I have seen ads on the Internet for Web sites promising “discount” auto insurance. I consider these ads misleading. Some ads go as far to promise a “trick” to get $9 insurance, or the government will pay half your auto insurance for you. Don’t fall for scams, but the truth is you really CAN save a lot of money on car insurance, and I’ll tell you how! Continue reading
Tag Archives: saving money
Progressive Name Your Own Price Auto Insurance
I saw a brief Progressive car insurance ad last night on TV promoting their name your own price online car insurance tool. This tool, available on Progressive‘s website, has been around for a couple of years, but it has not been promoted by Progressive as much recently as it was when it was first launched. Continue reading
Allstate Claim Satisfaction Guarantee Terms & Conditions Analyzed
Allstate insurance recently announced it is offering a claim satisfaction guarantee for Allstate‘s standard auto insurance customers, with an insurance premium credit applied to the car insurance policies of customers dissatisfied with how their auto insurance claim was paid.
Some of the buzz on the Internet from insurance agents is customers are often dissatisfied with their auto insurance claim, either justly or unjustly, and this claims satisfaction guarantee will cost Allstate a lot of money.
I’ve reviewed the terms and conditions for the claims satisfaction guarantee, and I will explain them in this blog post, as I understand them. There are press releases & articles on the Web announcing Allstate‘s new claim satisfaction guarantee, but none of them go into detail about the amount of the insurance premium credit Allstate will give customers dissatisfied with their auto claims, so I will tell you more about it, and what I think you should do to avoid having a problem getting the claim satisfaction guarantee premium credit.
My analysis of Allstate‘s claims satisfaction guarantee is my interpretation, and the actual rules & availability will vary by state. If you are insured with Allstate, contact your agent to find out how this new claim satisfaction guarantee applies to you.
Allstate‘s claim satisfaction guarantee will be available in 31 states:
Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, District of Columbia, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, & Wyoming.
More states will be added in 2012.
Allstate had a pilot program in 2011, so if you live in Georgia, Indiana, Ohio, or Michigan, you may already have the claim satisfaction guarantee. Contact Allstate or your Allstate agent to find out if you have it, or if it is available to you.
The terms & conditions for the claim satisfaction guarantee vary by state. I reviewed the one terms and conditions applying to all the states but Illinois, Montana, Texas, & Michigan’s 12 month Allstate auto insurance policies. Contact your agent to confirm how and if the claim satisfaction guarantee applies to your Allstate car insurance policy.
With the exception of Texas, which is supposed to offer the claim satisfaction guarantee on all Allstate auto insurance policies, Allstate will provide the claim satisfaction guarantee on Allstate‘s standard auto insurance companies, at no additional cost, in the states where the guarantee is available.
Specifically, the Allstate website mentions Allstate Property & Casualty Insurance Company, & Allstate Fire & Casualty Insurance Company. However, you want to contact Allstate to confirm you are eligible for the guarantee if you are insured with these Allstate subsidiaries. These two Allstate subsidiaries are newer Allstate companies, with more sophisticated rating plans.
In many states, Allstate‘s oldest insurance subsidiary, Allstate Insurance Company, also offers standard auto insurance. It is not clear from the Allstate website if long time standard auto insurance customers insured with the Allstate Insurance Company subsidiary will have the guarantee, though stating all of Allstate‘s standard auto insurance policies in the states offering the program, indicates they should get it.
If you are insured with Allstate, how do you know if you are insured by a standard auto insurance policy?
If you have accidents or tickets, less than 3 years driving experience, claims, or a lapse in auto insurance coverage, or no continuous insurance history (where allowed by state law), you may not qualify for standard auto insurance, and may insure with a nonstandard auto insurance company.
In most states, Allstate‘s nonstandard auto insurance company is called Allstate Indemnity Company. If you are not insured with an Allstate standard auto insurance company, the claims satisfaction guarantee will not be available to you.
The best thing you can do, if you are insured with Allstate, regardless of the name of the Allstate insurance subsidiary insuring you, is contact the company or your agent to find out if the guarantee will apply to your auto insurance policy.
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You will know you have the claims satisfaction guarantee when Allstate mails a revised car insurance policy to you adding the claim satisfaction guarantee auto insurance endorsement, which will contain the terms & conditions of the guarantee.
Any paid auto insurance claim, occurring after the date the claim satisfaction guarantee endorsement was added to your auto insurance policy, will be eligible for the guarantee.
The key phrase in the above paragraph is “paid auto insurance claim.” If you are unhappy because your claim was denied, or not paid because it was less than your deductible, you cannot get the premium credit offered by the guarantee.
For example, if you forgot you had a $1,000 deductible for Collision coverage, and another driver rear ends you, causing damage costing $900 to repair, Allstate will not give you the policy credit under the guarantee, if you are unhappy Allstate did not cover the claim. Even if the at fault driver’s insurance company pays the claim, the guarantee does not apply unless Allstate pays you for the claim.
Here is the good news: the claim satisfaction guarantee for a paid auto claim can be for any reason, and Allstate does not have to validate or concur with your dissatisfaction.
For example, your car insurance claim may have been paid quickly and fairly, but if you were treated rudely by an Allstate employee during the claims settlement process, you can get the premium credit under the claims satisfaction guarantee.
Here is the really good news: the premium credit is substantial. You can get a credit up to the 6 month premium for the vehicle involved with the claim.
For example, you have one car and the 6 month auto insurance premium for the car is $350. Your car is involved in an accident, and Allstate pays the claim, but you are unhappy with how long it took for your car to get repaired, and the cost of your rental car was not covered. You can get $350 as a premium credit under the guarantee. Tomorrow, I will blog again & explain the credit in more detail.
In order to get the car insurance premium credit under the guarantee, you need to write and send a first class letter to Allstate expressing your dissatisfaction with the paid auto insurance claim. You need to write your name, address, claim number, date the claim occurred, your phone number, and the reason (it can be any reason) for your dissatisfaction with the claim. Allstate must receive notice within 180 days of the date the claim occurred.
This is Allstate’s current address where you must send the letter:
Allstate Insurance, CSG
PO Box 11904
Roanoake, VA
24022-9933
However, I know from experience, mailing addresses for insurance companies can change frequently. If you want to apply for the claim satisfaction guarantee credit, contact an Allstate agent to confirm you are eligible for the guarantee, and where to mail the written notice. I recommend delivering a copy to your Allstate agent, and keep a copy signed by your Allstate agent to confirm its receipt.
Here is the source of the information for this blog post. http://www.allstate.com/auto-insurance/claim-satisfaction-guarantee-terms.aspx. Check out the terms and conditions for your state.
Bookmark this blog post, because I will update it as the guarantee becomes available in more states.
What do you think about Allstate’s claim satisfaction guarantee? Tell me about it. Please leave a comment on my facebook page. Follow me on Twitter for important insurance consumer news and new blog entries at CarInsWatch.
The Biggest Home Insurance Discount is Knowing How to Use Your Homeowners Insurance
Before you consider shopping for the best home insurance, and knowing the homeowners insurance discounts to save money, let me tell you the best way to use and think about your homeowners insurance to avoid problems and keep your rates low. Continue reading
Home Insurance Discounts & How to Get Them
Here are some common homeowners insurance discounts, how to get them, and make sure you pay the lowest home insurance rates possible.
Claims Free Insurance Discount
Many homeowners insurance companies offer a substantial discount for not having any claims in the last 5 years. Avoiding claims is the best strategy to get and maintain low homeowners insurance rates.
Good Credit Insurance Discount
Your insurance credit score, determined by information from your credit report, is not a discount, but a major rating factor influencing the cost of your homeowners insurance premium with almost all insurance companies. The better your credit, the better your home insurance rate.
IMPORTANT: Some states, like Oregon, have a law allowing you once a year to ask your insurance company to re-determine your insurance score. If your credit has not changed, or if you think it may be worse now, you should still request the new insurance score each year, because your rate cannot go up from a worse score; your rate can only go down, or stay the same. If your state allows the use of credit to rate insurance policies, check with your State’s Department of Insurance Website to see if your state has similar laws.
As time goes by, your insurance score is always changing — your debt balance, the age of your accounts, etc., so don’t think it is not worth your time because you don’t think your credit has changed. Call your insurance company once a year and ask for a new insurance score for your auto & home insurance.
If you have bad credit, you may want to search for an insurance company not using credit to determine rates. This type of company may no longer exist. Contacting a local independent agent is your best bet of finding one.
If you have fair, good, or great credit, you will most likely save money by using an insurance company using credit to rate their homeowners insurance.
Home/Auto Insurance Discount or Multi Policy Insurance Discount
Another big home insurance discount is insuring your home and cars with the same insurance company. Likewise, if you own other properties, motorcycles, boats, etc. You usually get the best insurance rates by insuring them with the same company.
Some companies sell only auto insurance, like Geico insurance & Progressive insurance, but partner with other insurance companies to offer homeowners insurance.
It is usually best to have your car & homeowners insurance with the same insurance company. You will be a more important customer to the insurance company, and it will be easier to file a claim if there is a common cause of damage, like a severe storm or fire, which damages both your car and home.
