OT: Amica Auto/Home ins

[gasman]

Hi everyone-

I wanted to get the hive mind input about auto/home insurance. We've been with Liberty Mutual/Safeco forever and only had two claims for water damage (broken frost proof bibs)
I've always felt our rates were probably a bit high but their service has been excellent. Still I wanted to look elsewhere to compare.
Amica seems to have very good evaluations per consumer reports and nerd wallet though its hard to find real numbers. The Better business bureau is filled with 1 star negative reviews for every insurance company I looked at.

So, anybody have experience with Amica as a policyholder ? Were they response when you needed their coverage ?


Thanks in advance

[Ken Robb]

It pays to shop around and I too have read good reports on Amica. USAA has been excellent for me so if you are a Veteran check with them. California prohibits a practice that is common in many states and that is for companies to try raising prices for no other reason than a customer doesn't seem to shop his rates so shopping around will almost surely save $$. Bundling almost always brings savings.

[sjbraun]

I was very happy with Amica when I lived in MN, 30 years ago. But since I moved to AZ their rates were really high. I used Travelers fr several years, but looked at several insurance companies. I ended up going with Progressive. Better coverage for significantly less.

[ERK55]

Excellent company, first recommended to me 30 years ago when they were much smaller, no TV ads etc.
It is a mutual company so you get a small dividend check each year.
However, my premiums (auto only) have gone WAY up over the last few years.

[Spinner]

We live in Ohio and get great rates and excellent service. My wife was recently rear-ended in a hit and run and we couldn’t be happier with Amica service.

[steelbikerider]

My MIL has Amica and they took care of her very well after Hurricane Ike. She had the roof blown off the house and water damage everywhere. My FIL sold insurance and was in hospice care and died of cancer at the same time. MIL lived with us for 6 months while the house was rebuilt but the rebuild was never an issue for anyone. They even replaced a ladder that disappeared after the roofing crew finished.

[OtayBW]

Hi everyone-

I wanted to get the hive mind input about auto/home insurance. We've been with Liberty Mutual/Safeco forever and only had two claims for water damage (broken frost proof bibs)
I've always felt our rates were probably a bit high but their service has been excellent. Still I wanted to look elsewhere to compare.
Amica seems to have very good evaluations per consumer reports and nerd wallet though its hard to find real numbers. The Better business bureau is filled with 1 star negative reviews for every insurance company I looked at.

So, anybody have experience with Amica as a policyholder ? Were they response when you needed their coverage ?


Thanks in advance
I have direct and ~immediate experience with just your situation.

First, I would NEVER get Liberty Mutual insurance purely on the basis of their asinine commencials which are among the dumbest and most annoying things that I have ever witnessed on the TV - EVER.

Now that I got that off my chest, a few months ago, I had the drain line that feeds my septic tank tank clog and with sewage backed up into my basement. Trashed the finished basement, and as part of the remediation and sanitizing, walls were taken out, flooring, etc. Room was toast.

I initially called Amica and they immediately recommended a Restoration company. Time was critical and I took their advice. Company did a timely and effective job. Billed to Amica directly. I also made a claim for personal property damage, and that was paid in less than a week - no issues.

Amica also has a list of approved local contractors that they recommended for the renovation. That was actually VERY convenient. I got 2 quotes and went with one who did a fine job. I was initially paid in full by Amica for the price of the estimate and then paid the contractor directly when the job was complete. As it turned out, the contractor recommended doing some additional work, and he basically squared the cost of that directly with Amica himself. It was convenient and a good value.

In summary, I've been with Amica for >20 years and I have no complaints. They are as good as I've seen for customer service in the insurance biz. In this particular event, they were fantastic.

[daker13]

I use Amica and they've been really great. We had water damage soon after moving into our house, about ten years ago, and they handled it very nicely. Haven't filed any claims since then but they really do seem like a good outfit.

[gasman]

Thanks for all the responses !
Otay- I agree with you about the Liberty Mutual commercials!
I’m glad to hear you had such a positive response from Amica

Ken- I’d love to get USAA but I’m not a vet.

[djg21]

Hi everyone-

I wanted to get the hive mind input about auto/home insurance. We've been with Liberty Mutual/Safeco forever and only had two claims for water damage (broken frost proof bibs)
I've always felt our rates were probably a bit high but their service has been excellent. Still I wanted to look elsewhere to compare.
Amica seems to have very good evaluations per consumer reports and nerd wallet though its hard to find real numbers. The Better business bureau is filled with 1 star negative reviews for every insurance company I looked at.

So, anybody have experience with Amica as a policyholder ? Were they response when you needed their coverage ?


Thanks in advance


Amica has been incredible to deal with. I started with Amica auto decades ago when you had to be referred by a member. When I was hit by a car on my bike is 2006, Amica was incredibly helpful and covered me under my supplemental uninsured motorist coverage without question. The experience with Amica was so good, we used it for homeowners too.

