Investor · Reston, VA · Member since 2011 · 683 posts · 191 votes
I need some advice on insurance. I have been using Allstate for years and have a couple of issues/questions. A new limit has been placed by Allstate and they won't write more than 4 LL policies per insured. I am grandfathered as I have many more than that.
For my last purchase they put it thru some state plan and the coverage is worthless and has a higher premium. They did not disclose to me that the coverage was vastly different and that the change was an "Allstate thing".
Questions: who do you use? Have you shopped your policies?
It seems I am paying a fortune. I have used Allstate for over 25yrs and have a 5mil umbrella attached to all my properties (cars,boats, etc.). I have made a "package" (copies of all my declaration pages) and want to shop it.
Real Estate Investor · East Aurora, NY · Member since 2009 · 70 posts · 22 votes
15y
Interesting - I have Allstate and had both good and bad experiences with them. They do tend to come up with new policy limits after I've filed a claim.
The comment about them being the BOA of insurance made me laugh- BOA is the worst bank on planet earth in my opinion.
Investor · Reston, VA · Member since 2011 · 683 posts · 191 votes
15y
Hi Steve.
We use Foremost for our jet ski as Allstate wouldn't write it. They also wouldn't help me out in FL. with my properties down there. You'd think they would have some flexibility for good (life ins., 5 cars, etc.) customers. Allstate's computer system is so screwed-up that they can't input my name and pull up all my policies. They have to go one at a time, address by address and I have to constantly stay on top of whether they actually added the new places to the umbrella.
I was wondering if using an independant broker would be better in terms of service and rates.
Investor · Reston, VA · Member since 2011 · 683 posts · 191 votes
15y
Jason,
I have some mortgaged places that are escrowed. Would this be an issue for your "one bill"? Or, maybe, I could shift the free and clear/or non-escrowed and place the rest elsewhere?
Real Estate Investor · Mission, KS · Member since 2008 · 67 posts · 15 votes
15y
Escrow is not an issue. We bill the mortgage company for the annual premium on that house and then use that toward your monthly invoice total. Basically we'd just allocate a certain amount of your escrow to your monthly invoice. We insure thousands of properties this way. You see a monthly invoice with all of your properties but the bank only sees one invoice for the property they have a mortgage on.
Investor · Round Rock, TX · Member since 2010 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
15y
Allstate is the WORST insurance company on the planet. They are the BOA of insurance companies. If you are ever in the mood to read some funny material visit the following page:
If a hail storm hits your property be prepared for them to replace certain sides or in some instances INDIVIDUAL SHINGLES that don't match the rest of the house. Nice!
We use Farmers for all of our portfolio and they have been fantastic and have paid claims in a fair and equitable manner.
Investor · Reston, VA · Member since 2011 · 683 posts · 191 votes
15y
Bryan,
I've had some of those fights with Allstate..."we only need to replace half of the upstairs carpet" or "just the three kitchen cabinets that were damaged, we'll leave the other 30yr old ones in place". I thought that was part of the game with insurer's; ie. they will do whatever they can get away with. I can be a little forceful when necessary.
Real Estate Investor · Mission, KS · Member since 2008 · 67 posts · 15 votes
15y
Going to a company that specializes in investment property is a good way to go too. By specialize I mean about 90% of their business is investment property insurance. Also, the owners and sales people have investment properties of their own :)
Real Estate Investor · East Aurora, NY · Member since 2009 · 70 posts · 22 votes
15y
Interesting - I have Allstate and had both good and bad experiences with them. They do tend to come up with new policy limits after I've filed a claim.
The comment about them being the BOA of insurance made me laugh- BOA is the worst bank on planet earth in my opinion.
Property Manager · St Paul, MN · Member since 2011 · 4 posts · 1 vote
15y
I have a "Fire Dwelling" policy with Northstar. Haven't had a claim yet so I haven't gotten to know what the service is really like beyond being helpful at taking my insurance premiums.
Investor · Reston, VA · Member since 2011 · 683 posts · 191 votes
15y
Thanks for all the great advice. I've alreadt talked to Farmer's and State Farm and plan to drop off packages of my declaration pages for all policies tomorrow. I'm also going to follow up with Jason T. (thanks Jason). I told my Allstate agent about the Allstatesucks site - she knew about it.
SFR Investor · Virginia Beach, VA · Member since 2010 · 150 posts · 36 votes
15y
I used ASI Llyods out of Florida for years through a broker for my rentals. Never had to make a claim, but I tried to add an additional rental to the policy this year and couldn't get anyone to email or call me back. I tried for weeks. I actually had one of the people at the broker tell me the reason know one is calling me back is because the owner of the broker company is busy building a hourse.
So glad I never had to submit a claim. I ended up switching to Travelers.
Orlando, FL · Member since 2009 · 2k+ posts · 282 votes
15y
Originally posted by Cheryl C.:
I need some advice on insurance. I have been using Allstate for years and have a couple of issues/questions. A new limit has been placed by Allstate and they won't write more than 4 LL policies per insured. I am grandfathered as I have many more than that.
For my last purchase they put it thru some state plan and the coverage is worthless and has a higher premium. They did not disclose to me that the coverage was vastly different and that the change was an "Allstate thing".
Questions: who do you use? Have you shopped your policies?
It seems I am paying a fortune. I have used Allstate for over 25yrs and have a 5mil umbrella attached to all my properties (cars,boats, etc.). I have made a "package" (copies of all my declaration pages) and want to shop it.
Any suggestions? Thanks!
I'm in FL too and use Traveller's umbrella. I've been told by my agent they only allow up to 4 rentals. I was planning to use LLCs + 300K underlying policy for each property beyond that (right now I'm still under the 4 limit).
Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2011 · 6 posts · 0 votes
14y
HI All- having just found this blog on insurance companies and which ones to use,is there any feedback on Tim Norris or Jim Howard? I am having issues with Farmers Insur- I have had a recent hike in my premiums and no claims made at this point. I have rentals in Indiana. Looking for a broker in Indianapolis who can find a better deal than this. Anyone able to help me ? Ta!!
Real Estate Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 268 votes
14y
Find an insurance broker and he/she will hook you up.
I consider it a waste of time to call 25 places in hopes to find a company that insures what you need. Instead, find a broker, that's his/her job