State Farm auto vs. everybody else

[FreddieFIRE]

I'm shopping auto insurance for the first time in 40 years. Farmers has been going up, up, up..... State Farm is quoting much better rates. It had me scratching my head until I learned that, unlike most other carriers (including Farmers), State Farm does NOT offer accident forgiveness. Is this why their rates are so much more attractive? I have never had an accident claim (or any other non-glass claim) in over 40 years of driving, so I'm not really concerned about needing "forgiveness" anytime soon. Yeah, I know, famous last words..... We're both retired and drive combined less than 5000 miles a year, mostly around our safe town. Thanks for any inputs.

[Stinky]

We’ve had State Farm auto insurance for about 25 years now.

Our family has totaled four cars during that time. Thankfully, no injuries except bruised egos.

Each claim has been settled quickly and at a very generous valuation.

I stopped “shopping” my car insurance years ago. State Farm for me!

[investor4life]

I'm shopping auto insurance for the first time in 40 years. Farmers has been going up, up, up..... State Farm is quoting much better rates. It had me scratching my head until I learned that, unlike most other carriers (including Farmers), State Farm does NOT offer accident forgiveness. Is this why their rates are so much more attractive? I have never had an accident claim (or any other non-glass claim) in over 40 years of driving, so I'm not really concerned about needing "forgiveness" anytime soon. Yeah, I know, famous last words..... We're both retired and drive combined less than 5000 miles a year, mostly around our safe town. Thanks for any inputs.

Satisfied State Farm auto insurance policy holder for ~40 years (2-3 cars). Have had a few minor accidents and they were all settled promptly and no issues with renewals (we have guaranteed renewal, in fact). I started using Drive Safe & Save recently and it literally halved my premiums during the most recent semi-annual renewal.

[sport]

If you are considering State Farm, have them quote a package of all your casualty insurances: auto, homeowners, renters, boat, RV, personal articles, etc. State Farm offers substantial discounts for multiple policies.

[Vanguard User]

Insurance company name doesn’t matter. Rates do. Not sure why you stayed with 1 company for 40 years. You must have left thousands of savings every year.

I usually switch every couple years and/or if I can get low enough rate elsewhere. I have State Farm now. Yeah, they were the cheapest for me. Check GEICO too.

I have renters insurance with SF too and use Drive Safe&Save app.

[gotoparks]

Everybody's insurance is going up. Watch out for low teaser rates that will jump up after a year. You will wind up switching insurance companies every two years with the teaser rates because your rate will go up so much.

[FreddieFIRE]

You must have left thousands of savings every year.

Thousands? I didn't even spend "thousands" to begin with.

[FreddieFIRE]

If you are considering State Farm, have them quote a package of all your casualty insurances: auto, homeowners, renters, boat, RV, personal articles, etc. State Farm offers substantial discounts for multiple policies.

Done.

[beyou]

I just went TO Farmers, saving $ over Allstate in total across 3 policies.
But I made the change for better service, Allstate is terrible now.
They lost a 30 year customer with nonexistent service this year.

[Compound]

I'm shopping auto insurance for the first time in 40 years. Farmers has been going up, up, up..... State Farm is quoting much better rates. It had me scratching my head until I learned that, unlike most other carriers (including Farmers), State Farm does NOT offer accident forgiveness. Is this why their rates are so much more attractive? I have never had an accident claim (or any other non-glass claim) in over 40 years of driving, so I'm not really concerned about needing "forgiveness" anytime soon. Yeah, I know, famous last words..... We're both retired and drive combined less than 5000 miles a year, mostly around our safe town. Thanks for any inputs.

Have you looked at Amica? Curious if they may be an option for you. Their clients skew toward safe drivers like you are — rates seem quite competitive.

[Moneybags1]

I have been with State Farm over 4 decades. Have Homeowners with them also. Rates are high in Florida, but my discounts are almost equal to my present premium. I don't know if they still offer it but after 10 years you get guaranteed renewable coverage as long as you pay the premium, I also think it memory serves me correctly, the first at fault accident is forgiven.

[Mike Scott]

I am another long time State Farm customer. With the age of accounts and multiple policy discounts, it's hard to beat their prices. When shopping around, sometimes other companies come close to matching their prices but I have not found a cheaper total package. Of course, this could be the case for almost any company with a long term relationship but I have had no reason to leave State Farm.

