kcazzie
One Of Jerry's Kids
Premium
join:2000-08-13
Morton Grove, IL
 ·AT&T Midwest
| reply to gdm
Re: Insurance
Insurance, I don't care if it's Car, home or medical they all suck... I have had Allstate since 1968,,, Yes, in college and on my Father policy and now had my house, car whatever needed to be insured they did it,,, My fathers friend now his daughter runs it... 1st I drive a 04' Mini my wife just brought a new car due to the deals that are out there... ( Nissan Altima 2.5 coupe with all the goodies, a reallly nice car ... The 4 is so fast I never thought I would buy a car like that with a 4 and now I recommend it... ) We were paying ~2g's a year --- and a great driving record on both of us... My next door neighbor now has 3 BMWs and on the other side 3 cards a Lincoln Continental, A really nice Chevy both within 3 yrs old and an old Saturn to run to the store,,, They both paid 1/2 as much as me... One couple is older the 3 BMWs couple are younger... I got new car insurance with Liberty Mutual for 1/2 of what I was paying every thing the same... My house insurance, I was told by my 40 yr old family friend (Allstate) would stay the same, I guess I'll see,,, Next time I'll tell about my $900 a month co-pay on Enbrel that I will have to pay when my wife retires... It's a long story... I pay 60 bucks a now... Every time I think about it's just seems NUTS... I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and I'm on disability due to it and in Feb. I was able to enroll with Medicare and that's where the cost of Enbrel has gone up so much... Again it belongs in another post... It's nuts and I'm not the only one with this problem, there are sites with whole pages about this problem... You need this inject-able once a week med to walk..!!!.. |
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gdm
Premium,MVM
join:2001-06-15
Mchenry, IL
clubs:
 ·AT&T U-Verse
 ·AT&T CallVantage
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 ·Comcast
| reply to gdm
At least it looks like from the article they are raising the discount policy percentages. Allstate didn't do that and it will be interesting to see if you guys get a letter from them stating the increase or just your new policy.
Well I sat down and looked at all the quotes. It came down to Farmers and Country. I ended up going with Country since I never had a problem with them before. The farmers agent I was dealing with was great and if Country doesn't work out I will contact him again. |
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Warzau
Premium
join:2000-10-26
Naperville, IL
clubs: | reply to Jon
Seriously. They just raised my rates. They better not do it again or we are walkin. |
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Jon
Premium
join:2001-01-20
Lisle, IL
| reply to wolves01
WTF?
Time to start shopping. |
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wolves01
2008 Calder Cup Champions
Premium
join:2002-11-21
Crystal Lake, IL
1 edit | reply to gdm
State Farm taking homeowner rates.
»www.chicagotribune.com/business/···02.story |
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Goober
Premium
join:2000-12-17
Naperville, IL | reply to wolves01
The thing is, I've talked to my agent once in 18 years and have only made at most two claims.
I'm not sure that taking care of those needs and services warrants the hundreds of dollars I may be paying extra. |
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wolves01
2008 Calder Cup Champions
Premium
join:2002-11-21
Crystal Lake, IL
·Comcast Workplace
1 edit | reply to gdm
I'm an agent who represents one of the companies being discussed. I've been in the business for 15 years now and am amazed at how much it's changed since I started.
When discussing rates, it's no longer 'one size fits all' pricing. I may lose a client to another carrier who saved them hundreds of dollars per year on their premium. Later that day, I write a customer from that very same carrier over to mine and save that client hundreds of dollars.
Insurance carriers use multiple factors for pricing including, claim history, driving records, credit, age of home, type of vehicles, etc. Credit has become very big in insurance underwriting. The carriers are not using it to determine if you will pay your premium, but their actuaries tell them that people with better credit tend to file less claims.
Another thing has has sprung up the last few years is 'introductory discounts'. Many carriers entice you in with front loaded discounts that disappear over a period of time (usually two years). Our industry has become the same as the cable and phone companies in that regard.
My advice it that if you have a good agent that takes care of your needs and provides good service, you might want to check in with them prior to making a switch. As schja01 said, those savings may be short lived.
One other thing to consider if you frequently switch carriers. A person who has been with a carrier for a long period and suddenly has a few claims is much more likely to be renewed than someone with short tenure. |
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gdm
Premium,MVM
join:2001-06-15
Mchenry, IL
clubs:
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| reply to schja01
Thanks! That's what was suggested by a couple of the agents was lower my auto to 100/300 since I would have the umbrella.
