Anybody use small insurance companies?

[AdamTex]

I had an insurance broker pull some rates for me because metlife went up on my homeowners insurance by $300.

I can switch to a company called Arrowhead insurance and save almost $600 for the year, and going with Safeco for auto insurance would save me about $150.

I've always used major players for insurance and never had trouble, and a quick google search for reviews on Arrowhead showed quite a few poor ratings.

Also, any insurance agents want to earn my business feel free to PM me.

[EastTexasMan]

I'm sure it wouldn't be too much of a hassle for you, but the person you hit will hate you Lol. Trust me, just dealt with a small time insurance company ended up going with uninsured motorist on my own insurance and having them reimburse them. Small time guy drug it out a week with not trying to make it right after their person ran a red light and hit my truck, then wanted to give me $1500 for damages. Cost $6200 to fix.

[Dirtymike]

wedding rings and insurance something that will come back and bite you in the *** if you go cheap

[1riot1ranger]

I have Hoechim Prairie. So far they bill right on time, never an issue receiving my payment, they even answer the phone when I call. I've yet to file a claim in the three years I've had the policy so not sure how that works.......

[catslayer]

we are Safeco all the way, but we know the agent personally so that has a lot to do with it

[glocker]

I'm an independent agent and work with smaller companies alot of the time. We work as an advocate on the customers behalf and to deal with the 1-800#'s and save you the voice prompts. All companies can be good and bad, your attitude and honesty can go a long way to getting a good deal, as well as your idea of risk vs reward. I have customers that I don't necessarily enjoy dealing with and most that I really enjoy working for. Company rates and their "appetites" change often so it's always good to have more than one choice when it comes to carriers.
Be sure to find out the A.M. Best rating for carriers in order to ensure that they are financially stable. And please ALWAYS be honest with your agent as it might save them work and you money to put you with the company that is the best fit for your needs.

[JBJTX81]

All i know is I have Safeco for auto and they blew every one else outta the water. Have never filed a claim but they were almost 600/year cheaper than any other carrier for our 3 vehicles.

[mjhaverkamp]

we are Safeco all the way, but we know the agent personally so that has a lot to do with it

Ditto

[flywise]

What ever company you use make sure you have plenty of insurance not just a good price.
100/300 on your cars at a minimum would be my recommendation.

[Soldier of C]

Went Germania for home and auto, financially stable and Texas based company. Love my agent that we deal with. Saved about little over 600 for home and auto was over 300.

[flywise]

Went Germania for home and auto, financially stable and Texas based company. Love my agent that we deal with. Saved about little over 600 for home and auto was over 300.

Germania is a great company.
We can sometimes save the customer money but sometimes we cant but thats the way it is with all insurance companies. Lots of variables when it comes to a premimum. For the OP, what ever you decide just make sure you shop around and get many quotes
Make sure the agent at each place explaines all the details of the quote ( coverages) and make sure you dont necessarily choose on cost alone.
You could be very disappointed should you need to file a claim

[Aggiebow88]

Went Germania for home and auto, financially stable and Texas based company. Love my agent that we deal with. Saved about little over 600 for home and auto was over 300.

While in TX went with Germania for home and Ag workers mutual for vehicles. Very happy with both.

[35remington]

My concern with a small ins co is the higher likelihood of them going under. FWIW, we just switched from Safeco to Nationwide because the home quote was $1,000 less for the same coverage. A thousand dollars gets my attention.

[Slew]

Safeco is one of my better companies. Can't speak for Arrowhead, never heard of them. Any route you go let your agent know what you have and see whats covered and excluded with your company. For example if you have $30k of firearms and saved $100 a year going with a company that limits theft of firearms to $1000 vs a company that covers them for theft to the policy limit of the contents and somebody steals all your guns was it worth the $100 savings? Or a named peril policy that doesn't cover power surge vs an open perils policy that does and a transformer falls off the poweline in a storm and causes $45k of damage throughout the home. Then there's the deer that jump through the rear patio sliders and tear the house all to heck.

I'm not even gonna get started on flying pigs. Had 2 of those claims in the last 15 years.

[Dirtymike]

If you want to really know about a carrier try locate a phone # for their claims dept. Then call the claims dept and ask questions.
How long should I expect to recieve a call back after a claim is filed?
Will my claim be handled by a single adjuster or will it be team based?
What is the average time for a claim to be closed/paid?
If my adjuster is out of the office will I be able to speak with another adjuster.
Do I have to pay for my rental out of pocket then submit reciepts for reimbursment?
Will I have to wait till monday to drop off my vehicle and get into a rental?
Where is the closest location to an approved shop to have my vehicle repaired or estimated? Yes you can have it repaired at any shop by law. However what if you are not repairing?
How soon will my vehicle be inspected before repairs can be started?
Do you write your own estimates or will I have to run all over town getting estimates to submit to you.
Do you offer accident forgiveness for long term customers? If yes how much of a payout? 100?500?1000?

Some things you will find is some companys will hide their claims contact phone # and want you to do it all online. Some will screen your calls with tricky phone trees and loops. Many are team based handling. Meaning you will talk to someone different each time that will not know what you talked about prior, or what the other person said to you except what was documented in the notes. Which can be very little. Some will want you to pay for your rental upfront and they will then mail you a check. Some will not put you in a rental or set up your repair till the following week if it is at end of the week to save the company rental cost. Some want bodyshops to do the estimate. If your at fault for the loss do you want your insurance company on your side writing the estimate to make sure it is accurate and they are not paying for old damage. Or just pay what ever the body shop says because the adjuster has a huge work load. Is paying for it with your policy and could care less how much it cost as long as he gets it closed. It wont effect him but it will likely effect your premium when your policy pays out.