Insurance Recomendations

[Luvwine]

I am a Plaintiff’s personal injury lawyer and have handled claims and tried cases against every major insurer for over 30 years. Most companies are pretty good on property damage claims (tho not always) but where they really differ is on the bodily injury side. Yes, usually your claim is against the other guy’s policy, but if they don’t have coverage or not enough, then your UM/UIM coverage will come into play. Also, if you are at fault, you want your insurer to fairly resolve a claim so you don’t get sued unnecessarily.

Anyway, I don’t shop on rates but have a pretty good feel for which companies are pretty good and which suck claims wise. Off the top of my head and just my opinion:

Good: Cincinnati, USAA, Nationwide, Travelers, Amica (tho not as good as they used to be), The Hartford.

Not so good: GEICO, Progressive, State Farm. I usually have to sue cases with all of these companies. They tend to make poor offers Pre-suit. Usually (almost always with Progressive and GEICO) I can resolve the cases fairly after some litigation. State Farm I have to try cases more often.

Worst: Allstate. Avoid like the plague. They lowball pretty much on every case then remain bad through trial. Two of my last three jury trials were with them snd offers so bad that I got 5x and 10x their highest offer at trial—just ridiculous. This does not apply to Property damage but why deal with a company that increases your chances of being sued if you are at fault or will treat you like crap if you make a UM/UIM claim?

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[Strommen95]

I had USAA for a while. It's an excellent insurance but not the cheapest. Customer service is great and the one time I had a windshield claim, dealing with them was trouble free. I now have Geico and haven't had to file a claim or do anything more than set up autopay. I've heard varying things about Geico both good and bad. I find the App very easy to use though and think a claim would be an easy process with them too. For me, saving money with Geico has been worthwhile.

 

[CT_LFC]

I am a Plaintiff’s personal injury lawyer and have handled claims and tried cases against every major insurer for over 30 years. Most companies are pretty good on property damage claims (tho not always) but where they really differ is on the bodily injury side. Yes, usually your claim is against the other guy’s policy, but if they don’t have coverage or not enough, then your UM/UIM coverage will come into play. Also, if you are at fault, you want your insurer to fairly resolve a claim so you don’t get sued unnecessarily.

Anyway, I don’t shop on rates but have a pretty good feel for which companies are pretty good and which suck claims wise. Off the top of my head and just my opinion:

Good: Cincinnati, USAA, Nationwide, Travelers, Amica (tho not as good as they used to be), The Hartford.

Not so good: GEICO, Progressive, State Farm. I usually have to sue cases with all of these companies. They tend to make poor offers Pre-suit. Usually (almost always with Progressive and GEICO) I can resolve the cases fairly after some litigation. State Farm I have to try cases more often.

Worst: Allstate. Avoid like the plague. They lowball pretty much on every case then remain bad through trial. Two of my last three jury trials were with them snd offers so bad that I got 5x and 10x their highest offer at trial—just ridiculous. This does not apply to Property damage but why deal with a company that increases your chances of being sued if you are at fault or will treat you like crap if you make a UM/UIM claim?

To further protect against lawsuits is why i also carry umbrella insurance. A lot of dirtbags out there looking for an opportunity to cash in. For $400/year i get additional piece of mind.

 

[Luvwine]

To further protect against lawsuits is why i also carry umbrella insurance. A lot of dirtbags out there looking for an opportunity to cash in. For $400/year i get additional piece of mind.

Yes, that is a good idea to protect your assets. Also, many companies will allow the umbrella to be applicable to UM/UIM coverage (for an extra fee). Per dollar of coverage after the first 25-50k of coverage, it is cheap. This is becauselike 80% of claims settle for under $25k. 80% of the rest settle for under $50k. So buying coverage for more than $50k becomes cheap. Many drivers have the minimum coverage allowed so if you or a family member or passenger is seriously hurt or killed due to someone else’s fault, having a lot of UM/UIM coverage allows you to get fair compensation. I keep $4MM of both liability and UM/UIM coverage for this reason. That may seem excessive but it is not very expensive. Also, have had too many conversations like the time I had to tell my client, a 22 year old girl who was now a quadriplegic, that there was only $25k in money available for her case. ?

 

[jlang]

Thank you all for the responses. I currently have Allstate lol.

Anyway, good stuff here. Thanks to the community for, yet again, helping out.

 

[yngrshr]

I'm sorry but people just randomly throwing out insurers and rates doesn't make much sense. Insurance is HIGHLY dependent on where you live and what carriers in your area are really pushing for business in that area. Auto in one area with one carrier may be 50-75% more expensive than with a different carrier in the same area.

I do not at all recommend you just do the online insurance purchasing thing that seemingly most do. Contact local agents. I use State Farm in my area of NJ. I saved quite a bit going through an agent rather than doing it myself. And we found that Stat Farm really beat the pants off of Geico in this area. For us, Liberty Mutual is getting more aggressive in our area which is great for when I market the program in another year or two.

But 100% go through an agent. You'll get a far better experience.

 

[PBosch]

USAA 30+ years. Back when I used to get cold calls from other insurance companies wanting to give me a quote, once they heard I was with USAA that normally ended the phone call.

 

[morph860]

I was with Progressive for 15+ years when I lived in CT. They jacked my rates when I moved to FL. Switched to State Farm for a while. State Farm sent me a "non-renewal" for auto because I filed "too many claims". Filed one glass claim (chip repair) and two roadside claims in 3 years. Total cost less than $500. After they terminated the auto policy, the premium on my home policy almost doubled because I lost the bundle rate. I'm with AAA for both now.

 

[Keramzzit]

I know it's been a while, but when it comes to insurance, I’d say it depends on what you need coverage for. A good rule of thumb is to shop around and compare quotes. Companies like Geico or State Farm are pretty popular if you’re looking for car or home insurance, but I’d also recommend checking out local providers. Sometimes, they can offer better deals or more personalized service. For personal injury, you might want to look into something like a tulsa personal injury attorney—just in case you ever need it! They can help with claims and make sure you're covered.

 

[Pig-Pen]

we've had geico for years. the body shop manager told me geico is one of the better carriers for handing vehicle claims. thats for vehicle damage though. not sure on BI.

definitely make sure your limits are high on everything. i got rear ended by someone with $15k policy limit. my own insurance had to kick in to cover the rest. ive seen a claim where someone only had $5k property damage limit and did over $100k in property damage. the homeowners insurance had to cover the damage (i was the adjuster for HO).

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