Insurance Companies

[jdubya]

I have been considering switching insurance companies lately because of two negative experiences with claims on my girlfriends car and my truck and was wondering if any of you could make some recommendations based on positive experiences.

 

The most recent issue took place after I was rear ended turning into a parking lot in February. The person who hit me appeared to have some shady insurance company that I have never heard of so I decided to go through mine, pay the deductible and recover it on the back end. I use only one body shop for my repairs (this guy's attention to detail is impeccable and perfectly matches my anal retentive nature) and I like to have the adjuster, the body shop, and myself all meet to get on the same page as to what will take place on the repair. I was told by my insurance that I would have to let the truck sit at the body shop for 1 - 4 days before the adjuster could get there (and they would not provide me with a rental for this down time). Instead I elected to go to a drive in shop where the adjuster argued with me about putting OEM parts on my truck (This accident wasn't my fault btw) in addition I had to point out damage that he missed while he was going over the vehicle.

 

After leaving the drive in claim center with my check in hand I dropped the truck off at the body shop where they started taking the truck apart and reviewing the estimate. Turns out, all of the parts that the adjuster wrote the estimate up for were for the GMT800 truck (mine is an 07 GMT900) after I told the adjuster that there were two body styles that year and to make sure he is selecting the right parts. The body shop sent a change order in which Allstate said they needed to send an adjuster covering my claim to look at the vehicle. It took over a week for someone from Allstate to visit this bodyshop to review things and authorize the changes. What pisses me off more than anything is that two days after they sent the change order, I was told that there was an Allstate adjuster in the shop who tried to get the info from Allstate corp to make the authorization while he was there and they would not let him do it.

 

In all, damage that could have taken 3 - 4 days to repair turned into me without my truck for over two weeks for an accident that wasn't my fault...

 

I am not looking for the cheapest insurance just one that will meet my needs in the event of an accident, IE not trying to put Chinese or junk yard parts on my truck for an accident that wasn't my fault, not giving me a hard time for using a body shop that I choose, and the process for the original estimate along with the process of approving change orders from the body shop. I could understand them jerking me around if the accident was my fault (shame on me) but when it wasn't, shouldn't they get my vehicle back to the original condition prior to the accident?

[Jubei69]

I started out with State Farm, when I started driving; through my parents. I have been with Progressive for the last few years, when I got my new Sierra for Christmas; I started shopping around for a new car Insurance. So this month I did a rate qoute from Gieco for the same coverage as Progressive for my truck, it was actually quite less; so I have switched all my vehicles except my motorcycle to Gieco. My dad used Gieco while he was in the Air Force and said they are pretty good.

[csheatz]

I have progressive until my coverage runs out then will go with AAA. AAA is much cheaper if you can pay in full, if not I would stay with progressive.

[Luvbelly]

I have been with GEICO for about 5 years. At renewal times I do comparison shop and haven't found anyone cheaper with the same coverages. Luckily I have never had to file a claim with them but friends have. Their reports of the experience are favorable. They may not be the best choice for you in the end but I suggest taking a look.

[ColoradoSkiCountry]

I'm with State Farm and have been very pleased with the service they have provided. I may pay slightly higher then the "Discount" carriers like Geico and Progressive, however I am happy to do this because of how well I am treated and having the assurance that I won't get the run around like a few friends of mine have had with Geico and Allstate.

[kawtoy_77]

I just switched from Allied (A NATIONWIDE co.) to Country Companies, and this guy... my agent seems to really want to go to bat for my personal needs, ontop of he cut my monthly rates by $30, and has already told me my rates will fall again in december when a ticket goes off my record, and he can put me in the "preferred group" So now my motorcycle, and my '07 Sierra nnbs are with Country Companies.

[jro909]

just shop around and find a nice agent, i coulden't tell you the name of my brand of insurance but its cheap and covers a ton...if you don't like a price go some place else, with insurance being manditory in every state soon, insurance companys will be booming and trying to trump each other with better deals

[ColoradoSkiCountry]

Just to add to what I already said, Insurance Companies are like Airlines. You get the Discount Carriers with no thrills and semi-pleasing service, and then you have the big boys where you can fly in comfort and not feel like a number or have to take part of cattle call boarding.

[desrtrat]

i have State Farm, been with them for 30 yrs. only claim was for a cracked windshield. a little higher than what i like to pay for 2 vehicles, but happy with them..

 

BTW..when i was towing for a living, the 2 WORST insurance co. we dealt with was AAA, and GEICO. AAA always forgot to pay us and GEICO tried to strong arm the vehicles away by trying to short change us on the bill, by stating it doesn't take that long to recover/tow and bitched at the storage charges when THEY fail to pick it up in a timely manor... also use cheep, south of the border used parts instead of new..

