Car Insurance Recommendations Prefer Local Agent

I have been with Tom Florian (Cincinnati Insurance) for around 13 years. He handles everything from enrollment to claims and does a great job. The rates are good and his office is on Southwyck Blvd. Two thumbs up!

We use the Stapleton Agency, and our insurance is through Grange Mutual. Haven't had a problem so far...not even when we had to file a claim.

Stapleton here also and I could not be more satisfied with the service for more than 20 years now

Stapleton here also. For over 30 years. Business and personal.

You may not be interested in this exercise but I'll just share my experience.

I had State Farm with a local agent for many years. Unfortunately, about a dozen years ago, despite flawless driving records for my wife and I they kept raising our rates. We shopped around and received an excellent quote from AAA who are presently an agent I believe for American Commerce.

We have had AAA now for over 12 years and saved literally thousands of dollars. Last year was the first test when my wife got into an accident. We were a little scared but were extremely satisfied how efficiently they assisted us at the time of accident and paid out claim and the other driver involved.

Our in laws had a local agent they used for 25 years. Last year after hearing our story they decided to get a quote from AAA they are now saving $600 per year. I do not want to accuse their local agent of bilking them for all these years but there is something to be said about economies of scale.

If you prefer a local agent and feel more comfortable with someone who knows your name when you walk in the door I understand that. However, we have been very impressed with AAA but we are also super budget conscience and not concerned with salespeople knowing our dog's name or high schools we attended. Oh... and even after the at fault accident they did not raise the rates but a letter did come saying they will if we receive another accident within the next years. However, if no at fault accident occurs over the next four years our slate is wiped clean again.

Grange Thru Stapleton here too

Just remember that if you are saving a lot of money, check your limits and make sure they are adequate. State minimums are not really what I would recommend to follow.

I hear ya, danneskjold. About 15 years ago State Farm (not here in Ohio) contacted me very abruptly to let me know my rates would be going up because I'd been driving too far to get to work. My commute at that time was 4 miles round-trip and sometimes I even rode my bike! They wouldn't return my phone calls, and when I eventually reached a secretary (my agent not being willing to take my call!) she said that my rate would be going up for one reason, if not another.

They had just decided to soak me for an additional 10% using whatever excuse seemed feasible.

I had been their customer for 20 years ... later I read in the business press that SF was only interested in serving accounts that had multiple coverages, for home, car, business, etc. As a single policyholder, they just didn't care whether I stayed or not.

The thing was, I have a business background, and if they'd been honest about their new focus I might even have agreed with them, or parted on good terms. As it was, I felt like they were being weasels and cowards, so I signed up with a cheapo generic insurer as soon as I could.

Having said all that, the spouse is a satisfied, long-term customer of State Farm here in Toledo, and now I get all my coverage on joint policies. But if you feel like SF is creating frustrations for you, it also happened to me once before. Their corporate decisions don't trickle down to the local level very well. IMHO.

I have been "hosed" by State Farm also. I switched to Progressive and saved almost 50%... no exaggeration.

I'm also a tech geek and I love Progressive's website and mobile app. You can literally enter the VIN number of a car you're looking to purchase while you're at the dealership and it will instantly give you a quote.

dell_diva: I was impressed with the site too. Took maybe a 2 minutes to get a quote, it knew what car I had and everything including my coverage under SF right now. Dug it and it was cheaper as well.

I like the idea of AAA I've been an off/on member and liked their service, wasn't aware they offered insurance.

Stapleton sounds promising given all the recommendations so I'll check with them as well. Thanks everyone.

A quick story of my SF troubles:

I've had SF since 1996, but last fall when I gave up my car I had my account suspended (don't need insurance w/o a car, and they don't just insure people to drive other cars).

I had just paid $100 for the next month which they couldn't refund unless I completely canceled my account, and apparently forfeit the plan I had (?). So I left it as credit which they said I could use once I bought a car again in a few months.

So Jan comes I get a car, and my insurance had gone down about $20. Then the bill comes, $134. To this day no idea what happened to my credit, but the difference in $83-134 was because they charged a reactivation fee which they would charge me a little more for 3 months.

Having my income tax return already (filed Jan 15th) I didn't want to hastle with it and asked if I could just pay the full amount so the next and following months would be my normal $83 rate.

Next month I get a call that I was late making a payment, they had tried to use an old debit card despite giving them my updated info and paid with my current card the previous month.

Same thing the month after, and now today yet again still same $130-something bill and late because the were using my old card.

Don't know what's going on, either someone is scamming or they have some serious accounting issues (no credit, still charging me the following months despite paying in full).

