Another Insurance Story

[Nice n Easy Rider]

So after reading many posts here about the wide variance in rates from different insurance companies I decided I needed to check on mine. I currently have my auto policies with Allstate. When I got the bike I went with them because I needed to have all my vehicle policies with the same carrier in order to have my personal liability umbrella policy. The Allstate rate on the bike was about $1100 per year which seemed high but I supposedly had all the discounts.

 

After several recent posts here I decided to check other carriers. Both Progressive and Geico quoted me about $550 per year for equal or slightly better coverage. Geico would also issue me a personal umbrella policy if I used them for my autos as well. Their auto quotes were also about half of what I am paying Allstate.

 

So I had called my agent (before I got the Geico auto quote) and said that I could do a lot better on the moto insurance with Progressive or Geico. She told me that Allstate had a "new" moto policy and she would get me a quote on that. A couple of days later I get a quote for better coverage than I now have ($500 deductible vs $1000; $1000 coverage vs $0 on accessories) for $350 per year. So I told her "OK, you did better on the bike now see what you can do on the cars."

 

So as the earlier posters have said, these companies have no loyalty to the customer and the only way to get anything from them appears to be to threaten to take your business elsewhere.

 

Lesson Learned.

[tallman]

I also got a better deal w/same company I had, but w/out the threats.

Asked him to reevaluate the policies and see what could be done.

Bought a truck and added same coverage to it.

So now a larger pool of vehicles are insured for less than the smaller pool was ( 4 for 3) and same or better coverages.

Sometimes all you have to do is ask.

[Lynn]

When I got the bike I went with them because I needed to have all my vehicle policies with the same carrier in order to have my personal liability umbrella policy.

 

State Farm isn't even in the same neighborhood as Progressive for us for pricing....but they didn't threaten our umbrella policy either. We just, annually, have to provide proof that our underlying limits on the bike meet their guidelines in order to keep the umbrella in effect.

 

It is strange that Allstate doesn't have a similar way to work around it-you would think that they wouldn't want to lose the umbrella just because they were high on something else.

 

 

[Nice n Easy Rider]

I also got a better deal w/same company I had, but w/out the threats.

Asked him to reevaluate the policies and see what could be done.

Bought a truck and added same coverage to it.

So now a larger pool of vehicles are insured for less than the smaller pool was ( 4 for 3) and same or better coverages.

Sometimes all you have to do is ask.

Tim,

I should note that my "threat" was really just to point out that Progressive and Geico were offering me quotes at half my current rate. I guess I expect a 'full-service agency' to be seeking out the best rates for me without my having to remind them. My previous Allstate agent did this but when he retired 10 years ago and closed his agency his clients were apparently transferred to this other agency. Since the new agency is regularly offering me their additional financial management services (which I have yet to avail myself of) I assumed that they would be trying to demonstrate their worthiness by showing me exactly how much they valued protecting my hard-earned money. My bad for assuming any such thing. When I mentioned the lower quotes from other companies for the autos the agent said that she could rewrite my auto policies as well but I haven't seen the new quotes yet.

[Woodie]

Allstate used to be employee-agents, now they're no longer employees. I'm not sure if they're truly "independant" (meaning they can sell multiple carriers) or just Allstate reps.

 

[Joe Frickin' Friday]

Some companies do reward loyalty. My niece was in a car accident last week, crashed her dad's car. She was found to be partly at fault, but because her parents had been customers of USAA for at least a couple of decades, USAA said they would decline to raise the premiums, despite the at-fault finding.

 

Also, cost is one thing to consider, but customer service is another. I've been insured by USAA since I started driving. I haven't bothered shopping around; it's probable their rates aren't the cheapest out there, but no one in my family has had any trouble with their claims service, and that's a valuable thing. I had two claims on my 1100RT: a Detroit pothole bent both rims in '99, and of course there was that tipover in Torrey in '03. They paid out, no questions asked. In '03 when I need the claim amended, the adjuster visited my house to confirm the extra damage that was missed at the initial dealer inspection, and quickly approved the extra funds.