[nickvrebel]

I have had a couple companies in my driving time....

I had a "no name" company for a while, never had a claim so I can't really comment on them anyway

 

I had Progressive... I can't say enough good things about them, FAR from a discount company - after an incident in which the other driver's insurance, State Farm, tried to jerk me around I talked to Progressive. It was late in the day so they couldn't get out to me until the following day or the adjuster said he would stay after 5:00 if I could swing by the office so I chose that option. After he did his estimate, he setup the appointment with the body shop and said (and I quote), "Ok, Mr. NickV, when do you want your truck picked up and when do you want your rental car delivered?" - I was a 22 year old college student. I told him I'd leave it at the rental place after class the following day, he called the rental place, told them to have a car ready and that I would leave my truck for them to have towed to the shop. When I dropped off my truck and picked up the rental car they knew who I was without digging through papers and advised that they dealt with this adjuster and this body shop many times, I was to leave the rental at the body shop when I was done with it and they would take care of the rest. The body shop (a preferred shop from Progressive) did a wonderful job and agreed nothing but GM parts were going back on.

 

I had another similar experience when the same truck was broke in to.

 

Now, I'm with Safeco. I only went to them because they could cover my new house and vehicle at the same time. Apples to oranges but their claim service was good after Gustav removed a wall of vinyl siding from my house.

 

For the record, my 4 wheeler is insured with Progressive currently

[jrod332]

I have had progressive for several years. Great company, no complaints at all. I had to make a claim last year and when it came time for my policy to renew my premium actually went down.

 

I would call all major companies and compare pricing and coverage.

[wurgs]

Benn with Progressive for about 7 years and couldn't be happier. I have had 2 claims, broken window and wife hit a deer, and had no issues with them at all. Will definately renew with them.

[Deichler]

I have had Progressive for @ 5 years.....very good. Clean record, hope to keep it that way, but they jacked my premium up quite a bit.

 

Swicthed to Nationwide. So far they seem to be very good, and very nice customer service with a person whom I can understand on the other end. Still clean record and no issues......hope it stays that way, and still every time I do a quote with other Insurance companies, Nationwide is STILL lower. Geico is a joke, I am 27 clean record, with an 08 Silverado reg cab LS, and they quoted me $600 every 6 months. Progressive is @ $500 every 6. Nationwide is $430 every 6. Pays to shop around. State Farm and all the rest are total jokers, State Farm is close to $800 every 6, get real! I go straight to the company, and no middle man....agent. Works well for me.

[Wingnut]

If you can get USAA...DO EEEEET.

[jdubya]

just shop around and find a nice agent, i coulden't tell you the name of my brand of insurance but its cheap and covers a ton...if you don't like a price go some place else, with insurance being manditory in every state soon, insurance companys will be booming and trying to trump each other with better deals

 

This is definately the route I am going to go, I just wanted to get some ideas on where to head. In the past I just called an 800 number to get insurance, this time I am going to go to an agent. That way I can hold someone accountable if things get effed up....

 

Just to add to what I already said, Insurance Companies are like Airlines. You get the Discount Carriers with no thrills and semi-pleasing service, and then you have the big boys where you can fly in comfort and not feel like a number or have to take part of cattle call boarding.

 

+1 I don't want the discount guys, however I have Allstate and they are not supposed to be a discount insurance but they are starting to treat me like one.

 

This is not adding up. You should have let the driver's at fault insurance handle the whole thing. OEM parts would not have been an issue as they had to make you whole again as before the accident. Get a rent truck from day 1 & they will jump through hoops to settle the damage claim, get the rent truck off their tab & settle the diminished value claim. Every day they stall is another $70 for the rent truck.

 

If you think the driver had fake insurance, you should have gotten the local DA involved.

 

Yea, I did not want to deal with all of that BS, I just wanted my truck fixed which is why I paid my deductible to let my insurance handle it. You would think that since they are "MY" insurance company that they would be on my side with this. BTW, I contacted the other person's insurance and asked for a rental, they said "sure no problem, we will cover $23.00 a day, just put it on your card and we will reimburse you" knowing the time it takes an insurance company to reimburse me in the past, I said, NO THANK YOU! Plus when was the last time you saw a car on a rental site for $23.00 a day. You couldn't get a Schwinn for that much. I know, I know there are "Insurance rates" with rental car companies but I just don't understand why they wouldn't set it up for me and direct billed it.

 

Shame on me though, I did not have rental coverage in my policy for what ever reason. I am thinking that when I was on the phone ordering insurance they probably asked if I wanted "rental coverage" to which I thought I don't rent cars that often, (thinking that it was insurance to cover a rental car if I rented one)... duh!

 

If you can get USAA...DO EEEEET.

 

Never heard of them. Do they have offices? I am done with 800 number insurance.