Do I Need to Make a Hard Copy of Auto Policy?

[Guest]

You notice he never said that by doing it yourself you can't get a good policy with one of his preferred companies.

I'd be willing to be he is employed by Allstate.

Also, I challenged anyone to show me that my policy was deficient compared to a non-direct writer. Nobody bothered because when push comes to shover, they all have the same benefits.

Rick

Some versions of the Farmers policies now wont cover animal damage, I forget what the specifically call it, but if a critter crawls up in the engine compartment and chews up the wiring, Farmers will not cover it.

My question is how often does this happen to have to remove it from a policy?

In some states, Progressive is a named owner policy, meaning if you have high limits, and you loan your car to someone, the limits fall to state minimum.

Do in reality there are some MAJOR differences in auto policies, BUT I am not in your state so I cant comment.

I am sure we could post more "variances" in policies, but as you stated, auto insurance is simple and I dont feel like banging my head against the wall any longer.

My entire point this thread is I personally think being an insurance agent and not using an insurance agent is basically shitting on, including youself, all insurance agents.

I have no proballys with USAA, not heard many bad stories about them except of everytime i call, i get a different person.

heard lots of bad things about the lizard and a few others, but in reality, you WILL HEAR bad stories about ALL insurance companies.

 

[Sales71]

I am dealing with farmers on my own claim they are the worst so far they will not pay I am not a fault %100

 

[FullAuto]

So you're saying it would have been more fuel efficient? Awesome!

On a more serious note, what are you basing that on?

I'm basing it on my first hand experience. It's not uncommon for me to look at a car that has already been seen by another company's adjuster. If I see a claimant, maybe their adjuster was already there prior to us accepting liability or maybe just from scheduling. If it's our NI, it's usually because the other company accepted liability, gave them an estimate for a less than quality repair, it goes to the shop and the shop tells them to file on their own insurance and let us subrogate. Although I won't say they're the worst because it's possible I haven't seen all the little nickel and dime insurance companies and the independent adjusters can vary widely, I will say of the major players in the market that has staff adjusters, they perform the poorest repairs in the market by far. It's not even close. Don't take my word for it though. Ask the shops that do the repairs.

My weight comment was in reference to the type of parts they would have paid for to piece your car back together. Pick up an OEM fender in one hand an a aftermarket fender in the other. The A/M part will be lighter. Now aftermarket sheetmetal is commonly used to repair cars. That in itself isn't necessary bad. It's not as good as OEM, but it's not a "shady" repair. But that's considered the high end of the spectrum with the lizard. They do stuff that would get me fired every day. That's the way they do business though. Check your ethics at the door and don't let some stupid policy stop you from saving a buck. There is plenty of statistical data that shows the average repair costs for different carriers. Typically, an entire team in a market area within my company will vary +/- 10% on the extreme with most being +/- 3-%. Now in the same market when 4 of the 5 major carriers with staff adjusters have average repair costs within 10% and the 5th is sitting at >25% lower, what's that tell you?

You notice he never said that by doing it yourself you can't get a good policy with one of his preferred companies.

I'd be willing to be he is employed by Allstate.

Rick

It doesn't bother me if someone buys direct. I simply said all auto insurance is not the same. In fact, from my point of view, I'll even go the other direction with it. One of the main arguements from the agents is to have someone on your side to fight for you. To an extent, that's great, but it doesn't always help. I will occasionally get a call from an agent (with my company) complaining about how I wrote to repair our/their customer. If I was considering changing anything, I'm not anymore.

Personally, I use a local agent because I graduated high school with him and we're friends. But I own multiple homes and they're insured by multiple companies. I also own multiple cars that are insured by multiple companies. Most of my cars are with my friend. One of my cars I buy direct (or through some agent maybe that I have no idea where they are I guess - it's done online).

And I'll take that bet too.

 

[Josh]

@FullAuto: I totally got the weight comment, I was just pointing to the benefit

 

[GreenSky]

By the way, having OEM sheetmetal on your 2001 Honda Accord is probably a waste of everyones money. Not having to go get it off a car in the junkyard? Priceless!!!! Different carriers do this different ways.

Dan

It's a 2002! And if it's sheet metal from another car that was damaged elsewhere, why would I care? It's OEM.

And I wouldn't care if I needed a wing for my Mercedes if it came from another used one. I don't drive a new car; nobody does.

If you'd like to earn my business just contact me. I don't have to be with Wawanesa. They had the best prices I could find with the highest satisfaction rating from the DOI.

But - sheet metal is sheet metal. As long as it's the same thickness and quality, why would anyone care.

Rick

 

[djs]

Ironically, a lot of people care about the parts used on their car. Others realize the part that was damaged was used and using after market parts is okay.

The world goes around differently for different folks. Early on, I might have cared about the parts used to repair my Jaguar, now, well, as long as it looks correct I'd be okay.

Some after market parts don't fit right. Of course, turns out, some OEM parts don't fit right either due to small production changes or made on different lines and different assembly plants.

Dan
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Some versions of the Farmers policies now wont cover animal damage, I forget what the specifically call it, but if a critter crawls up in the engine compartment and chews up the wiring, Farmers will not cover it.

You should keep up with the competition. Farmers changed their policy (earlier this year?) to have all perils comp coverage so it would be covered now.

I think they were in a bit of a hard spot when they had a commercial about a bear attacking a car when their own policy wouldn't cover the damage. I don't remember the real details here, just heard the story.

Dan

 

[FullAuto]

But - sheet metal is sheet metal. As long as it's the same thickness and quality, why would anyone care.

Thickness, fitment and overall quality are the main differences from OEM to aftermarket. But I'm with you on the recycled parts. I'd much rather have a used OEM part. All cars run on used parts.

The shady stuff IMO is when they buy aftermarket safety items. I have to pay $200 for an OEM impact absorber (big piece of styrofoam) and some other carriers pay $30. The problem is they aren't the exact same material and most modern cars use the density of the impact absorber for their calculations in airbag timing. It's the same thing with OEM vs. A/M reinforcement bars. That's the type of stuff that will turn into a class action lawsuit.

 

[Sales71]

My x5 needs a new windshield I would like a new BMW one the ins company said they will put it on the notes for the glass company not sure if I will get one with my company.