We have had State Farm insurance since 1960. Very good firm to deal with IMO. Have always had very good experiences when making claims.

We have State Farm for our home and car insurance. It's really hard to get insurance in Florida for your home but their prices seem fair--and we have compared.

We were rear-ended in the mountains and the woman who hit us also had State Farm. There was absolutely no problem having our car repaired.

As far as helping Alex, I say if you can afford to do it, please do. If he feels like he's going under, he may quit school just to pay bills. Don't ask me how I know this--but take my word for it. 20 is still pretty young, these days. Plus the less they have to borrow in student loans, the better. But only IF you can afford it. You need to keep in mind your own retirement and save for that, too.

Holy Moly, Lauren's almost old enough to drive. I'm feeling very, very old!

Don't have State Farm but just be careful in changing companies. Home insurance is really getting difficult, I'm licensed to sell it in IL and WI and I'm having a hard time with it. Watch the type of policy being offered, especially with regards to Actual Cash Value and Replacement. This is especially important when it comes to your roof. You want replacement not actual cash value. I can't stress this enough. Here in this area our biggest cause of loss is high winds/hail which affect the roofs and siding. Most companies including the one I write for are going to Actual Cash Value policies for the roofs. If your in an older Farm Bureau policy it may be replacement and it may also have a low deductible. New policies today are averaging $1,000 deductibles but we are seeing companies with 1% deductibles. Many people don't realize that is 1% of the dwelling coverage which in this area on average is about 300k or a $3,000 deductible.
As for your son, he should be rated where he lives. If the vehicle is title in your name and he's a resident of your household that's good. If he moves out, sign the car over to him and tell him he's on his own. He should have a renters policy anyway and that will help his premiums. When your shopping for insurance as with anything, you can and often will be told what you want to hear.

I had State Farm for yrs and was very happy with them until my son hit driving age, then they were too expensive. I especially liked their agent. I recently changed to Travelers Ins. with an independent insurance agent who compared several companies. I have the same coverage at a better price.

We had it for 15 years with no complaint at all. The only reason I changed is because I remarried and went with my husband's insurance which was Farmers Insurance Group. When my son started driving my husband's agent wrote us a policy that was very expensive. When my brother in law heard what I was charged he wrote us one through the state of Kansas for high risk customers and had it assigned to our agent. He said our agent should have done that in the first place. This was years ago, I don't know if you can still do that.

I've been with State Farm for many years and have been satisfied, although I never made a claim on homeowners and only one for my car. My son also has State Farm. His car was stolen, but he got it back with significant damage. They paid for the repairs, no problems. It was all interior damage, nothing that would affect the way the car runs, thank heavens.
After reading two.25 acres post, I'm feeling like I should go back and review my homeowners policy.

You're former military, so you would qualify for USAA. Have you checked them out? Just a suggestion as it saved us a bundle on auto & home insurance. Your kids will qualify thru you when they are on their own.

Here is a link that might be useful: USAA insurance

I can't speak for the USAA above, but thought I'd add while I don't have State Farm, my elderly mother has had it for decades and its worked out well for her - home and car same policy.

Just a fender bender with her car one time, a fence that blew down in a storm and a broken kitchen pipe that ruined family room carpets, warped the cabinet surrounding the sink....All taken care of quickly and courteously. No teens on her policy in many years though. Many, many, many :)

And they send her a Starbucks card on her birthday, she loves it.

We switched from State Farm to USAA for 2 cars and homeowner's . We're saving 40%.

I second the recommendation for USAA! I have had them forever and no other agency can come close to their rates. Wonderful customer service also.

As long as my kids were in school full time we kept them on our insurance. For DD it was through college. DS lived with us into his mid twenties but he worked full time, went to school part time and covered all his own expenses. He worked odd hours and mostly cooked for himself with food he bought. He did his own laundry and we really didn't see all that much of him. Basically he got a free room. Nothing else.

We've had statefarm for over 20 years. Life, Auto, house. We have NEVER had a problem with claims. Our agent is wonderful! We just recently took DD#2 off out plan. She was living on her own and at 25 it was the same for her to finally get her own insurance. OH and she reimbursed us for her share of insurance. She'd eventually have to pay her own anyway, so we had her start now (I think a couple of months we had to float her due to surgery and moving, but otherwise it made her responsible to pay her own.)

Vickey

We have had USAA for over 40 years with NO Problems whatsoever. My son and DIL also had it as both are were able to get it as dependents of military fathers. However, they could not get homeowners insurance for new homebuyers,as they stopped that in Florida a few years ago after all the hurricanes in 2004. (We are in the area where 3 of them crisscrossed). So, they ended up bundling their car insurance with the homeowners and going with State Farm. State Farm shortly thereafter dropped a great number of homeowner policies again because of the losses from the 04 hurricanes. DS and DILs wasn't dropped but they have seen big hikes in their rates and now wish they had not changed their car insurance. Personally, I don't think you can beat USAA as far as rates and customer service.