Smoke Detectors/ Deadbolt locks / Fire extinguishers Insurance Discount
Everyone should get this common home insurance discount. Smoke detectors are required on all floors, deadbolt locks are required on all exterior doors (Sliding glass doors should have a bar lock), and keep a portable fire extinguisher in the kitchen.
Burglar / Fire Alarm Systems Insurance Discount
A monitored central alarm which alerts the fire or police department gets the largest insurance discount, but the cost of the monitoring service will cost more than you save with the home insurance discount.
Many insurance companies offer a discount for a burglar alarm wired to all doors and windows which sounds locally if triggered.
Some insurance companies offer an additional homeowners insurance discounts for natural gas sensors and water leak sensors.
Ask each home insurance company if they have any other discounts for other protective devices.
Having a dog to attack intruders is not a good thing from the insurance company’s standpoint, since they are concerned with dog-bite liability claims.
Insurance Discounts for your Occupation,Job, or Profession, or being 55 or older & Retired
Some insurance companies have home insurance discounts for various professions, such as teachers, or government employees. Many insurance companies offer an homeowners insurance discount for being retired and over a certain age. If you are now retired, or changed professions, call your insurance company and make sure you are getting these insurance discounts, if available.
Non-Smoking Insurance Discount
Few companies offer this homeowners insurance discount, though you would think all of them should.
If you or your spouse, or other family members, recently quit smoking, ask your insurance company about this insurance discount.
New Home or Renovation Insurance Discount
Some insurance companies offer an home insurance discount for a new roof, or an Underwriters Lab approved, impact resistant roof, re-wiring your electrical system, new plumbing, or a new heating system. The work will need to have been completed by a licensed contractor, and you must have a receipt to show the date and work done.
Most insurance companies offer home insurance discounts for newer homes (in the last 10 years). You should get this discount automatically, because your insurance company asks what year your home was constructed as part of the application and quoting process.
Both the new home and renovation insurance discounts usually are reduced, and eventually removed as the home or renovations get older.
Cash Back Insurance Discounts
Some insurance companies give you cash back for being claims free for a period of time, like a year, or 3 years.
Cash back is nice, but does it make sense to pay 10% more to possibly get 5% back next year if you don’t have claim? Ignore cash back bonuses on your insurance unless you are getting a good price, and the chance for cash back gets you the lowest price for your insurance coverage, and the service you need.
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Find The Best Homeowners Insurance for You
I’ve written a lot about shopping for auto insurance, so now I’ll review some of the things you need to know to choose a good home insurance company.
When you don’t own a home, shopping for auto insurance is relatively simple. You can get accurate auto insurance quotes online, if you put in the proper information (I still recommend speaking with an agent to make sure you get the best price), from insurance company websites, without talking to an agent.
But when you own a home, and you are shopping for home & auto insurance, you can’t get homeowners insurance quotes online from most companies, and you need to speak with an agent, or directly to the insurance company, to review your home insurance needs and get an accurate price quote.
Auto insurance is much the same among auto insurance companies. Liability, Comprehensive, Collision, & other coverage, for the most part, are covered the same way by all insurance companies.
There are sometimes minor differences, such as a company offering limited coverage for injury to your pets, and some insurance companies may offer optional features, like a vanishing deductible or replacement car coverage for an additional cost.
However, most people can choose an auto insurance company based on the price and reputation for customer service, without worrying the insurance company does not offer coverage comparable to any other insurance company.
Homeowners insurance is not like auto insurance in this way; coverage options & policy language can vary greatly among insurance companies, and not choosing your homeowners insurance company wisely can cost you a fortune in uncovered claims costs.
On the surface, homeowners insurance appears to be the same with all companies. They all have the standard coverage. But where they can differ greatly, is important additional coverage.
For example, studies have shown from actual claims, that most homes are under-insured, and do not have enough home insurance coverage to rebuild a similar home after a loss.
Assume you have a home insured for $200,000, which was what the insurance company determined to be enough coverage to rebuild your home when you started the policy. You have a fire and your house burns down. Contractors estimate it will cost $260,000, not $200,00, to rebuild your home.
Almost all homeowners insurance companies include additional coverage if you insure your home to their estimate of the cost to rebuild it.
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Yet some insurance companies offer more than 20% extra coverage, and a FEW insurance companies still offer UNLIMITED extra coverage, to make sure you are able to rebuild, even if the insurance company greatly miscalculated how much insurance you would need to rebuild when they sold you your policy.
You may say to yourself, this extra coverage may cost you a lot more to have it. This is not true. The insurance company offering unlimited coverage to rebuild your home may be the least expensive homeowners insurance quote you find when shopping.
This is only ONE example of MANY ways home insurance coverage can be different among insurance companies.
If you are like most people, your home is your biggest investment. Even though you are not likely to have a large loss to your property, the financial impact for you and your family is too devastating to take a chance not having the best coverage you can get at a reasonable cost.
Homeowners insurance policies have many limitations & exclusions people find out about the hard way when they have a claim. When these people find out an expensive claim not covered, could have been covered at a reasonable cost, they regret not shopping for the coverage they needed.
Agents are sales people, not consultants. Though most agents want to help you the best they can, they have no legal obligation to make sure you have the coverage you need.
You are responsible for deciding what coverage you need & knowing how your insurance policy limits & excludes coverage.
First, find out what you need to know about homeowners insurance coverage, limitations, & exclusions, by reading my blog and using my website’s Auto & Home Insurance Reviews.
Then, contact your agent or insurance company to review your homeowners insurance policy, and all its limitations & exclusions, with you. Shop your insurance and get a second, third, or fourth opinion to make sure you have the coverage options you need.
Comment or ask me questions on my facebook page. Follow me on Twitter for important insurance consumer news & new blog entries at CarInsWatch. Email: help@smartshopyourcarinsurance.com.
Homeowners Insurance Replacement Cost Coverage
Before your homeowners insurance company pays your claim, the company determines the settlement amount.
Many homeowners insurance policies, unless your property does not qualify for standard homeowners insurance, or you have an old policy, pay replacement cost for claims for your Dwelling, Other Structures, and your Personal Property insurance coverage.
Replacement cost for your personal property may be optional, but many agents automatically include this option when they quote you.
Replacement cost is an important feature because there will be no deduction for depreciation.
Although, I am explaining replacement cost for homeowners insurance, it is equally important to have it on any property insurance policy — Dwelling insurance for rental houses, Condo insurance, Mobile home insurance, and Renters insurance. For rental properties, some insurance companies will offer replacement cost, and others will not offer it. Some homeowners insurance companies no longer offer replacement cost for your roof.
As always, I recommend shopping with all the leading insurance companies to find the best insurance coverage and price for you.
Examples of the Importance of Homeowners Insurance Replacement Cost Coverage
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If you do not have replacement cost (RC), claims are settled at “Actual Cash Value” (ACV) which is replacement cost less depreciation.
If your roof blows off in a windstorm, and your roof is a 15 year-old roof that is supposed to last 30 years, you would get $5000, less your deductible, instead of the $10,000 needed to replace the roof, if you do not have replacement cost ($10,000 (RC) – $5,000 for 15 years of depreciation = $5,000 (ACV).
If your roof was 30 years old, and beyond its useful life, you would get nothing!
Your 15 year-old sofa may cost $1000 to replace, but the sofa’s value less depreciation, may only be $250.
Imagine if you have a house fire and lose all your personal property. Unless all your personal property was brand new, you would not have enough money to replace your lost items unless you have replacement cost on your homeowners insurance.
Important: Contact your agent and make sure you have replacement cost for your house and contents, and make sure you are being quoted replacement cost when you shop your homeowners insurance. This is extremely important if you have not updated your homeowners insurance policy in many years.
Do you have any questions about the importance of replacement cost coverage? Tell me about it. Please leave a comment on my facebook page. Follow me on Twitter for important insurance consumer news and new blog entries at CarInsWatch.
Coverage F: Medical Payments to Others
Medical Payments to Others coverage, as a part of homeowners insurance, condo insurance, mobile home insurance, & renters insurance, pays for the necessary medical expenses of people, other than you and your household members, if they are injured on your property, regardless of whether you are legally responsible for the injury.
For example, a friend helping you prepare dinner in your kitchen accidentally cuts their hand while slicing vegetables, or your dog bites the neighbor.
Homeowners insurance companies vary with how much they offer for Medical Payment to Others coverage, but you may be allowed as little as $500 per person, or up to $25,000 per person or more, for this coverage. Shop for the homeowners insurance policy with the best coverage for you.
I am most concerned with my legal liability if someone is injured, which is covered by Coverage E: Personal Liability coverage, so I don’t take more than the basic Medical Payments to Others coverage.
If you or your children entertain a lot, you may want more than the basic coverage.
If someone visiting you is injured on your property, Medical Payments to Others coverage is a great way to get their medical bills for the injury paid, because you do not have to be at-fault for the injury, for your homeowners insurance to cover it.
Everyone knows how expensive medical treatment can be. An insurance company offering up to $25,000 per person, or more, for this coverage may be the best insurance company for you.
