Home owners insurance providers in Austin (Hart, Arp: rent, lenders, houses)

[COCUE]

We need to figure out our homeowners insurance ASAP as the lenders need it. I've gotten a few quotes with Allstate the most expensive and Travelers the least expensive by about $500. Statefarm came in 2nd, lower than Allstate by about $150. All the quotes have pretty much the same coverage.

We are not very familiar with Travelers but the #s from them make the most sense for same coverage.
any negative feedback on Travelers that anyone has?

Thanks

[TexasHorseLady]

Try Germania. It's a Texas-only insurer, primarily rural but they will insure houses in town and they have at least one office in Austin.

[10scoachrick]

With all due respect to Texas based firms, Watkins Insurance Agency is an independent(Texas based) agency who can shop around for the best coverage for the best price. Unless something is totally strange, combining Auto and Homeowners is almost always a money saver.

COCUE, anyone at Watkins can help you; but I can give you the number of 'our' agent on their staff if you wish. They can get back to you in 24 hours or less with a number of recommendations based on the coverage you seek. Based on what I know of your search, I'd say you should be in the $750-1100 range depending on coverages(actually the low half of that range).

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by 10scoachrick

With all due respect to Texas based firms, Watkins Insurance Agency is an independent(Texas based) agency who can shop around for the best coverage for the best price. Unless something is totally strange, combining Auto and Homeowners is almost always a money saver.

COCUE, anyone at Watkins can help you; but I can give you the number of 'our' agent on their staff if you wish. They can get back to you in 24 hours or less with a number of recommendations based on the coverage you seek. Based on what I know of your search, I'd say you should be in the $750-1100 range depending on coverages(actually the low half of that range).

I echo the idea that you should talk to an independent insurance agent. I recommend Phylis Benjamin, Benjamin-Fry Insurance, 512-212-7185. When State Farm raised my home owners rates this spring, due to losses elsewhere in the state, I ended up saving around $1,000/year with Safeco*, recommended by Benjamin-Fry.

*Home owners, landlord and auto (2 car) policies.

With Safeco my homeowners Ins is $776/yr, where St. Farm, who I had been with since 1981 with no claims, wanted to raise it to $1166/year.

[PrimusPilus]

+1 for Watkins Insurance Agency.

[COCUE]

Thanks all. I will be reaching out to an independent agent given that the premiums quoted were quite more expensive than Rick's estimate

[TexasHorseLady]

I recommend Germania because, while we used an independent agent for years before we signed on with them, and that agent got us the absolute best rate they could, when we signed on with Germania our rates for the rent house in town dropped dramatically, and our auto insurance rates plummeted by two-thirds, and that was WITH a male teenaged driver in the household. (We have house, farm, and auto insurance with them now.) When we bought the ranch, we got the usual phone calls from insurance agents telling us they heard we just bought the place and they guaranteed they could get us better rates and who were we with. I'd say Germania, there'd be a long silence, and then "Never mind." One stayed on the line long enough to say, "Germania is a different breed of cat," and that there was no way they could meet, never mind beat, their rates.

Just as important (maybe moreso) is that when we had a claim on our house in Austin, there was no muss, no fuss, and within three days we received a check in the mail for the damage, and our rates did not go up. When the F5 came through out here, I got a call from our agent asking if he could bring an adjuster by because he knew there'd been hail on our side of I35 and they wanted to make sure for us that there wasn't hail damage we would want to make a claim on (they were busy enough with the tornado damage, but he showed up with the adjuster nonetheless).

[RooCeleste]

We have had Travelers for home and auto for years and they have been exceptional, and the least expensive for the same amount of coverage. We've had hail claims on both the home and the car and they paid out with no issue. We use Ed Stubblefield of American Casualty Insurance. http://www.acitx.com/ (And for what it's worth, my family had Travelers for health insurance when I was younger and they paid out on HUGE surgery claims for me)

[mamacatnv]

We use The Hartford through AARP but I think I'm going to be looking into Germania! Hartford (AARP) beat out Allstate and another main stream carrier when I was shopping for homeowners ins. I admit, since moving to TX we have not shopped our auto.
Hartford has been very good to us even with a teenage male and a stolen car a few years back. Now that teenager is no longer an issue but next year his sister will be

[COCUE]

THL, Celeste and Mamacatnv - thanks a bunch