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I was talking to my body shop owner and I asked about the different insurance companies. They said that they prefer to do business with Allstate because they have the best local adjuster (for the seriously wrecked vehicles).
On smaller claims, he will get them on a video conference and walk around the car showing the inside adjuster the problem areas. He'll also show pictures of the serial number and the odometer reading. And he's talking the whole time. They also get paid immediately on the repairs, which they appreciate. I'm sure other companies operate the same way.
So the local adjuster is very important, and so is the adjuster inside the regional office that they deal with. If they're both good, companies down at the bottom of the list can be perfectly acceptable.
Note: I had a burglary and made a claim with Essurance, Allstate's internet company. They were very careful underwriting my homeowner's policy--very careful. And they're obsessed with paying for hail damaged roofs. But the adjuster did a terrible job on my claim. I ended up making a secondary claim 9 months later and renegotiated the settlement--for $850 more. They wanted me to do all their paperwork online essentially. I sold the house and went back with Nationwide. Because of that claim, I got kicked into a high risk category at Lexus-Nexus and insurers wanted $4,000 to insure my new house a year--twice what it should be.
I googled "best insurnace companies" and in the 1st link it matches a lot of what OP mentioned. I wrote down top similar ones in both and they are , AMICA, erie, auto owner insurance, american family, safeco, nationwide. I am going to ask for quotes for those see if they are any cheaper than Geico.
Question about "accident forgiveness" Do they really forgive you? Do they really not raise the rate later, does it still stay in your record? (Even if you change insurance company later?)
No fun to check for quotes! with 2 cars, 1 house and umbrella coverage, I think I can get quotes on some of them but umbrella I might have to call
What about Chubb? We are dealing with a claim with them now.
Nationwide was fine with my claim. Paid quickly but I had to get the manager involved to get my check because the claims adjuster was out of office or so.
Current insurance company, AAA Meemic has been pretty good with our current claim. They quickly paid off the loan once they received the information from the leasing company. I just received my $500 deductible back for our accident in November.
Chubb is one of those companies that I cannot speak too. I have heard the name many times, but I cannot remember having a claim with them. I have omitted a handful of companies from my list. I omitted Esurance because I can only remember having one claim with them and I don't think its enough for me to rank the company. The same is true for me with a company known as "Sublimity". One claim is not enough for me to rank them against the others that I know of. I did rank a total of 25 prominent auto insurers though and I think that is being pretty thorough.
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Originally Posted by TexasLawyer2000
I have had great experiences with USAA. The only one better has been NJM - but I was only in NJ for a short period.
USAA is terrific. The only drawback is that you or your parents have to be (or have been) in the military to join it. When you say "NJM" I am assuming you mean "New Jersey Manufacturers". I don't think they do any business out West, so I have only heard of them.
My motives in submitting this list are actually more complicated than some might think. I see too many posts in this forum that deal with only one issue: The cost of car insurance. Obviously, one should not ignore cost. However, one should not ignore the quality of the company and their willingness to pay claims either. Otherwise, car insurance becomes no more than a worthless piece of paper that you stick in the glove box of your car to show to the police when they stop you.
I have had people read my lists before and tell me that they would like to have better insurance than what they have but (1) they cannot afford it; (2) their credit score is too low to qualify; or (3)they cannot find it on the internet. My advice to this group is to work on their credit score and when they can get better insurance to switch over than. There was a time in my life--really not that long ago--when I neglected my credit and had a mediocre credit score. I remedied that problem and today routinely come in at well over 800. The other piece of advice is to seek out a real independent insurance agent in a brick and mortar building who sells multi-lines of car insurance. Stop thinking you should buy everything over the internet. What you want is a relationship with an agent who understand something about you and your needs. The agent can find you bargains and help you mediate between price and quality of product. It takes a little bit of time, but it will be worth it to you.
Last edited by markg91359; 04-29-2020 at 10:18 AM..
The phrase "roll over" is too strong. However, I do expect insurance companies to pay all legitimate claims, large and small, promptly and upon presentation of reasonable documentation. Ultimately, that is what insurance is for: To pay all legitimate claims.
Agree.
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Originally Posted by markg91359
The real test of an insurance company is not whether it pays for your auto glass claim, but whether it honors a serious big dollar claim whether it be for property damage or bodily injury.
Disagree.
The real test of an insurance company is how it fulfills its contractual duty to its policyholders, which includes, in the liability section, paying amounts for which the insured is legally liable or defending against claims for which the insured is not.
Sure, an injured person wants as much money as one can get, and as fast as one can get it. Personal injury attorneys routinely submit pie in the sky pain and suffering claims that have to be negotiated or litigated down to a reasonable level.
As a policyholder, your insurance rates depend on how well your insurance company is fulfilling its contractual duty to you.
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Originally Posted by jcx456
I'm curious what insurance company poster adjusterjack works for? He has very biased opinions. My guess is he works for Allstate, AAA or Travelers.
Nope, never worked for any of those.
I have been a liability claim rep and a first party property claim rep.
As a liability claim rep I have seen the worst that personal injury attorneys have to offer.
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Originally Posted by Bamaman1
Note: I had a burglary and made a claim with Essurance, Allstate's internet company. They were very careful underwriting my homeowner's policy--very careful. And they're obsessed with paying for hail damaged roofs.
Hail claims are problematic. Homeowners rarely check their roof when the hail storm subsides. Then, years later, the roofing scammers go door to door promising that the insurance company will pay for a new roof. Many roofs were damaged during hail storms that occurred while insured elsewhere. I paid for a few roofs when I could verify that a local hail storm occurred during our policy terms.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LVguy
Question about "accident forgiveness" Do they really forgive you? Do they really not raise the rate later, does it still stay in your record? (Even if you change insurance company later?)
