worst.

Each insurance company had a rule on how many hits happened in a 10’ x 10’ square.

SF was 6+ and they would buy the roof. Allstate was 15+.

Big difference.

And companies would change those internal numbers year to year.

Too many claims, change this unwritten rule to lower claim payouts.

I imagine these numbers change every year or so for every carrier.

You’d have to talk to a roofing contractor that does hail damage restoration primarily to get stats on this year to year.

One thing that has a big bearing on catastrophic claims (hail, hurricanes, etc.) is reinsurance. As an example when a big hail storm hit in Indy area years ago SF was making customers very happy, then suddenly they were stingy sticklers about every detail. Why? An agent told me that as soon as they saw the storm details they knew that they were blowing through their deductible of millions and reinsurance was kicking in. Get the great reviews while you can to offset the negative when the reinsurer insists on the adjusters following the policy to the letter.

Lesson here, clam early…

 

[thunderchicken]

Maybe you shouldn’t buy insurance from companies that buy Super Bowl commercials. Get an independent agent to work for you.

I object to Allstate, Nationwide, and State Farm, calling their employees an agent, to me the word agent implies representation, but they have nothing to help you with but their employers products. Get an independent agent…

Actually, we did go through an individual agent. But even then he's a representative that offers products from multiple companies. It still all comes down to what underwriters want to knit pick

 

[Ingomike]

Actually, we did go through an individual agent. But even then he's a representative that offers products from multiple companies. It still all comes down to what underwriters want to knit pick

My experience with the good agents is they represent you and mine help me if I have an issue or claim to get the company to take care of me. Order takers are order takers. i have seen some pretty cool things done by independent agents that even other independent agents didn’t do. Not all independent agents are great.

 

[gregkl]

Just a point to add. If an insured calls the agent of the captive agent companies, Allstate, Nationwide, and State Farm, the agent most likely will report the incident to the CLUE database EVEN if one does not file a claim. Have found this to have occurred several times.

There also is 0 reason to lie or even minimize past issues on an application for insurance. Every little detail is in the database the insurance industry maintains on every person, house, or car, things you have no idea they know. A guy was buying his first house and the insurance company wanted to know about the circumstances of a house he was associated with in the database that had a fire. He was not the tenant, had no utility bills or anything like that there. He just had crash couch there for about three months while he took a class nearby. They freaking know…

I'm not trying to hide or lie about anything. I must have typed something that didn't line up with my intent if you think that something I said eluded to lying.

 

[thunderchicken]

My experience with the good agents is they represent you and mine help me if I have an issue or claim to get the company to take care of me. Order takers are order takers. i have seen some pretty cool things done by independent agents that even other independent agents didn’t do. Not all independent agents are great.

Agreed. But again the situation I spoke of related to insurance for a church building. We had to go with an independent agent because the number of companies that will insure a church are limited. The agent was able to get us twice the coverage of what we previously had for half the cost. So it was a win.

 

[Ingomike]

I'm not trying to hide or lie about anything. I must have typed something that didn't line up with my intent if you think that something I said eluded to lying.

In no way did I think that you said anything about lying. Sorry if you took it that way, I was adding a point to your point I had heard of and then added another unrelated point. A common one is folks that get cancelled tell agents that they are just shopping for better rates but the agent sees the truth very quickly.

 

[Ingomike]

Agreed. But again the situation I spoke of related to insurance for a church building. We had to go with an independent agent because the number of companies that will insure a church are limited. The agent was able to get us twice the coverage of what we previously had for half the cost. So it was a win.

I was trying to say an independent agent represents their clients and is contracted with the insurance to offer that insurance to their clients. The agents must be licensed and meet criteria to offer the insurance companies products but they legally represent the client not the company like a SF employee agent does.

 

[phylodog]

Let’s be honest, like car makers, all insurance companies suck. Some just suck a little less sometimes.

Their existence revolves around taking your money, making more money with it while doing everything in their power to never return a dime to you.

 

[d.kaufman]

Get an independent agent…

Had one for car insurance was much more than I pay now thru Progressive for the same coverages. Our bill has gone down each year slightly as well since switching. Stayed even this year. 1 claim in the 14 years and that went smooth as could be. Uninsured motorist, at fault, and quick payout.

Home insurance we have an agent and it goes up every year despite 0 claims in the 14 years with the company we're with, and yes I know why...paying for everyone else's claims. Have shopped around and our agent is getting us the best deal for what I want coverage wise.

Just stating this as an agent is not the be all, end all for best deals. Shop around. Know what coverage you want. And most of all do due diligence on the company you're about to pay thousands of dollars to per year

 

[dmarsh8]

A company called Wolverine may be with checking into. Been with them for a long time.

 

[gregkl]

In no way did I think that you said anything about lying. Sorry if you took it that way, I was adding a point to your point I had heard of and then added another unrelated point. A common one is folks that get cancelled tell agents that they are just shopping for better rates but the agent sees the truth very quickly.

Yeah, the issue with the typed word vs talking in person. It's all good. Sometimes I wished I had paid better attention in my English classes!

 

[bwframe]

Car insurance premiums could skyrocket 50% in some states this year

A new report from Insurify shows the average U.S. rate for full auto insurance jumped to $2,329 in the first half of 2024, a 15% increase from last year.

www.foxbusiness.com

 

[spencer rifle]

Switched to Progressive - our yearly bill is less than half what we paid Liberty, and the coverage is better in some aspects.

 

[gregkl]

Switched to Progressive - our yearly bill is less than half what we paid Liberty, and the coverage is better in some aspects.

As soon as I retire, I will invest more time shopping for insurance. I'll have time and motivation to save money!