Cincinnati Insurance -homeowner policy: reviews / recommendations?

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rjbraun
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Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2012 8:22 pm

Cincinnati Insurance -homeowner policy: reviews / recommendations?

Post by rjbraun »

We recently got what appears to be a very competitive quote from Cincinnati. I am not familiar with the company, but based on my search on the forum the limited feedback appears favorable. Online reviews not necessarily so positive, but I figure those aren't always so reliable and can be skewed by random dissatisfied policyholders.

Appreciate any additional feedback from folks familiar with Cincinnati. I've posted a link to my prior post, which includes detail on the relatively attractive pricing of Cincinnati compared to our current Chubb policy. The PURE quote was above what we currently pay, which seems counter to the experience of others on the forum, fwiw.

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utvolfan
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Re: Cincinnati Insurance -homeowner policy: reviews / recommendations?

Post by utvolfan »

No problems with Cincinnati after having home/auto for many years with them. But no claims either.

We did just switch after receiving our renewal notice and having our agent investigate other options. We now have Auto-Owners, and bought auto with higher liability, homeowners, plus an additional umbrella policy that we have not previously had all for less than the Cincinnati premium.

If you have teen drivers I believe Cincinnati is supposed to one of the better companies for rates--I believe that is when we initially switched from Travelers.
Topic Author
rjbraun
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Re: Cincinnati Insurance -homeowner policy: reviews / recommendations?

Post by rjbraun »

utvolfan wrote: Sat Sep 26, 2020 1:24 pm No problems with Cincinnati after having home/auto for many years with them. But no claims either.

We did just switch after receiving our renewal notice and having our agent investigate other options. We now have Auto-Owners, and bought auto with higher liability, homeowners, plus an additional umbrella policy that we have not previously had all for less than the Cincinnati premium.

If you have teen drivers I believe Cincinnati is supposed to one of the better companies for rates--I believe that is when we initially switched from Travelers.
Thanks, and congrats on finding a better deal with Auto-Owners.

No teen drivers, not even a car. I think having no car may make it tougher to get decent quotes on a homeowners policy. Not sure, though.

Still interested in case others may have experience to share with Cincinnati Insurance! :happy
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TomatoTomahto
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Re: Cincinnati Insurance -homeowner policy: reviews / recommendations?

Post by TomatoTomahto »

We just switched to Cincinnati from Chubb. We had Chubb for many years, but they objected to our Ring alarm system for fire and burglar. They don’t believe in WiFi. We refused to open walls to install wired sensors rather than battery sensors on wifi. Cincinnati was fine with it.

No homeowner or auto claims with Cincinnati to date; a few auto claims with Chubb many years ago, well handled.
I get the FI part but not the RE part of FIRE.
Topic Author
rjbraun
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Re: Cincinnati Insurance -homeowner policy: reviews / recommendations?

Post by rjbraun »

TomatoTomahto wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 8:52 am We just switched to Cincinnati from Chubb. We had Chubb for many years, but they objected to our Ring alarm system for fire and burglar. They don’t believe in WiFi. We refused to open walls to install wired sensors rather than battery sensors on wifi. Cincinnati was fine with it.

No homeowner or auto claims with Cincinnati to date; a few auto claims with Chubb many years ago, well handled.
Ah, very helpful - thank you.

I guess I am reevaluating now the earlier decision to stick with Chubb. I did some due diligence at the time and felt reasonably confident that Cincinnati would meet our needs, but then a broker (we weren't working with and arguably "impartial") managed to convince me that Cincinnati would just raise our premium in the next year or two and we would be back to where Chubb would have been. In that case, I reasoned that, all else equal, I would prefer to just stay with Chubb. (The broker conceded that Chubb would likely issue us another policy if we wanted to return - but only if we had not filed a claim in the interim.) We've been with Chubb ~15 years now and just incurred an 18% premium hike (after prior hikes).

Basically, I think Chubb is probably overkill for us. We have gut-renovated an apartment in a VHCOL area. Other than that, the only thing of any value is one musical instrument (and not even that much as these things go, at mid-high 5 figures). Our main concerns are the cost to renovate a damaged apartment and to live in a hotel (or similar) while displaced. Otherwise, things like Chubb's minimum for personal belongings far exceeds the monetary value of what we own. So, we're paying for "features" we don't need and won't be compensated for in a claim.