Like with all insurance coverage, exclusions apply.
For example, if someone is over your home in relation to a business pursuit, like a business client meets you at your home for a business dinner, or a co-worker dropping off paperwork at your home, or a vendor fixing your home computer you use for work, Medical Payments to Others coverage does not apply if any of these people are unintentionally injured while on your property.
Contact your insurance agent or insurance company to review all your insurance policy limitations and exclusions with you. Knowing what is not covered by your insurance policy is as important as knowing what is covered.
Do you need Medical Payments to Others coverage? Although this coverage can be beneficial to you — and the insurance company, since paying claims under this coverage tend to reduce lawsuits for bodily injury — it is not necessary, in keeping with the idea the purpose of buying insurance is to protect you from catastrophic financial losses.
If you are legally liable for an injury to a non-resident guest, you are protected by your Personal Liability coverage. If you did not have Medical Payments to Others coverage, you would not have any financial obligation to pay for the first aid & medical bills of a guest whom cuts themselves while chopping onions in your kitchen, unless you were somehow negligent, or they file a lawsuit.
However, Medical Payments to Others coverage is automatically included in homeowners insurance, renters insurance, condo insurance, & mobile home insurance, and I am not aware of any insurance companies allowing you to remove it to save money.
If you are like me — rarely have guests in your home, and don’t own a pet — you may wish to take the minimum amount, usually $500 or $1,000, to save money on your insurance premium.
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Coverage C: Your Home’s Personal Property/Contents
This coverage insures your personal belongings and furnishings (personal property) kept in your home, subject to your deductible.
Personal property is usually insured for causes of damage on a “named peril” basis, meaning for you to be covered, the cause of damage, such as fire, must be specified in writing in your policy contract.
A few homeowners insurance companies will offer broader coverage for your personal property on an “open peril” basis, meaning damage to your property is covered, subject to your deductible and any limitation written in the policy, unless it is specifically excluded.
For example, you drop and break your big screen television while trying to move it in your home. If the damage is more than the deductible, and it is not excluded from your homeowners policy, it may be covered if you have “open peril” coverage, but it is not covered if you have “named peril” coverage.
“Named peril” coverage is fine for most people, because you pay more for “open peril” coverage for your personal property, and the broader coverage encourages smaller claims that your agent will most likely recommend you do not file.
However, if you have a lot of expensive, high-quality personal property you may want “open peril” coverage for your personal property.
“Open peril” coverage for your personal property is offered by a few homeowners insurance companies, usually through independent insurance agents that sell to high net-worth customers.
Don’t take the chance you will feel ripped off after you have had a claim, by shopping for the coverage you need at the best price with a reputable insurance company.
Like Coverage B: Detached Structures, the amount of Personal Property coverage is based on a percentage (50%-75%, depending on the homeowners insurance company) of the amount for which the house is insured — which may, or may not reflect your actual needs to replace your Personal Property.
People usually under-estimate the amount of Personal Property coverage they need. This website, knowyourstuff.org, can help you determine how much you need. In addition, you create a home inventory. If you lose everything in a fire, you will have a record of what you own, so you will not forget any of your personal property items.
I also recommend using a camcorder to make a visual record of all your property, and keep the video off the premises, somewhere safe.
Insurance shopping tip: If you are sure you need less personal property (and keeping in mind it is easy to forget to update your insurance when you buy new things), a few homeowners insurance companies will lower your premium for less Personal Property coverage. However, many homeowners insurance companies offer only the basic percentage or more.
Warning: Personal property kept away from your home, at another house, dorm, apartment, etc. or in storage can be limited to 10% of the the amount of insurance you have for contents.
For example, if you have $50,000 for your contents coverage, all property you keep away from your home is limited to $5,000.
If you own another property, rent a storage unit, have a child living away from home, or any other situations where you may have a significant amount of your belongings away from home, inform your agent to secure proper insurance coverage.
Avoid this homeowners insurance mistake: Many people find out about the limitations and exclusions on their personal property after they have had a claim. Items such as jewelry, watches, furs, tools, silverware, goldware, cash, coins, cameras, computer hardware & software etc. have limits on coverage.
For example, you may have $75,000 for your Personal Property coverage, but there is a limit of $1,000 for all jewelry,watches, and furs that are stolen. If you have $15,000 in jewelry and the jewelry is stolen, the most your policy will pay is $1000.
Other types of personal property can be limited, too. Be sure to have your agent review all the personal property limitations and exclusions to you, and adjust your coverage as needed.
Please see my blog post regarding scheduled personal property / personal property limitations & deciding when you need more coverage.
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Serving Alcohol to House Guests & Homeowners Insurance Liability Coverage
Can hosts be responsible for the acts of their guests? If you have a party, and one of your guests drinks and drives, and causes a car accident, can you be sued? Yes, you can be legally responsible for injuries or property damage to others, caused by your drunken guests. Continue reading
California Auto Insurance Company Reviews: Best & Worst Complaint Records
Here are the 12 auto insurance companies with the best California complaint records in 2010, and the 12 auto insurance companies with the worst California complaint records in 2010.
I’m always blogging to help you get the best policies and prices for auto, home, & life insurance, so bookmark or place my website in your favorites!
The car insurance companies with the best records all have a complaint index in California (number of complaints, adjusted for market share) of less than half the complaint index of the average car insurance company.
The auto insurance companies with the worst records have a complaint index in California twice as much or more than the average company.
All of these companies are among the 50 largest (by number of customers) auto insurance companies in California.
If you are insured with any of the auto insurance companies with the worst records, you should shop your auto insurance with all the leading insurance companies. You will most likely be able to get better service AND a much better price!
The California Department of Insurance website is the source of my information about complaint records. This website has a lot of useful information for California residents, so I encourage you to check it out. The site includes price comparisons between auto insurance companies, but you really can’t know which auto insurance company can save you a lot of money on car insurance unless you shop for price quotes yourself.
Here are my lists. I will start with the worst list, and then show you the best list.
Insurance companies frequently have several subsidiary auto insurance companies. Make sure you know the correct name of the insurance subsidiary quoting or insuring you, to check the proper complaint grade.
California Auto Insurance Companies with the Worst 2010 California Complaint Records
QBE Insurance Corporation
Victoria Fire & Casualty Company
Permanent General Assurance Corporation
Financial Indemnity Company
Nationwide Insurance company of America
Hartford Underwriters Insurance Company
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Commerce West Insurance Company
21st Century Premier Insurance Company
Loya Casualty Insurance Company
Viking Insurance Company of Wisconsin
Explorer Insurance Company
Alliance United Insurance Company
California Auto Insurance Companies with the Best 2010 California Complaint Records
Allied Property & Casualty Insurance Company (Nationwide Insurance Group)
California Automobile Insurance Company
Wawanesa General Insurance Company
Auto Club (Interinsurance Exchange of the Automobile Club)
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company
Mercury Casualty Company
Mercury Insurance Company
Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company
Geico General Insurance Company
Standard Fire Insurance Company
Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Company
Government Employees Insurance Company (Geico)
Now you know the auto insurance companies with the best & worst 2010 California complaint records, go and shop your car insurance. You can get better rates AND better service!
Do you have any questions about the California auto insurance companies with the best & worst complaint records? Tell me about it. Please leave a comment on my facebook page. Or, you can e-mail me at help@smartshopyourcarinsurance.com if you have questions and would like my help. Follow me on Twitter for important insurance consumer news and new blog entries at CarInsWatch.
Drinking, Driving, Punitive Damages, & Auto Insurance
Everyone should know by now drinking and driving is a huge mistake. Yet it is a mistake some people continue to make, potentially ruining lives. We all know the possible consequences of drunk driving. But this blog post is not just for people running the risk of a DUI, DUII, DWI, or whatever the acronym may be in your state.
Did you know having any alcohol in your blood stream, while driving, can create problems with your car insurance? Responsible drinkers may be unaware of the risk they take when they drive. This blog post will explain a few things you may not have considered regarding drinking, driving, and your auto insurance, and if you are involved in an incident, even if the effect of alcohol is negligible, how you should handle your car insurance and keep your rates as low as possible.
You may ask, “What is wrong with having a beer or glass of wine every two hours and driving home? I know when I feel I’m okay to drive.”
You don’t want to take a chance. Any accident where alcohol might have been a factor, will get your auto insurance canceled at your next renewal date, although the alcohol in your blood stream may be below the legal limit. Your insurance company will not want to take the risk your next alcohol related claim will be severe.
Now, some people are very good drivers, drive defensively, and may have never been in an accident. Although driving defensively helps you avoid accidents, you can still be at the wrong place at the wrong time.
What if someone rear ends you? You’re not at fault for the accident, but having any alcohol in your blood stream can get auto insurance canceled, unless prohibited by law. Many states will allow auto insurance companies to cancel your auto insurance at renewal at their discretion. You may have done nothing wrong, received no ticket, and the other drive can be 100% at fault, but your car insurance company will want to avoid the risk of anyone drinking (drugs, too, prescription or otherwise) any amount of alcohol and driving.
