Insurance is one of those things that we just never think about . . we have to have it so we pay it and don’t look back. We’ve had the same insurance company for our cars and house for at least 10 years. We were living in Kentucky and Vince found out that one of his colleges offered a discount through this company and at that time, it was quite a bit less than we were paying so we switched.
Yesterday we got the bills for our cars, house and umbrella policies . . all coming due the first part of November. You know we drive old vehicles – the pickup is 19 years old, the Honda is 14 years old and the Toyota is 8 years old. Neither of us have had an accident that was our fault or have tickets on our records for at least 20 years. We have only liability coverage on all the vehicles. We live in the smallest, least expensive house we’ve had in years. I looked at those bills and got sticker shock! Almost $5,000.
I got to thinking . .when we retire . . by the time we pay $5,000 for car/home insurance and pay property taxes, that’s almost $800 per month. Then we’ll be paying for health insurance too and knows what that will cost in a few years. How do people survive these days?
I called a couple of reputable companies this morning and State Farm can give us better coverage for about $1,200 less per year. The agent I happened to call had the insurance on this place before we bought it and still had all the pictures so he doesn’t have to come out and take pictures.
With every company, folks have probably had bad experiences so I’m sure there are people who don’t like State Farm but when we (not Vince and I) had house fire #2, we had State Farm insurance and they could not have been better. The agent was there at daylight with coffee and donuts. Hey .. bring me donuts and you’re my friend forever! We were living in Jasper, TX and when we had the fire, I never went back. I told the claims folks and the guys doing the repair work . . I’m never going back . . you pick the colors, the carpet, the flooring . . everything! And, I guess they did because I really never went back. The house got put back together and sold.
Vince wants to go sit down and visit with the agent. Vince is concerned about the solar panel coverage though I think we’re better off with the coverage for them with State Farm than with what we have now . . if what the guy told me is true.
We have til the end of the month before our premiums are due so Vince has time to go talk to him and then, if all goes well, we’ll be back to being insured by State Farm.
Glen in Louisiana says
We have had State Farm umbrella for nearly 40 years. like you, no tickets, one claims, no accidents. We are happy……..I hear friends who have serious problems with cut rate insurance, and that scares me….like I said, we are happy!
Glen in Louisiana says
Make that NO claims…….I hope that is not a portent!
Sue in Scottsdale, AZ says
We have had insurance with State Farm for about 30 years or so and are very happy. We have had several minor claims and were treated fairly and still are. I do believe much of this is due to our agent who is fantastic – both as a person and an agent!
Barbara says
State Farm as long as I can remember…however the first agent we had was awful, so we simply went with another and never had a problem.
Several claims over the years, no problems.
A good company, but not all agents are created equal.
Stephani in N. TX says
Just because you are in TX now, I will mention that we have insurance through USAA (in Austin, TX). We got it 50 years ago on our auto when my husband was an officer in the Army, but it is now open to everyone, not just military. When my husband passed, my atty son looked into homeowner’s ins since our local carrier was running pretty high. By several means, as a widow of a disabled veteran, my house payment has gone down several hundred dollars due to a change in homeowners insurance and a break from the state of TX for 100% disabled vets on property tax. I am now able to stay in my own home and the insurance break was part of that package, the reduction. Sorry that my trusted insurance person let us go up, up, up on our homowners with seemingly no end in sight over the last 30 years in our TX home. Anyway, it’s just always good to know there might be something else out there.
Bon says
I was not happy with the new rate I got from my insurance co (Liberty Mutual) so I checked with AAA. Then I called Liberty and said it seemed like my premium was really high seeing my car kept getting older and older. They did a recalculation a d I’m saving $700 a year bringing it down to about what AAA had quoted. Sometimes it pays to call.
Sherrill says
When DH and I got married, he’d already been with State Farm a few years and thot no one else could replace them so we had them for 25+ years. You know they always tell you ‘you’ve been our customer for xx years and we will never drop you’. Finally one day, DH decided to start looking into other insurance companies and he was FLOORED at how much more we’d been paying for State Farm (even tho they told us we couldn’t get a better deal) so he switched and I’ve never been with them since. I check every so often and usually go with a lower rate. Right now I’m with Geico but my son says he gets the best rates with Allstate. Go figure…who knows.
Sara says
We have been insured with USAA since the early 80’s. We have had no problems with them and our rates have stayed pretty much the same. We had to insure with them at first because they were the only company that could cover our vehicles when overseas. Our claims have been small and were quickly paid without quibbling. I will put in a plug for Met Life. My parents had that company for many, many years. In May 2013 my Mother passed away. In August 2013 her house burned down. I hadn’t really gone through and gotten rid of much. The fire was on a Tuesday, I called them on Wednesday not really knowing if it was still covered with her passing. The agent was here on Thursday morning. I was still in shock about the fire, I never expected that. The agent was kind and very helpful. He would ask “how much do you think that was worth?” Like her clothes, I guessed at maybe $800. He said we’ll make that $1500. He told us that my Dad had carried replacement ins, so they would pay x number of dollars for everything. Unless we wanted to re-build a house that size or larger, then it would be x + replacement. I said oh yes, I would love a new house on land that I already owned. So in the end, I got a new house that is paid for, no mortgage. I told my DH, Daddy bought us a house! 🙂
Vicky says
I woke up this morning thinking about homeowner’s insurance. I’m paying over $6K a year, plus flood insurance, because this is an old 1927 house. I went with Farm Bureau when I bought it because they were the only ones that would insure this close to the Gulf. I found out that no insurance company would write a policy when there was a hurricane in the Gulf. There was one brewing – I don’t remember the name; it was August 2012 – but at that time it was on the other side of Cuba and hadn’t gotten into the Gulf proper. For that reason Farm Bureau decided to insure it. I first called USAA because they have had my car insurance for many years. They weren’t writing any policies down here. I got a call and a quote a few months back from them, and they will now insure my house for around the same amount of money but with slightly more coverage. Now that I’m retired, I don’t want to pay that much money but I hate shopping insurance. Will just have to bite the bullet and do it, though.
Joan says
We lost everything we owned during our recent move to Alaska. Our moving company, North American Van Lines, packed our belongings in a shipping container, left it in their unsecured parking lot, and someone drove off with it in the middle of the night. The police and the moving company sales rep believe it was an inside job, but good luck proving it. The moving company paid a pittance, but our State Farm homeowners’ insurance kicked it to cover a great deal more. We will never be able to replace those things that were priceless to us – our photos, heirlooms, antiques, etc. – but our homeowners’ coverage helped make our new home liveable. Premiums are high, yes, but thank heavens the coverage was there when we needed it!
JudyL says
I’ve had claims in the past, one house fire that was a total loss, one that was a partial loss so I know the value of good insurance. There’s terrible about your loss. I can’t believe North American would leave something that valuable in an unsecured area.
As of this afternoon, we’re insured by State Farm and I hope we never need them but, like a good neighbor . . they’re there if we do need them! 🙂