philo wrote in news:lh7ci6$dvv$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me:
Of those I tried, Geico came in fourth. AARP/Hartford, Central Insurance Companies, and Nationwide were lower. State Farm didn't respond.
It's a scam when they use credit scores which are irrelevant to driving history. It's a scam when you pay a higher premium because of location, which could be a significant difference based on one mile. It's a scam when your rate increases because the risk value has increased in your area even though your personal risk value remains clean. It's a scam when you are legitimately rear ended and you have to fight to be compensated for your injuries. It's a scam because they use, IMO, ridiculous criteria to determine premium when the real criteria should simply be the driving record and amount of claims.
Accepting a higher premium as a teenager because one hasn't establish a history is understanding, but when one has established an ageless history of a clean driving record and limited or no claims, yet still pays a higher premium based on something stupid such as that credit score or location, it's a scam.
Home insurance has more value, but it's a scam when they don't cover sinkholes, sewer backups and mold. All of those issues are hidden dangers yet common issues which are unbeknown to a new owner. Even home inspection cannot always pin point those concerns. There are many other issues not covered unless paying more for a customized coverage.
Yes, in general, insurance has it's plus. But overall, it's a scam when the rules changes due to social changes or an agent having a bad hair day.
Only when in your fevered imagination or (most often) when you get called out on some idiocy and want to pretend you are still correct.
I don't know what Ed's experience has been, or if he even went with Hartford through AARP.
I switched to them a number of years ago. At the time, we had five vehicles between two drivers (don't ask)and two of them were used for business use. Going through an independent agent that covered my business insurance, homeowners, auto, umbrella, etc. with a number of different carriers to get the best price, I was paying ~ $2,400/yr for full coverage on the vehicles.
Looked into AARP/Hartford on a whim and went with them with all five vehicles. Annual premium for BETTER coverage $500k/$1M combined single limit and the same coverages for collision and comp, etc. dropped by almost $400.
Got rid of two of the vehicles and it dropped (as would expected) substantially more.
Kicker came when I had an "at fault" crash and came within a gnat's ass of totaling out an almost new car. The Hartford repaired it at my preferred shop, waived the deductible AND they "forgave" the accident. There was no premium increase whatsoever. Since then, my rates have steadily dropped each year to where I'm currently paying about $1,250/yr for the same coverage on a 2000 Corvette, 2005 Honda Odyssey and 2013 Honda CR-V.
The next time I meet face to face with a claims person or agent will be the first time. I just can't say enough about the value and quality of customer service The Hartford offers.
YMMV, but I doubt it!
I don't believe, but I could be wrong, that ANY US carrier REQUIRES a GPS unit. I've seen the ads though for one (Progressive? (with the ever annoying Flo)) that offers it as an enticement to enable them to offer a lower premium. IIRC, and again I didn't pay very close attention to the commercial, it may only have to be on your car for a set period (60-90 days) for them to set their rate.
I could see it being a very good thing for, say, somebody who's lost his license due to traffic offenses of any nature. Getting the license back is one thing, but then getting insurance with a poor record could be a deal breaker. Might have some applicability there.
I'm pretty sure I mentioned here the horrible experience I had with State Farm when I tried to get house insurance.
If you can get in with USAA do so. Nothing else comes close.
I had car and house insurance with State Farm but dropped the house insurance over their being a PITA over a small claim. Still find them good with car insurance.
Insurance rates are set by the state you live in and vary widely from state to state.
I have a son that is an insurance company lawyer. They don't make the obscene profits that people think they do. Their biggest obstacle is our government.
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