You may have been a loyal customer for 20 years without a claim, but alcohol related claims are so expensive to insurance companies, they are willing to lose good customers, and all your business, which makes you feel your insurance company ripped you off. However, some insurance companies are more flexible, depending on the circumstances, than others.
This should be an even greater concern for drivers who push the envelope when drinking. You may feel okay to drive (Remember, when you drink, the first thing affected is your judgment), but you may be legally drunk. If someone rear ends your car while you are stopped at a stop light, you can be found at fault for the accident, because you should not be driving. You may not be considered at fault for the accident, but at the very least, you will get a DUI, regardless of the fact you were not so drunk where you caused an accident.
What if someone does something stupid? Like teens, out beyond their curfew, crossing the street against the light. Suddenly, they are in front of your car. The one drink you had may have slowed your reaction time, and you hit the teens, gravely injuring them. Maybe the one drink wasn’t really a factor, but it will bother you the rest of your life, wondering what would have happened if you had not had that drink.
I have heard people refer to themselves as being excellent drunk drivers. Let’s accept the absurdity of this notion. Given the situation above, you’re legally drunk, hitting teens darting in front of your car, and one of the teens is profoundly injured or killed. You may think, “Yes, I was buzzed, but I was okay to drive & I was driving the speed limit. The kid jumped in front of my car. No one could have stopped in time. But thank God I have a lot of auto insurance!”
Not so fast. You may not have the insurance protection you think you have. I’ve never seen an auto insurance policy excluding coverage for alcohol or drug related claims — but they could be out there, check with your insurance company to know what is excluded — but most auto insurance policies do have an exclusion for punitive damages.
Punitive damages are awarded by the court system for acts considered greatly irresponsible or egregious. They are not uncommon in litigation against corporations.
For example, a car manufacturer decides to not fix a known safety hazard involving their cars, because the car manufacturer has determined the cost to pay off the likely number of people injured by their product is less expensive than fixing the problem with their cars.
Knowingly allowing people to get injured by their unsafe product, rather than fixing it, is irresponsible, hazardous to the general public, and an egregious act. A class-action lawsuit of people injured by the defective product may get 10 million dollars for compensation for their injuries, but the court may decide to award punitive damages for an additional 100 million dollars, to punish the car manufacturer for putting profits over public safety. The cost of this judgment is enough to make sure this company doesn’t again put profits over being a good corporate citizen, and becomes a cautionary tale to other businesses.
Punitive damages can be awarded in drunk driving cases, and many car insurance policies exclude coverage for punitive damages. The idea behind punitive damages is to punish the person for a grossly negligent act, and the person is not punished if their insurance pays the punitive damages. You may have $500,000 liability coverage, but if $250,000 of a $500,000 claim is for punitive damages, $250,000 is coming out of your pocket — from your assets and paycheck garnishment, until your debt is paid. Filing bankruptcy may not be able to clear this type of debt.
Some insurance agents confuse pain & suffering damages for punitive damages. Pain & suffering settlements are compensation for injuries, NOT punitive damages, and an exclusion for punitive damages in your auto insurance policy does not mean your insurance will not pay for the pain & suffering you cause other people by injuring someone in a car accident.
Normally, I advise choosing a policy without such an exclusion, but I would not count on any car insurance policy to cover punitive damages. The solution is simple: Don’t drink and drive.
Okay, so you made a mistake, and you are facing a DUI conviction, or you had an accident where alcohol was involved. How does this impact your car insurance, and what should you do to minimize the impact?
First, wait for your car insurance company to act by mailing notice to you in writing, or until you need something from them. Getting a ticket for an alcohol or drug related driving offense is not the same as being convicted of it. It won’t appear on your driving record until you are convicted. If your auto insurance policy is going to be canceled by your company, you will be notified in writing at what date in the future it will be canceled.
Unless, your license has been suspended, your auto insurance company needs to become aware of the situation, with enough time to notify you it is non-renewing (canceling) your insurance at its renewal date.
If your insurance company has proof your license is suspended, they may cancel you before the renewal date, but with advanced notice.
However, if you need to file an SR 22 — notification to the state you have an active auto insurance policy — to avoid having your drivers license suspended, your insurance company will most likely decline to file it for your current insurance policy, unless you already have nonstandard (high risk, and expensive) car insurance.
Your agent or insurance company will most likely offer you a new nonstandard auto insurance policy, if they have one, at a much higher rate than you pay now, to file the SR 22.
Needing an SR-22 often forces you to get a new, more expensive auto insurance policy. You have less options when you have an alcohol or drug related driving offense on your record, but there are plenty of insurance companies offering nonstandard auto insurance, which you can find by clicking the link in this sentence.
Your auto insurance is going to be expensive no matter what you do, but you may find some insurance companies will charge you a lot less, or have lower down payments, or more affordable payment plans, than other companies. It always pays to shop for better rates, but it is even more important when your car insurance is expensive.
If you must get a new car insurance policy due to needing an SR 22 filing, the state will give you a date to present them with the filing before they will suspend your license. Don’t wait until the last minute, but try to make the start date of the new, more expensive auto insurance policy the day before the suspension date, so you pay the lower rates of your old car insurance policy as long as you can.
I hope you never need the advice I just gave you. Please drink responsibly. Please drive responsibly. But always remember, you cannot drink AND drive responsibly. Cheers to having a safe holiday season!
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California Home Insurance Company Reviews: Worst Complaint Ratings
Here are homeowners insurance companies, among the biggest 50 home insurance companies in California, which have a higher than average annual number of homeowners insurance complaints in 2008, 2009, & 2010, based on their market share, than the other top 50 homeowners insurance companies. Continue reading
Coverage B: Detached structures (Garage, Pool, Shed, etc.)
This coverage insures other structures, detached from your house, such as a detached garage, shed, in-ground pool, gazebo, boathouse, barn, etc. on the same property. Continue reading
Ordinance and Law Insurance Coverage
When you have damage to your house from a cause covered by your homeowners insurance, such as fire, most insurance policies pay the replacement cost for the damaged portion of the home, with the same kind & quality of materials before the fire occurred. Continue reading
California Home Insurance Reviews: Complaint Ratings for 25 Top Companies in California
Does your homeowners insurance company have a lot of complaints? Will you have difficulty placing a claim, or have a valid claim delayed or denied? Is your company good or bad? Most consumers fail to check the complaint records of their insurance companies. Here I provide complaint information for the 25 largest (by number of policies/homes insured in California) homeowners insurance companies, and rate them based on their 2010 California complaint record.( Accurate 2011 complaint data not available yet). Find out the best & worst companies. Continue reading
Negotiating a Total Loss with Your Auto Insurance Company
In the 2011 JD Power Auto Claims Satisfaction Study, JD Power reported car insurance customer’s satisfaction with their auto insurance claim was 42 points lower when their car was a total loss, compared to car insurance customers having their cars repaired. JD Power states 50% of customers with totaled car insurance claims surveyed expressed dissatisfaction with the settlement amount, claiming the money was not enough to buy a comparable car as a replacement.
For the 2011 JD Power study, the industry average score for auto claims satisfaction for customers with totaled car claims is 811 points on a 1,000 point scale. Customers with auto claims where their car was repaired, instead of totaled, rated their claims experience as 853 out of 1,000 points. Customers with totaled cars are less satisfied with how their claim was handled. This blog post will give you the information you need to help you avoid feeling ripped off by your car insurance company, and settling for less money than your car is worth, if your car is totaled by an auto insurance company. About 1 in 5 auto physical damage claims result in the car being totaled.
When will your car be considered totaled?
Generally, your car is considered totaled when the cost of repair is more than the value of the car. Your insurance company’s claims policy and state law will determine repair cost at what percentage of the value of your car will result in a total loss settlement.
For example, your car’s market value is $5,000, and it will cost $4,000 to repair your car. Since your state requires any car be totaled when the cost of repair is 80% or more of the market value of the car, your car will be considered a total loss.
Some states may require cars, with damage as little as 50% of the market value of the car, be totaled. Some states will require the cost of repair to be as much as 100% of the car’s market value.
However, if state law requires cars to be a total loss, if the cost of repair is 80% or more of the market value of the car, your auto insurance company is not prohibited from totaling your car at a lesser percentage, say anything over 50%.
My insurance company wants to total my car. What should I do?
Refer to your state’s department of insurance website to learn your rights, and what expenses are covered. Some states may have more information, better consumer protection laws, and enforcement than others. The website, at the least, should have a contact phone number to call for assistance with your questions. You can find the website for your state on my website here: US state department of insurance websites
Some states require insurance companies to cover the cost of sales tax, based on the market value of your totaled vehicle, and title and registration fees, in addition to paying you the actual cash value (ACV — basically the market value) of your totaled car. Insurance companies may cover these additional expenses, even if they are not required by law. But whether the law requires them to be paid or not, you need to ask for them to be paid, and you must do so promptly, usually before 30 days from the purchase of your replacement car has passed.
Your state department of insurance can inform you of other state laws & regulations, too.
