Homeowners Insurance

For those of you who own your home, who did you use for home owner's insurance? I've been told to just go with who I have for car insurance, which is Geico, but didn't know if you guys have found homeowners at a great price after shopping around. Who knew that house buying was such a complicated experience?

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We just signed our contract on Friday with Allstate. DH did all the leg work on that. It is the same company his parent use and my ring and renter's insurance is with right now.

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Our insurance is placed with Travelers. We used an insurance broker, Friedman & Friedman in Westbury. It's a bit higher than what others have gotten, but the service we get from the broker is well worth it to me - at a time when I had to make a major claim for my business, they took all the stress out of the process, and have always been on top of things. I deal with one agent, not a customer service bank and if I ever have to make a claim for something like a fire I want them taking care of things for me. I don't have the phone number handy, but I've posted it in the past I think, so a search of the boards would probably turn up more info.

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I have renter's insurance with NY Central Mutual - they're based in Albany but our broker is a friend of the family out East and gives us good deals and service. We haven't had a problem with them yet

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Amy, there are several things you should know about homeowner's insurance. I can tell you for a fact that GEICO does not offer their own homeowner's insurance, although they do sell it through another company. The price however is ridiculous. Do you have family members who own their own home and have an agent they work with? Or friends who own their own home? Maybe you can ask them who they use.

My suggestion would be to speak directly with an agent and see what they can offer you. You might want to look into an combined policy with both auto and home. First of all you will get a multi-policy discount. Secondly you will more than likely pay less that way. Third, you will be dealing with only one company instead of two. Don't get me wrong, I think that GEICO is terrific for auto insurance and after having a terrible experience with another company I am sorry I left GEICO, but for a first time home buyer I always would suggest speaking to a local agent who can get you the type of coverage you need. Both State Farm and Travelers have excellent reputations.

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We are using Statefarm. I shopped around and they gave us the best price.

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Woo, lots to think about. I'll call around to all state and state farm today and get the rate from Geico. Hope they're open today! Thanks for the advice ladies. If anyone else has suggestions or advice re: house buying process feel free!!

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Ask about an Umbrella policy too - covers additional liability. Since our auto and home insurance are under the same company the Umbrella policy is not much more.

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Can you explain more on the umbrella policy?

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I'll try to look into the details, which I don't recall offhand now, but I think it was additional liability insurance incase we were sued by someone who claimed they were hurt on our property or by an auto accident, or any other suit of that nature we were in. Cost about $200 a year I think. Considering that people will sue if you sneeze on them these days, it seemd like it was worthwhile.

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An umbrella policy covers you for additional liability insurance on both your homeowner's and auto policy. Most people take a million dollars of coverage although you can go higher if you have more assets that you feel you need to cover. The cost of the umbrella is usually not too high so you might want to check into it. However, there are other options which are less expensive such as increasing your liability limits for Bodily Injury and property damage on your auto policy and carrying higher limits on the personal liability portion of your homeowner's policy.

I cannot stress enough to everyone the need to speak with someone knowledgable about insurance. You need to make sure that you have the correct coverage for your auto and home.

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We use allstate as well