Car Insurance

So I had my first accident in over 50 years of driving and I was very disappointed in the way S.F. handled the claim.   I am looking for a new carrier.    I joined USAA and tried to get a quote from them.  When I hit get an auto quote their website rolled me over to L.M. site. Not impressed.

Has anyone had a good experience when filing a claim on an accident that was your fault?

I'll bring the popcorn.  Who's bringing soda?

My family and I have had decent experience with Nationwide over the years, but personally I've never had to file a claim for my own car when the accident was my fault.

I have USAA but they subcontract their insurance through other companies. My main reason for keeping them is hearing from people in the body shop world that they are the easiest to get repair money out of when something actually needs to be fixed. They still totalled my 911 out over something I very very heavily disagreed with. In the end they did pay me what it was worth, but I'd rather have the car and it would have cost them probably 60-70% less to fix it than total it.  So even that calculus has been shot full of holes.  

Good luck. 

Mustang50 said:

 

Has anyone had a good experience when filing a claim on an accident that was your fault?

 

Ever, like, in the history of the world?  

I'm guessing S.F. is State Farm but I don't know what L.M. is.  Have you tried calling someone?  It may be better than trying to navigate a website.

I have been calling insurance companies directly and prices vary by about $300 a year.  The issue is how well they react when you have a claim.   L.M. is Liberty Mutual.  I had them for over 10 years but one year they raised my rate by 13% with no claims.  Also they changed my agent to an idiot.

Mustang50 said:

Has anyone had a good experience when filing a claim on an accident that was your fault?

Yep. State Farm customer here.

January of 2017, I lost control of my BRZ on a sand covered back road and put it in the ditch. Made initial contact the next morning (accident was on a Sunday), had the car towed to my preferred shop (a SF Preferred shop). They called me when the car was completed, I paid my deductible and moved on. I literally only talked to State Farm claims one time. 

The only disappointment is purely my fault. I believed I had placed rental car coverage on the policy for my BRZ, but I had not. So I had to pay about $1100 out of pocket for the crapcan Mirage rental I had during the time the car was being fixed. 

I have had Liberty Mutual for a long time and I have found that the company you use is much less important than the Agent you have.  My Agent handles both my personal home and auto as well as my corporate so I do have a little leverage there as I am a bigger client than the average auto policyholder.  

In reply to dean1484 :

Agents typically (unless it's a small claim they are handling with their draft authority) have nothing to do with handling claims other than calling the claim rep and bugging them to expedite it or pay for something that shouldn't be paid for. 

In reply to Mustang50 :

Yep, my car was totaled, handled well and quickly by Farmers. 

I had a bad time with Allstate, they were paying.   Had a dispute over the radiator.  The adjuster refused to discuss.  Called the state.  Things were settled quickly.

 I have found that the company you use is much less important than the Agent you have. 

 Also they changed my agent to an idiot.

If only you could control it. 

I've been with Encompass for as long as I remember.  The wife and I each had an at fault accident with a serious injury about 10 years apart, and a less serious accident with no injury, and a deer hit. All four claims were handled quickly and hassle free.  We pay for more than the minimum coverage and it's paid off with my wife's accident.  The people assigned our claims worked quick, paid everything they were supposed to, and the woman handling the medical claim helps walk me through the paperwork for a number of things to get the best care we could.  They have also not raised our rates as much as I thought they would and my agent runs our coverage every year and hasn't found us a better deal. 

I've worked for multiple insurance carriers in my career. I'll repeat my mantra posted in other threads:

"The more they advertise, the poorer their customer service is."

I currently work for a large company you've heard of that barely ever advertises and is sold through independent agents. It's the rare customer that doesn't think our service is fabulous, a complete contrast to Mayhem, the ghecko, the company that claims they are on your side and a few others.

z31maniac said:

In reply to dean1484 :

Agents typically (unless it's a small claim they are handling with their draft authority) have nothing to do with handling claims other than calling the claim rep and bugging them to expedite it or pay for something that shouldn't be paid for. 

Not my experience at all. Mine has acted as my rep when dealing with liberty. My daughter was in an accident in July and still has medical issues that my agent has been instrumental in dealing with both liberty mutual and the insurance company of the person that hit her. 
 

