Insurance Companies! UGHH

[bsshog40]

Does this happen to everyone here? Our auto policies are renewed every 6 months, and every 6 months they religiously increase our monthly rate by a few dollars. We just bought our house a little over a year ago. I received a statement that our mortgage payment went up, because, our insurance company raised our rate up $700. Everytime I have called our insurance companies, I get the same response, " Prices of labor and materials have gone up in your area". I get soo tired of hearing the same answer every time. I call around for other quotes, and they are just as high if not higher. We've never had any claims on our former house and haven't had tickets in 20 plus years. If the Gov't wants step into peoples lives to help them, they need to start with controlling Insurance Companies! What a racket!!!
Sorry, rant over! Lol

 

[Edgar]

Government caused the problem, so don't look to them for any relief. The largest insurance increases are actually in the government-run insurance programs (FEMA), and they aren't even required to make a profit.

 

[Woodchipper]

When we moved here in 1988, new houses were costing under $100 a square foot. Now, it's more like $200. 1988, I bought 2x4s at 84 cents; now they are at $2.98 for cheap whitewood at Lowe's. Remember insurance companies have to contend with policy holders in high risk areas as Tornado Alley, flood areas or hurricane prone areas. We all pay for those. How much damage was done in Lahaina, Hawai'i?
Auto insurance? One of the car magazines said if people would drive the speed limit, rates could go down 15%.
Lawyers sue for millions; lady puts a hot cup of coffee in her lap, gets burned and gets $2 million. Who paid for that?

 

[bsshog40]

Think about this tho. Progressive Insurance has approx. 13,000,000 auto insurance customers. If I divide my auto insurance for one vehicle monthly cost, it is about $75. If we can presume that all their customers pay that amount, Progressive brings in approx. $985,000,000 a month. That's almost 12 Billion dollars a year. I can bet there's a profit being made in there somewhere.

 

[wolf creek knives]

I'm glad I don't live in CA. Most insurance companies are getting out of high risk areas. CA has an insurance policy that the state offers. It ain't cheap!

 

[Edgar]

Government caused the problem, so don't look to them for any relief. The largest insurance increases are actually in the government-run insurance programs (FEMA), and they aren't even required to make a profit.

Think about this tho. Progressive Insurance has approx. 13,000,000 auto insurance customers. If I divide my auto insurance for one vehicle monthly cost, it is about $75. If we can presume that all their customers pay that amount, Progressive brings in approx. $985,000,000 a month. That's almost 12 Billion dollars a year. I can bet there's a profit being made in there somewhere.

Their actual revenue for 2023 was $62B; however, their net profit was barely $4B. While that is a large number, it's only a 6.5% profit rate - hardly a rip-off. Their net profit was only 2% the prior year. I am a very satisfied customer for many years, but I don't own any of their stock because they historically have low-performing profits and only pay about 0.2% dividends as a result.

 

[Woodchipper]

bsshog40, depends on how many claims they have and how many lawsuits they lose due to a sympathetic jury.
My parents lived in the Los Angeles area in the early 80s. Said there were no limits or regulations as to premiums. Paid about one grand each for their cars.
Just noticed Edgar's post: They pay actors too much for stupid advertisements.

 

[Kenny Durrant]

I know exactly how you feel. I just went through the same thing. My current insurance company said due to high amounts of hail damage the Texas company's are wanting to stay away from insuring houses. My response was I don't care about the money they paid out. They have complete control of my policy. They say what they will and won't cover for a set amount of money. Everything is nonnegotiable. When you do have a problem it's a fight to get them to pay up. If they're not willing to do business on their own terms maybe they need to get into something else. I did find an insurance broker and he was able to find a more reasonable quote. I'll be changing companies next month.

 

[randyrls]

They pay actors too much for stupid advertisements.

Yep! I have developed a new way to judge insurance companies. The more advertisements on TV, the lower rated the company. My reasoning; If they are spending LOTS of money to put on those adverts, it must mean they loose customers because of their practices.

 

[rixstix]

While I hate paying the insurance bills, I also understand repair/replacement costs going skyhigh.

