AARP/Hartford doubles our Insurance rates

[winnietrey]

We have no tickets no accidents. Hartford's new offer is twice what it was last year.

I called, I spoke to their rep, he just says and does, what he is told, I get that. He blamed it on the wild fires in WA, 2 years ago.



Just very disappointed with Hartford.

[RAS43]

Glad it worked out for you. However, if an insurance company did that to me they would loose my business. Oh wait, Hartford did something similar and I cancelled them.

[winnietrey]

Update, and perhaps some useful info, for Hartford policy holders.

Hartford has rolled our rates to pretty much what they were last year. I am happy with that. I spent a good deal of time shopping for new insurance. Painful experience as we all know. End of the day I could not beat Hartford.

My tip is this, when I called to inquire why they had doubled our rates, the phone answers had no explanation that was believable.

When I asked if perhaps a mistake had been made and would they review it, the answer was no. When I asked if I could speak to someone higher up the answer was no. Apparently the folks who answer the phones have their marching orders and a script to follow.

So I e-mailed their consumer affairs division, received an e-mail back that yes a mistake was made. They were correcting it and going back to pretty much last years rate.

So what I learned is, if you have rate questions with Hartford, calling would be of little use. (at least in my case it was). Contacting their consumer affairs division would seem to be the way to go.

[NYCgrrl]

Sorry to hear of your woes. Chubb's packages all my insurance needs and Hartford is part of it; no excessive premium costs on my end but it might be due to the fact I prepay my insurance on a biennial umbrella policy.

[Grit_dog]

Doesn't matter who you sign with really. In the end they are all crooks and only out for a profit. (Not unlike us, we don't go to work for free.)
Shop around and I do not really believe one is better than the other.
I've been burned or seen it by several top tier companies. State Farm, Allstate and AAA to name a few.
I've also heard of folks getting hosed by companies that I've had good luck with either in the past or currently.
Insurance is a game, not an absolute. Once your comfortable, they are going to mess with you. If they don't have a "good" reason to raise rates like a claim against your policy, eventually it'll catch up that you're getting a "bargain" and you'll get jacked.
It's just how it is.
I'm sure there's a select few that could refute this and never had a bad insurance experience but those will be few and far between.

[Homer1]

Dog trainer X 2

[Dog_Trainer]

In The old days we had an agent that represented several companies. Each year he would come to the house and sit and go over different insurance options. Throughout the years I would imagine he saved us both money and leg work. Today we have to do our own research and leg work of course the internet helps a bunch with that but I still shop it each 6-12 months for the best rates. As mentioned we are just numbers and statistics that add to the insurance companies bottom line. As they have no allegiance to me they will find no loyalty from me. The best coverage at the best price is where we are.

[winnietrey]

delete

[wa8yxm]

Two comments. The second is advice. the first is background. Got this from AAA-Michigan of all folks.

Most insurance companies do not carry their own liability, they re-sell your policy to a larger "Re-Insurance" company.. Well if for any reason the company you sign with takes a major hit (You said they mentioned some fires) their rates with the Re-Insurers go up, so your rates go up.. Is this fair.. Well I'm not going to discuss that but I will give you some advice.

I have often said that in this life there are many questions. Now some of them are fairly simple.. Like, How much more range will you get if you increase the antenna gain by 3DB? (3DB = 2x the power and the loss over distance is the square of the increase so the answer is teh square root of 2 or 1.414 times as much range). You find that in Science and math books.

But life also has Difficult questions.. You don't find those answers in School books.. You find them in one or both of two places.. Your favorite Holy Book (Bible in my case) and the Music Store.

For the question it's in the Music Store.

My Mamma Told Me... To Do the SHOP AROUND

(Hopefully you are now remembering a dang good song)

IT's time to shp around.. And by all means do not forget AAA. you may not end up signing with them but you might be surprised.. I'm with Nationwide for the RV and Liberty Mutual for the car.. I have issues with Nationwide but for now will keep them... I may change later (I kind of like Liberty Mutual but ... I belong to a "Group" that gets me a discount (Job related) I had a very large employeer. One of the 2 biggest in the state.

[Homer1]

Insurance companies do not mind a death settlement, it is a one time deal and over for ever. They hate personal injury claims where they have much greater exposure. A lot of insurance company expense is generated by bonuses, huge conventions always in some very expensive locality, where food and booze flows in an endless river. I was part of that scene for a few years.

[RollandB]

Just watched a news segment on the Today show this morning. It showed the use of smart phone apps, things like mapping apps, snap chat, and others, along with a significant increase in the fatalities. Some of the insurance rate changes you might be able to mitigate by jumping ship and getting a low ball rate for changing, but in the end, the cost of claims, deaths, etc is why rates change on a steady basis.

[Homer1]

Don't stay with any insurance company more than a couple of years. You can do better by shopping around.

[RAS43]

Cloud Dancer wrote:
I cancelled all my Hartford policies. It would take time for me to offer you my story, and I don't want to give them more of my time. Besides, I'm sure I would sound like a big whiner.

You're not a whiner to me. Had the same experience with Hartford and AARP/Hartford was worse(and higher). Now I use an independent agent and let them do the shopping and if I don't like the quote I tell them to look further. Never had a problem doing this or filing a claim.

[Arcamper]

State Farm tacked $400 to my homeowners because we did not have any fire hydrants on our road. Fast forward 5 years when the county put in a new water line I went to them and got them to issue a variance to put a hydrant in my yard. Went back to State Farm ready for a discount and was told "We use a different fire rating system now so that does not matter" What a bunch of you know what.

[B_O__Plenty]

Switched to Hartford a few years ago. My rates have been going up every year. Now I just had my first claim with them. Took them 7 days to approve a small Comprehensive claim resulting from a deer hit. Kept getting one excuse after another as to why it wasn't approved. My last call I said the next call would be from a lawyer, doubt that it mattered but it suddenly got approved. Worst service I ever had anywhere. I'm done with that crappy outfit....

B.O.