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Recently, and spurred by the horrific fires in L.A., there’s been a lot of attention on home insurance, including skyrocketing premiums. Like many people, we have our home, auto, and umbrella policies with the same company, and have seen our premiums increase dramatically in the last few years.
I’ve occasionally heard mention, without much in the way of specifics, of a “longevity benefit” in staying with the same insurance company rather than constantly shopping around and switching.
I’m hoping someone with a background in insurance can shed some light on this. First off, is there any truth to it? If so, is the benefit in the form of smaller premium increases for long term policyholders, or a smaller chance of being dropped, or…?
Thanks for any insights.
I’ve with the same Allstate office for the past 21 years. The local office people are great, but the central office people aren’t (no surprise there). I was concerned that I hadn’t shopped my insurance (house, 3 cars, umbrella) and that I might be getting gouged. After a disappointing service experience with the corporate office, I had my package quoted by a local Erie rep. They couldn’t match the pricing on auto and wouldn’t quote HO because my roof is end of life (its in the capital plan to be replaced in next 18 months). I feel better having generally confirmed that my loyalty isn’t hurting me.
How much can you really save and for how long by switching carriers? Ads on TV mention a couple of hundred dollars a year.
One thing people sometimes forget is that our premiums may well be affected by events on the other side of the country.
Insurance companies do track behavior on getting quotes, change carriers, etc on a national database.
I was with Liberty Mutual for 30 years until they sent me a 40% renewal increase. When I called, a rep named Victor said “you should find another insurer”. Loyalty is over.
I’ve been with the same insurer (State Farm) for 35 years. My auto policy, with one claim, now has double the original liability coverage and about four times the vehicle coverage, yet is only 2.6 times its initial cost. With inflation alone and no increase in coverage, its cost should have risen 2.4 times. Another insurer (Progressive) routinely invites me to get estimates, but their advertised premiums are always higher than my current ones. My renter’s insurance has decreased 27% over the 30 years I’ve had it (same coverage and one claim). I wish I could say the same for umbrella coverage; it rose 48% last year after years of only small increases and no claims, similar to Bill’s experience below.
On average i stay with the same carrier for 3-5 years before I start to n