In a last chance effort I call the SF rep my girl uses, she is confused and says there is no reactivation fee, and gave me a regional # to call tomorrow.

Blick.

Was with an agency for years and they eventually were bought out by Savage and Associates. Stayed with them and have been very pleased with the service and the rates. They shop around each year to see if my rates can be lowered. I am with Frankenmuth Insurance now for home and auto. The rates are very good!

When I got married I moved my car insurance from Allstate to join my wife's account on Farmers Insurance. I knew Allstate wasn't the cheapest but my rate dropped by literally half. On top of that my wife's insurance dropped $10 a month after adding me. Crazy how much I was getting ripped off by Allstate.

We use an agent named John Reagan and he's awesome. I've never been to his office - he stops by my house in the evening if he needs me to sign something. Who else does that! He's also honest - he was up front that Farmers motorcycle rates aren't as low as some others and said I should call around before adding my bike to the plan.

INC - I've never dealt with Progressive insurance in Ohio.

However, my sister had Progressive insurance in another state when she was in a serious accident. While she was incapacitated, I had to work with the Progressive adjuster on her behalf.

I thought they were good to work with, for the most part. They came through very quickly with a check for her vehicle, which was totaled.

The medical bills were eventually paid as well. A few minor delays, but the delays were more the fault of her medical insurance policy than Progressive. And ultimately it was all taken care of properly...still within a resonable time, just not as fast as the payment for the totaled vehicle.

Nationwide in Maumee. Agent is Jay Richardson. He has been my agent since the 80's and I have nothing but respect for the guy. 5 STARS!

Erie Insurance - Dave Modine

I've had a claim on both the house and the car since having them and was always treated fairly. They acted promptly and were pretty helpful in both cases. Plus its a hell of a lot more affordable than State Farm who I dropped. My bill is less than half what it was with them.

Savage and Associates - Jeremy Feeback - can't ask for better service!

That Flo lady on TV seems to be the one to call.

I know Allstate has had me bent over for about 30 years, but I just get overwhelmed every time I look into changing companies.

We have two vehicles: A 1999 SUV and a 2000 basic Malibu. We are in our mid-50s with no traffic tickets or accidents. I work from home 80% of the time. Very low mileage for Mr. Gamegrrl, too. We pay $130/month.

I realize that rates are very dependent upon the zip code where the cars 'live', and we live in the OWE. But we've had no claims other than a windshield replacement a few years ago because of two stone chips/cracks.

Fuller & Sons...out by Southwyck

I've used Knight Crockett Miller for as long as I can remember. Both cars, my house and our restaurant use them. They're in the warehouse district downtown, and really great people.

http://www.knightinsurance.com/

My Family uses Amy Smithers from Nationwide in Rossford.

Sounds like a lot of people have someone good to recommend! I actually find that surprising, given how often I hear people complain about their insurance companies.

Gamegrrl - I felt the same way about switching companies, which is why I stayed with Allstate for years until I got married. I'm kicking myself for the amount of money I threw away every month - I figured it out to be about $600 a year!

I'd be interested in finding out what people are actually paying... I need to double check with my wife but I believe our monthly bill is about $130. This includes home insurance, '02 sedan, '06 SUV, and two motorcycles.

If you have had the same Insurance Company for many years, beware!!!. I was with Nationwide for 30+ years and never checked around until my kids started driving and I found I had been screwed by them for many years. When my oldest graduated high school I bought a used car and the insurance was $428 a half. The following year Kid #2 graduated and I bought another identical car, year, make and model. Because Nationwide only allows 4 cars per policy they wrote a second policy for the car and the cost was $273 for the exact same car my other kid was driving. Both kids were the same sex and honor roll students. When I asked my agent what was going on he admitted that Nationwide has multiple companies and the new policy was written to the company they use for new customers and offers their best rates. He redid my old policy and saved me almost $1,000 per year. When it came time to renew I switched to Geico online and saved even more. However, Geico does not write house Insurance and Nationwide was going to screw me again because I did not have my cars with them. I switched to Allstate and saved a little more on my cars and a lot on my house. Moral of the story If you are loyal they an Insurance company, they will screw you. I was paying almost $3000 a year for 5 cars back then and now it is less than $2000 for 6 cars.

"I'd be interested in finding out what people are actually paying... I need to double check with my wife but I believe our monthly bill is about $130. This includes home insurance, '02 sedan, '06 SUV, and two motorcycles."

It is impossible to try to do an apples to apples comparison when it comes to insurance. There are more factors than you can possibly imagine that go into the mix - driving record, credit score, occupation, driving distance to work, level of education, year make and model of vehicles, youthful operators - just to name a few.

