Home Owner's & Auto Insurance

Heavncentt · July 2011

We are currently with Allstate for both and this week I am going to try to shop around some since we are strongly thinking of switching carriers.

We were with a completely different carrier when we lived in CA, but once we needed to find someone for our house before we moved here my DH picked Allstate. I am not exactly thrilled with them for a few reasons recently, nothing huge and claim related just stupid stuff.

So, since I am not fully acquainted with the good offerings here in Indy, I thought I would ask you girls. Who do you have for HO or Auto and do you recommend them? Any advice on who to stay away from?

thethomps · July 2011

We have State Farm and have been very pleased with them. I had Allstate when I moved to Texas and ended up switching to State Farm b/c they have better rates and better customer service. We decided to stay with State Farm when we moved here because we have never had an issue with our agent or the service they provide. We have both home and auto with them.

msBlackandGold · July 2011

I am an Allstate agent (not promoting my agency as I know it is not allowed on the boards).

If you are shopping rates, then I'd say go for it. But I would wonder who your agent is, or if you have one. The only reason my clients usually leave is becuase of rates (I retain 90% of my clients). They don't usually leave for claims or customer service. So it may be moreso that you may want to switch agents/agencies, as opposed to changing companies all together.

My advice is to make sure as you are shopping, you are getting information about the agency and the agent you will be working with. Geico and Progressive are good rate wise, but you never know who you are working with or what kind of experience they have. And that is true for ANY call center (including Allstate's)!

Would you prefer to have one person you work with everytime you call? That person be responsible for taking care of all your needs (so you know if something didn't get done, who to talk to)? Or are you ok with calling in and talking to whomever? And hoping that what was supposed to get done, was done correctly, and not being able to call that person back on it? Is it worth a couple extra dollars to make sure you know the person you deal with?

Also, depending on your Allstate agent, (s)he may also be able to refer you to a financial specialist who can talk to you about your finances and saving for retirement and life insurance. If they are already protecting your stuff, then they have a better undertanding of your future needs, and it's an easy conversation to have with someone you already trust to protect your stuff.

PM me if you have specific questions. I don't want to seem to solicit your business, but I hope to be able to help.

jgoo · July 2011

I have Progressive Auto Insurance & am very happy. Every 6 months my policy renews & my rates have gone down at each renewal.

ebd08 · July 2011

We have Progressive for auto and we really like them. I can't remember who our home insurance is through. I used to work for an insurance brokerage (MJ Insurance) on the north side so the personal lines dept. there was able to get us a pretty good rate.