In case you may have additional input on Cincinnati vs Chubb, such as pricing or how you got comfortable with the decision to switch, I would appreciate hearing whatever you are willing to share (though I realize Chubb's objection to your Ring system might have sufficed). In the meantime, maybe I will try to freshen up the Cincinnati quote from a couple of years ago.

Eta: I am willing to pay up some for an insurer reputed to have a strong history of processing claims without undue hassles for receipts, etc.
Last edited by rjbraun on Mon May 16, 2022 11:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Kenkat
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Re: Cincinnati Insurance -homeowner policy: reviews / recommendations?

Post by Kenkat »

We’ve been with Cincinnati Insurance for 20+ years for both home and auto. We’ve not had any homeowner claims, but have had 1 at fault accident, a comprehensive claim for a deer strike, a minor hit and run and a windshield repair over the years. Great claim service and no rate increases. Much better than the previous company overall (Allstate).
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TomatoTomahto
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Re: Cincinnati Insurance -homeowner policy: reviews / recommendations?

Post by TomatoTomahto »

rjbraun wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 10:49 am In case you may have additional input on Cincinnati vs Chubb, such as pricing or how you got comfortable with the decision to switch, I would appreciate hearing whatever you are willing to share (though I realize Chubb's objection to your Ring system might have sufficed). In the meantime, maybe I will try to freshen up the Cincinnati quote from a couple of years ago.
Costs seem to Cincinnati slightly lower than Chubb.

Tbh, I mostly am insuring house for the liability portion. It’s mostly a stone house, NO fossil fuels used in the house (all electric), geothermal, lightning arrestor and all house and garage electric is mediated through batteries. The “replacement cost” we’re insured for is literally 2x what we bought the house for (we did do extensive renovations) but I’d be happy to walk away with the insured value of the house.

We had inspectors come out from both insurers. Chubb inspector obviously had a stick up her butt, and was looking for issues. Have not rrceived report by Cincinnati inspector, but his attitude was pleasant and helpful.

Apparently in MA you can’t insire only for home liability or have a “no fire coverage” policy. I’m willing to risk it; I’m hard pressed to see how our Ring system wouldn’t function. We had at one point 17 Smoke and CO detectors. Even if the batteries in one failed, there’s another one close by (and if you’re not familiar with Ring, they aren’t quiet about letting you know a battery is failing). We have dual Internet (one Fios, one Starlink). We have UPS on our main router; all house circuits are backed up by battery. Our batteries are approved for interior use.

What I’m not willing to do is have electricians running around our house trying to find the (multiple?) places where the in-wall wiring got trashed during our renovations and replace it when our system is good enough for my obsessive “belt AND suspenders” mindset. I would have thought that they wanted not to insure us because of claim history, but we’ve never had a homeowner’s claim in more than 25 years of coverage and our auto claims were more than 15 years ago.

ETA: I feel better getting that off my chest 😁
I get the FI part but not the RE part of FIRE.
Topic Author
rjbraun
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Re: Cincinnati Insurance -homeowner policy: reviews / recommendations?

Post by rjbraun »

TomatoTomahto wrote: Mon May 16, 2022 12:00 pm We had inspectors come out from both insurers. Chubb inspector obviously had a stick up her butt, and was looking for issues. Have not rrceived report by Cincinnati inspector, but his attitude was pleasant and helpful.
Yeah, the Chubb inspector bumped up the square footage when she did our inspection. I subsequently told Chubb I would be thrilled to have the additional square footage but used the architectural plans to show that the place wasn't quite as big as the inspector thought. My recollection is Chubb readily backed down and the premium was reduced commensurately. Just writing this now leaves a sour taste in my mouth and is motivating me to freshen up that Cincinnati quote asap.

Thanks for the details on your situation and what you're looking for from your insurance coverage. I do think it's worthwhile to assess what one seeks from their coverage. I have a better sense now, and it reinforces my view that Chubb may not be the best fit for our situation. I hope Cincinnati may be.
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