For example, here in Oregon, your appraisal costs up to $1,000 must be paid by the insurance company, if the insurance company agreed to a higher appraisal amount than before you hired the appraiser.
Should you ask to keep your car if the insurance company decides it is a total loss?
Your auto insurance may allow you to keep your totaled car, if you let them know you want to keep it promptly.
If you don’t want to keep it, the insurance company sells it at auction and keeps the proceeds. The proceeds are the salvage value.
If you wish to keep the car, the auto insurance company deducts your car’s estimated salvage value from your claims settlement check. Here is how it would work:
$10,000 market value or ACV – $500 deductible = $9,500 claims settlement, and the insurance company sells your totaled car for salvage and keeps the proceeds.
$9,500 – $1,500 Salvage value = $8,000 claims settlement and you keep your totaled car.
Your auto insurance company may decline to let you keep the car if you have a late model, popular car with valuable parts, and a high salvage value.
Keeping your car might be a good choice if the damage is cosmetic. For example, if your car was totaled because of parts stripped from it in a theft, and you know you can buy replacement parts, and get them installed, for less than your claims settlement check, after the salvage value has been deducted.
However, if there is substantial damage to your vehicle, amounting to close to 50% of the value of the vehicle, you may want to consider requesting it to be totaled, even if the insurance company has not said it is totaled. Explain to your adjuster there is likely to be hidden damage, or structural damage, possibly to the frame, which cannot be properly repaired.
Keeping your car, once it has been totaled, after receiving major damage in an accident has its hassles — getting the repairs completed on your own, the vehicle inspected, re-titling it as a salvage title, suffering the diminished market value if you were to sell it, is usually not worth it.
Also, you may find an insurance company willing to insure it for liability, but most insurance companies will not insure it against physical damage (Comprehensive & Collision coverage, or in slang terms, “Full” coverage), once it has a salvage title.
Settling a total loss with your car insurance company
Claims representatives use computer software, to compare recent sales in your area of similar vehicles to your totaled vehicle, to determine your settlement. Claims representatives don’t intentionally low ball you. They want to give you a fair settlement. But they are busy settling a lot of claims, and have no incentive to spend a lot of time to give you the best settlement possible.
YOU need to make sure you are really getting what your car is worth. Consider doing the following:
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Ask to see the evaluation report showing the comparable sales.
Is your car worth more than these cars from the comparable sales? Does you car have less mileage? Does it have after market equipment, or a unique trim? Make sure you know the true value of your car and how you can prove that value. The more documentation you have, like receipts for rims & stereo equipment, or pictures of the car’s interior and exterior prior to the damage, will help you establish the value of your car before it was damaged. Make sure your claims representative compares cars which are truly close in kind and quality to your car.
Are any of the comparable sales outside your local market?
What a similar car may sell for in a depressed car sales market 75 miles away from your home, may not reflect your local sales market.
Do your own research.
Call local dealerships and ask about recent sales for a car similar to yours. Use the online car valuation tools at Edmunds.com or NADAguides.com. You can also use classified ads, but remember, the claims representative will not base the value of a car on the price people would like to get for their car.
A guy asking $10,000 for his 2005 Saturn, when no one would pay more than $5,000 for it, will not help you get $10,000 for your 2005 Saturn.
One negotiating tactic you can use is to ask the claims representative to drop the lowest comparable sales from the average.
For example, If the claims representative gets an $8,000 average price for the market value of your car by comparing 5 recent sales, ask the claims representative if they can drop the two lowest sales comparisons. This will bring up the average:
Car 1 sold for $10,000
Car 2 sold for $9,000
Car 3 sold for $8,000
Car 4 sold for $7,000
Car 5 sold for $6,000
Average = $8,000
But, if you use only the top 3 sales:
Car 1 sold for $10,000
Car 2 sold for $9,000
Car 3 sold for $8,000
Average = $9,000
You would get $1,000 more for your car.
If you can’t come to an agreement over the value of the car with your insurance company, contact your state department of insurance (as listed above) to find out your rights to appeal, hire an independent appraiser, and file complaint, if needed.
It’s not unusual for people to think their car is worth a lot more than it’s really worth. But you need to question the insurance company’s estimate of its worth to make sure it really is fair. If your car is worth more than the insurance companies offer, you need to be able to explain why.
Have you had a car insurance total loss? How did it go for you? Tell me about it. Please leave a comment on my facebook page. Follow me on Twitter for important insurance consumer news and new blog entries at CarInsWatch.
Coverage A: Your House (Building)
This is the coverage that insures your house, and structures attached to your house, such as a garage or porch, from certain causes of damage, such as fire, subject to your policy deductible.
When you contact an insurance company for an homeowners insurance quote, the insurance company representative will ask you questions, like the size and features of your home, to determine how much coverage you need to rebuild your home.
Even though the insurance company has sophisticated software to calculate building costs in your area, determining the cost to rebuild your home is not easy to do by having a conversation with you.
If, for example, you tell the insurance company your 1st floor is 1000 Sq. ft., but the actual square footage is 1100 Sq. Ft., the insurance company’s estimate of the cost to rebuild your home will be less than the cost to actually rebuild it. Missing features like custom cabinets, a half bathroom, or a built-in hot tub, can leave you under-insured.
For higher-value, custom-designed, or historic homes, it is more difficult for the insurance company to calculate an accurate cost to rebuild it.
Many insurance companies conduct a drive-by inspection of your property, once you are a customer, to make sure you have enough insurance to rebuild your house, and they will increase your coverage — and your premium — if you need more coverage.
To avoid a surprise price increase due to needing more coverage, make sure you discuss your home thoroughly when you get homeowners insurance quotes. Each insurance company quoting you should determine you need about the same dollar amount of insurance to rebuild your home. The dollar amount of coverage on your home has the biggest impact on the price of your homeowners insurance.
If one insurance company quotes you a price of $350 per year for $150,000 coverage on your house, and another insurance company quotes you $400 per year for $250,000 coverage on your house, the first company is not a better deal, and is probably more expensive if they quoted you the same amount of coverage as the second company.
If you have a high value home with custom features and made with expensive building materials, you may want to choose an insurance company willing to do a thorough interior inspection for you, to make sure you are adequately insured.
After severe storms & fires, many homes are determined to not have enough coverage when they try to rebuild after a claim, so you want to do everything you can to make sure you have the proper amount of insurance. You can figure your own cost to rebuild your home at building-cost.net and compare it with your agent’s estimate.
Remember, the cost to rebuild your home is not the market value of your home. You can buy a house for $400,000 in a fashionable suburb, but if you were to move the exact same house across town to a neighborhood in decline, with high crime and a poor school system, the same house could cost $150,000 to purchase, but the cost to build the house — say $250,000 — would not be changed.
Sometimes, the market value, or your mortgage amount, will be a lot more than the cost to rebuild your home. Lenders often want your homeowners insurance to cover the loan amount — but a bank cannot make you insure your house for more than the cost to rebuild it. Don’t over-insure your home due to pressure from your bank.
If you are buying or refinancing a home, when your house is appraised by a real estate appraiser, the appraiser also determines the cost to rebuild, and lists it on the appraisal. You can use this estimate of the cost to rebuild to make sure you have enough coverage, too.
If it has been several years since you have had your insurance company re-evaluate how much insurance you need to rebuild your home, or if you have done any remodeling or additions, you need to contact your insurance company to check your home’s reconstruction cost, and make sure you have enough insurance.
Shopping tips:
1. Many insurance companies provide additional coverage, usually called Extended Replacement Cost — often 20% or more of the amount for which your home is insured — in case it is needed to rebuild your home.
This additional coverage varies depending on the insurance company, so you want to consider the most generous additional coverage, as well as the cost of the policy.
To have this additional coverage, the coverage on your house will increase each year at renewal to keep pace with the inflation rate for labor and building materials in your area.
Also, you will need to notify your insurance company before you do any remodeling or additions to your home, so your insurance company can adjust your coverage.
2. In addition to having enough coverage to rebuild, please see my blog post of a frequently overlooked coverage, called Ordinance & Law Coverage, which can keep you from paying tens of thousands of dollars out of your own pocket if you have a claim.
3. Compare quotes with the same deductible, and take the highest
deductible you can afford to save money. Make sure you get all the
discounts for which you qualify.
4. When the insurance company does the drive-by inspection to verify the cost to rebuild your home, the insurance company is also checking to make sure your home, other structures on the premises, and property meet the insurance company’s eligibility standards. The insurance company makes sure your home is occupied, there are no vicious animals on the premises, and no conditions which will increase the chance of a claim, such as substantial moss on your roof, major remodeling/renovation, porches without railings, peeling paint, etc.
Once you start your homeowners insurance policy, the insurance company has 60 days to notify you, if the insurance company is going to cancel your policy, because your home does not meet their required standards.
Make sure you maintain your home properly. Even a small amount of moss can greatly shorten the life of your roof, and roof leaks due to seepage are not covered by homeowners insurance — which can cost you $1000s.
Review the application for homeowners insurance for accuracy before you sign it and pay for it. If you have a Pit Bull, and notice the application says you have no dogs, tell your agent. Point out anything inaccurate on the application and ask questions if you do not understand something on the application.
