AZ BS Thread 4²0

I appreciate it. Are we just supposed to bend over and take all of these price increases?.........not me. I will cancel my homeowners ins before I pay the increase. I t is not required to have homeowners ins. Car ins renewal up 20%, changed companies and down 10%. 3% credit card fees? I am an old retired guy who has time to shop around, it takes a lot of time which most people do not have. I remember my mother in the 70's complaining about inflation, I guess that is now me. Good grief.

 

I am real unfamiliar on the topic (and would like to learn more), but is part of the increase in costs the inevitable effect of two industries (in my limited experience) taking advantage of the system? Why does my brother get almost constant visits from people trying to replace his entire roof, on the insurances dime (minus deductible), after some non-extreme rain event? And why do I see signs all over Phoenix that tell me that I can receive $500 in cash for getting my windshield replaced by a certain company, again through insurance?

Is the temporary gain (new roof and $500 cash), via some loophole or simple exploitation, to blame for these longer term punishments in the form of substantially raised rates? Or is it simply truly just limited to inflation itself?

I personally use an insurance broker. My yearly cost has not increased more than a few percent over the past 3 years (count my lucky stars), so I can't relate to your pain. Hopefully the increase doesn't come knocking on my door any time soon.

 

From an auto side since that is the claims side I'm most familiar with but many of the principles are the same. Ultimately it's a multi pronged problem and this is a very general summary

Problem 1 claims costs vs premium dollar taken in. This is impacted buy a number of things. In recent years repair costs and used car values have significantly increased outpacing expected costs. Relating that to something we're familiar with that means having to pay 40k-42k for a total loss on a 3-4 year old Tacoma that a few years ago would have been 30-32k. Labor and repair/parts costs significantly increased as well more claims $$ out vs expected costs. In addition to property damages the represented rates have skyrocketed more people getting attorney for their injuries. This especially hurts minor to moderate soft tissue injuries where without an attorney the injured party may have 1-2 doctors visits maybe a few chiro treatments but once an attorney gets involved they significantly increase the care received for the sole purpose of inflating the case value

The other impact here is loss frequency how many losses occurred vs how many were expected.

Most carriers want to run a 1 to 1 value or slightly better meaning for every dollar of premium taken in a dollar goes out in paid claims. At the end of the day carriers make their profit off investment income

When those numbers drop to .9 to 1 .8 to 1 or worse that's when you start to see significant changes happen.

These changes happen in a few forms. First good carriers look at ways to cut internal expenses can process/efficiency be improved to bring that gap back to 1 to 1. If so make those changes and not pass on the increase to the consumer

2nd is look at underwriting new business and tighten underwriting guidelines example in the past maybe you accepted 2-3 prior claims or moving violations when writing a new policy but now you reduce that to accept only one prior incident for new business

3rd is premium increases passed on to the consumer to have premiums paid reflect realized claims cost and anticipated costs.

This is why it's so cyclical once the rate changes hit the carrier growth flows down they're writing more conservative risks. Eventually the numbers improve the carrier returns to growth phase and makes pricing and underwriting more open and aggressive.


This is where the consumer can benefit if your carrier is one of the ones to react first and increase prices before others then shop the rate if you find something better switch. Then when they react to the market changes shop again and maybe you find your original carrier is returning to the growth phase and pricing improved.

Sorry long winded post and in reality there's a million more things that can impact it like personal claims/violations impacting renewals. Changes in personal rating factors and individual carrier underwriting/rating scales etc

 

Thanks for sharing this with us.

 

Don't be loyal to insurance companies. Baffles me that people will stick with State Farm etc for years and years. Shop every time your renewal is approaching.

 

As my ex told me… Insurance companies are not in the business of loosing money.

 

Yeah. Without going down a political rabbit hole too far, the whole problem is that when Insurance policies are legally required, the product that the Insurance company is providing the consumer is the insurance card, not true protection.

 

Back east has been a shit-show for a couple of months. YOU need to pay for THEIR houses.

 

I used to believe this but have been treated extremely well by progressive for over a decade now. The few times I have shopped around they were the cheapest and continue to be. Their customer service is also second to none(think on shore people that dont have an accent and 24/7 live people to talk to) and the UI on their website and app is excellent. It probably helps having 3 houses 4 cars and a motorhome. They get a lot of money from me, that being said, if I shopped around every time I had a policy up for renewal it would be a full time job. Fuck that.

 

Well said. If you make a claim your rates are raised to cover the cost, either way you pay.

 

Having been an insurance agent back in the day (Allstate) and having filed claims under various insurance policies, there is definitely a difference in the way you are treated, your claim is handled, and if they are willing or not willing to do the right thing by the customer. All insurance companies are NOT the same. If you you want insurance just for having insurance (legal compliance only) then let price guide you, however, if you ever plan to get paid on a claim you need to be careful. So many cheap/shady companies out there and the reason they are cheap is because they deny every claim they can.

USAA is amazing BTW. Not the cheapest but just amazing in how they treat their customers.

 

Anyone an electrician? Know a guy? We need some 220v lines ran in the shop and the ole man wants it to be done by someone who knows what they are doing. We could handle it but it would take twice as long and I don't care to bother with it. Location off Power Rd. and the 60. Thanks

 

USA (which is underwritten through Progressive) has always treated us right for Auto,
Their CS always seems on your side, even when making a claim.

I've seen some internet rumors about their Homeowners not being great.
But we use them for everything.

F*CK GEICO, stay away from them

 

Glad I brought this up, now lets move on to taxes.

 

Always had good luck with Geico actually even with a couple of claims in the past Auto and Bikes. Last year my auto, 18 Taco and 14 Kia Soul, went up $600 a year, no clams in the last 8 years no tickets. Called to ask about it and they said that there was pretty much a company wide. Started shopping around and figured out the real reason, the fucking Kia of all things. I tried Progressive 1st and got an email back denying coverage because one of my vehicles is considered high theft risk. Apparently there is some internet challenge encouraging people to steal them and video it. They are supposedly on of the easiest modern vehicles to steal. I figure it was the Tacoma until I did some research. I just ended up staying with Geico because the rates for the Kia were either higher or the companies wouldn't even insure it. Their rates on the bikes has remained great.

 

This one is pretty simple. If you do it yourself, you are leaving TONS of money on the table. Find the most competent and aggressive accounting firm you can and make sure they squeeze every penny possible. It’s incredible how much money you can save, legally, if you are smart about it.

 

My father-in-law had two hail claims (roof) in the matter of few weeks, the second claim was right after they fixed the first. He also had two auto claims for hail that year with two newer vehicles almost totaled. USAA never batted an eye and he was taken care of before most neighbors insurance companies had an adjuster come out.

When I worked at Allstate they had a policy that if you had more that two claims in a year they would cancel you.

 

Maxx found the problem, lessons learned we’re getting closer to being back on the road.

 

Something is missing there!
Just weld it back on, Should be just fine!