SW17LS

Yep, same. It took them over a week to get Geico to agree to a simple addition of 3 hours of paint labor because of the color. And what's Hilarious is they were paying for a rental for me for that week that probably cost more than the additional 3 hours of labor.

I would never get insurance through Geico, I don't care how cheap it is.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

To me 'agent' just means 'overpaying'. I have progressive. Didn't need to talk to anyone to get setup, etc. Price is good.
i saw you have allstate... i had them in the past for both auto and home for a long time and eventually got sick of their huge premium increases out of the blue.

i don't believe that's true you can certainly still talk to them.

SW17LS

Lots of people agree with you, I don't. I value service over just cost, I'm willing to pay a little more for the personalized service that comes with having a local agent I have a long term relationship with.

Now with that said, I am WAY overpaying like I said and you're totally right about Allstate's increases. What keeps me with Allstate is my agent and that relationship not the company itself. I'm not going to continue to way overpay.

You shouldn't, if you tell them for instance you had an accident and you want to discuss turning the claim into them or paying out of pocket, they can use that information as an update to your file and that can increase your rates. I've seen it happen to people. Plus, there isn't any one person who knows you and your situation that you have a relationship with that you can just casually have these discussions. My agent knows me and what's important to me, and the advice he gives me is tailored to that. I'd much rather just have a text convo with him than call Progressive, wait on hold, and talk to some person who I have never spoken to before and who doesnt know me from Adam, and has no reason to give me advice that benefits me over the insurance company.

They are just completely different approaches to doing business, I just am somebody who values people who build relationships one on one like I do over just purchasing insurance from a website and having no personalized support.

Things are changing though. For instance, at a car dealer I like having one service adjuster who I know and who knows me and I use them everytime. Very few people do that anymore, they just call up for service and use whoever. When I call and ask for a specific person, its clearly odd to the people I call in and talk to. 20 years ago all car dealers worked the way I like to work, the service writers all had "their" customers and now they no longer work that way.

I value those relationships a lot, and truthfully thats one thing that concerns me about leaving Lexus. I have people I know all over the place, I have a great service writer and I know all the management at the dealer, I have a great independent mechanic who specializes in Lexus that has become a friend (and client). If I go to Mercedes, I gotta start over with all of that.

mmarshall

Depending on the company and how it operates, you can (sometimes) get good personalized service without an agent.




Some companies (GEICO is one of them) have Accident-Forgiveness on the first claim, particularly if one has kept his or her nose clean and not gotten any at-fault accident claims or serious traffic-infractions for the last five years.

SW17LS

You can't have the type of business relationship I'm talking about without an agent.

EricT64

I have found that if you have State Farm home owners, no other insurance company can touch their auto coverage if you have no claims.
I saved $1k a year going back with them after getting booted for too many tickets in 5 years. (Sold the crotch rockets).
I also save $600 a year more with their safe driver program. But, they are watching.

SW17LS

Yeah I don't like the idea of them watching.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

so how much of a reduction would it take for you to switch? let's say your premium would drop 1/3?

Insurance companies are just casinos... they know the odds and the 'marks' (customers) and always win in the long run.

SW17LS

Thats pretty much what it is, 1/3rd. I wouldn't go to a company without an agent for a reduction of a 1/3rd, but in my case thats not the issue (its Erie and they have agents).

One thing I like about Erie agents is they typically are independent agents who write for a variety of companies. I like that because I can move around companies and stay within the same agency. There are independent agents who write for Progressive too, my Allstate agent does. I wouldn't save any money going to Progressive. He knows I realize I'm overpaying and has done what he can do to reduce the premiums but like you said, its Allstate.

No doubt, but doesnt any company?

patgilm

My bumper cover was already replaced, painted and on the car (although they didn’t know that) and I was still fighting with them about replacing vs fixing. The difference in price was about $800 and I told them the longer we keep going back and forth, the longer they pay the rental. Plus I told them I was about to get my insurance company involved (but I really didn’t want to since I would have to file a claim with them). I told them if they replace the bumper cover I would turn in the rental ASAP and the savings from that would offset the new bumper cover. They finally agreed but it was a lot of fighting.

patgilm

I also like having an agent, especially one that is a couple miles from me that I can just pop in when I have a question. Everyone in the office knows me and I can discuss anything with them like whether it makes sense to file a claim or not and they will usually give me the best course of action to take and not just put it in the system.

As far as rates, I’ve always had State Farm but a few years ago I was able to get USAA from my father in law being retired military and their rates overall (home, auto, umbrella, jewelry) were within a couple hundred dollars so it wasn’t worth it to change. I also didn’t like they I called a center to deal with any questions vs a person that knows me and my situation specifically. This came to light when I had a homeowners claim that I was having some issues with and my agent stepped in and made things right even when I was in the wrong. That was an example where I was happy that I had a relationship with my agent.

SW17LS

Same thing here. For instance I had a windshield put in a car one time, and I wanted a Lexus branded OEM windshield. If not for my agent, no way I would have gotten them to do it.

Corey140

I don't think that matters anymore these days.

I live in a high cost insurance state (Georgia) so my rates have consistently increased every 6 months/year. I think, the last time, my rates dropped was before I turned 25 and they have steadily risen over the last 10 years. Over the years, I've had Geico (3), Esurance (2 and change), Nationwide, Travelers and now, AAA. I usually average about 3 years before the rates increase becomes too high and I have to switch companies. This is my 1st yearly renewal with AAA and my auto policy went up $20 for the new 6 month policy. Smallest increase ever with any of my policies since I've had auto insurance over the last few years. In those years, I had 2 accidents that required payment. Nationwide did not ding me for that claim either (I had just switched to them about 2-3 months prior), the rates at the end of the 3 years just became way too extreme ($300 increase at renewal) nor AAA (wife wasn't at fault in the accident and the other company paid them back for the claim in full).

Loyalty doesn't matter these days.

My sister is lives in the DMV and she has been with Liberty Mutual about 22-23 years now and I am certain, she is overpaying for her premiums but she still hasn't switched from them.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

exactly, it's all about the data.

SW17LS

Absolutely doesn’t matter. Issue is it goes both ways. Companies have figured out their customers won’t stick with them if they show them loyalty either, so instead they just make as much money off each customer as they can while they are their customer, and new customers will come try them for a while after those customers leave.