I have been a State Farm customer for almost 40 years. I recently was in my first serious automobile accident where the repair costs are around $25,000. State Farm has been hellish to work with and dragged even just the start of repairs out two months. It’s not over yet, but it’s pretty clear I’m gonna end up having to pay a pretty good chunk of that out-of-pocket. The body shop tells me that most namebrand insurance companies are difficult to work with. He suggested one of the high-end brands like Chubb or Pure. The more I think about it it seems like I could go with a low rate company and for that once every 25 year incident just pay for the repairs myself. As long as I have injuries and liability covered, it feels like I would come out even. My question is this. Should I go with a different company that is more white glove service like Chubb? Or should I find some cut rate company where I at least know up front I’m going to have to pay out-of-pocket for an repairs like this but save money and headache in the long run? Or should I just stay in the middle with SF? FYI, I do have good umbrella coverage too.

Hi all. I recently leased a new car because the used car market was so atrocious in my area it was cheaper to go this route (context: they want full coverage so it's more expensive than the baseline cheapest policy I can otherwise get in NYS, the insurance checks on the used cars I found were comparable). My monthly rate is 500$/month w/ Progressive. Which is way more than the damn car. I'm a new driver, female, 24 (FML). I understand being young and new is whatever but 500$?? This was the cheapest my agent could find but I really want to shop elsewhere and look around before the next insurance renewal rolls up.

A few weeks ago I was rear ended at a complete stop. Had dashcam footage, etc. so all set there. I subrogated through my insurance and got my car fixed, etc. That is done. My adjuster said a diminished value claim would have to be made directly with the other party's insurance, Tesla Insurance in this case, however. I got the information of the Tesla adjuster - just a name and phone number. He doesn't answer calls and his voicemail is full. He also does not answer texts. I am wondering what next steps could be - I suppose I could file a small claims case for the diminished value to get things moving. It has been a while. I was hit in a brand new, high value sports car with a few hundred miles so I am *very* keen on pursuing diminished value.

Currently have State Farm (been with them for 12+ years), and just learned that the defensive driving and good grades no longer available for teen drivers. Just the defensive driving and steer clear. Is that the new norm for insurance companies? Trying to obtain as many discounts for my teen driver that he could be available for. Didn't know if it was time to shop around!?!? ETA: Next best option to shop around to? State Farm was pretty reasonable when I added him, and has been good to work with. Bummed about the news.

I have auto through the lizard. Long story, so I apologize in advance. In May, I bought a new car, and wanted to add my husband and the new car so we would all be on one policy. I didn’t know that I wasn’t supposed to cancel my policy and make a new one, but that’s what ended up happening. I called them and asked if they could reinstate my old policy and add the 2. A supervisor got the approval to do it and transferred me to a lady in a department I’m not sure of. That lady told me I should keep the new policy because it is cheaper. I asked if both policies were exactly the same. She went line by line and confirmed they both had the same coverage. I asked why the new policy was cheaper if they were exactly the same. She told a story about how each policy is owned by different companies and they set their own rules of how they want to handle it. I said, well if you’re saying they’re exactly the same, I guess I’ll keep the new one then but only because you confirmed they were the same coverage. She was typing the whole time and said she was writing the notes in an email. Fast forward to July, the first car (not the new one) got struck by lightning and I tried to file a claim. They told me I didn’t have comprehensive or collision and refused to help. I tried having supervisors try to locate the recording of the phone call with that lady, or find an email or transcript that showed the full conversation. They are saying it doesn’t exist, and there is no recording of it at all. If they could find it, they could retroactively fix the comprehensive and I could continue with the claim. Supervisors also have said that manager level and above calls don’t get recorded. Is there anything I can do at this point? I know they record everything, but they are saying it doesn’t exist. I don’t know what else I can do.

Before I contact them does anyone know why I could get a 42% increase in cost at renewal? I've been with them for over a decade! I had one claim this year because lost control of car in snow storm and hit a pole. My rate went up by $11 a month(which I understood) but a crazy rate increase at renewal is new to me! Is this normal??

