insurance Q?

[rosanna gusler]

hi all.we have insurance spread all over. 3 houses, 3 vehicles, 2 boats one commercial bldg. so i need to get with one company. how do you all rate aarp insurances? rosanna

[Bert Weiss]

It's often local. Find a good agent you trust and compare quotes with some others. Bundling is where you get the best deals.

[Barry Kaiser]

Agree wholeheartedly with Bert.
I am not an AARP fan. They use there image as an old folks protector to peddle everything. If you check their rates, they are usually NOT one of the better ones. Someone is making a fortune at AARP.
Rosanna, I still give each insurance to a different company depending on the rates. Note: currently using Geico for both Home and Auto. They are excellent.


Barry

[Kevin Midgley]

I suggest looking at the complaints record of the company you are contemplating dealing with. Check with your BBB. No sense dealing with a company where the insured have to sue the insurer to get the claim money they paid their insurance for.

[Morganica]

I'd agree with Kevin that you probably want to examine insurance agencies in light of local service performance. The company I had (and really hated) in Minnesota turned out to be one of the better choices in Oregon, mostly because of the people staffing local claims. The NAIC (National Association of Insurance Commissioners or something like that) has some pretty good consumer resources that cover what reporting is done in each state:
http://www.naic.org/state_web_map.htm

[jolly]

A friend of mine made the mistake of switching her house to an AARP insurance and they OKed her house and then after she had paid for a few months and of course dropped her old insurance company, they told her she had to do all these expensive changes to her deck in 30 days or she would be dropped. She couldn't afford to hire someone, so I just tore off the whole deck and built just a set of stairs with the good wood, just in time. Aholes. Complained to the insurance commissioner's office and they said it's not against the law. I told him it should be and sent a complaint to my state rep. If they get enough complaints about such a nasty way of doing business maybe they'll do something. I will never use AARP for anything after that. They should have to inspect the house BEFORE they approve it not after.

[Sarah H]

I was an insurance agent in my former life....before kids. Although I do not miss it at all, I suppose I happened to learn a few things. Check a rating company such as AM Best to make sure you are getting on board with a good company, and I do recommend finding an agent that you feel very confident in and moving all of your policies there. A good agent will know the right questions to ask to make sure that you have the coverage that you need so there is not a question of coverage after you actually need it. You usually can save quite a bit of money with multi-policy discounts. Aarp was always very competitive in my area, but make sure you check the ratings on the underwriting company.

[Johnmich]

Try Ameriprise. I have been using them since they were Amex Assurance and American Express Insurance (at least 15 years). Every time I check rates with others, they are always cheaper. And if you are a Costco member, you get even better rates. They have great rates and service.

When my condo burned down about 7 years ago, they had someone out the next day. Their rep was there helping me through the whole ordeal. She took a look around after a few minutes and said "I can tell you had nice stuff in here, I am going to go ahead and submit the paperwork to pay out your entire claim immediately." They never haggled about how much stuff was worth. Then she sayed with me for two days helping me pick through stuff trying to salvage what I could.

They had found and me set up in a temporary furnished apartment one block from the condo within three days (I didn't even know I was covered for that), gave me some cash the day after the fire to help keep me liquid and then they paid out the rest of the claim within a week or so. No hassles at any point, no issues, no arguments, and no rate increase after everything was over.

Same with Auto insurance. Always take care of any claims right away (my fault or not), and never raise my rates after I make a claim. Did I mention they have always been the cheapest quote I have gotten (and I do check every few years)? I have and will continue to use them as long as they are around.

[AndyT]

I use State Farm. they beat every one else's rates by at least 20%. I use CNA for my business.

[Jerry Jensen]

If you are simi rural you can often join the state Farm Bureau and get a good rate from the farmers insurance. I have bundeled all my rentals under one blanket policy and get a large policy that has generous coverage for multiple properties for less than what I had been paying individually.

[Don Burt]

I've worked for property casualty insurance company(s) forever. So I'm an expert (like a guy who does IT for Toyota is an expert on cars). But I'd find a local independent agent with a good reputation and talk with her, and then get with a major carrier captive agent and do the same. Lay it all out for them. Let each know you're considering the other, to hear the competitive spin. I'd guess the carrier's reputation with paying catastrophic storm damage claims would be a primary topic of interest, on Wanchese. With all the wierd business stuff you got going, it may pay off to spend some time with several agents because there may be small company umbrella solutions that could provide some special coverage for you. Time consuming, but probably worth it. Not an investigation that I envy you for.

[rosanna gusler]

local agents suck as far as i can tell. the must have type businesses locally have a 'captive audience' mentality. before the internet the answer to 'i do not like this' was 'so? whare else ya gonna go' (teabonics intentional). this is agony for me. rosanna