If you receive a cancel notice because of inspection results, make sure
the reason is accurate, and work with the insurance company to resolve
the issues. The cancel date will be at a future date, and you should be
able to get the issues resolved and your policy reinstated in time to
avoid a lapse in coverage.
Most problems are easily fixed, and other insurance companies are going to have the same concerns if you wish to change insurance companies. It is important to maintain your home in a timely fashion to avoid costly expenses and problems with your homeowners insurance.
Even if you have homeowners insurance now, many insurance companies periodically conduct a drive-by inspection of the homes they insure, and if your home is not properly maintained, your insurance company may cancel your homeowners insurance at your policy renewal date.
What causes of damage are covered?
Most homeowners insurance policies cover your house on an “open peril” basis, which means damage to your home is covered, unless it is specifically excluded in your homeowners insurance policy.
Common exclusions are for earthquake and flood. However, some
homeowners insurance policies are “named peril” and less causes of loss
are covered. Please contact your agent to find out what causes of loss
are covered or excluded, and what limitations apply, or read your policy.
I know insurance policies are not fascinating reading, but you need to review your homeowners insurance contract and pay special attention to what is covered, what exclusions apply, and any limitations on coverage.
You can call your agent if you do not have a copy of your policy contract and all endorsements (endorsements modify the wording in the insurance contract–for example, your homeowners insurance contract excludes earthquake damage, but your insurance company may offer an endorsement to cover earthquake for additional premium), have your insurance company or agent mail it to you, and keep it with your important documents.
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California Auto Insurance Reviews: 15 Companies with Bad Complaint Ratings
Does your auto insurance company have a lot of complaints? Will you have difficulty placing a claim, or have a valid claim delayed or denied? Do you know if your company is very good or very bad? Most consumers fail to check the complaint records of their insurance companies. This blog post is a companion piece to my previous blog post listing the complaint ratings for the 25 largest auto insurance companies in California.
Here I provide the complaint ratings for 15 major auto insurance companies with higher than average complaints, not on my first list. If you are not insured with one of the 25 largest auto insurance companies in California, you can see if your auto insurance company makes this list (Hopefully not!). It pays to shop your auto insurance, but you want to make sure your auto insurance company provides good service, too. Continue reading
Nationwide Insurance JD Power 2011 Ratings Review
Here is my analysis and closer look at the results of the 2011 JD Power studies ranking Nationwide Insurance, to help you judge if Nationwide Insurance is best for you.
JD Power 2011 National Auto Insurance Study Results for Nationwide Insurance
JD Power downgraded Nationwide from 3 power circles (about average) to 2 power circles (the rest) for its 2011 National Auto Insurance Customer Satisfaction Survey.
Although the Overall Satisfaction was below average, the individual categories making up the overall satisfaction, such as Policy Offerings, Billing & Payment, & Contacting The Insurer, remained at 3 power circles (about average), with Pricing being the only individual category at 2 power circles (the rest).
Nationwide insurance scored 767 on the 1,000 point scale. The Industry average score for this study was 790 on the 1,000 point scale.
By comparison, California State Auto Association scored 769 on the 1,000 point scale, only 2 points more than Nationwide, and received a 3 power circle rating (about average). Nationwide insurance had the highest point score for all the insurance companies rated at 2 power circles.
My conclusion: If Nationwide insurance has a low auto insurance rate for you, the 2 power circle rating for the Pricing category should not be a concern for you, and Nationwide Insurance should be considered more of an average performer.
JD Power’s 2011 Auto Claims Satisfaction Study rates Nationwide customers Overall Satisfaction as 3 power circles (about average) and Nationwide achieves 3 power circles for all individual categories, such as First Notice of Loss, Service Interaction, Appraisal, Repair Process, Rental Experience, & Settlement. Nationwide maintained the same 3 power circle rating for all categories as it did for the 2010 study.
Nationwide Insurance scored 764 on the 1,000 point scale. The industry average score for this study is 769 on the 1,000 point scale.
My conclusion: The results from this study for Nationwide insurance supports my assessment of the previous auto insurance study. If Nationwide has a good price for you, you can expect average claims service.
JD Power 2011 US Auto Insurance Shopping Study Results for Nationwide Insurance
JD Power had a fairly new survey (in its 5th year) measuring the auto insurance purchasing experience.
Nationwide’s Overall Satisfaction was rated 3 power circles (about average), with 3 power circles for Policy Offerings, Call center Representative, & Local Agent categories. Once again, for Pricing, Nationwide received 2 power circles (the rest). One bright spot is the individual category of Company Website, which received 5 power circles (among the best).
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Nationwide scored 832 on the 1,000 point scale. The industry average score is 839 on the 1,000 point scale.
My conclusion: Unless you want to insure with an auto insurance company with an outstanding customer service reputation, regardless of price, get an auto insurance quote from Nationwide insurance online (their website is rated 5 power circles (among the best), to see if they have a good price for you.
JD Power 2011 National Homeowners Insurance Study Results for Nationwide Insurance
JD Power’s 2011 National Homeowners Insurance Study rates Nationwide at 3 power circles (about average) in Overall Satisfaction & all the individual categories. Nationwide maintained the same 3 power circle ratings in all categories as the 2010 study.
Nationwide Insurance scored 764 on the 1,000 point scale. The industry average score for this study is 769 on the 1,000 point scale.
My overall assessment: Nationwide Insurance claims & customer service is average, like many insurance companies.
Many claims are handled well, creating loyal customers, but Nationwide is also capable of poor customer service, and sometimes the claims experience can be a nightmare.
A capable agent can greatly improve your customer service experience, even with a mediocre insurance company, so if you decide to buy Nationwide insurance, choose a local agent wisely.
The main problem for Nationwide with the JD Power ratings was in the auto insurance Pricing category. Surveys about auto insurance pricing are meaningless to you. If you get a price quote from Nationwide, and it is the lowest price compared to other companies, it does not matter if other people are unhappy with the rates. There are many factors affecting price. Nationwide may be the most expensive insurance company if you live in Salem, Oregon or Lincoln, Nebraska, but it may have the best rates for you if you reside in Lake Oswego, Oregon. If you are like me, the best insurance company has the lowest price for you.
Follow me on my Twitter account, CarInsWatch, or my Facebook account, to see when I review insurance companies important to you.
What do you think about Nationwide insurance? Use Twitter or Facebook to ask me questions. I have 20 years experience in the auto & home insurance business, but no longer sell insurance, and I would love to help you find the best rates & insurance coverage for you. I look forward to your feedback.
California Auto Insurance Reviews: Complaint Ratings for 25 Big Companies
Does your auto insurance company have a lot of complaints? Will you have difficulty placing a claim, or have a valid claim delayed or denied? Is your company good or bad? Most consumers fail to check the complaint records of their insurance companies. Here I provide complaint information for the 25 largest (by number of policies/cars insured in California) auto insurance companies, and rate them based on their complaint record. See the best & worst companies. Continue reading
Buying Insurance Direct from the Company
Progressive, Geico, Esurance, 21st Century, The General, Amica, USAA, Unitrin Direct, GMAC Online, all sell insurance directly to the public without the personal service of an agent. Are these insurance companies cheaper because they don’t pay commissions? Is the price low because they cut back on service, and low ball you or refuse to pay claims?
This blog post will tell you what you need to know about insurance companies selling auto insurance & home insurance direct to the public, and decide whether insuring with an insurance company without a local agent is a smart decision for you.
As I said in yesterday’s blog post, the personal service provided by local insurance agents is usually not worth paying more for your insurance. You are not anymore likely to have the coverage you need, good claims service, and the best price the company can offer you, if you buy from an agent or buy direct from the insurance company.
Wise insurance consumers educate themselves about the coverage available, and shop with all the leading insurance companies, to get the best combination of price and service for the coverage they need. Don’t get ripped off by paying too much, or not having the coverage you need when you have a claim.
The good news about buying insurance direct is you don’t get worse service than having an agent. In fact, USAA and Amica insurance don’t have agents, and they are usually at the top of the annual JD Power auto insurance & homeowners insurance customer satisfaction studies, out-scoring many insurance companies using agents.
The bad news is buying direct, without paying an agent commission, does not mean lower rates.
The commission insurance companies pay agents is only one of many marketing expenses costing insurance companies money. Agent commissions are not excessive for auto or home insurance, often being only 10% of the premium. Common sense may tell you an insurance company not paying a 10% commission to an agent should be 10% lower than insurance sold through agents.
But insurance companies without agents have other expenses. They pay salaried salespeople, and pay for their employee benefits, like health insurance, to staff their call centers. Insurance companies selling direct have to advertise a lot more to get their call center phones to ring, where insurance companies using agents have their agents get customers and market for them. Companies using agents sometimes have less marketing expenses, even though they pay commissions, than insurance companies selling direct to the public.
It is very possible the insurance company with the best price for you has a local agent. Buying direct does not mean low rates. The last time I shopped my auto insurance, the lowest prices I received were from Progressive (sells direct), Esurance (sells direct), and Metlife (sells through agents).
