Shopping for home/auto insurance

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Somethingwitty92912
Posts: 490
Joined: Mon Sep 14, 2020 9:43 pm

Shopping for home/auto insurance

Post by Somethingwitty92912 »

What’s the most important things I should know about look for in terms of numbers.

I am a pay as little as possible person, so I can self insure. So what do I look for the most bang for my buck? What do I avoid to not get ripped off? How do I pay as little as possible? I’d like to avoid geico, and liberty mutual. I used to have geico for auto which wasn’t bad, but liberty mutual was my home insurance through them, talk about some criminals.

Anyways thanks in advance.
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RickBoglehead
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Joined: Wed Feb 14, 2018 8:10 am
Location: In a house

Re: Shopping for home/auto insurance

Post by RickBoglehead »

If you want to pay as little as possible, you may end up with a company that provides an unacceptable level of service, or that drops you at the first sign of trouble (claims).

As you probably realize, you can't self-insure where coverage is mandated by law, for example some aspects of auto insurance. Nor can you self-insure if you have a mortgage, or a loan on a vehicle, where some level of coverage is required by the financial institution loaning the money.

Top-rated insurance companies include AMICA, USAA (although not in the past few years with service issues), and Erie Insurance. We have had AMICA for 40+ years. None of these companies will be the cheapest.

Costs vary widely depending on many factors, including where you reside, your insurance credit score (different from your credit score), and the level of coverage that you select, among others.
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IowaFarmBoy
Posts: 1240
Joined: Fri Jan 22, 2010 7:19 am

Re: Shopping for home/auto insurance

Post by IowaFarmBoy »

I would focus self-insuring on the coverages that protect you against the loss of property, like either not carrying or having high deductibles for comp and collision in auto and high deductibles on the coverage against damage in your homeowners.

I wouldn't scrimp on liability coverage. These don't have a deductible that you can adjust so your only way is to reduce the amount you cover, which generally isn't a good idea if you have reasonable income and/or assets. In fact, most would recommend adding a liability umbrella.

I would also tend to go higher for uninsured and underinsured coverages. You may have things like health insurance that will pay a lot of medical expenses but they won't help with things like loss of income, pain and suffering, and other unusual costs.

I would skip things like towing insurance, rental reimbursement, etc., if you can self-insure against those.
Mr.Chlorine
Posts: 258
Joined: Fri Sep 13, 2019 9:17 am

Re: Shopping for home/auto insurance

Post by Mr.Chlorine »

Anecdotal evidence, but I just wrapped up an auto claim through Geico that went as smooth as possible.

My insurer, Progressive, assigned a specific person to my claim while Geico just used the first available representative. There are pros and cons to each strategy, but in my case it was far easier to get in touch with a 24/7 Geico rep rather than my 'personal contact' at Progressive who worked 8 - 5 on weekdays. Luckily, I was not at fault for the accident and Geico accepted full liability after taking my statement. We haggled a little on the value of my car, but ultimately they gave a fair price and provided short term rental assistance.

Bottom line: I was satisfied with Geico's customer service, but in my area, Progressive is cheaper on auto and home.
squirm
Posts: 4239
Joined: Sat Mar 19, 2011 11:53 am

Re: Shopping for home/auto insurance

Post by squirm »

I always call them to see what kind of discounts I can get.
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