Is Esurance reliable?
September 10, 2013 2:16 PM Subscribe
is is there anyone who made a claim with Esurance? Do they actually pay, when you make a claim? More info inside.
Hi,
Right Now I'm with State Farm and paying around $700 for 6 months for liability 100/300/100 and comprehensive/collision for two vehicles. (Two spouses/30+ year old/no tickets)
When I checked Esurance I can get the same coverage for about $350 for 6 months. That's like half of what I pay right now. I'm willing pay a little bit more for the easy of working with my local state farm agent, but not double the amount.
- So my question is is there anyone who made a claim with Esurance? Do they actually pay, when you make a claim? Is it a wise choice to make the switch?
- Sometime back when I was parked in a parking lot someone else backed in to my car and I got paid via the other drivers policy (State Farm). Does that count as an accident, when they ask if I have any accidents in the online quote?
Thanks in advance.
Hi,
Right Now I'm with State Farm and paying around $700 for 6 months for liability 100/300/100 and comprehensive/collision for two vehicles. (Two spouses/30+ year old/no tickets)
When I checked Esurance I can get the same coverage for about $350 for 6 months. That's like half of what I pay right now. I'm willing pay a little bit more for the easy of working with my local state farm agent, but not double the amount.
- So my question is is there anyone who made a claim with Esurance? Do they actually pay, when you make a claim? Is it a wise choice to make the switch?
- Sometime back when I was parked in a parking lot someone else backed in to my car and I got paid via the other drivers policy (State Farm). Does that count as an accident, when they ask if I have any accidents in the online quote?
Thanks in advance.
Response by poster: @box: I'm not sure if you mentioned it as a positive thing or a negative thing :-)
posted by WizKid at 2:22 PM on September 10, 2013
posted by WizKid at 2:22 PM on September 10, 2013
Well, I mean, Allstate is a gigantic and very legitimate insurance company, like State Farm or Nationwide or whoever.
Esurance is online-only, but it's not like it's a Mickey Mouse fly-by-night operation run out of a strip mall in a former Soviet labor camp or something.
posted by box at 2:26 PM on September 10, 2013 [2 favorites]
Esurance is online-only, but it's not like it's a Mickey Mouse fly-by-night operation run out of a strip mall in a former Soviet labor camp or something.
posted by box at 2:26 PM on September 10, 2013 [2 favorites]
I use Esurance and when my car got damaged they paid for it. I recommend them.
posted by malhouse at 2:30 PM on September 10, 2013
posted by malhouse at 2:30 PM on September 10, 2013
I have Esurance and had no issues when a stray muffler gobsmacked me on the highway. They recommended a place (which I took, though I was free to find my own), everything got fixed up, and they paid in a timely manner, before the work was done.
posted by BevosAngryGhost at 2:52 PM on September 10, 2013
posted by BevosAngryGhost at 2:52 PM on September 10, 2013
I have esurance. When my window got smashed, they paid it without any problem.
posted by ryanrs at 3:12 PM on September 10, 2013
posted by ryanrs at 3:12 PM on September 10, 2013
I also have ensurance and they've been fantastic they very few times I've actually needed them. I highly recommend them to any and all who ask :)
posted by Arbac at 3:15 PM on September 10, 2013
posted by Arbac at 3:15 PM on September 10, 2013
Response by poster: In the past (maybe 2-3 years back) when I compare insurance all the quotes were within a $50-$100 range of each other for 6 months.
esurance quote is 50% of my current rate. Is this the case for everyone else?
posted by WizKid at 3:15 PM on September 10, 2013
esurance quote is 50% of my current rate. Is this the case for everyone else?
posted by WizKid at 3:15 PM on September 10, 2013
Well for what it's worth the quote they just gave me is also half what I'm paying now...with Allstate. (Just me, same kind of limits as you, one car, no claims or accidents/tickets.)
posted by sevenless at 3:27 PM on September 10, 2013
posted by sevenless at 3:27 PM on September 10, 2013
quote is 50% of my current rate. Is this the case for everyone else?
I doubt it. I imagine there are people for whom it is more expensive. When I was shopping around, the difference in quotes from various places was up to 400%, but it seemed to correlate to which questions they asked - more questions where the answer reflected well on me, or more where they that didn't, etc. Different companies seem to ask for different information and/or put different weight on things, (and different state laws relative to their home base seems to affect what they weigh too).
posted by anonymisc at 3:34 PM on September 10, 2013
I doubt it. I imagine there are people for whom it is more expensive. When I was shopping around, the difference in quotes from various places was up to 400%, but it seemed to correlate to which questions they asked - more questions where the answer reflected well on me, or more where they that didn't, etc. Different companies seem to ask for different information and/or put different weight on things, (and different state laws relative to their home base seems to affect what they weigh too).
posted by anonymisc at 3:34 PM on September 10, 2013
I happened to get a bunch of car insurance quotes last week. Esurance was more expensive than my current company by about a third.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 4:07 PM on September 10, 2013
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 4:07 PM on September 10, 2013
They paid my claim promptly and without any hassle.
posted by SyraCarol at 4:38 PM on September 10, 2013
posted by SyraCarol at 4:38 PM on September 10, 2013
They are legally obligated to follow the same rules around payment that other insurers have to.
posted by Pants! at 4:52 PM on September 10, 2013
posted by Pants! at 4:52 PM on September 10, 2013
If you're otherwise happy with State Farm it might be worth calling them up and telling them that Esurance is offering the same coverage at $350. See what they say, they might re-evaluate your policy.
posted by sbutler at 5:01 PM on September 10, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by sbutler at 5:01 PM on September 10, 2013 [1 favorite]
Are you in the top tier of State Farm companies? If memory serves, they have two. The "real" State Farm, and a second tier company for higher risk people. I agree, start by printing the quote out and showing it to your insurance agent.