Now, the insurance companies having a good or poor rate for me does not mean they have a good or poor rate for you, but Amica (sells direct), Allstate (sells through agents) and Pemco (sells direct) had very high rates for me, compared to the lower quotes I received. State Farm (sells through agents), Safeco (sells through agents), Travelers (sells through agents) & Geico were in the middle.
Which insurance company has the best rates for you depends on where you live and your situation. Progressive has a great auto insurance rate for me, and Allstate does not have a good rate for me. But I have sold auto insurance for Allstate, and for some customers, I could easily beat Progressive’s auto insurance rates.
No one can tell you which insurance company will have the lowest rate for you. This is why I recommend shopping with all the leading insurance companies to find the company with the best rates for you.
However, some insurance companies selling auto insurance direct to the public, try to gain more customers by competing on price, since they can’t offer personal service. Many drivers may find Geico, Progressive, iMingle, or Esurance have the best rate for them.
Progressive and Geico are among the fastest growing auto insurance companies over the last 10 to 15 years. They have done this by extensive advertising and low pricing.
So, shop with all the leading insurance companies to find the lowest priced insurance companies for you. If you get a low price with a local agent, from an insurance company with a good reputation for customer service, it will be your best option.
But it’s not unlikely an insurance company selling direct to the public will have the best price for you.
Here are some things to consider to decide if buying insurance direct is a good choice for you:
1. Use the information on my website to make sure you are likely to receive good customer service.
A good agent can help you get good service from a mediocre insurance company. Buying direct from an insurance company with so-so service can be a nightmare to deal with on your own.
2. If you need to pay for your insurance in cash, you need a local agent to accept payment and give you a receipt.
3. Do you need personal service?
Even though I don’t think its worth paying more for your insurance, some people don’t mind paying more to meet with someone face-to face to discuss their insurance needs. Insurance is complicated, and having an agent can make it easier for you.
But remember, agents can’t make your insurance decisions for you. You need to understand your coverage and options. Getting opinions from other agents and insurance companies can help you avoid paying too much and having the proper coverage when you need it.
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Do I Need an Insurance Agent?
Buying auto insurance or homeowners insurance direct from the insurance company is easier than ever. Modern technology enables you to contact your insurance company when it is convenient for you. In the 21st century, is there any need for a local agent, working 9 am to 5 pm weekdays, in an office close to you? What’s the benefit to you? What do insurance agents do for you?
In my opinion, most agents are not worth paying more for your insurance.
The argument made by insurance agents is the personal service they provide is worth it. Buying home or car insurance is not like buying groceries at the supermarket. Applying for insurance is like applying for a loan: insurance companies have rules and you need to qualify for the insurance. How insurance works, and the coverage options available, can be confusing for the average consumer to understand.
Having a good insurance agent working for you can help you understand and buy the coverage you need, get all the discounts you deserve, prevent problems, and fix any problems when they do occur. The trouble is there are very few agents doing these things for their customers.
It’s not because there are few agents competent and caring about their customers. It’s because insurance agents don’t work for you, they work for themselves and the insurance company. Although many agents want to provide you with the best service, they have to put their needs ahead of yours in order to stay in business, or be successful.
Having a personal agent is rarely a bad thing, but its not worth paying a lot more for your insurance.
Fortunately, insurance companies paying commissions to agents are not necessarily more expensive than insurance companies selling direct to the public online. Get price quotes from all the leading insurance companies to find the best price for you. You can save $100s. Some insurance companies charge twice as much as others, for the same coverage, so its worth it to search for the best rates.
When shopping for auto or home insurance, first consider the insurance companies with the best price. Use the information on my website (see the link below) to evaluate the customer service of the insurance companies with the lowest prices. You may choose the best priced insurance company with a local agent. But some insurance companies with great reputations for customer service, like Amica & USAA, don’t have local agents.
Here is why I think it’s not worth it to pay more for having a local, personal insurance agent:
Insurance agents often fail to get you the insurance coverage you need at the best price.
The worst offending agents are the agents who don’t review your coverage options when you buy an auto insurance policy or homeowners insurance policy, or when you make a policy change, like adding a car.
An agent once quoted a price for my auto insurance without discussing the coverage I wanted. I had to ask about the coverage, and the agent quoted me a $1,000 deductible for Collision coverage on my car, when I had a $500 deductible. Had I bought his insurance, thinking I was saving money, when I was really getting less coverage, I would have been very upset when I had a claim.
However, there are many agents doing a good job of reviewing your coverage options. Yet there is still a problem. Many insurance agents represent one insurance company, and can’t offer you the coverage you need because their insurance company does not offer it.
Here’s one example:
If you buy a new car, owe more on the loan than the value of the car, which is not unusual due to the great amount of depreciation on new cars once you drive them off the lot, you should buy gap coverage, which covers the difference between the loan amount and the value of the car, if it is totaled.
Yet some insurance companies do not offer gap coverage, or may not offer it for leased cars, when other insurance companies will offer it on leased cars.
Agents don’t discuss your need for coverage they can’t sell you, if that means they will lose your business. You may need a coverage your agent’s company does not offer, but you will never find out about it.
This matters even more with homeowners insurance, where an insurance company not offering a coverage, available from another insurance company, can cost you tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars, by not covering a claim.
Independent insurance agents have an advantage regarding coverage, because they represent several insurance companies, and they can choose the insurance company with the most appropriate coverage for you.
But even if your insurance company offers a coverage you need, it is very likely your agent will not mention it.
When I reviewed a customer’s insurance policy, or when I was selling an insurance policy, I tried to be very thorough in explaining the coverage available and what is not covered. But no agent, or customer, has the time to review all the options available.
When you contact an agent for a home or auto insurance quote, the agent has to collect the information needed to qualify you, quote you the correct price, and discuss your coverage. Although the agent will include and discuss all the “important” coverage, agents rarely invest the extra time to get the information from you to determine your insurance needs.
For example, you may be buying a house in your name alone, where you and your longterm boyfriend or girlfriend will live. Much of the furnishings are jointly owned, or owned by your significant other. Your unmarried (unless you are in civil union) significant other’s property is not covered unless your agent includes them as an “insured,” if the insurance company allows it. Many agents may never discuss this with you. You may find out the hard way much of your personal property is not covered when you have a claim.
Your home could be subject to an expensive clean up, if your sewer or drains back up into your home, which you may have to pay for yourself, since your agent did not think to tell you about buyng the additional water back up coverage.
Most agents want you to be happy with your coverage when the unexpected happens. But your agent has no legal responsibility to make sure you bought the coverage you need.
The personal service offered by insurance agents does not even mean you will get the best price your insurance company can offer you.
If your agent is concerned they are going to lose your business, because they know you shop your rates once a year, or their insurance company recently had a large rate increase, they will most likely look at your policy to make sure they are getting the best price for you.
But if your agent knows you are a loyal customer, or does not think you will shop for better rates, your agent is not going to spend their time reviewing all their customers policies to make sure they are not missing any discounts.
Agents are paid a commission which is a percentage of the insurance premium. The more expensive your premium, the more money your agent makes. If your agent does not think they will lose your business, they are not going to spend a lot of their time looking for ways to reduce their income. Your agent usually isn’t deliberately charging you a higher premium, but they have no incentive to find ways to lower your premium.
Customers can depend only on themselves to make sure they ask the questions, and spend the time needed, to make sure they get the proper insurance coverage, and not over pay for it.
Using my website, and reading my blog, can give you the information to help you work with insurance companies and agents to get the coverage you need. Shopping your auto & home insurance once a year can make sure you don’t pay too much for it.
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Evaluating your auto or home insurance company’s claims service
Insurance companies know nothing wins customer loyalty, and keeps customers from shopping for lower insurance rates, better than the fast and fair settlement of a claim.
Customers often think twice before switching to a less expensive insurance company, when they were happy with how their insurance company handled their last claim, afraid the new insurance company with the lower price may be difficult if they have a claim. People are concerned you get what you pay for, and a lower price must mean less service.
When it comes to auto insurance and homeowners insurance, paying more for your insurance does not mean better service.
The truth is most insurance company’s claims service is acceptable, and the majority of claims are handled to the customer’s satisfaction. However, there are plenty of accounts on the Internet and elsewhere, of poor claims service from every insurance company.
How should you decide to choose an auto or home insurance company? Go with the best rates, or go with the best claims service? How do you determine if an insurance company really provides good claim service, when you are insured with company X and had a good claims experience, but your co-worker is having a terrible claims experience with company X? How do you avoid getting ripped off?
First, get insurance price quotes from all the leading car insurance &/or homeowners insurance companies, to find the lowest priced insurers for you.
Then, visit my website, to make sure you received price quotes from all the leading insurance companies in your state, and compare their customer service ratings & complaint records, by clicking the link to my site below. Choose an insurance company with a good price and good service.
Most major insurance companies settle simple claims quickly and easily. Did someone vandalize your car? Did you hit a deer? Did an unknown vehicle hit your car? If you have the proper coverage, many insurance companies will get a check to you, or get your car repaired right away.