[retired_tom]

Shopping Home and Auto with State Farm right now since I'm losing my Farmers home insurance this year.
Home quote sounds reasonable but their auto quote is almost double what I'm paying now with Auto-Owners for the exact same coverage.

[dcabler]

Been with State Farm since 1984. Homeowners, auto, umbrella, jewelry rider.

No complaints.

Cheers

[Cannoli]

I decided to stick with State Farm years ago when I had a car fire (apparently spontaneous) and I called on a Sat morning after they put out the fire and I had a free rental that day and they gave no hassle on a replacement check.

[Jack FFR1846]

If you have an Independent Insurance agent carry your insurance, they see way before you do when a company is raising rates and will have shopped for others long before you see rates rising. When your renewal approaches, they'll tell you that your best bet is to switch to XYZ company. Accident forgiveness? Who cares? I've had my Independent agent tell me that as my renewal is approaching that I should consider switching and that it will save me $xxxx.

I would love to see you switch to Geico as it will support the price of BRK, which I own. My son took the 15 minutes to check Geico when he was shopping for insurance for his first car. Did they save him 15%? No, they quoted a price 3 times as much as the Independent agent quoted.

[zlandar]

I have Amica. The two times I have filed a claim over the past 10 years they were responsive and paid promptly.

[Katietsu]

My State Farm rates do not increase with an accident if the amount that State Farm must pay out is below $X or it has been at least X years since an accident. X is a few years. I guess this is not accident forgiveness if you are a new customer but is if you have put in your accident free driving time? State Farm also does not offer teaser rates for new customers in my area. However, all sorts of insurance programs are state specific.

[carolinaman]

We are long time State Farm customers. 5 years ago, I shopped our 3 policies: auto, home and umbrella. State Farm was the clear winner.

I had a minor accident 3+ years ago, and for the first time in 55 years of driving, I was at fault. Auto insurance increased about $1,000 a year for 3 years. Also, about a year earlier, a deer ran into the side of my car resulting in $2,000 of damage to replace fender, etc. I am not sure if that counted against me or not. Anyway, accident forgiveness could be a real benefit, especially in congested streets like we have around here.

[strummer6969]

I'm shopping auto insurance for the first time in 40 years. Farmers has been going up, up, up..... State Farm is quoting much better rates. It had me scratching my head until I learned that, unlike most other carriers (including Farmers), State Farm does NOT offer accident forgiveness. Is this why their rates are so much more attractive? I have never had an accident claim (or any other non-glass claim) in over 40 years of driving, so I'm not really concerned about needing "forgiveness" anytime soon. Yeah, I know, famous last words..... We're both retired and drive combined less than 5000 miles a year, mostly around our safe town. Thanks for any inputs.

Have you looked at Amica? Curious if they may be an option for you. Their clients skew toward safe drivers like you are — rates seem quite competitive.

Maybe it depends on the state, but Amica was by far the most expensive for me. Despite no claims, they increased our H/O rates 40% last year. I had to call it quits. Their auto policy rate was fine, but I like to bundle with the same insurance company.

[runningshoes]

Did the same as the OP - long-term Farmers for home+auto, quoted every few years to make sure the rates were competitive. This year Farmers went up by ~ 30%, moved to State Farm and kept my cost flat with last year.

[FreddieFIRE]

Did the same as the OP - long-term Farmers for home+auto, quoted every few years to make sure the rates were competitive. This year Farmers went up by ~ 30%, moved to State Farm and kept my cost flat with last year.

Thanks. I never felt much incentive to shop around until Farmers just started going up, up, up....

[talzara]

Everybody's insurance is going up. Watch out for low teaser rates that will jump up after a year. You will wind up switching insurance companies every two years with the teaser rates because your rate will go up so much.

This is a common misconception that comes up a lot on Bogleheads.

Auto insurance is not like cable television. There are no "teaser rates that will jump up after a year." There are new customer discounts, but they're only about 10%, and they phase out 5 years. Only 2% of your rate increase is from the loss of the new customer discount.

If your rate is increasing by a large percentage, it's because the lowest quote is often from the company that is losing the most money and needs the largest rate increase.

State Farm also does not offer teaser rates for new customers in my area.

State Farm offers the opposite of a teaser rate. It charges new customers more than long-term customers.

