anyone know a decent homeowners insurance company?

[RepublicanElephant]

preferably, one that doesn't contribute big to the gop?

[lectrobyte]

1. An insurance company that doesn't suck? I guess it's possible. I

hear good things about Progressive, probably check buyblue.org for others.

[aintitfunny]

4. Progressive - not so good

I work with body shops and they think Progressive is one of the worst. http://www.buyblue.org/node/1685/view/summary
The link is to Buy Blue's info on Progressive - look at the donations - 3mm to Repubs and 100K to dems, a little lopsided.

[curlyred]

5. that's 3 million to Dems - your numbers are reversed

And i don't think Progessive does homeowners anyway.

[aintitfunny]

10. Damn, I read it backwards -

Now I really have a dilemma - my customers do have viable complaints about their practices.

[yellowcanine]

2. Actually they are all pretty good until you actually have a claim. Then

they pay the claim and drop you like a hot rock.

[napi21]

6. We have Guide1, which is a spinoff of Progressive.

They were very good 3 years ago when my husband totaled our car. The agent has bee very nice, and helped us with things he could easily have just said no. They didn't say anything about dropping us either. The ins went up about $20 every 6 months, but I actually expected it to be a lot more than that.

[regnaD kciN]

9. But that's auto, not home...

The home market is completely different. I also suspect that it is being affected by fallout from Katrina -- insurers took a beating on that, and so they're protecting themselves by only covering "sure things."

In my case, my loss history only netted me a surcharge on my premium on last year's policy, with a note attached that the surcharge would be removed if I went the next three years without a claim. This year, even though I hadn't filed any additional claims, they simply decided not to renew my policy on the grounds of the very same loss history. And virtually ever major competitor refused me coverage on the same grounds. :shrug:

[regnaD kciN]

7. You can say that again...

The same thing just happened to me...and virtually no insurance company would offer coverage due to "loss history." (It looks like we finally found one, but they're charging 50% more than my old policy. The only alternative would be "last resort" coverage, which would cost just about as much, only insure against fire, and not offer replacement-cost coverage. :grr: )

The fact is, insurance is a racket...the point is to collect as much as possible in premiums while paying out as little as possible in claims. It's what you get under a "capitalist dream" system, where even essential services are governed by the principle of maximizing profit. :-(

[Dora]

3. We've been very happy with Amica.

Their rep was very helpful when we bought our house and had to purchase a policy, but were having lots of problems with other insurance companies. He was informative, available, and prompt. This was at a time when buying insurance in Texas was nearly impossible to do. They also send us an annual dividend check, which I think is almost unheard of with other companies.

I looked them up on opensecrets.org to check their political contributions - only one $500 donation to the RNC several years ago, and no other activity.

Did I say we've been very happy with Amica? Really, I think they're a good company. http://www.amica.com/

[liam_laddie]

14. AMICA...yes!

I can verify Dora's recommendation. They operate with company offices, not through
agents (no "hidden" commissions). There are usually a few offices in each state they
operate in with 800 #'s. You have a choice of "dividend" or "non-" premium schedules.
The "dividend" type means you've basically lent them an extra bit over the year, which
they return, somewhat based on their investment success. I have auto and HO with
them, as do my daughters. Excellent company, IMO.

[Tesha]

17. AMICA is a mutual company. That is, as a policyholder, you own AMICA.

IIRC, AMICA is a mutual company. That is, as a policyholder, you own a
share of AMICA so they don't have any conflict between the interests of
their policyholders and their shareholders.

At the end of each year, depending on how many insurance losses they
incurred over the year, they send a rebate check out to their policyholders.
It varies depending on the type of insurance (auto, homeowner, etc.) but
tends to run about 25% of your annual premium. That is, their premiums
paid-in may seem a bit high, but the rebate check cuts that down a lot
for most years.

Tesha

[Phx_Dem]

8. USAA nt

[silverlib]

11. United American...

I have a wonderful rep and had good roof coverage and car coverage from hail damage a couple of years back.

They took me on when Farmer's cancelled when they stopped writing home coverage in Texas for a while due to the mold issues.

edit to say my rep is not a Bush supporter

[I_Make_Mistakes]

12. I don't know if you have a triple A membership, but they have the

best auto/homeowner (HO6, for me) in my area. When I bought my car in 1998 in NJ, my Prudential agent wanted $2,200., with an accident, ticket free record. AAA was $1,200 and $100 to $200 less on HO, with the combination discount!

[roguevalley]

13. We have safeco. I don't know. I like their local agent.

[Rosemary2205]

15. Our car and house are State Farm

We had car with them for almost 20 years. First claim ever - had a car catch fire 2 yrs ago and totalled - they paid and did not raise the rates. 2 newish vehicles in Metro Atlanta costing us about $130 a month We added home last year. 2 months later a pine tree limb from the woods behind us shishkabob the house. We never had a single problem and no rate hike. About $420 a year premium on a 20 yr old $130,000 house with no previous claims on it.

20 something neice/husband with 3 car claims in 4 years and 1 house claim after just 1 year in the house live in cancel city and have a difficult time of it.

In my experience - older stable sorts with long histories of no claims get treated better when there is a claim than youngsters with claim after claim.

[librechik]

16. there aren't any

they all exist to deny your first claim and then boost your deductibles and payments thru the roof. It's just one of those "Isn't America Great?" things.

[MercutioATC]

18. Dunno about their politics, but Nationwide has been GREAT to me.

A lot depends on your agent. I'd never buy insurance from a company that didn't have agents I could meet in person.