Which Car Insurance Company Should I Use??

I was with Farmers for years but when my agent retired recently, I asked around and went online and got quotes. In my circumstances I have a tricked out PT Cruiser so I needed a company that was reasonable enough to cover all my after-market items.

State Farm won hands down. Three months after I was with them, I backed into someone every slowly (last accident was in 1974) and they kept me and didn't raise my rates.

If you are in Sacramento, go with the David Kite Agency and Jason Armstrong is the bomb!

We have state farm and they are pretty good. We've had to put in a couple of claims and the process has always gone very smoothly without any arguments or issues from our insurance company (one was for a vehicle that was stolen and the other was a claim for the house).

I really like State Farm, but we also have the AAA roadside service. This has been a great combination for our family. This way we have a local agent that handles all our insurance needs, and it is always the same person. Then, even though State Farm insurance has roadside service, the AAA allows us to have roadside service that we do not have to pay for and then be reimbursed and we still get free maps.

My husband and I have had Geico for 8 or so years. We love them. Whenever I do price comparisons, they come out significantly lower and their claims process has always been fantastic. I have had to file a couple claims and we each have had a ticket during this time and our insurance rates never changed. I pay extra for the towing/rental car services, which has been fortunate as I have had to have my car towed about 3 times so far this year (w/o a charge to me!). We are very highly satisfied customers.

We use Farmers. We are able to get discounts because we have homeowner, 2 cars, and jewelry policy all with them.

We have no accidents and no claims. We choose to have a higher deductible $1000. We've never had any claims.

Our current insurance on cars only runs about $850 each 6 months. We do have 2007 and 2010 high end Mercedes. This number will go up drastically in December because our daughter will turn 16 and get her license. YIKES!!

The homeowner/jewlelry rider runs a little over $2500 a year.

I have an agent who does not bug us. We get our bill and pay it. Never pressure to buy more coverage or go in for reviews.

Farmers gives a substantial discount if you pay in full and do not opt for a payment plan. We ALWAYS do this.

AAA for car, home, emergency road service. They are great! When I switched carriers AAA actually provided more coverage for less money. I would avoid places like Dasher, Eastwood etc., they say their prices are lower but they aren't and if you have any questions you'll find that they aren't the actual carriers, they are brokers and you'll be transferred to some out of state company mine was The Hartford..customer service was awful! I never had an accident claim, I just had questions about billing and that was a nightmare getting a straight answer.....that is after they annoying push this button, push that button nonsense. Local is better and I agree, I don't want an agent calling or coming over to talk more insurance.

A few months ago a tree branch fell on my windshield and AAA covered the whole thing and sent me $50.00 extra!

Blessings.....

We used to have Allstate,they were way expensive so we checked around and switched to Mercury. We were with them for about 3-4 years. We increased our coverage and lowered our premiums. A couple years ago we needed to add a house and our agen that set us up with Mercury quoted Allied insurance (a division of Nationwide). Our home and auto premiums went down from Mercurys costs and we increased our coverage amounts again. Good luck.

I've used the three big ones during my lifetime: AAA, State Farm, and Allstate. My least favorite was Allstate--hard to file claims. When I had State Farm, my agent was awesome (he retired) and he always went that extra mile to help me out. He was more of a friend than an agent. Now, I've had AAA for the past 7 years because of my husband. AAA is great, but they are so big and impersonal, in my opinion. I've also heard that Citizens is good, but I never personally used them. If I were you, I'd check with State Farm. Try to find an agent who treats you like a friend rather than a number.

JMO,

M

We went online. We first went to an insurance broker who claimed they would find the company with the best rates for our specific situation. They told us to go with progressive but hubby was not satisfied that they had truly done any research. Turns out they hadn't and he found three companies that offered lower rates. Money is tight in our household, so we went with the least amount of coverage each company had to offer and did our own comparison. If you do research it yourself online, go to each companies own web site and ask for a quote from the company. Do not go to a web site that offers quotes from several companies at once. Then, let them talk to you on the phone. They know the questions to ask, and it is their job to punch the numbers into the computer, not yours. Let them work for you. We went with Century 21 and love the customer service too.

We have AAA for house and auto and we love them! They are not the cheapest but they are super easy to work with if you have a claim AND we actually prefer the fact that they are impersonal. I don't want to be bugged by my insurance man. I just want to pay my bill and I'll call you if I need you. We had Farmers and they always wanted to schedule a time to come over and talk about our coverage and review our policy. That isn't our style, so it depends on what you like. We are VERY happy with AAA.

I have never had a prob. with State Farm. My boyfriend has AAA and likes them (they also cover our house). I think it just depends on what you need, what you want, and your driving record. Good Luck!

We have state Farm for all our insurance needs. I like it beacuse you stay with the same agent and ours have been super nice and saved us lot sof money. i like knowing that when I call for anything they know us by name and our history (heck they know our whole family its great). You get the kindness of a small company but the backing of a larger one.