I’ve not made a huge number of claims on my auto, but two relatively small ones — like when I backed out of my garage into a car owned by a friend of my wife’s a few months ago to the tune of $6,000 in necessary body work. I’ve never had any problem with Amica, and I still get a dividend check for a few hundred dollars once a year or so. I’ve made one homeowners claim when a windstorm knocked over my fence years ago. Amica was great.

I was on the phone with Amica this morning inquiring about adding solar to my home. Amica was really helpful and responsive. It’s a great company. I always recommend Amica, as does my wife, who spent her career in the commercial insurance field.

[Gsinill]

Amica was on top of my list when I shopped years ago for car and HO insurance.
Heard nothing but good things about them.
Went online for a quote.
Entered my info and a few days later I got the quote via snail mail.
It was absolutely insane, I don’t recall the exact numbers but it was at least 3 or 4 times of what Allstate charged me.
Just me and my wife, no kids, both working, both excellent credit, no accidents or tickets, good neighborhood.
Called their CS to see whether something went wrong.
Lady looked into it, apologized and said the quote is correct.
She was flabbergasted as well and had no idea what the negative factors were.
Needless to say, they won’t ever get any business from me, which they probably won’t care about, since they obviously don’t want me/us anyway ;)

[pncguy]

We've been with Amica since we got married in 1996. Noting but excellent service. One time we had our sump pump line separate in the basement during floods and destroyed the basement. Adjuster said that the policy was ambiguous, and when that happens, they find in favor of the customer.

:eek:

Our experience with them for things big and small makes it such that we don't even shop around any more. (Kind of like with Southwest.) IMO, it is tough to shop around because how do you quantify the value of good customer service? And how would you find those truisms like "we side with the customer?"

I might check now, but unless I save hundreds - maybe $1000 - a year, we're not switching.

[type2sam]

I've been with Amica for 30+ years and my father 15 years beyond that. Nothing but great service for the 5+ auto incidents we've had in that time.

[alancw3]

been with Amica for 15 years now. great company albeit not the cheapest. for me having a no hustle insurance company is worth a lot. they recently replaced the roof on my house to the tune of $20k. I was talking with the roofing contractor about Amica and he said that in his experience second only to Chubb in settling claims. daughter has had a couple of significant HO claims w/o a problem.

[gasman]

Thank you again for all the great replies from trusted sources - -you !

[robt57]

We do this every year with Nationwide. But every time some txting tool damages or lays waste to one of our few year old or less cars, and that has happened 5 times in as many years...
I never in my life have had so many new cars in such a sort period from need instead of want.

The service level and fairness level is so good we are afraid if we switch that won't be duplicated. And rate here are very high as I expect in most dense cities from similar negligence from behind the wheel. And wind took a good porstion of shingles and flipped them over on the roof back a while. Only a few tab blew away amazingly. But the claim was paid in 3 days with the work done with SAT images and no adjuster, cv-19 had a lot to due with the lack of adjuster visit, but they step up fast and furious.

So we stay and get our moneys with I guess?? ;)

[pncguy]

We've been with Amica since we got married in 1996. Noting but excellent service. One time we had our sump pump line separate in the basement during floods and destroyed the basement. Adjuster said that the policy was ambiguous, and when that happens, they find in favor of the customer.

:eek:

Our experience with them for things big and small makes it such that we don't even shop around any more. (Kind of like with Southwest.) IMO, it is tough to shop around because how do you quantify the value of good customer service? And how would you find those truisms like "we side with the customer?"

I might check now, but unless I save hundreds - maybe $1000 - a year, we're not switching.

Well, we might be buying a Class C RV and we just went insurance shopping. I am shocked: the price difference between Amica and Progressive (through AAA) is almost $1000/year. And that is JUST for the RV!

I may have to eat my words!

[wgp]

Add me to the Amica chorus - only insurance I’ve had since I got my own in mid20s (now mid 50s) and they have been nothing but responsive and a pleasure when I’ve needed them for both auto and home.

[tiretrax]

I’d love to get USAA but I’m not a vet.

If anyone in your family served, you'll get covered.

[biker72]

I had Amica for 3 years. Covered 2 cars and my house.
Never had a claim so I have no input in that regard.

I talked with an Allstate agent about a month before my Amica policy ended. The identical coverage with Allstate is 38% less than I was paying Amica. Needless to say I'm now with Allstate.

[sashae]

Totally happy with Amica for homeowner's (we previously had State Farm.) Their car insurance pricing even as a homeowner's insurance holder was not competitive with GEICO in NYS, so we have GEICO auto. Been very happy with Amica service overall (previously homeowner/auto insurance holder in CA.)