Sounds like you have not had a very good agent.  Again this reinforces why a good agent is important. There are many agents out there that will sell you the policy and collect there commission and do nothing more. You want one that will act as your advocate not just your sales person. 

ddavidv said:

I've worked for multiple insurance carriers in my career. I'll repeat my mantra posted in other threads:

"The more they advertise, the poorer their customer service is."

I currently work for a large company you've heard of that barely ever advertises and is sold through independent agents. It's the rare customer that doesn't think our service is fabulous, a complete contrast to Mayhem, the ghecko, the company that claims they are on your side and a few others.

Granted it's been awhile since I worked for State Farm, it seems the reason so many people have negative things to say about insurance, is because they don't read the contract they signed. So they don't understand the product they have purchased, then expect EVERYTHING to be covered carte blanche with no rules or stipulations. 

It helps that I have had the same agent for 35 years. 

We've had USAA for about 15 years. I think it's probably overpriced, but the customer service has been great. One small point is that at my preferred body shop the only customers who are allowed to pay the deductible with a check are USAA clients- everyone else must use bank check or cash. 

I was hit by a deer two weeks ago in a F150 Crew Cab.  I'm with Main Street America, and I had never heard of them until my agent placed me with them.  I filed the claim over the phone, did the appraisal via an app, my truck is not completed yet, and I have a check for the entire amount (less deductible) the body shop is looking for.  I had my choice of Enterprise or Hertz rental car, and have a $1500 allotment for the vehicle.   I'm still waiting for something to go wrong, but so far, so good.

To add to my Famers list:   Two broken windshields, two deer.

Like Wally, my penalty payments on the my fault totaled,weren't that bad and ended after three trouble free years.

dean1484 said:

 

Sounds like you have not had a very good agent.  Again this reinforces why a good agent is important. There are many agents out there that will sell you the policy and collect there commission and do nothing more. You want one that will act as your advocate not just your sales person. 

The exception, not the rule. Very few agents will get involved in the claim process and honestly as an adjuster I'm thankful for this. Most agents have next to zero knowledge about the claim process and when they do stick their nose in it just winds up pissing everyone else off.

I had maybe two agents worth a damn in my over 25 years of doing claims. The rest were either blissfully silent or caused more problems than they solved.

I've been on Erie for about 20 years. Had a single vehicle at fault in my E46 (backed it into a telephone pole at some speed) and it was handled (relatively) well. No rise in rates, paid out quick once the car was determined totaled (bent exhaust manifolds did it believe it or not). That being said it's my only claim in that time and insure 3 cars with them plus homeowners and an umbrella policy. 

ddavidv said:

dean1484 said:

 

Sounds like you have not had a very good agent.  Again this reinforces why a good agent is important. There are many agents out there that will sell you the policy and collect there commission and do nothing more. You want one that will act as your advocate not just your sales person. 

The exception, not the rule. Very few agents will get involved in the claim process and honestly as an adjuster I'm thankful for this. Most agents have next to zero knowledge about the claim process and when they do stick their nose in it just winds up pissing everyone else off.

I had maybe two agents worth a damn in my over 25 years of doing claims. The rest were either blissfully silent or caused more problems than they solved.

I really loved the few times I handled claims where we ended up paying thanks to an agent. How does an agent not know what detrimental reliance is?

ddavidv said:

dean1484 said:

 

Sounds like you have not had a very good agent.  Again this reinforces why a good agent is important. There are many agents out there that will sell you the policy and collect there commission and do nothing more. You want one that will act as your advocate not just your sales person. 

The exception, not the rule. Very few agents will get involved in the claim process and honestly as an adjuster I'm thankful for this. Most agents have next to zero knowledge about the claim process and when they do stick their nose in it just winds up pissing everyone else off.

I had maybe two agents worth a damn in my over 25 years of doing claims. The rest were either blissfully silent or caused more problems than they solved.

This.  The majority of agents have zero clue how claims work.  They usually just muddy the waters instead of helping, no matter how well intended they are.  Their job is to sell policies.  The analogy I always use is to walk into a car dealership and ask the salesman to replace your head gasket.