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I currently have State Farm. I don't have any complaints, however, I don't have much to compare to. I tried to get a quote from Hartford, and they say I'm too close to the water(I wish). I'm about a mile away and way above sea level. I live on the North Shore. I don't think Allstate is writing policies for Long Island anymore. You didn't say where the house is. That will determine your pool of Insurance companies.
Take any major insurer that will write a policy. Long Island is an area that no one wants to write insurance with anymore. Im with State Farm. You can get a lot of sub-par insurers that will write policies but will they pay if you have a problem.
There are a lot of insurance agents that post here. Im sure someone will contact you.
Any good insurer that will take you on Long Island. State Farm is great, won't write within 1 mile of water (ANY water, even a canal). Utica is a great company. As pp said, you want someone who can pay the claim when you need them. It's not like auto insurance - it's your home. Don't go cheap.
When I got my house, it was a struggle. No one wants to write for Long island 'cause "we're due" for a hurricane. So go with the big names, take who you can get. Just don't cheap out like the person said above (FYI I went with progressive and no problems so far *knock on wood*
ps - what a lot of them told me was they write a certain amount per year for LI due to the hurricane stuff, after that, they stop.
Farmers Insurance, Harleysville, you can also call these two insurance brokers:
Specialized Insurance (I think they are in patchogue) Diangelo Insurance (Brentwood) I used to deal with them when I worked. for a whole sale insurer. They can also help with finding a home owners insurance co. Look them up online for their phone#. If you let me know where you are purchasing this home I can find you a broker that might be closer.
I agree, go to a local, independent agent - they can shop around for your particular needs and can answer your questions with regard to financial ratings of the carrier(s) as well as how well they handle claims.
If you want referrals, I have several knowledgeable and experienced agents I can recommend (no, no kickbacks!!). One of them I use myself and have for the past almost 20 years...
When I bought in Port Washington, I shopped around for Homeowners Insurance.
At first, I just called every brand name insurance company. Even no name companies that popped up on the internet. Most all did not cover LI. Of the ones that did said I was too close to the shore. Then the ones that did quote me were really expensive.
Then I took a different approach. I called up every single insurance company in Port Washington. They had both local and brand names. Again, most did not cover LI (weird... I know) but they would act as a local broker. So I got a bunch of quotes from them. Allstate and Metlife were some of the brokers I recall. But oddly, Statefarm was willing to insure my home since I wasn't that close to the shore. I say odd, because I called a ton of statefarm locations in NY, and they all said I was too close to the water.
At the end of the day, only two companies were comparable. Statefarm in Port Washington for a Port Washington home, and online with Progressive. Go figure.
My point is that I got better results calling local insurance companies in the town I was buying at the cheapest price. Progressive was the only non-local insurance company, but I ended calling up many many many companies to just find one at a reasonable price. Too much work to find one good offer. I should have gone local first.
Also, I learned that no two office of the same company are the same. Call them all. Just because one Statefarm office says no, doesn't mean all of them will say no.
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). One of them I use myself and have for the past almost 20 years...