Have had State Farm "forever." When our kids became drivers they went on SF also. DD still has it, probably DS also; he lives in SC and I've never thought to ask.

Our agent will soon be retiring, but since it is just me at home now, everything is done online, so I don't go into the office any more. We also had home owners with them. Never a problem when there was a claim.

Good company.

Sue

Everyone should review thier home and auto policies at renewal. I've seen companies increase deductibles to offset premium increases, send out the renewal and because the insured didn't review it, the increase went unnoticed until there was a problem. More than likely the agents are making the changes knowing most people don't review thier policies.
I just wrote a new home policy this morning. Dwelling coverage of over 600k, a house built in 1994 with a cedar shingled roof. Estimated replacement in this area of that roof is approximately 25k. Due to the age of the house I could only offer him actual cash value for wind and hail damage on the roof. If there's a claim of wind or hail and the roof is damaged the most he will get is 62% of the actual replacement, every year that will decrease by 2%. Once he replaces the roof he can then go to a replacement policy. Of course we discussed his coverage's and actually have it in writing just in case. It will be interesting to see what the mortgage companies will be doing with these changes.
If you have a guaranteed replacement policy, try to keep it for as long as you can. Companies will want to get you out of it if they can.

We had State Farm forever until we moved back to FL 8 mos. ago and they don't do homeowners any more. We were "bundled" (discounted) for homeowners/cars/umbrella policies. We're with Amica now (recommended by Clark Howard.) 3 of our kids have USAA -- it is the BEST, most inexpensive insurance. If you can get USAA, do it. (1 kid is in the process of getting a home mortgage from them -- best rate for that, too!) And State Farm was great on car claims (3 times.)

Insurance just muddies my mind. I have home and car insurance with this company. We had some very hard winds and some of the shingles blew off of the house. The adjuster said they would not cover it because the shingles are old and worn out. Then, more wind and more shingles flying off. SAme excuse. I have replacement insurance and would like to know what the heck it covers if it won't replace the entire roof with shingles. Am I stupid or what? Sooo, it only covers new stuff? I'm seriously thinking of changing companies.

Couple of things first. What is your deductible? "some of the shingles blew off" How many? If the cost to replace the shingles that blew off is less than your deductible, then why file a claim? Sounds to me like your roof is aging, you more than likely have curled shingles which are prime targets for high winds. Unless you do something as a homeowner to protect your roof, this will keep happening. But if your looking to have your roof replaced, your looking for a serious amount of damage to occur. As for your question regarding replacement. If one of those storms had come in and taken the roof shingles off the majority of your roof, then your insurance company would have come in and determine they couldn't just patch (replace the missing shingles) they would in fact have to "replace the roof".
Here's what you should have done and what your agent should have told you to do.
Call a contractor, don't wait till one shows up and knocks on your door telling you that you have roof damage, stay away from those guys. Get your contractor on the roof and determine what is going on. He will be able to tell you if you have storm damage or if your shingles are old and need to be replaced. As a homeowner we all have certain responsibilities and those include maintaining our homes, that is not what insurance is for. Your auto insurance company doesn't pay for your oil changes, your home insurance company will not pay for maintenance to your home.
Also, it sounds like you may have filed two claims with zero payouts. Be careful with this. Insurance companies that you may consider shopping to may not like seeing you report those claims, it may leave them wondering what they may be exposing themselves to. Also, if you shop, the new company will do an outside inspection of the home and property. If the roof is old, trees hanging over it or the gutters, you can be dropped. Shopping and switching isn't as easy anymore.

Never head of USAA and I believe no insurance company can save you 40% without you losing 40% of your coverage. Most of which you won't miss until you file a claim.

We've had State Farm forever: Auto, homeowners, personal articles, umbrella. We've had two claims in the $20K range on the homeowners policy over the years; both were handled to our satisfaction. We've had a few car claims -- also handled smoothly -- and without a retaliatory increase in premium.

I did have a problem after we were burgled. They got everything mixed up and sent me a check to cover all of my listed jewelry. Only some of it was taken. I sent the check back. I credit that mixup to the doofus agent we inherited when our 'good guy' died.

two.25acres -- We have always had 'replacement to code' coverage on our home. Didn't know that was becoming a problem.

I have a question about what I can do to protect myself on a future jewelry loss claim. Would I receive the whole appraised value of a listed piece or get a run-around where they want to replace a diamond with a stone and setting 'of equal value'?

chisue, I have replacement on my home owners policy. I am assuming they will replace all things at a depreciated value. I do know when I tried to insure my dolls I had to list every doll and proof on value on every doll. There is no way I could do that. I bought a rider for 2 pieces of jewelry. I had receipts and appraisals on both.