[crazygrow]

I'm shopping auto insurance for the first time in 40 years. Farmers has been going up, up, up..... State Farm is quoting much better rates. It had me scratching my head until I learned that, unlike most other carriers (including Farmers), State Farm does NOT offer accident forgiveness. Is this why their rates are so much more attractive? I have never had an accident claim (or any other non-glass claim) in over 40 years of driving, so I'm not really concerned about needing "forgiveness" anytime soon. Yeah, I know, famous last words..... We're both retired and drive combined less than 5000 miles a year, mostly around our safe town. Thanks for any inputs.

Our Farmer's Auto went completely out of control when we tried to add our 16 year old triplets. We had three cars and that took us to five drivers. Without adding any cars, and putting all of them on the one car they drive, they wanted $6k/year (up from $1800). The agent basically told us that he is well aware that Farmers is not competitive in the car space at least in his area (Tennessee). We moved to State Farm and are about $3k/year. The HomeOwners, umbrella and personal policies were all about the same.

[turtlebug]

If you qualify for USAA, you may wish to get a quote. Also Amica. Neither may be the lowest quote, but both USAA and Amica are normally rated #1 and #2 in customer service.

[John Johnson]

If you have an Independent Insurance agent carry your insurance, they see way before you do when a company is raising rates and will have shopped for others long before you see rates rising. When your renewal approaches, they'll tell you that your best bet is to switch to XYZ company. Accident forgiveness? Who cares? I've had my Independent agent tell me that as my renewal is approaching that I should consider switching and that it will save me $xxxx.

I would love to see you switch to Geico as it will support the price of BRK, which I own. My son took the 15 minutes to check Geico when he was shopping for insurance for his first car. Did they save him 15%? No, they quoted a price 3 times as much as the Independent agent quoted.

Any advice on finding a good independent insurance agent? I have been wanting to meet with someone for quite a while, but have not been able to find a good referral. It doesn't feel right to go off of google reviews alone.

[Northern Flicker]

We’ve had State Farm auto insurance for about 25 years now.

Our family has totaled four cars during that time. Thankfully, no injuries except bruised egos.

Each claim has been settled quickly and at a very generous valuation.

I stopped “shopping” my car insurance years ago. State Farm for me!

Same experience here but 2 total losses not 4. Not sure what the OP means re: accident forgiveness. At fault accidents and moving violations affect rates for I believe 3 years at most companies.

[FreddieFIRE]

Same experience here but 2 total losses not 4. Not sure what the OP means re: accident forgiveness. At fault accidents and moving violations affect rates for I believe 3 years at most companies.

It means that the first at-fault accident will not affect renewal rates. My research suggests that State Farm is one of the only insurance companies that offers no form of accident forgiveness. That's okay if my rates are cheaper. Why should I pay for others to have accident claims every three years or so?

[Jack FFR1846]

If you have an Independent Insurance agent carry your insurance, they see way before you do when a company is raising rates and will have shopped for others long before you see rates rising. When your renewal approaches, they'll tell you that your best bet is to switch to XYZ company. Accident forgiveness? Who cares? I've had my Independent agent tell me that as my renewal is approaching that I should consider switching and that it will save me $xxxx.

I would love to see you switch to Geico as it will support the price of BRK, which I own. My son took the 15 minutes to check Geico when he was shopping for insurance for his first car. Did they save him 15%? No, they quoted a price 3 times as much as the Independent agent quoted.

Any advice on finding a good independent insurance agent? I have been wanting to meet with someone for quite a while, but have not been able to find a good referral. It doesn't feel right to go off of google reviews alone.

I don't know if all states are like mine (Massachusetts) where 80% of people buy through an Independent. If you want a referral, I go through Dowd who is in Westfield and Agawam. I would look for agencies who have long time people working there. My own agent has been there for at least 20 years that I can remember. There is an organization of Independent Agents whose present name I don't know. They used to be called PIAA and I remember because they used to own a building overlooking the starting line of the Boston Marathon in my home town and saw the sign every time I drove by.

[Vanguard User]

You must have left thousands of savings every year.

Thousands? I didn't even spend "thousands" to begin with.

You stuck with a single company for 40 years when you could have looked at few other companies so you could get a lower rate.

[FreddieFIRE]

You must have left thousands of savings every year.

Thousands? I didn't even spend "thousands" to begin with.

You stuck with a single company for 40 years when you could have looked at few other companies so you could get a lower rate.

How is that "thousands of savings every year?" Help me with the math here.

[Northern Flicker]

Same experience here but 2 total losses not 4. Not sure what the OP means re: accident forgiveness. At fault accidents and moving violations affect rates for I believe 3 years at most companies.

