Scuba Ghost

Leaving next week to hopefully buy in the Clearwater-Bradenton-Sarasota area. Not asking for what you pay because a lot of different variables come into play when determining cost.
Just wondering who you are using for homeowners and/or auto insurance?
Thanks

LoganExplosion

P-cola and Panama City area here. I had USAA for a long time. They kept raising my rates with no explanation as to why. Jumped ship to GEICO two years ago. By far the lowest rates for me. Use them for renter's insurance as well. But I'm pretty sure they have a third party for that. Assurant maybe?

pewter99

Travelers lowest for us currently....just shopped it for the renewal..they beat everyone for us anyway....we had Allstate previously...and GEICO before that...

3 Vettes and a Jeep

Homeowners....American Heritage.....homeowners insurance here is FUN....

Sabre34

Farm Bureau. May not be the least expensive but we have been with them for the last few years. The few claims that we have had have always been taken care of quickly without any hassle. For me that has value, so I am not looking to switch any time soon.

Florida_1959

USAA for me. Couldn't believe it, traded in a 2011 VW jetta and went to a 2012 GS and my rate actually dropped, go figure.

jd

Auto - USAA
Homeowners - State of Florida "Citizens"

paulrichy

Travelers, Great Florida Ins, great rates, almost unbelievable , no silly restrictions.

Coach62

Depending on the age of the home, get a wind mitigation and possibly a 4-point inspection on the home, down here it can save you big on your insurance. It almost always saves at least a few hundred a year.

When you need a home inspector up there, call Mark Cramer for Clearwater - without out a doubt the best up in that area.

I know someone good down in Bradenton also, Mike Connely. You can look up both on ashi.org website.

For my classic car, I use Geico. For regular auto, Safeco.

Muttley

I have USAA for general auto; American Collectors (via USAA) for classic auto; Citizens for homeowners; FEMA for flood.

The homeowners market in FL is very influenced by hurricane/flood hazards, and also by state regulations. Most major insurers will not underwrite policies at all in FL. Citizens is the state-sponsored insurer, and they may (or may not) be the most costly option. The downside of Citizens is that in the event of a major event (say, hurricane) they can impose surcharges on policy holders, even if the storm occurred in another part of the state.

There are other home insurers writing policies in FL besides Citizens, but oftentimes their credit ratings stink. They tend not to be rated by A.M. Best or Fitch. If you see a company rated by Demotech, for instance, it probably means they couldn't get a rating by anyone better. The good news is that your mortgage lender will may well accept them, but you still have to wonder whether they'll actually be there, with enough financial strength, to pay claims in the event of a major storm.

You may or may not wind up needing flood insurance depending on the property and the FEMA flood map. Federal legislation a couple of years ago threatened to significantly raise flood rates, so pay attention to the flood zone. In my opinion, it's better to be out of a flood zone and not worry about it--but choices will vary by local market. You may actually find that flood zones change from one end of a street to another. There are alternatives to FEMA flood insurance, btw. I know one or two people who switched to Lloyds (of London) during the regulatory snafu. If you are shopping inland this may not be a factor at all, but it definitely is for some of the areas you mentioned.

Note too that a flood zone is different from a hurricane evacuation zone, so pay some attention to the evacuation zone as well. Again, this is more applicable to coastal areas, but you may find that the evacuation zone also varies from block to block within a neighborhood.

A local realtor should be pretty informed about these issues, but of course they want to make a sale, so be sure to ask the questions.

Good luck and Go Irish (Class of '84 here).

Coach62

Huh? so State Farm, Allstate, Tower Hill, etc. all have credit ratings that suck? Geico has a bad credit rating??? Might wanna call Warren Buffet and let him know, he's not very smart in these matters.

Muttley

How many of those companies are underwriting homeowners policies in Florida? They'll sell you a policy, but it will probably be underwritten by someone else.

I've been a USAA member for 32 years, but they won't insure my house. I got my Citizens policy through a State Farm office, but State Farm will not write a policy themselves either.

It's the company that's contractually on the hook to pay your claim that you need to look at credit-wise.

Tally Ho

NW Florida (panhandle) - State Farm for everything (4 vehicles and house).

USAF

Auto--Allstate
Flood---FEMA
House-- St Johns

USAF

Scuba Ghost

Anyone ever hear of Edison Insurance? Got a quote from them yesterday for homeowners.

Scuba Ghost

How about Safeco for auto insurance? Just got a quote from them.

Muttley

I have not, but based on a cursory search they look typical of a small insurance company operating in Florida. This is sort of what you are up against, as I alluded to in my post above. Your choices may well come down to a company like this one, or Citizens. In the event "the big one", i.e., major hurricane, hits the state, there is no risk-free choice. In one case, your insurer may not have the capital strength, and in the other (Citizens) they may send you a big supplemental bill.

It is theoretically possible to separate windstorm insurance from the rest of your homeowners policy, and not carry windstorm at all. I say "theoretically", because if you have a mortgage, your lender will almost certainly not allow that.

I suspect that Edison is as good as anyone, but you can always switch later if you don't like their service, etc.

Edit to add: Here is an article about them (slightly dated)

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news.../06/346087.htm

Purerock105

State Farm for auto and renters insurance now..
Citizens and GEICO when I was a homeowner.

Charsel

AAA for Auto, Bankers for Home, Infinity for 1995 C4