Oldtimer wrote: "Moral of the story If you are loyal they an Insurance company, they will screw you."

Not necessarily true OT. A good Independent agent (which Nationwide agents are NOT) will do their best to keep your rates as low as they can while providing you with the appropriate coverage.

And, as avinsurer mentioned above, state minimum and/or low limits of liability do not serve ANYONE well.

We user State Farm - Eric Guilliod out of Maumee and never had an issue.

We have several times the state minimum coverage on two cars, plus homeowners and a million dollar umbrella. I’ll have to look at our rates, but I haven’t thought of them as unfair and they are always quick to help with claims.

Sensor, I realize this is probably a dense question, but what does the umbrella cover?

(Just trying to figure out if it's something I need and haven't thought to get...)

I am with a Stapleton agent and Auto Owners Insurance. Have home, auto, and Umbrella policy with them. The umbrella has been going up astronomically each year. When I question why, I don't get a reasonable answer. Also, no accidents and 2000 and 2002 cars, but the rate seems to go up even though cars are keep getting older.

I'm interested in who the Stapleton agents are you're using. I don't seem to be getting the level of service others are who are with Stapleton.

I used to have Auto Owners Insurance, then I filed a claim because someone rear ended me at a stop light. Auto Owners jacked up my premium so I switched companies and paid a whole lot less.

mom2: An umbrella policy provides an additional layer of liability protection over and above the primary liability limits of your auto or home insurance.

For example: your primary auto policy liability limit is $500,000. God forbid you are involved in an at fault accident and cause bodily injury in excess of that amount - but, if you did AND you had a $1 million umbrella policy, you would then have an additional $1 million of liability coverage available.

You need to determine what level of coverage you need. Your agent can assist with that but, ultimately, it's your call. Actually, umbrella policies provide a tremendous amount of coverage for not a ton of $$. In recent years, umbrella premiums went up mainly due to the uninsured motorists coverage they can also provide. It is fertile ground for the ambulance chasing attorneys.

While we're on topic, I've really never understood why so many people believe their insurance premiums should never increase - even if they've had no claims. The principal of insurance is to spread the risk over a large number of people. Just because you didn't have a claim doesn't mean that thousands of others insured with the same company as you didn't either. I'm sure many of you have seen substantial increases in your homeowner premiums - and if you haven't yet - you will. That's because the last couple of years of Mother Nature gone amuck have caused hundreds of millions in insured claims. Since the risk is spread among many, everyone's rates necessarily increase.

The cost of nearly everything that insurance covers continues to go up year after year. Why would you not expect insurance premiums to increase accordingly?

On the plus side, we Ohioans enjoy some of the lowest auto premiums in the country. Ask your friends in Michigan, New Jersey or California (to name but a few) what they pay.

Additionally, the next time the guy next door brags about how he "got back" at his insurance carrier by padding a claim, turning in something as a claim that really wasn't, etc., keep in mind that he's hurting you and everyone else.

Why do you think you see soooooooooo many commercials from attorneys trying to convince you that insurance companies are rotten SOB's and you really should hire them to get every penny "you deserve"? The jackpot awards they seek affect all of us. If you are seriously injured through someone else's negligence, then you truly do deserve all of your expenses to be covered and a reasonable amount for pain and suffering if appropriate. It would boggle your mind how much is paid out each year in bogus claims and frivolous lawsuits. Again, affecting everyone's rates.

dang, guess I'm doing good! We have Auto-Owners for the house and 2 cars and I pay $68.32 a month. That's full coverage on all. I moved from a tiny city lot in 43605 to 2 acres in 43619 and the payment went up 5 bucks.

Like Upso, we've been with Knight Crockett Miller for years. Good service: prompt return calls, good information, etc.

Mom2 - Pretty much what Foodie said on the umbrella policy. It also covers us outside our home/auto policies on pretty much anything, that isn't illegal. If I’m running at the park and accidently trip someone and they decide to sue me, I would be covered by this.

Thanks to everyone who replied I greatly appreciated the recommendations. Just called to cancel my State Farm insurance, and they lady basically said "Well you're already canceled, good bye".

Wow.

Well, I did it. At least I'm in the process of doing it. I'm moving my auto insurance and homeowner's policy to a new company.

More perks and better limits on all policies, and I am cutting my cost basically in half. To put it another way, what I'm saving will cover all but $400 of my property taxes for the whole year.

Happy me :-)

So who are the switching to?

I went through The Brooks Agency on Madison. The coverage is through Encompass.