My experience with our insurance company and claims process is quite a bit different. One thing is that I READ our policies before I need them. Knowing the terms helps significantly when making a claim. Once you "Say" something regarding a claim, you can't "UnSay" it.

One example is when our water well crapped out. The acidic well water had eaten through the piping at a bushing and the pipe, pump and wire fell to the bottom of the well. IF our well guy had said the pipe failed, the policy would not pay for the 200 ft of pipe that caused the failure. Instead, I reminded the pump guy that the 1-1/4 x 1-1/2 galvanized bushing failed. So in this case, the policy did not pay for the $1.75 galvanized bushing but paid for the 200ft of galvanized pipe, pump and wire. Significant difference.

Insurance companies have no common sense. Another example was a lighting strike that damaged an antenna. The policy would not pay to replace the $300 antenna. The policy would only pay to repair the antenna. So, Rick called a contractor to repair the antenna. Invoice to repair was just north of $3800.

Winter 2022, our porch roof collapsed due to snow load. Policy would not pay to repair/replace the snow damaged 16x20 ft roof. Instead, the adjuster said the ENTIRE roof had to be replaced due to Derecho damage from 10 months earlier instead of snow damage. So we now have a new $28,000 roof.

So far, the homeowners policy has not increased based upon claims.

 

[montmill]

Just take a drive and look at their buildings. West Bend, Acuity and American Family to name a few I've seen. Top salaries' are out of sight. We have to be competitive bla bla bla

 

[bsshog40]

Another thing to note on homeowners insurance, at least in our case, is that when they raise your rates due to costs, they also raise the replacement amounts of the house, structures and personal property. This automatically raises your deductible.

 

[WriteON]

Florida...Our homeowners goes up substantially every year. Car insurance has 25-30% increases each renewal. Went from high to ouch.
Pa... Car insurance in our county is close to 1/3 less.
The Florida increases are from the storms, homeowners claims, bogus accident claims, etc. Everyone pays dearly regardless of their claim status. A lot of insurance companies close/leave town before the storms or do not honor claims. And sadly uninsured drivers are a problem ..we pay for them.
State Farm has the best rates where we are. However they will do their best do delay, deny or pay a little as possible.When shopping for new insurance read the company reviews.

 

[rixstix]

And how many people realize their deductible increases when there is a named hurricane?

 

[randyrls]

State Farm has the best rates where we are. However they will do their best do delay, deny or pay a little as possible.When shopping for new insurance read the company reviews.

Frank; State Farm cancelled my homeowners insurance, would not say why. Never filed a claim in 30 years. I will never be their customer again!

 

[WriteON]

Frank; State Farm cancelled my homeowners insurance, would not say why. Never filed a claim in 30 years. I will never be their customer again!

The saddest statement I can make right is they are best Florida has to offer. They are bad but the rest are below them and digging.

 

[Woodchipper]

1. Have had state Farm since August 1971. Never had any problems with them even with the few claims I have had. Claims were against the other party.
2. Part of insurance premiums will depend on the area where you live, risk factors, etc. Example: We moved from Cincinnati, OH to Shreveport, LA. Cincy was a city of 900K; Shreveport was about 240K. Our car premiums went up 40%. My wife called the agent and asked why. His reply: Have you noticed how people drive? Our daughter was upset because she found out she could have gotten her driver's license in LA at age 15. Go figure.

 

[bsshog40]

1. Have had state Farm since August 1971. Never had any problems with them even with the few claims I have had. Claims were against the other party.
2. Part of insurance premiums will depend on the area where you live, risk factors, etc. Example: We moved from Cincinnati, OH to Shreveport, LA. Cincy was a city of 900K; Shreveport was about 240K. Our car premiums went up 40%. My wife called the agent and asked why. His reply: Have you noticed how people drive? Our daughter was upset because she found out she could have gotten her driver's license in LA at age 15. Go figure.

We are in Omaha, Tx. Pop 932. I guess we get the increases due to the bigger towns around us. Lol

 

[Woodchipper]

We are in Omaha, Tx. Pop 932. I guess we get the increases due to the bigger towns around us. Lol

Could be that it is the old ripple effect, spreading to small town USA.