It means that the first at-fault accident will not affect renewal rates. My research suggests that State Farm is one of the only insurance companies that offers no form of accident forgiveness. That's okay if my rates are cheaper. Why should I pay for others to have accident claims every three years or so?

Also, when shopping rates be sure to look at the whole package of what you insure. Many companies, including State Farm, offer a discount for having both auto and homeowner's with them. And I think State Farm's umbrella policy premiums are among the lowest of anyone.

[Northern Flicker]

I don't know if all states are like mine (Massachusetts) where 80% of people buy through an Independent. If you want a referral, I go through Dowd who is in Westfield and Agawam. I would look for agencies who have long time people working there. My own agent has been there for at least 20 years that I can remember. There is an organization of Independent Agents whose present name I don't know. They used to be called PIAA and I remember because they used to own a building overlooking the starting line of the Boston Marathon in my home town and saw the sign every time I drove by.

Use of an independent agent is a reasonable strategy, but not the strategy I use. It would eliminate my three most preferred choices based on criteria other than price (State Farm, USAA, Amica). I generally just get quotes from those three when shopping rates.

[Vanguard User]

You must have left thousands of savings every year.

Thousands? I didn't even spend "thousands" to begin with.

You stuck with a single company for 40 years when you could have looked at few other companies so you could get a lower rate.

How is that "thousands of savings every year?" Help me with the math here.

For 40 years you paid same price. Other companies could have been cheaper premium.

[Katietsu]

Same experience here but 2 total losses not 4. Not sure what the OP means re: accident forgiveness. At fault accidents and moving violations affect rates for I believe 3 years at most companies.

It means that the first at-fault accident will not affect renewal rates. My research suggests that State Farm is one of the only insurance companies that offers no form of accident forgiveness. That's okay if my rates are cheaper. Why should I pay for others to have accident claims every three years or so?

This is not exactly true for me. State Farm will not increase my insurance if it has been at least X number of years since a chargeable accident for which State Farm paid out $X dollars. So they may not have accident forgiveness as a new customer, but once you have a certain number of clean years with them they meet. We have spaced our accidents out enough so that we have never lost our accident free discount despite a couple serious accidents.

[FreddieFIRE]

You must have left thousands of savings every year.

Thousands? I didn't even spend "thousands" to begin with.

You stuck with a single company for 40 years when you could have looked at few other companies so you could get a lower rate.

How is that "thousands of savings every year?" Help me with the math here.

For 40 years you paid same price. Other companies could have been cheaper premium.

Yes, but if I paid less than $1000 for many of those years, how could I have "left thousands of savings every year?"

[Vanguard User]

Thousands? I didn't even spend "thousands" to begin with.

You stuck with a single company for 40 years when you could have looked at few other companies so you could get a lower rate.

How is that "thousands of savings every year?" Help me with the math here.

For 40 years you paid same price. Other companies could have been cheaper premium.

Yes, but if I paid less than $1000 for many of those years, how could I have "left thousands of savings every year?"

Less than $1000 for what? Yearly premium?

[FreddieFIRE]

You stuck with a single company for 40 years when you could have looked at few other companies so you could get a lower rate.

How is that "thousands of savings every year?" Help me with the math here.

For 40 years you paid same price. Other companies could have been cheaper premium.

Yes, but if I paid less than $1000 for many of those years, how could I have "left thousands of savings every year?"

Less than $1000 for what? Yearly premium?

Yes, for many years.

{Unnecessary comment removed. Moderator Pops1860]

[chrischris]

Insurance is not all about premiums. When I need to make a claim, I don’t want poor service.

Your auto is $5 cheaper than mine through State Farm? Hope you are ok with used parts from a junk yard that your insurance company sends to their “preferred” (mandatory) shop you shouldn’t even trust to rotate your tires.

This is the time where others post they had great service from their discount providers. Glad you had good luck. I’m not willing to risk it.

I only insure assets I can’t afford to replace. If it’s insured, I want coverage I can count on.

[Vanguard User]

How is that "thousands of savings every year?" Help me with the math here.

For 40 years you paid same price. Other companies could have been cheaper premium.

Yes, but if I paid less than $1000 for many of those years, how could I have "left thousands of savings every year?"

Less than $1000 for what? Yearly premium?

Yes, for many years.

{Unnecessary comment removed. Moderator Pops1860]

My point was to shop around. I change every now and then and check for lower rates.

[Northern Flicker]

The lowest rate is often not the best deal.

