Advice on home/auto insurance in TX (Austin, Howe: sales, rental)

[looking2tex]

Hello all,

We have been State Farm customers for decades, but are soon moving to the RR/Pville area.
My agent suggested I call a local agent to change it over and keep any multi line discounts and stuff. However I thought it also might be wise to shop around and see what you recommend.
I know the regulations in Tx are quite different from the ones we have here, so any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[10scoachrick]

Watkins Insurance is the largest independent agency in the area. They can shop for rates and coverages among the companies they represent. They helped us four years ago when we moved to the area, worked the numbers for us two years ago to save money and get better coverage and recently reviewed our home and auto coverage to make sure we are still with the right folks.

I honestly don't think there is a benefit to your staying with your longtime insurer, unless they happen to have the best rates and coverages here in Texas. Certainly no harm in shopping around since you need new coverage anyway. Watkins can do all the 'leg work' for you with just one phone call or visit. This is our contact at Watkins, but any advisor can help you:
Megan Wilkie
MWilkie@WatkinsInsuranceGroup.com
512-637-4185 (direct to desk)

[scm53]

If you are eligible, you cannot beat USAA - for rates, service, or the annual dividend they pay as a cooperative.

They greatly expanded their membership eligibility in 2009. It could be worth checking their new requirements, even if you weren't eligible in the past.

https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/why_...legacyPassDown

[EzPeterson]

State Farm will deliver great Auto rates in Austin, but the HO rates are mediocre at best, and their coverage form is getting more limited each year, and their rates are on the rise! USAA has great auto rates if you're eligible, and their service is the best in the industry, but their HO product does leave some to be desired, particularly if you're in PC 5-9, which a good portion of RR/Pf are.

Many insurers in Austin (and TX as a whole) have taken a real beating in weather-related claims over the past 3-4 years. I would strongly recommend calling a couple of Independent Agents to shop you complete package - those "package" discounts are often not as good as they seem to be. Quite regularly, we split folks' coverages between carriers and save them significant $$.

[Idlewile]

We got quotes from State Farm, Traveler's and also went through a broker for HO and I was really surprised (but pleased) that none were close in price or coverage to USAA. Granted we have Auto through them already and a bunch of other things. I should add that, in all honestly, I really thought we could get cheaper (putting the stellar customer service aside) since I had heard others say that USAA isn't as competitive on HO but, again, it was $25 cheaper than the next lowest annual quote and offered gobs more coverage than all of them.

As far auto - if you have have access to USAA - you'd be crazy not to go with them 100% of the time for the unparalleled coverage, for the lowest price, and THE gold standard in customer service. (And the free money in the form of a dividend every year is really nice too.)

[motherofthree]

I just left USAA after being with them for years. Their HO renewal rate was $1800/year. I called around and everyone else was quoting $1000 - $1400. They do have great customer service but they had increased my rates $400 in 2 years. Their auto rates were about the same as the other companies.

[escanlan]

Originally Posted by looking2tex

Hello all,

We have been State Farm customers for decades, but are soon moving to the RR/Pville area.
My agent suggested I call a local agent to change it over and keep any multi line discounts and stuff. However I thought it also might be wise to shop around and see what you recommend.
I know the regulations in Tx are quite different from the ones we have here, so any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks in advance.

As others have pointed out you should be calling independent insurance Agents and having them quote your rates. They have access to multiple carriers and can obtain good prices for you. One piece of advice though on independent Agents don't shop just one but go to several. Each independent Agent has their multiple sources they obtain quotes from but they don't all necessarily obtain quotes from all of the same providers. You might miss on a great deal if you go to just one independent Agent.

Another item you should be aware of is the Texas Department of Insurance WEB site at Texas Department of Insurance Home Page. On their site they have a great deal of information regarding homeowners and auto insurance. Also on that site is a link to a rate and coverage comparison tool at helpinsure.com which can be found on the TDI page Price Comparisons/Rate Guides. All admitted carriers are required to file their rates and this tool will help you obtain a general idea of their rates as well as what their coverages are by policy type. Be very, very careful about knowing the various coverages especially in the homeowners policies. One type policy can have varied coverage from one provider to another and these charts can give you a general idea of that.

Good luck on the insurance search!

[OpenD]

In my experience, any policy through an agent will cost you more than a similar policy through a company without agents, like GEICO and Progressive. After all, the agent has to earn a commission on top of the cost of the insurance, right?

Used to be the agentless companies didn't provide competitive customer service, but in some cases today it's actually the opposite.

[TexasHorseLady]

We used to go the independent agent route, and then we found Germania. We use them for our home insurance (home and rental property), our farm insurance, and our auto insurance, are looking at getting life insurance through them, and if they offered health insurance I'd be signing up for that, too.

They're a Texas only company, and you're not a customer, you're a member. As one of the insurance agents who called us after we bought our home said, before hanging up like all the rest when we said "Germania", "They're a different breed of cat."

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by OpenD

In my experience, any policy through an agent will cost you more than a similar policy through a company without agents, like GEICO and Progressive. After all, the agent has to earn a commission on top of the cost of the insurance, right?

Used to be the agentless companies didn't provide competitive customer service, but in some cases today it's actually the opposite.

I don't believe the 'commission' is added to the cost of the insurance. We rec'd our 'special' AARP "discount" offer from one insurer and it was exactly the same price as going through the agency. In theory, these outside 'sales forces' bring in incremental customers, over an above those the salaried and commissioned in-house sales force would handle.

By the bye, in Georgia, our Progressive insurance was handled by an agency. We used that same agent to find us new insurance when the Progressive premiums went up significantly(apparently the SR22 business was driving up premiums for us 'safer' folk ). Progressive went from a low-risk, low-premium insurer to a high-risk, higher premium insurer. Not sure how that worked out for them in Georgia.