Personal Finance

Amazing Customer Service Experience Progressive Group Auto I would not normally advertise for a company but I have recently had a re...

Final Verdict is in: Thumbs Up! USAA Group Auto We had been with USAA for four years for all our insurance needs -- home, l...

I like having all my insurance with one company, so we had Farmers ins. for 35 years. But the service got worse and worse and the rates just kept climbing especially on our cars. When we sold one home and bought another in 2003, I had just paid a year’s premium the end of April. We closed on our home in June and I applied for a refund. Keep in mind that our previous home had only been insured for 45 days of the yearly premium. When I finally got a refund, (and I had to fight for that), the company kept almost half the annual premium…for 45 days coverage!

Finally in 2004, fed up with their rate increases I started hunting for a new company. We live in a sparsely populated area and have limited access to everything including insurance companies. Progressive seemed to offer the coverage that I wanted and they were considerably cheaper than Farmers for the same coverage. I wasn’t happy that I didn’t have a specific agent, just a name at the end of the phone line, but I decided for the reduced rate, I’d live with it. And they gave me the option of paying online or by check which I liked. (The do paper you to death when a premium is due however.) We opted to pay our coverage every 6 months since we got a discount for doing so. I was disappointed that I couldn’t get homeowners with them, but their coverage and rates sounded so good, I decided I could live with it.

I was happy with them until I needed my windshield repaired from a rock chip. The glass place flatly refused to deal with Progressive and would only fix my windshield if I paid cash. He said they were very slow to pay and he couldn’t afford to carry them on his books until they did. The cost was nominal so I never did turn it in on my insurance. (We have since found out that other places here don’t like to deal with them either for the same reason.)

I was still pretty happy until I got my second premium notice. My insurance had gone up 20% with no explanation and we’d made no claims. That seemed to be the pattern from then on. Every premium was higher than the one before and in the 4 years we’ve had Progressive, we’ve never made a claim. We have an old pickup as well as 2 new ones and the first of 2008, the rate for the old one, jumped up significantly. A call to Progressive resulted in a lot of double talk…she told us the cost for the old pickup went up because we have the new ones. What????

In February, my husband got a speeding ticket. It was the first ticket he’s ever had in his life and in retrospect, he should have plead not guilty but 20/20 hindsight. He was coming down a hill into town and was right at the sign where the speed limit changes. He was given a ticket for going 40 in a 30. We considered fighting it, but the cost of a lawyer was prohibitive and we were assured it would not affect our insurance rates since my husband wasn’t going 15 or more miles over the speed limit. HA! When I got my premium notice in May, I discovered that ticket had raised our insurance rate 50%! I called Progressive and pointed out that he’d never had a ticket and we’d never made a claim and I thought the increase was far too high considering. I was told I could appeal the rate change but they rarely reversed a decision. As it turned out she was right.

So now I’m insurance shopping again.

The All In One Auto Insurance Liberty Mutual Insurance Group Auto A couple years ago I got a letter from my bank offering a discount for usin...

Stop your research here. Move to the next company. Hartford Insurance Group Auto Simply stated -- this company does not provide the best rates or customer s...

Watch Out if you have an accident!! Wawanesa Auto We had Wawa for our home and all of our autos. Then our teen started drivin...

Geico: A caveman probably COULD do it! GEICO Direct I was clearing out my e-mail inbox this morning and *panicked* when I notic...

Banking the Friendly Way Community America Credit Union Community America Credit Union is a "member owned" credit union. The ads I ...

Associated Bank, I Have Had Enough! Associated Bank Address: 401 East Kilbourn Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53202 Number of Branches: 56 ...

Satisfied Washington Mutual Customer for 12 Years Washington Mutual