Chisue, your jewelry question is a very good one for several reasons. First to address your question. If you have a .75 carat round diamond with VS1 clarity and I color appraised at $4200 and then insured for $4200, no you may not get $4200 for it. Truth is, a person may have paid too much for the stone. If the insurance company can get the same thing for a lower price, they will. They will also send you to that jeweler if your going to replace the item. If your not going to replace the item, then they will send you a check for the amount that they can replace your item for. Under "how we settle a loss" part of your insurance policies, you will generally see that the insurance company states they will pay the lessor of amount whenever they can.
Now to other things about scheduled jewelry. Your appraisals should be updated annually. I've seen allot of people take some big hits on jewelry over the last couple of years because of the price of gold. Generally when someone adds the engagement ring/wedding ring to their policy they supply the appraisal and then forget about it. I get my rings cleaned and the settings checked annually, at the same time my jeweler updates my appraisal and then I have the insurance updated accordingly.
Whens the last time everyone did a home inventory?

Thanks, Two.25! That's what I thought re: a diamond. I have two diamonds and 3-year-old appraisals on them, but can't the company still disagree with the appraiser? Any way to protect myself against that?

You are so right about the household inventory. I keep thinking I'll video the house -- but foolishly think I need to tidy up first! Hah! When is THAT going to happen? Before a party?

According to my State Farm agent, computers and computer gear are not covered by the standard home owner's policy, and this is the gear the thieves love to cart away. I did not ask about cell phones and related gear. If you want to cover your computer gear, a separate policy or a rider on your home owners is needed. Be prepard to list all equipment covered including serial numbers and/or other positive identifiers. Items not listed will not be covered. The list needs to be updated for every change of your gear be it a deletion or addition.

Another over 40 year member of USAA here. I can tell you that back before "do not call" lists any time we were called by an insurance co. and they found out that was our company they just wished us a nice day and got off the phone.

Having two teenagers on your policy is scary no matter what insurance you have. I never had my policy number memorized until my second DD got her license. Don't know how much we may be saving but I do know they were there when we needed them. Both DD's are long since grown and have their own USAA policies.

If you are eligible, do check them out. I also heard something nice about State Farm from a friend at lunch today.

Thanks for the information on USAA. I just checked their website and I can get insurance with them for $35.76 on both cars if I add my home. Wow, haven't had insurance that cheap since I was single and had Nationwide. I'm going to call tomorrow and ask what it would be if I added Alex to it. And get information on the house.

That's great, Kath! I'm glad you followed up on the suggestion.

We went thru their site when we were looking for a used car & found a really great deal. They have a LOT of financial services to offer and have been very easy to deal with. As they say on their website it is not a publicly traded company so they don't have to answer to shareholders, hence they can keep prices/costs lower.

AM Best, Moody's, and Standards & Poors (rating entities) ALL rate USAA as top-notch. USAA isn't well known, but I do see their ads on TV *now* since we went with them a couple of years ago.

Breenthumb - we used to get those calls too. You are right, they never even tried to tell us they could beat the cost for coverage.

My only isse with them is that they wouldn't sell coverage for our DS and DILs house. They bought it in 05, the year after the 4 hurricanes came through central Florida within a month or so of each other. With so many retired military in this area, they stopped new policies on homeowners. We were shocked to hear this but so many insurance companies did the same thing.

Anyone who is former military or a dependent of a military can get coverage. Not sure how it works if parent did not have their insurance but its worth checking. Customer service is exemplary!

I've had USAA for over 25 years. Awesome company. Only have filed two claims (one windshield, one hail storm). I got rear-ended last year and when I called them, they took care of everything.

At the end of every year, we get a dividend check in the mail from them - generally about $100, right before Christmas. :)

We pay about 45% less than the best apples-to-apples coverage we were quoted by Geico, State Farm & AllState. As a matter of fact, only Geico will still try to "sell" us insurance - State Farm and AllState both reacted as mentioned above: Sorry - we can't compete with USAA.

We have five cars and our house insured, BTW. :)

Oh yeah - USAA is also our bank, our mortgage-holder, and our retirement fund holder. :)

I will never have insurance with State Farm. My parents had State Farm for years and never had a claim. One day Daddy was stopped at a red light and some guy rear ended Daddy's car. The guy admitted he never even tried to break. Totally not Daddy's fault. SF cancelled Daddy's insurance!

Also had friends who had SF and their house burned down. SF eventually paid but they were awful to deal with.

Well, just got homeowners through them. It's almost $200 per year cheaper and more coverage. Was going sign us up for car insurance too but it doesn't show that I have homeowners because, I guess I just signed up and had it starting at the end of June. So, no discount...will call Monday and do it over the phone. Saves us nearly $70! It's actually cheaper than State Farm with Alex on the policy! $31.26 for both of us per month. Wish I had done this years ago.