[RJC]

Anyone on Erie? We just switched because our auto (Progressive) and home (Farmers) rates were spiraling up.

We live in the DC/MD/VA area.

[bradinsky]

We’ve been with Erie Insurance for about 20 years. Our agent is great & we’ve had 1 claim on our homeowners policy.

[LookinAround]

I've been with State Farm for 40+ years

Pros

• Auto claims have always been easy repairs and handled quickly
• Had one homeowner claim for about 5K. That was also easily handled. I uploaded estimates and photos of the damage. Talked with the estimator over the phone then reimbursement check in the mail

Cons
Recently had auto accident with a rental car while visiting family in AZ (I live in IL). Had to call their 800 number and use their phone menu sometimes for this case

• After going through their phone menu and waiting, almost always sent me to a medical claims person. I had no medical, just a collision claim (had to wait again to be transferred to someone else)
• Phone menu asks for first two digits of claim (must indicate your state). Would sometimes get someone who could handle claims in my home state but said they're not qualified for AZ where the accident actually occurred (had to wait to be transferred).
• Police and State Farm said accident was 100% other driver's fault. Other driver had State Farm as well. Took several calls to over 3 to 4 months to State Farm (including some by my agent) to get my deductible reimbursed. (I often had the answer "Someone will be following up with you in a week". No one ever did. Finally called and talked to someone at State Farm who looked at my file, said I was being shuffled around and said they'd take care of it. Got my check a week later

But that was my only bad experience with State Farm claims handling. I'm still sticking w/State Farm

[FreddieFIRE]

For 40 years you paid same price. Other companies could have been cheaper premium.

Yes, but if I paid less than $1000 for many of those years, how could I have "left thousands of savings every year?"

Less than $1000 for what? Yearly premium?

Yes, for many years.

{Unnecessary comment removed. Moderator Pops1860]

My point was to shop around. I change every now and then and check for lower rates.

Yes, and if you reread my OP you'll find that the very first sentence reads:

I'm shopping auto insurance for the first time in 40 years.

[Gash]

Remember, cheap insurance is only good until you need it.

I own several high end sports cars and called a handful of the top body shops throughout the country to ask who they prefer to work with. State Farm overwhelmingly received the top remarks, for both the consumer and for the body shop to work with.

The worst were Farmers, Travelers, and of course the Geico and Progressive types.

It's also important that I can walk into my local State Farm agents office if I ever need anything, rather than some random person at the end of an 800 number.

[Nowizard]

Six months ago, our vehicle insurance went up by 17%, and I shopped but found no better pricing when including home and umbrella in addition. Just received next six months invoice for a 2020 Highlander, and it was up an additional 5% per six months. Have been with State Farm for 50 years. Three years ago, priced with another insurance company for everything that appeared to have better pricing by approximately $1,200 overall. The details did not support the change when further evaluated. We have had excellent service with State Farm, including an actual reduction of charges in 1989 after installing an alarm system following a 20K+ claim for a burglary.

Tim

[Strayshot]

Another long term State Farm user. I have autos, home, and umbrella all with State Farm. Every time I shop around, the combination of my personal time to do the shopping and the competitiveness (low variance) between quotes has taught me its not worth the energy for what could be extremely minimal savings and the hassle to switch.
Some companies I refuse to use (Geico). Amica is extremely picky (probably a good thing for new customers but questionable how that would reflect on existing customers) and after getting a quote they mentioned they couldn’t insure me (even via the Costco relationship) because of a comprehensive claim (keyed car $900) that had happened within the prior 2 years of the quote.
Given my total for max auto plus home plus $5M umbrella coverage with State Farm is only around $3800 a year, I have decided there are bigger fish to fry vs regularly shopping auto insurance. If I am giving up $200 a year savings for the hassle so be it!

[Pops1860]

Reminder about forum policy on civility:

Discussions are about issues, not people. ....... At all times we must conduct ourselves in a respectful manner to other posters.

Thanks. Moderator Pops1860

[GettingComfortable]

Another long term State Farm user. I have autos, home, and umbrella all with State Farm.

Similar here; very happy with SF and my local rep. Renewals are in tens of dollars for my older vehicles; very low hundreds for the newer.

If you have the savings, drop comprehensive and collision when your vehicles get old. Before that, raise your deductible to a do-able level so that you don't make small claims, e.g., that $2000 for a deer above; it also greatly reduces your premiums. Investigate and pursue all potential discounts too, for all the policies.