However, will you be happy if you have a large claim, and you disagree with your insurance company when it decides you are not covered?
Will you be happy when your insurance company decides you are at fault for a car accident, and pays a claim to another driver, whom you think was responsible for the accident, and your auto insurance rates go up because of it?
Will you be happy, if your landlords insurance policy, which says it does not exclude damage caused by tenants, denies your large claim, when a tenant deliberately causes extensive damage to your rental property, because the insurance company says the damage is the result of normal wear & tear?
Just because your last claim went like a dream, does not mean your next claim won’t be a nightmare. There are many insurance company reviews on the Internet mentioning how great their insurance company used to be, but now it is terrible. The real truth may be the insurance company was never as good as they thought it was.
Unfortunately, there are no “superhero” insurance companies, sticking up for their customers no matter what the cost or risk to them. If you have been a loyal customer for 40 years, and the insurance company decides you are a higher risk, due to your recent claims history, or other factors, they will cancel your policy.
Insurance companies are not “super villains” either. They aren’t looking to cheat their customers out of valid claims. But insurance companies are not going to pay any claims they are not contractually obligated to pay. The larger the claim, the more it is in the insurance company’s financial interest to make sure it is a claim they HAVE to pay.
If you wake up one morning to find your car windshield smashed by an unknown vandal, the claim will usually be paid with few questions asked.
If your house has a major fire caused by an unknown arsonist, the insurance company is going to find out if it was caused by your emotionally troubled adult child living with you, and deny coverage. You may have to consult a lawyer to contest the denied claim, and sue your insurance company to have a court determine if the claim should be paid.
Despite many people’s opinions, insurance companies are not crooks, but you would be naive to think they are always compliant with the law, and don’t consider their own financial interests.
Insurance companies won’t pay even a small claim if it is not covered, or deny a large claim if it is clearly covered, but there are many claims situations open to interpretation, and you can’t expect the insurance company to act in your best interest.
So, you can’t choose an insurance company where you are guaranteed satisfaction. What should you do to reduce your chances of having a poor claim experience?
1. Rather than insuring with an insurance company based solely on your own claims experience, or stories you have heard from other people, look at the insurance company’s national complaint ratio on my website.
The national complaint ratio is based usually on valid complaints made against an insurer to each state’s regulatory governmental body in which it operates.
For example, say my car insurance company denied a valid claim, and I had to complain to the Oregon Insurance Division to get my insurance company to pay. This would be an example of a valid complaint.
The national complaint ratios are good for everyone in the USA to use, but the most important complaint ratios are the ones for the state in which you live.
Company X may provide great service in Arkansas, but it may provide lousy service in California or New Jersey.
Not all states provide this information, but if they do, it is usually available at each state’s department of insurance websites. You can find your state’s website by clicking the link. I am also blogging about each state’s complaint information, and best & worst insurance companies, so check my blog for that category, and see if I have reviewed your state yet.
2. Shop your auto & home insurance once a year, and check the most recent year’s national & state complaint ratios, and JD Power rating, if available for your insurance company.
Insurance companies are always reorganizing, closing & opening offices, changing procedures, & computer systems. These changes can make the customer service better or much worse, in the short term or long term.
Claims service can be cyclical. Sometimes insurance companies hire more claims representatives and push for great claims service. Other times, probably most of the time, there is too much work for the claims representatives, not enough staff, and pressure to contains claims costs. An insurance company providing great service 3 years ago may be terrible now.
Keep up on how your insurance company is performing when you shop for better rates each year.
3. Shop for better rates each year. You can great service AND great rates. Shop with all the leading insurance companies and use my website site to get the best combination of price and service.
Insuring with the same insurance company for 20 years won’t get a claim covered which should be denied. It’s illegal for insurance companies to show favoritism in the claims process.
The best thing you can do is to shop your car & home insurance each year, choose a reputable insurance company with a great price, and do what you can to protect yourself and your property from needing to file an insurance claim.
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Insurance Policy Exclusions
Why do insurance policies have exclusions? Do insurance companies convince you to buy insurance, then send you a policy with so many exclusions, it is almost impossible to be paid for a claim? Are there bad insurance companies with more exclusions than other, more reputable insurance companies? You buy auto or home insurance to insure your property, why should there be ANY exclusions in your insurance policy? Are insurance policy exclusions another way insurance companies rip you off?
A psychological benefit of buying insurance is it gives the buyer peace of mind. If you buy homeowners insurance, you don’t have to worry about the financial consequences of something bad happening to your house. If you buy auto insurance, and ask for “full coverage,” you don’t have to worry about paying for damage to your car.
A wise insurance buyer does not rest that easy. All insurance policies have exclusions and limitations, and you need to know them, to make sure you are buying the coverage you need.
Unfortunately, home insurance & auto insurance do not cover you for everything that can happen to your car or home. But insurance policy exclusions are not arbitrary to avoid paying any claims. Exclusions are used by insurance companies to avoid covering things the policy, and the policy rates, were not designed to cover.
For example, homeowners insurance excludes damage to your home caused by vermin, such as rats, or insects, such as termites. Auto insurance excludes damage to your car caused by mechanical break down.
Rodent infestation, or termite damage to a house, are home maintenance issues easily in control of the homeowner. Likewise, with car insurance, it is the responsibility of the car owner to maintain their car. Because these things are excluded by your auto & home insurance, the costs involved are not considered in the insurance rates. Imagine how expensive car insurance would be if the car insurance company picked up the bill every time a car broke down. There are other financial products, such as car warranties, to help people cover these expenses.
In addition to excluding causes of damage resulting from common maintenance issues, insurance companies exclude damage from events, where the damage is so catastrophic and expensive, they would bankrupt the insurance company.
For example, your homeowners insurance covers the cost of damage to your home from riot or civil commotion, but the costs involved to the large number of customers from war or nuclear contamination are too excessive, so damage to your home from war or nuclear contamination are excluded from homeowners insurance.
Sometimes exclusions, or policy limits on coverage, are used to remove the cost of claims not applying to the average customer.
Homeowners insurance liability doe not cover you for the use of an aircraft. Unless you fly planes, this exclusion is not a problem for most homeowners and their families.
Homeowners insurance policies limit how much they will pay for the theft of jewelry, because not everyone has jewelry, and they shouldn’t have to pay more for homeowners insurance for expensive jewelry claims which will never apply to them.
Do some insurance companies have different exclusions than other insurance companies? Yes, but insurance companies have many of the same exclusions, and insurance companies use very similar wording in their insurance policies.
There have been a lot of court cases & verdicts over the years, to determine exactly what the policy wording means, involving many claims situations open to interpretation. When insurance companies deviate from the usual phrasing, they may open themselves to pay for claims not intended to be covered. Policy language can also change based on new court decisions and new issues involving unexpected claims, such as the issues and costs involved with the illness and property damage associated with toxic mold.
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Most insurance companies used to use a standardized policy form (or their own version of it), published by the Insurance Service Office. Some insurance companies still use these forms, but many insurance companies use their own policy forms now, which effects how the customer is covered.
When it comes to auto insurance, in my opinion, there is still very little difference among insurance companies’ policies, when it comes to covering claims.
Auto insurance policies may vary as to what conditions they will cover a rental car, or a newly purchased car, or how they will cover a friend driving your car. For most customers, these differences do not matter much, and won’t result in huge unpaid claims other car insurance companies would cover.
The more important factors for most people buying auto insurance are price and customer service. I strongly believe in shopping for the best combination of price and customer service for car insurance, which you can find by going to my website home page.
However, with homeowners insurance, there can be BIG differences in coverage available, exclusions, and policy language, which can create a situation where a large lawsuit is covered by one insurance company, and not covered by another insurance company.
For example, some insurance companies exclude coverage under their homeowners insurance policies for “concurrent causes of loss.” If one of the causes of loss is excluded, all the damage caused by the concurrent causes of loss is not covered.
Using the situation of Hurricane Katrina to illustrate this exclusion, many homes sustained flood damage from a flood surge, as well as wind & storm damage from the hurricane. Since flood damage is excluded by homeowners insurance, there would be no coverage for ANY of the damage, whether caused by the winds of the hurricane or the flood surge, if you have the concurrent loss exclusion in your homeowners insurance policy.
The effect of different policy language and exclusions in homeowners insurance becomes apparent for those few people experiencing a large property loss or liability lawsuit.
Although many homeowners are likely to never need the broader protection available from some home insurance companies, the costs of not having the proper coverage can be catastrophic for those who end up needing it.
Because these differences come up infrequently, many insurance agents are not aware how much homeowners insurance coverage can vary among insurance companies. Many agents may tell you all homeowners insurance is the same, but some insurance companies have better prices or service.
If you own a home, don’t play Russian roulette with your biggest financial asset — find knowledgeable insurance agents knowing the difference in homeowners insurance policies, and shop to find the best coverage you need at a reasonable price.
Do you know what’s excluded in your insurance policies? Tell me about it. Please leave a comment on my facebook page. Follow me on Twitter for important insurance consumer news and new blog entries at CarInsWatch.