Benefits of bundling insurance?

February 13, 2009 1:51 PM

What, if any, are the non-monetary benefits of bundling insurance policies (specifically auto and tenant)?

I'm currently looking for tenant's insurance. I have auto insurance and know that premium discounts are the main reason to bundle policies with the same provider.

However, when shopping for new insurance, it seems that bundling insurance (auto+tenant) still works out to be about $7/ month more than purchasing policies from separate companies. Which isn't a lot... but $7 x 12 = $84/ year which starts sounding more significant (particularly on my pennypincher salary).

While the specifics of tenant insurance policies vary, let's assume that all the policies satisfy my coverage needs (with the more expensive policy actually providing more coverage than I need, specifically in terms of content value).

Additional details:
- Separate tenant insurance policy does not cover damage from backed up sewers.
- Separate tenant insurance policy has a $500 deductible.
- Bundled tenant insurance has $1000 deductible.

So Mefites, other than price, is there any advantage of bundling? Specifically, is sticking with one insurance company worth the extra $7 company/ month premium (especially given higher deductible)?

posted by kitkatcathy to work & money (4 comments total)

This might sound minor, but when my car was broken into, my insurance company quickly noticed that while my auto deductible was high, my renter's deductible was low. So they advised that I file my claim under my renter's insurance.

If it wasn't bundled, that option probably would have been overlooked.
posted by politikitty at 1:53 PM on February 13

I like having one insurance agent to talk to. Instead of keeping track of different people, different contact info, different invoices, etc, I can call one guy and get everything taken care of. Is that worth $7/mo to me? Eh, probably not. But if you make claims/adjustments often enough, it might be.

Have you tried multiple agents for the same company? When I did my house and car, I called two different Allstate agents and got dramatically different rates for the exact same coverage. No idea why... they didn't know either.
posted by JuiceBoxHero at 1:57 PM on February 13

I suggest you contact your auto insurance company and ask them these questions. They should be able to explain the details of the policy, and redesign and re-quote you something that better suits your needs and price requirements. It's a buyers market.
posted by rainbaby at 1:58 PM on February 13

Hi rainbaby. I actually asked my insurance guy these questions pre AskMe posting. To go into detail, the difference in premiums seems to be related primarily to the amount of content coverage: the minimum coverage with my auto insurance company is $30,000 of content. So he can't lower the premium anymore with the auto insurance guys. However, the non-auto company is able to cover only $20,000; I don't have $30,000 of property so I feel that getting tenant insurance from my auto insurance company means paying extra (albeit "just" $7 extra) for coverage that I don't need.
posted by kitkatcathy at 2:14 PM on February 13