"Accident forgiveness" is an option that you pay for. It could be an added charge or just built into the rate. When you change companies it doesn't go with you. You are underwritten based on your claims history.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LVguy
No fun to check for quotes! with 2 cars, 1 house and umbrella coverage, I think I can get quotes on some of them but umbrella I might have to call
Try walking into an independent insurance agency and let them do the shopping for you and compare to any other sources you might find online.
Quote:
Originally Posted by markg91359
I have had people read my lists before and tell me that they would like to have better insurance than what they have but (1) they cannot afford it; (2) their credit score is too low to qualify; or (3)they cannot find it on the internet. My advice to this group is to work on their credit score and when they can get better insurance to switch over than. There was a time in my life--really not that long ago--when I neglected my credit and had a mediocre credit score. I remedied that problem and today routinely come in at well over 800. The other piece of advice is to seek out a real independent insurance agent in a brick and mortar building who sells multi-lines of car insurance. Stop thinking you should buy everything over the internet. What you want is a relationship with an agent who understand something about you and your needs. The agent can find you bargains and help you mediate between price and quality of product. It takes a little bit of time, but it will be worth it to you.
I have been a liability claim rep and a first party property claim rep.
As a liability claim rep I have seen the worst that personal injury attorneys have to offer.
And I'm sure that many attorneys and innocent injured people due to the negligence of your insureds, have seen the worst that you have to offer. Such as your lowball, unreasonable, insulting settlement offers. Offering people $500 when they were in the hospital for days and/or need surgery due to the imprudent actions of one of your low life, criminal insureds. My only hope is that your friends and family get treated with the same level of disrespect and apethy when they're injured in some car wreck they didn't cause. That would be real justice. Until then thank god for attorneys that keep people like you in check, pun intended.
You should change your forum id to jesterjack. I can tell you're a real corporate yes man by your demeaning attitude toward all the insurance consumers on this forum. You'll die one day like all the rest of us and I guarantee nobody at your insurance company will miss you or shed a tear. Just another cog in a well oiled machine. Churning em out all day. It's just a numbers game to you. You couldn't care less. You don't give a damn about people, it's just business. I know exactly how your type thinks.
I don't deal much with Zurich. However, I did have one claim with them that was a major claim. They responded responsibly and we settled the claim out-of-court. I didn't put them on my list, but if I did--based on that one experience--they would go into the "best" category.
As a Construction Paralegal, I found that AutoOwners, USLI, Selective, AmTrust, Zurich, and Berkeley deals with more complex claims. All of my Selective cases are complex construction litigation cases with third and fourth-party complaints with 100 or more parties. Traveler's billable rate is lower than others, and the guidelines for what they allowed attorney and paralegal to bill for are very different from other carriers. Our state requires mediation attendance in person- AutoOwners and Selective adjusters are very good about attending in mediation person.
I am a personal injury attorney with thirty-five years experience. I am basing this list on my experiences over the years dealing with all these companies. However, I not only deal with them on bodily injury claims, but I frequently am drawn into property damage claims too when clients have trouble with these. My experience consists of also dealing with first party claims for medical expenses, lost wage benefits, and house service benefits under our state's no-fault law. Other first party claims experience would in the area of presenting and collecting on underinsured motorist claims.
The phrase "roll over" is too strong. However, I do expect insurance companies to pay all legitimate claims, large and small, promptly and upon presentation of reasonable documentation. Ultimately, that is what insurance is for: To pay all legitimate claims. The real test of an insurance company is not whether it pays for your auto glass claim, but whether it honors a serious big dollar claim whether it be for property damage or bodily injury.
The reality is some companies simply do a lot better job of it than others.
I agree since insurance consists of three areas: sales, policy, and claim. The claims division, which deals with lawsuits and settlement, would show the real strength and management style of a carrier. In my experience AutoOwners and Selective are among the best is getting a case to our firm before defaulting and not answer a complaint. Furthermore, UM and UIM claims are first-party claims, as well. I am not sure how the other poster assumes your rankings only deal with carriers who deal with third party claims only.
I totally agree that Erie is a great company! Unfortunately they are only in the East and in some Midwest States right now. I have never had a client with a bad experience with AAA, so I'm kind of surprised by that one not being on your list.
Thanks a lot, I have Geico and didn't know they are way down there, raised my premium by a lot too, and I didn't file any claim with them, no ticket or anything for the last 12 years.
Most of them offer umbrella coverage right? Need a quote for auto, homeowners and umbrella.
How about price wise, any chance that you can make a version of that as well?
I totally agree that Erie is a great company! Unfortunately they are only in the East and in some Midwest States right now. I have never had a client with a bad experience with AAA, so I'm kind of surprised by that one not being on your list.
I also agree that Allstate is the worst!
My friend got hit by a AAA client. Her bumper was damaged and almost every shop was quoting repairs between $1500-$2000. AAA refused to pay that amount...They were only willing to pay $700. Of course, no one was willing to fix her bumper for $700 so she now drives her car with a freak up bumper. . I know how much bumper cost to repair because I bought one of my car that had a bumper damage and every single shop in town wanted around $2000 for paint match and installation.
And yes, ALLSTATE is TRASH. My friend work for a house restoration company. They REFUSED to do any work on a house that is insured by ALLSTATE. Hell, I have a couple of friends who use to run ALLSTATE agencies and they all sold their agency and moved on to other companies.
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. I know how much bumper cost to repair because I bought one of my car that had a bumper damage and every single shop in town wanted around $2000 for paint match and installation.