We've had AIS for a long time- they're a broker that hooked us up with Mercury. We have auto & home owners policy through Mercury and get discounts for having a package deal. Mercury offers renter's insurance too which is hard to find - we got a discount on that too before we bought our house. We had Travelers and they cancelled our policy with 2 weeks notice with no explanation other than the company was changing their criteria.
AAA is a must!

Definitely USAA, thought I understand it may not be an option for you. My parents have it because my dad works on an Army post as a civilian. My husband is also in the National Guard. If your parents ever had it, then you can have it too. Who knows, maybe there is another way?

We started out with State Farm with a car so that we could have insurance quick (I didn't understand USAA at the time lol). Switched to USAA the next month because it was SIGNIFICANTLY lower!!

Also, the more services you use with USAA, you get discounts on your car insurance. My husband just opened a checking account with them - car insurance went down :)

My brother somehow found All State to be cheaper for him. As far as I know he likes them.

I've tried a few car insurance companies myself and I've now stayed with a Farmers Insurance. I actually tried them twice--my first experience wasn't so great--my agent wasn't helpful and didn't explain things to me. Tried a few insurance companies in between and finally stuck with another Farmers Agent...pretty good, reliable, honest(big thing), and explained everything to me. Her name is Louella Sigua in Walnut Creek(her office), but never hurts to call for quotes and she's pretty flexible. Her number just in case: ###-###-####--and tell her someone that lives in San Lorenzo referred you. :) Good luck! We're also looking for another van. :)

It seriously depends on your personal driving records and such, but my hubby and I are 27 and 31, ticket and accident free (knocks on wood), and we pay $118 a month for full coverage for 2 vehicles a month with Geico.

I am not sure whether you got responses yet or not but I really like Travelers Insurance. I know the name of an insurance agent who will check on a few companies and get the best deal for you. His name is Steve Nakamura and his # is ###-###-#### tell him T. Y. referred you and he will take extremely good care to get you a decent car insurance company and rates.
Good luck!
T.

My husband and I have had Mercury insurance for over 20 years. I actually just went through the process of getting quick quotes from several other companies just to see how our current policy cost compares and Mercury was $200 - $600 LESS than all 5 quotes, including Geico and State Farm. Before we settled on Mercury we had had coverage with AAA, Allstate, Farmer's and State Farm and were dissatisfied with each for a variety of reasons. Mercury is quick to pay claims and does not raise premium costs every time you re-new. Our insurance broker is Hunt, owner of H & H Huntington Insurance Agency at ###-###-####. Every year he updates our information and checks his resources to find the best auto and home policies for us and Mercury has always offered the best coverage at the best price. Premiums are determined by driving records, year and make of cars, annual exposure (miles on the road each year), geographical location and deductible.

We have USAA for everything. We have never had a problem filing claims or being reimbursed within 24 hours (directly into our bank account with them.) If I feel our payments are too high, they are GREAT with working with us to keep our coverage the same while decreasing our rates. Customer service is BEYOND awesome...and that check right before Christmas every year (dividends payout) is awesome :).

I got my insurance from Elephant Insurance, there quotes are quite reasonable. I have completed one year with them and rates are good in comparison to other insurers.

We pay about $91/mo for full coverage on both cars as well as homeowner's insurance, our electronics "rider" policy, and the policy on my engagement/wedding ring.

That being said, we have USAA which is a military only insurance company. However, they have recently opened enrollment up to immediate family members of current members that are the original "service-member". That means that if anyone in your family is or was in the military (brother, father, sister, mother, in-laws etc...) and they have USAA, you can get it too! :)

I don't know if that's available to you, but it's something to check out if it is. USAA can't be beat. The coverage is fantastic (they give you replacement value, not depreciated value no matter HOW old your property was and they send a check right away), and their customer service can't be beat. It's also a member owned business, so you get dividends back in a savings account every year from the company. They basically split the profits up between all of the members base on seniority with the company on a percentage scale. They are a fortune 500 company and they are completely non-profit and member owned so they truly can't be beat. I hope you can find a way to get signed up with them.

BTW, I also do all of my banking online with USAA. Fantastic company! Top to bottom!

i second the usaa if you are any kind of kin to military. i love their policies and online banking as well. everyone was way too expensive :(

I do insurance billing for several different doctors and I have to say that usaa, Hartford, progressive, and American commerce are the worst when it comes to settling or paying claims! My favorites are state farm and geico.

Ninenine G., sure hope that you aren't driving without insurance while you ae looking.
We have had excellent service with Geico. I was hit recently by a woman in Patterson, CA. driving while on the phone fighting with someone, in the rain, and she ruined the opening to my husbands wheel chair lift. Then she took off-- but someone got her licence with the cellphone!
After the police took the report and I so badly wanted her arrested. Geico, made sure that we were taken care of, had the car repaired with out question and helped me to persue it with the local DA.
Can't ask better than that! So Good Luck, Glenda

Try getting quotes from Geico.
USAA if you are eligible. It's the best.
Allstate then State Farm next (they are more expensive).
But get insurance reinstated quickly. When you don't have insurance..............that's when things happen.