If you get a refund check from State Farm, don't forget to subtract that from the stated premium.
I pay about $500/6 months for 100/300/100 liability + comprehensive coverage on a 2012 Hyundai, in a near suburb of Chicago. It was over $600 before I turned 35. So your price doesn't sound too awful.
I would be concerned that the esurance quote was missing some relevant detail of the coverage, like it includes a "discount" for multiple policies that you don't have. Or the coverage is liability only, or some misvaluation of the cars for your comprehensive portion.
posted by gjc at 5:14 PM on September 10, 2013
If you get a refund check from State Farm, don't forget to subtract that from the stated premium.
I pay about $500/6 months for 100/300/100 liability + comprehensive coverage on a 2012 Hyundai, in a near suburb of Chicago. It was over $600 before I turned 35. So your price doesn't sound too awful.
I would be concerned that the esurance quote was missing some relevant detail of the coverage, like it includes a "discount" for multiple policies that you don't have. Or the coverage is liability only, or some misvaluation of the cars for your comprehensive portion.
posted by gjc at 5:14 PM on September 10, 2013
In the past (maybe 2-3 years back) when I compare insurance all the quotes were within a $50-$100 range of each other for 6 months.
esurance quote is 50% of my current rate. Is this the case for everyone else?
I had MetLife for years because I lived in Massachusetts. In MA, the car insurance market is regulated by the state and the state dictates the price the insurance company can charge. It is based only on the town where your car is registered and your driving record, not on things like credit score and what have you (this is why most car insurance company ads say "not available in Massachusetts" or "not available in all states" -- insurance companies there can only compete on customer service). For me, my employer offered a group discount for employees with Snoopy, so it was every other insurance company at $X per year versus Snoopy at $X minus group discount per year, so that was my choice.
When I moved to Virginia, I found Snoopy started charging me A LOT more than other insurance companies. Most other companies quoted within a $50-$100 range. And then there was AAA. AAA has their own car insurance company (Keystone Insurance) who only offers policies to AAA members. Their quote was so much lower than the others, so I went with them. The same was true when I moved to Maryland, so I kept them. Every time I shop for insurance, my Keystone policy comes out costing much less than everyone else.
To be fair, I haven't ever had to file a claim with Keystone (compared with more claims with MetLife than I care to admit -- I was a worse driver in my younger days and MA drivers also suck, but not NEARLY as much as MD drivers), so I can't speak to Keystone's claims service. But if you're a AAA member you might want to consider giving them a call to get a quote.
I haven't shopped around for car insurance in about two years, and I am less skeptical of esurance now than I was in the past now that they are owned by Allstate (one of the major insurance brands), so if your experience proves OK I might check them out.
posted by tckma at 7:04 AM on September 11, 2013
esurance quote is 50% of my current rate. Is this the case for everyone else?
I had MetLife for years because I lived in Massachusetts. In MA, the car insurance market is regulated by the state and the state dictates the price the insurance company can charge. It is based only on the town where your car is registered and your driving record, not on things like credit score and what have you (this is why most car insurance company ads say "not available in Massachusetts" or "not available in all states" -- insurance companies there can only compete on customer service). For me, my employer offered a group discount for employees with Snoopy, so it was every other insurance company at $X per year versus Snoopy at $X minus group discount per year, so that was my choice.
When I moved to Virginia, I found Snoopy started charging me A LOT more than other insurance companies. Most other companies quoted within a $50-$100 range. And then there was AAA. AAA has their own car insurance company (Keystone Insurance) who only offers policies to AAA members. Their quote was so much lower than the others, so I went with them. The same was true when I moved to Maryland, so I kept them. Every time I shop for insurance, my Keystone policy comes out costing much less than everyone else.
To be fair, I haven't ever had to file a claim with Keystone (compared with more claims with MetLife than I care to admit -- I was a worse driver in my younger days and MA drivers also suck, but not NEARLY as much as MD drivers), so I can't speak to Keystone's claims service. But if you're a AAA member you might want to consider giving them a call to get a quote.
I haven't shopped around for car insurance in about two years, and I am less skeptical of esurance now than I was in the past now that they are owned by Allstate (one of the major insurance brands), so if your experience proves OK I might check them out.
posted by tckma at 7:04 AM on September 11, 2013
I have had Esurance for over ten years. I have had only 2 claims, one for windshield repair and one for a complete loss/totaled car. Both were paid in less than a week and on the total loss they not only paid off what I owed on the car they gave me "fair value" not blue book price so I received a couple thousand dollars extra.
I have gone out and gotten quotes from other companies every few years just to see and for whatever reason Esurance is ridiculously cheaper than the big names, Allstate, State Farm, Geico, Farmers. I always sort of feel like it's a steal compared to what those companies quote me.
On the flipside Esurance quoted me a price almost ten times as expensive as Progressive/Geico for my motorcycle.
posted by M Edward at 7:42 AM on September 11, 2013
I have gone out and gotten quotes from other companies every few years just to see and for whatever reason Esurance is ridiculously cheaper than the big names, Allstate, State Farm, Geico, Farmers. I always sort of feel like it's a steal compared to what those companies quote me.
On the flipside Esurance quoted me a price almost ten times as expensive as Progressive/Geico for my motorcycle.
posted by M Edward at 7:42 AM on September 11, 2013
Oh, and I had a claim where I rear-ended someone but the other guy disappeared so it never had to be paid but Esurance appeared ready to do so.
posted by M Edward at 7:45 AM on September 11, 2013
posted by M Edward at 7:45 AM on September 11, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by box at 2:20 PM on September 10, 2013