[MadManofBethesda]

Originally Posted by SportyandMisty

One of the best in Consumer Reports that I'd never heard of before is Amica (they don't do a lot of advertising). They've been outstanding for me for the past decade for auto & home & an umbrella.

I know that Clark Howard always raves about them, but other than that, I'm not that familiar with them. Just out of curiousity, leaving aside your auto insurance, what makes their home & umbrella coverage outstanding? Have you filed any home or liability claims with them?

[Swigchow]

Originally Posted by calgalt

if you are eligible USAA is a great rated company. I have house and car insurance with them. They paid off a car claim quickly with no hassle. They are rated high by whoever does ratings for insurance companies.

I agree.

[airics]

Originally Posted by SportyandMisty

Go to the library & look at Consumer Reports magazine. They rate the insurance companies -- actually, their readers rate the insurance companies through a survey.

One of the best in Consumer Reports that I'd never heard of before is Amica (they don't do a lot of advertising). They've been outstanding for me for the past decade for auto & home & an umbrella.

Amica's quote to me for car insurance was more than DOUBLE of Geicos

[jjameson922]

In answer to the question of what makes one home insurance company better than another, one issue to watch is what price do they determine is total replacement cost for your house? On my own house for instance, I've seen that vary by as much as $100K for instance. Most companies uses their own determiner and plus the value of your home up by that much. Keep in mind, you're paying premiums on that amount if it is over inflated and taking into consideration a complete loss, your lot cost should be backed out because that would always remain untouched, in most cases.

[vamping]

I have State Farm. I've been with them for years, including home owners on a previous home in Florida. Never had any hassle from them. My agent is Luria Walker and I adore her.

[Spraynard Kruger]

I have had an average experience with Liberty Mutual. I am considering changing everything to Amica based on their status as a mutual company along with their consistent high rankings with AM best.

[delgadobb]

I've been with State Farm for almost two years now - generally they've been good with a couple minor hiccups. Up until recently, they had the best auto rates I'd found (about $650 every six months for full coverage on two newer cars - 2008 Toyota Prius & 2008 Kia Optima). Homeowner rates were also competitive, among the best I'd found.

Provided the estimates hold true, I'm just in the process of switching to Allstate. Looks like it'll cost about $500 every six months for equivalent coverage on the two vehicles. Homeowners insurance looks to be half the cost of State Farm as long as I reduce personal property coverage to 100K (don't have that much valuable personal stuff here anyways).

I'll try to update here after it goes through underwriting. Hopefully everything comes in close to estimate.

[jjameson922]

I called Amica for a quote just the other day. I asked how they arrived at the replacement value of the insured's house and they said they have an adjustor that makes that decision. I asked if they used the assessors database and existing comps and they said, "not really." Then I asked if their adjustor arrived at a replacement price the homeowner considered over inflated, would it be possible then for the homeowner to insure at say 50 or 75% of the cost they had arrived at and they said no, they would not do business that way. So bottom line, they could be very high priced unless the consumer was savvy enough to notice he was paying premiums on an over inflated replacement cost.