Hiya, I adopted a kitty from my local shelter a few days ago knowing he has gingivitis and needs a dental cleaning and possible extractions which I will cover out of pocket. The more I dig into the plan the shelter pushed through Fetch, the more I’m realizing Fetch feels like an elaborate scam. I’m looking at switching to Spot as it’s one of the companies that claims they will cover curable pre-existing conditions if there’s been no occurrence/need for treatment for 180 days. Has anyone gone through this with Spot and can you confirm that they did start covering a condition after that 180 day period, or did they find a way out of it? Any other companies you would recommend that are good for this? He’s only a year old, the vet is hopeful we can get it fully treated and cured but of course there’s no way of knowing for sure.

What are y’all thinking of doing- keep Healthy Paws for now if your premium hasn’t yet increased or cancel it now before you continue to give them money each month and they have a chance to ridiculously raise your premium in a year or two? I’ve had them as an insurer for two years. My golden retriever just turned 7. I know, these pet insurance companies get you bc it’s so hard to get new insurance for older dogs. I’m hesitant to continue giving a company my money if they treat their clients this way. The amount of premiums I’ve seen posted here in recent months is alarming.

This is a bit lengthy, but I would genuinely appreciate help figuring out this (apparently) complex and unusual situation. My car was parked in a spot next to my house when it was damaged by a van. I happen to have video showing the entire thing, and there is no question that the door of the other vehicle caused the damage - police and insurance company have made that determination. Seems simple enough BUT my insurance company is suddenly all flippy floppy over who is at fault. The van, which was disabled, was unloaded from a tow truck. While the owner of the van pushed the vehicle, the tow truck driver steered the van backwards from the bed of the truck into the parking spot next to mine. While he is steering and looking over his shoulder, the van’s driver’s door is open and grinds into the rear side of my car. Both of them pause when the door hits my car, looking at each other like “whoops… let’s pretend that didn’t happen”. Neither of them notice my camera, and they do no leave a note or contact the police. That is super rude and illegal, but not likely relevant to this post. So, Henrico (VA) Police Officer files a report and says the tow truck driver is at fault. I assumed the owner of the van would be responsible, but two friends of mine who are attorneys also believe the tow company is responsible. When I contacted the towing company, they sent someone out who said they weren’t admitting fault, but if the company’s owner reviewed the video and saw that what I told them is indeed what happened, they would prefer to pay out of pocket rather than go through insurance. Not once did they say anything about it possibly being the van owner’s responsibility. My initial communication with my insurance company supported what everyone else said: the towing company is responsible. Their next step was to contact them and get their insurance information. After not hearing back from them for several weeks, I called this afternoon and asked for an update. The first person I spoke with said it looked like my adjuster had only done one thing since my claim was filed: type a note stating the towing company uses the same auto insurance company that I do. She looked through all of the evidence I’d submitted and, after viewing the video, she said she didn’t understand why this had not already been resolved. She then gave me the phone number for my adjuster’s manager. I get ahold of the manager and I asked her to please let me know what’s going on, and if there was at least a new claim against the towing company in motion. She said “I think this needs to go through the van owner’s insurance. The tow company’s insurance isn’t going to pay this claim”. She said she’ll call me when she’s had time to thoroughly review the claim. I would love thoughts from anyone who has worked in auto insurance, has had a similar experience, is a professional or recreational attorney, loves deciphering motor and insurance laws, or is just hella good at navigating these issues. *I’m in Virginia*

Location, North Carolina Our family has a marketplace health plan with Blue Cross. It includes free dental for children under 18. I bought a marketplace dental insurance for my husband and I but didn’t include the kids because they had the free dental on the health plan. I have been trying to make dental appointments for the kids, and of course, there is a very limited number of dentists on the list that are in network. I have called a couple to make appointments and I keep getting told the same story. Blue Cross completely ghosts the dental office when they try to submit claims so the dentists won’t bother billing them anymore. If I had known this, I would have just added the kids to the dental policy I purchased for my husband and myself. Of course open enrollment is over so it’s too late now and they haven’t really had a change in circumstance except that their coverage only exists on paper and is impossible to use. Now my only option is to pay out-of-pocket for their dental care. Anyone else experienced this? What are my options?