Insurance Recomendations

[jlang]

Hello, I am shopping for a new insurance provider for my vehicles. I am open for all suggestions. My son's Honda was recently hit in a parking lot while he was inside waitiing tables. The guy stopped and did the right thing. The claims process, however, was ridiculous. My current provider wanted to handle the claim online and use their phone app for picture uploads and communication. It was a cluster "F" from the get go. The right hand never knew what the left hand was doing and I was left playing the middle man between the body shop and my provider. His car sat in the body shop for over a week untouched because they claimed to not have sufficient pictures of the damage. I finally submitted a corporate escalation and things started happening quickly. I heard a bunch of COVID related excuses (people working from home, adjusters contracted out etc). Needless to say, I had to pay the deductible and hope that the OP insurance was legit and paid and only then, would I be reimbursed. I guess that is standard these days but I still thought that was $hitty leaving me on the hook in hopes that they can recover damages.

Long story short, I spent too much of my personal time orchestrating the whole ordeal and expected a smooth process for the amount of money we pay. Am I expecting too much and this is how it is now or I am justifed in expecting to make a phone call and told to simply "drop it off and we will handle it from here?"

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[AlgUSF]

I would have filed the claim with the responsible party's insurance. It has always worked for me in the past. If you get drama, you have the ace in the hole of using your own insurance and subrogate it out to them. It is much cheaper for the at-fault party's insurance to do the work than to have your insurance company do the work and make them pay all of their expenses.

Back to the original question, I have Progressive and they've done pretty good for me over the last 8 years.

 

[MonLee]

Geico is the cheapest around me by a large margin. I've never filed an insurance claim so i have no idea how that would play out. But considering Geico is several hundred dollars cheaper per year than anyone else, id gladly deal with some frustrations and save thousands of dollars over the years.

 

[jlang]

Geico is the cheapest around me by a large margin. I've never filed an insurance claim so i have no idea how that would play out. But considering Geico is several hundred dollars cheaper per year than anyone else, id gladly deal with some frustrations and save thousands of dollars over the years.

So 15 minutes could save me 15% or more on car insurance...

 

[Some Random Guy]

USAA has been excellent for me. They create a good experience for all my claims. I go through them so I never have to worry about the at-fault party’s insurance trying to assign any blame to me, plus my deductible is $0 when not at fault. That experience is worth the extra cost to me.
I have no-fault insurance, so that might be why I have such good customer service.

 

[jlang]

I would have filed the claim with the responsible party's insurance. It has always worked for me in the past. If you get drama, you have the ace in the hole of using your own insurance and subrogate it out to them. It is much cheaper for the at-fault party's insurance to do the work than to have your insurance company do the work and make them pay all of their expenses.

Back to the original question, I have Progressive and they've done pretty good for me over the last 8 years.

We tried going through the OP's insurance and were told we needed a police report to start the process with them. We tried getting a police report right when it happened and the local PD told us they would not do that because the incident occured on private property.

 

[XJfanatic]

USAA has been excellent for me. They create a good experience for all my claims. I go through them so I never have to worry about the at-fault party’s insurance trying to assign any blame to me, plus my deductible is $0 when not at fault. That experience is worth the extra cost to me.
I have no-fault insurance, so that might be why I have such good customer service.

I have had amazing service with USAA. Two vehicles totaled, not my fault both got over book value due to them using fair market value. Three serious hail damage claims (totaled about 30k) fixed quick and easy. One of the hail damage happened to my truck while I was in Korea truck was in Oklahoma, my wife filed it for me. They worked with me to wait until I came home, went through my PCS move and got settled in Indiana, about 10 months, to make sure I was available to sign off on the repairs.

 

[Kyle]

Another vote for USAA. My wife has been hit 2 times over the last several years, totaling 2 cars. Both times she wasn't at fault and both times USAA did all of the work with the other peoples insurance for us. The 2nd accident the kid was drunk and high with minimal liability insurance and we didn't pay a dime out of pocket because they took our deductible out of the $10k the other drivers insurance paid and then USAA covered the rest of the costs needed to replace the car. For how easy it has been dealing with them, another company would have to come in significantly cheaper for me to switch but USAA has remained very competitive. I check every year but I've only had one company, Geico, come in cheaper and it was only by $27 per 6 months this year.

 

[N8213]

I started using geico years ago after being hit by someone with geico insurance. They were quick and efficient and getting everything settled. My car was totaled-on top of list they added on sales tax and an average dealer fee. Color me impressed.

 

[CT_LFC]

Been with Geico for probably 5+ years by now. Very affordable and the times i've had claims they have been very good to deal with.

I pay $606/semester for 3 cars with full coverage and 300/300 liability, 250k property damage and 300/300 uninsured motorist. The JL's portion of the bill is $221.

 

[Gwagwv]

I have Amica and they were quick with getting me back on the road.
2 claims within a 2 month window in 2019. Both claims were completed within 2 weeks, w/one being a total loss.

 

[Hearhear]

I have USAA. My daughter’s car was hit in a parking lot, it was weird- the person pulling out next to her slowly snagged her bumper and basically pulled the whole front end body shell off her car, but there was absolutely no damage to the frame or engine. I came to the scene to help, cops were called and luckily the other person was nice and admitted fault. I called USAA and asked them what to do, they said try and have the other persons insurance handle it first since they admitted fault and I had a police case number. Luckily everything went smooth, my daughters car was basically snapped back together by a good body shop and I paid nothing. My insurance didn’t go up either. That was good advice by USAA, let the other guy pay the price. I’ve been happy with USAA, though keep in mind they aren’t the cheapest insurance around. I guess you get what you pay for.

 

[JeepU4IA]

I would always use my own insurance for a claim. The claim processing service is part of what you pay premiums for so why deal with the hassle of collecting from an adverse party yourself. Let your insurance company do the work for you.

I've had 21st Century insurance for over 30 years. Never had a problem.

 

[2drSportOC]

I'll second going with Amica Insurance. They are known for outstanding customer service. Probably not the cheapest though.

 

[LastChild69]

X2 for progressive. Did us right when wife’s car was hit. They also offer windshield coverage for cheap. I’ve used it since I’m a member of the cracked club. Just my 2cents

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