About to start shopping for Home and two autos. Haven't had a single problem with SF for years - no claims, no tickets - nothing - and they jacked my rates up on my F-150.

I was under the assumption that the Ford pickups were dollar for dollar cheaper to insure than Ram or Chevrolet - but maybe I misheard that somewhere. They went up $300 a year nearly on my new F-150. So time to switch.

I know this topic is covered numerous times yearly - but if anyone has any recommendations other than SF I'd love to hear it.

Switched from SF to Farmers 20 years ago. I have a great agent who knows how to maximize my coverage's and minimize my rates, regardless insurance is still expensive! I shop every couple of years and have not found anything comparable. My agent called me a few months ago and told me about a new home endorsement - which covers electric, water supply lines and major equipment - $60/yr. There is a deductible based on nature of claim. My water softener recharge unit went out (need to have one being on co-op well). Bill was over $1200, cost to me was $350.

SF------ as bad as it gets...……………..

Looks like Geico is about the same on Homeowner's with a tad bit more coverage and a lower deductible. Auto is nearly $70 a month cheaper. And that's before any bundled discounts are applied.

Anyone have any experience with Geico?

Make sure you get 1% deductable on your home owners.

Insurance is like paying taxes, you pay and you keep paying and wonder if you are actually getting a return on the dollars they get. At least wuth taxes, you know they are wasted dollars...

Curious... what was the reasoning for fords being cheaper to insure? I've heard some golly whopper ford chevy dodge debates before, but never been that deep over the waders before.

Have farm bureau insurance on everything I have the needs insurance. If you got a new truck its natural that the insurance went up.

I have an agent I trust and he told me that if you shop insurance every 3 years or so you will always find it cheaper than what you got, they will be cheaper than we are. His honesty on anything I have dealt with him one has kept me as a customer. I have to say I am tempted to shop around though.

I agree with redchevy, when you get a new truck the insurance goes up.

Auto claims have been rising for years and hence, pricing increases. Some companies have gone to very complex rating procedures which are certainly hard to understand. The problem is cellular devices and the FACT auto incidents have gone up in excess of 15% per thousand miles over the past five years. So has the amount of expensive accidents. Add that up - more accidents and more accidents costing more.

You guys should bundle your home & auto insurance together, but be forewarned here - some companies like Liberty Mutual, State Farm, USAA and others are now utilizing a $2,500 limitation on loss of firearms. If that works for you, then so be it. I wouldn't have it. You'll need to check this out for yourself and realize the listing I provided may not be totally accurate. Btw, the State Farm home insurance policy is otherwise pretty darn good,

Storms up North in the upper part of the state have caused home insurance rates to rise all over the state. Buzzards are circling the carrion which was the Texas home insurance marketplace and are offering all kinds of crap policies - limitation on guns, no coverage for sewer and drain back up (a big mistake), actual cash value payment if your roof is fifteen years old and more. I could go on. They provide less coverage so they can provide lower pricing.

The prospect cited above about the great GEICO opportunity concerns me. Maybe so.

Had an appointment with my agent a few months ago and specifically asked him about firearms. He said my contents coverage would cover guns same as any other contents up to the limit. I don't know how typical contents coverage is based, but I have around $100k of contents coverage.

Many companies do dot have a limitation on firearms. The biggest problems with firearms is most losses occur away from the residence premises and then there is a another sub-limit for contents temporarily off premises - typically 10% of your contents limit.

if there be a fire at my house, the contents of the gun safe can be damaged and I want every durn gun, scope magazine and whatever else replaced.

I use an Independent Agent, he can shop different companies and get the best rates versus being stuck with one company.

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That's what I do on my home owners. I have Farm Beuaro on my truck from Varmint Hunter on THF.

Here you go CBallew@txfb-ins.com

Call an independent broker who can shop more than a captive agent. I have a good one in DFW. Shoot me a PM if you want his info.

PM RedRanger. He's an expert in this area.

I do handle about 250 insurance claims each year

For water damage or water leaks stay far away from AllState or Farmers

Yeah, and that's a shame. Auto insurance is auto insurance. Home insurance policies are not all the same. Be careful out there.

Ranger cites water damage and realize there can be a distinction between sudden & accidental damage from leaking pipes & appliances and then there is loss from sewer or drain back up. Some companies will have pretty much none of these covered while others will cover one and not the other. Others won't do much for either. That there sewer or drain back up can get ugly real quick. Super ugly and very expensive to clean up.

The firearms restriction thingie is also big to me. I know people with loads invested in their weaponry and that doesn't even get to it. I don't have loads, but two shotguns, a 22, a 270, a 22-250, a 300 win mag, Ruger Ranch Rifle, nice AR 15, a Taurus Judge, Beretta 40 and a Eastern European Walther 380 knock off. My friends friend from Wild Peach believes I am seriously under-armed. Maybe so, but $2,500 just doesn't do I for me. Scopes are most often attached to a gun and that could complicate things even worse. I am not sure how these companies work that into their claim equation.

I am not even going to get into the roof issues.