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September 14, 2009
Good/Bad Insurance Cos?
We are closing on a house in the slope in October... gulp. So we're at the point where need to get insurance for that right away. I found good agents (liberty mutual, brownstone, allstate) from referrals and reading postings here, and now we are ready to compare quotes. But one thing occurs to me. Does anyone have experience positive or negative, with an actual insurance company on claims? Because all the quote really tells me is price. If one company is good and another awful, that probably matters more than price...although of course we hope we never need to make a claim...
thanks everybody for sharing your thoughts on this. sorry if this repeats an earlier convo.. I could not find this info from a search.
Comments
I've claimed with Allstate, and they were fine. I claimed twice within three years--once for water damage in my apartment, and another time for off-premises theft (I pay extra for travel theft coverage).
Both times they were helpful and paid promptly (the larger claim was $3,000.
But this was some years ago--1999 and 2002. Don't know what they are like these days so YMMV.
Posted by: WonTon at September 14, 2009 10:52 AM
I've used Allstate. Have no experience on issue, but the price for my slope b-stone was considerably lower than others firms listed in my case. No doubt will pay for that at some point. Hopefully not soon ;-)
Posted by: Johnny at September 14, 2009 11:56 AM
You didn't say Travelers' but I'm recommending against them. I had a fire in a commercial building in Manhattan April 30th. They haven't paid yet. fire was of indeterminate origin. They spend most of their time querying me about anybody who may have even walked by or near the vacant space in the last year and who their insurance company might be or did they have any insurance at all.
Posted by: modsquad at September 14, 2009 2:18 PM
According to an agent I spoke with a few weeks ago, Allstate no longer insures in NYC because of hurricane/flooding issues, and whether or not you're actually in a flood zone is no matter. We use Brownstone, and while (knock on wood) we've never filed a claim, they've been quite responsive in our other dealings w/ them.
Posted by: petunia at September 14, 2009 2:38 PM
We've had Brownstone for a few years now, and we haven't had to make any claims (knock wood!), but I've found them a little hard to reach. The agents seem to turn around on a revolving door, and we've had a hard time getting anybody to return our calls when we've had questions about our policy.
So now it's time to renew it, and we're thinking of changing companies, or at least looking for quotes. I just don't feel that confident that Brownstone is either a) the best deal, or b) the most responsive.
But I'd be interested to hear more from others-- anybody?
Posted by: Isty at September 14, 2009 2:51 PM
petunia - i think allstate doesn't cover parts of LI due to the hurricane issues but as far as i know, they still cover NYC.
Posted by: CG_ups at September 14, 2009 3:10 PM
I use State Farm. Never had a claim, but I do like dealing with my agent. We had to have flood as well- so it's expensive- but the agent and his office that I deal with are really easy to talk to. His name is Mike Berardino, 914 232 7444
Posted by: hooky at September 14, 2009 4:01 PM
I use liberty for everything right now.. although i haven't had a claim (knock on wood).. i do like their customer service ..always helpful.
Posted by: scarter at September 14, 2009 4:09 PM
I've had Allstate for six years on a Bklyn co-op and claimed once for water damage to the floors from the apartment next door. (My premium did not go up.) They first denied the claim, because they said I didn't file within 48 hours, but my agent backed me up that I called within the time period even if I didn't file at the time. I received an amount that would replace the floors minus depreciation (from the date of the original floors in the 80s. They said my policy covered replacement of what I had, not for something better than I had.) I could also submit hotel expenses if I left while the work was being done, though I didn't end up doing that. At first they said checks more than $10K had to go through your mortgage lender, but after sending to two wrong addresses, they canceled that check, and sent a new one directly to me, which had to be endorsed by the bank. The neighbor's insurer (Chubb) had some sort of good neighbor clause that picked up my deductible as well as the co-op's renovation fee. The process wasn't a picnic, but the adjuster and agent were responsive to my many calls.
Posted by: TPX at September 15, 2009 7:48 AM
I have Chubb. We had a huge leak and our roof was destroyed (resulting in a total roof tear off to the tune of $35K) and they refused to acknowledge that we had a loss. BEWARE of Chubb.
Posted by: mmfarland at September 15, 2009 10:18 AM
I can second State Farm, although I haven't made a claim (knock wood). I have heard that Brownstone isn't responsive for claims via a friend who had them.
Posted by: BKRed at September 15, 2009 3:11 PM
I tried Brownstone but phone calls were never answered and they seemed pretty unprofessional. Ended up talking to a friend of mine that is a broker and he helped place my brownstone in something called the NY Brick & Brownstone program and everything seems fine - though I haven't had to make a claim either. The only problem is I think this program is only accessable through a broker, but the price was great.
Lou Marrotta is my broker and he recently moved from a LI brokerage to Modica Associates in Brooklyn (718-855-1836). Good luck!
Posted by: nycdc at September 16, 2009 11:27 AM
I just noticed they have an ad box on the Forum home page.
Posted by: nycdc at September 16, 2009 11:29 AM
Brownstone is always hard to reach, low-balled our claim, and we still haven't received all our money yet!
Posted by: iTry at September 19, 2009 12:38 AM
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