Hey all, I need some input asap. I am debating between Subaru's advertised Liberty Mutual Insurance versus State Farm. I've read some bad reviews of claims procedures for both companies, but would like some input from people here that have the insurance. State Farm will actually be about 200 dollars cheaper per year. Thanks for any input. I need to decide asap as my policy is up for renewal. Please post both good and bad.

Go with whoever you want. State Farm is as good as anyone else, but use your "info" wisely. Allot of stories you hear don't contain the complete picture. Find an Agent you trust (there are lots of them, and like all people, some may work with you more than others). It's supposed to be about the service and meeting reasonable expectations of the clients. Sometimes the ball gets dropped and it isn't supposed to.

I've worked for them for almost 30 years, although not in auto claims, and my wife is an agent in the Sacramento area.

Check Geico before you buy the Insurance. I found out it was $300.00 cheaper every 6 months ( even more if you were in the Military)

I had a bad experience with Liberty Mutual over some money they charged me that shouldent have been charged.

I have Farmers. I have been paying too much for a while now.

I shopped Geico, Progressive, and AIS and I got the lowest rate I could find.

Next I called to cancel my Farmers policy. After he asked me why he next matched the lowest rate I found.

So far so good.

Something else, if you threaten to go to another insurance co. they say "ok sorry to see you go" and that's it, but if you call to cancel and remain civil then they are eager to work with you.


Drew,

I had great experience with Liberty Mutual.
I hit a tire on the highway at night going 65 m/h when my car didn't even have 1000 miles on it. :mad:
$7000 dollars of damage!!!
Liberty handled my claim perfectly.
And when it came time to renew, they didn't raise my premium.
So, I highly recommend Liberty Mutual, had them for three years with my wife, been in a couple of minor accidents with another car, they always do a great job handling claims.
As for the price, I shopped around a lot when looking for insurance and Liberty gave me the best rate out of major ins. companies

I have Farmers. I have been paying too much for a while now.

I shopped Geico, Progressive, and AIS and I got the lowest rate I could find.

Next I called to cancel my Farmers policy. After he asked me why he next matched the lowest rate I found.

So far so good.

Something else, if you threaten to go to another insurance co. they say "ok sorry to see you go" and that's it, but if you call to cancel and remain civil then they are eager to work with you.


Drew,

Nothing but bad experience with State Farm - both times they have been fixing my car (both times they were the other persons insurer - accidents weren't my fault) they push really really really hard for non-oem and used parts, which gets annoying after a while - the one time I tried to get insured with them, we were purchasing a house and trying to write multiple policies with the same company for the discounts (we had Geico at the time... they are good, but have a dark side which I would avoid) - even though I had no at-fault accidents on my record (my insurance companies have not had to pay a cent out on me for over 15 years), and a clean driving record (no tickets in 3 yrs at the time) they said I was un-insurable... gotta love that..

I have Farmers now, and have nothing but good things to say about them - got hit by an uninsured motorist after having my car for a month or so (less than 1000 miles) and they took excellent care of me. I had Liberty Mutual way back when I lived in MA, and had no complaints there, either (but that was over 15 yrs ago, so they may have changed)

Farmers is definitely not the cheapest out there, but there rates are competitive, and you really get what you pay for when you need it.

Wow. Sorry to hear about your experience with State Farm. So far, they've been great to me and my wife. I shopped around and they were the cheapest. Last week, somebody took a corner too fast and hit the rear quarter panel on my wife's parked Camry. Total damage: $4265.00! The driver was very apologetic (heck, he didn't have a license or insurance). The driver's mother paid our deductible the same day ($1000.00) State Farm called the next day and told us everything would be taken care of. As for using aftermarket parts, I don't know about that. I'll found out at the end of this week.

Now, Talro Auto Insurance is a company to avoid. They suck like a $500 whore. They're the reason I refuse to deal with any small insurance company. My wife was driving the Camry 2 winters ago and was struck on the driver's side by a pickup truck. We took the car to a shop that Talro referred us to. It was a small, crappy-looking place. Talro didn't pay them for over a month. By the time everything was done, 2 months had passed. During that time, we had to rent a car so the rental bill came out to almost $2000 of which $500 was reimbursed by Talro. Obviously, we were pissed since it was Talro's fault that the car was in the shop so long. A few months ago, Talro hired some lawyers to get their money back from the other driver's insurance. They told my wife she had to testify but didn't reimburse her for her time or even for parking. I don't even know why they bothered to take the case to court since their lawyers probably cost more than the damage to the car. Sorry for the long rant.

I've used Liberty Mutual in the past and recently went back to them after getting that letter from Subaru. They gave me the lowest rate on both my auto and house insurance, plus a discount for having both with them. I've only had one minor fender-bender but they handled that very professionally.

Nothing but great things to say about State Farm, I've had my auto coverage through them for over 9 years. I've also had several claims that were handled without much trouble. As long as you stand your ground, take it to the shop you want and demand new, OEM parts they will pay for them.

The only time I had what I would call "trouble" with them was when I claimed "Diminished Value" of my car after an accident. After several repsponses of "We don't do diminished value claims" I persisted, they sent a independent appraiser out and cut me a check for the diminished value.

check this out (http://www.jdpower.com/auto/insuranceratings/FindInsuranceRatings.jsp)

I have Wawanesa Ins. I'm paying $800 a year for full coverage with $300 deductible and a 50k/100k coverage.

Originally posted by daNattyFatty
check this out (http://www.jdpower.com/auto/insuranceratings/FindInsuranceRatings.jsp)

Awesome, that link pretty much sums it all up. Looks like State Farm got pretty good ratings overall. But I'm surprised that GEICO got perfect ratings (since I've heard quite a bit of bad remarks about them). Thanks for the very informative link as well as all the other feedback. I think I will try out State Farm in a few months since my Liberty Mutual policy just started today.