You are right cheaper isn't always better. I have checked many websites about claim payouts, complaints and strength of the companies on all this. Country & State Farm seem to rank at the top neck and neck with each other. |
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schja01
I need to get a life.
Premium,MVM
join:2000-04-27
Morton Grove, IL
clubs:
·AT&T U-Verse
·AT&T Midwest
| reply to gdm
Many moons ago I switched insurance companies to save money. Great price, great promises, done deal. After a year BOOM big price increase. I went back to State Farm and have never looked back.
I have an agent who actually knows me by name when I (rarely) walk into his office.
I also carry LTDI.
One thing to check ...
Since you have an umbrella make sure your auto limits are no higher than they need to be since the umbrella picks up where they leave off. There are minimum coverage requirements on auto with an umbrella. |
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Goober
Premium
join:2000-12-17
Naperville, IL | reply to gdm
Holy crap! That's a huge savings! |
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David
No,there is another.
Premium,VIP
join:2002-05-30
Granite City, IL
clubs:
 ·DIRECTV
·magicjack.com
·AT&T Midwest
| reply to gdm
I just switched to country about 2 months ago.
I dropped my house premium by $100/yr and got better insurance at a better price than... Farmers! I mean they flat out beat Farmers hands down.
So now I have Country Financial/mutual insurance as well.
--
If you have a topic in the direct forum please reply to it or a post of mine, I get a notification when you do this.
Koetting Ford, Granite City, illinois... YOU'RE FIRED!!
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gdm
Premium,MVM
join:2001-06-15
Mchenry, IL
clubs:
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| reply to gdm
Well I called a Country agent to throw them in the mix. They ranked right behind State Farm for AM best raitings and had same complaint ratio for the state as SF did.
Needless say I am shocked!! |
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Goober
Premium
join:2000-12-17
Naperville, IL | reply to Jon
You guys have way nicer cars than I do for sure. |
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Jon
Premium
join:2001-01-20
Lisle, IL
| reply to gdm
said by gdm  :That is for two Auto's, which I should have stated. I am not sure what most people have down for coverage. The Amfam agent suggested lowering the 250/500/100 to 100/300 and have the umbrella kick in after that. Okay that's about what I pay then for one per year so it's about the same.
To be honest I don't know off the top of my head what my coverage is. There are minimums I have to have b/c of the umbrella. So I know I at least meet that criteria. |
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gdm
Premium,MVM
join:2001-06-15
Mchenry, IL
clubs:
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1 edit | reply to Goober
For SF, Farmers and AmFam I did. For Amica I just called the 800 number since they work a bit differently.
SF & AmFam agents was given by a friend. Farmers I just looked on the website and selected one.
I also found that Farmers is buying the AIG Auto from. [edit] 2009 from this wiki »en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmers_In···ce_Group
April 2009, the Farmers Insurance Group announced that it will acquire the AIG Auto Insurance company, including 21st Century Insurance, for 1.9 billion dollars. This put Farmers in a dead heat for third largest personal lines insurer in the US [17]. |
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Goober
Premium
join:2000-12-17
Naperville, IL | reply to gdm
Did you call up specific agents? |
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gdm
Premium,MVM
join:2001-06-15
Mchenry, IL
clubs: | reply to StepR
Deductibles are all the same. Basically that chart is apples to apples for coverage. I gave each them my Allstate policy so they can see exactly what I have. |
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Goober
Premium
join:2000-12-17
Naperville, IL | reply to StepR
Good point. Ours is $500.00. |
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StepR
Code Warrior
join:2000-11-06
Elgin, IL
| reply to gdm
Also compare deductibles. We had a $500 deductible on the homeowners, but one year the insurer changed the policy to a $500 deductible but 10% of the value of the house for wind damage. I let it slide. Three months later I suffered a wind storm loss, and had to pay a $3,000 deductible. When I had the chance I took the option for a $1,000 deductible for all perils. A higher deductible is better since the rates are cheaper, and it is not worth goin gon the record and making a claim on a small loss anyway. |
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Goober
Premium
join:2000-12-17
Naperville, IL
·Comcast
·WOW Internet and C..
1 edit | reply to gdm
Our SF numbers are close.
We pay $552.00 for two cars (1998 Maxima and 2002 Town and Country) at 250/500/100 and $100 deductible, $1711 Homeowners and $282 Umbrella.
That totals to $2545, which is pretty much in the ballpark it seems.
SF seems to generally be favorably reviewed at or near the top of the heap and for the very few claims we've made, we've been pleased with their service.
The only claim we've made in the last 5 years was a hail damage one (last year I think). It didn't affect us rate-wise. |
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