Shopping for homeowners insurance is a necessity particularly where I live. I live in southern California where the next big earthquake is days/weeks/months/years away! A natural disaster that can wipe you out financially!. I survived the Northridge earthquake without damage, but that was just luck. California has a 99% chance of a big earthquake within thirty (30) years.
My current insurance carrier stopped offering earthquake coverage this year! I had about five (5) to six (6) weeks to find another insurance carrier that had earthquake coverage. The state of California offers earthquake coverage, but you have to fit the coverage offered and it is not cheap. I prefer to have coverage through traditional insurance companies. It is getting harder and harder to find an insurance company that offers earthquake coverage. It is not a question of financial strength, but getting the right coverage for a reasonable price.
I looked for coverage in all the traditional and nontraditional ways. I contacted my insurance broker who is with the largest insurance agency in Los Angeles. This tactic worked very well four (4) years ago! Apparently, the market has changed and I had practically no choices. I checked with one of my neighbors who is an insurance broker and he gave me a quote. Southern California is a huge market, but very few companies want to insure for earthquake coverage. As with most policies, there are areas where the insurance company places limits on coverage. What should a frugal (cheap) person to do?
I kept researching online and offline for a solution. I knew I always had a choice to use California Earthquake Authority (CEA) for coverage. Last time, I was at the book store, I noticed that Consumer Reports published a survey of insurance customer satisfaction. Whether you realize it or not, You want the best insurance coverage at the most reasonable cost. Most importantly, you want a company that will be there if there is a claim. More than that, you want them to pay based on what the policy promised!
The top two (2) home insurance companies based on customer satisfaction were Amica and USAA insurance. I never heard of Amica and I already had a quote from USAA. I researched Amica and found out it was a 105 year old company rated A++ (superior) by A.M. Best. The customer survey rated it first at 95% satisfaction. This is just the kind of company I wanted in the event of a disaster! I completed the information online and received an immediate quote, but I had questions. I wanted to know if they had loss assessment and other coverage.
I live in a townhouse which is part of a Homeowners Association (HOA). If there is an earthquake, there will be a deductible to be satisfied! I am the treasurer of my HOA and the deductible would be a special assessment to each homeowner. Last time (94 earthquake) it was $17,000. I want to make sure I had sufficient loss assessment to protect me from a special assessment and I wanted loss of use coverage. Loss of use is coverage for living expenses while you home is being rebuilt. Last time, the owners had to move out for a year. I compared my two (2) quotes and made a decision!
Final Thoughts
Shopping for insurance starts with quality insurance companies because you want to be satisfied with the results. There are differences between insurance companies and it may not be obvious. Large companies do not mean they are any better than others. The most expensive coverage is not necessarily better than the cheapest coverage. I have shopped for insurance often for my personal residence, business and as CFO for corporations. As I said, I tried all the traditional and nontraditional ways to find the best coverage at a reasonable price. To my surprise the best solution was using a customer satisfaction survey to get insurance quotes. I went with Amica Mutual Insurance Company because they offered the best price and had the highest customer satisfaction (95%) rate. Shopping for homeowners insurance is necessary in southern California and I am satisfied!
Photo by: SavaTheAggie
Amica is a very quiet company. We never hear about them or see advertising. However, it’s nearly always the first place I used to tell my clients to look. Good customer service reputation and low prices…the perfect combo!
Using objective criteria to find an insurance company is a lot better than listening to advertising. The other alternative is just taking the lowest price and hope you don’t need it.
I would love to shop for home insurance but Florida has very few insurers due to state laws. I think I have 3 or so options for normal insurance and only 1 state run option for hurricane protection which is mandatory as I am 3 blocks from the gulf of Mexico…
Are premiums high? It seems you need competition or the costs will be high. In California, the state offers earthquake insurance, but the cost is high relative to the coverage. I chose to get my earthquake coverage with private insurance carriers. It is better and less expensive.
Fully agree that shopping around is very important – we learned this the hard way after overpaying for many years. We are very lucky to live in a place where very few natural disasters occur – it is still grey and wet but no floods, no earthquakes, no forest fires…
Good weather brings other problems with it. I only have earthquakes and fires! Some places have tornadoes and hurricanes. At least I do not have earthquakes all the time.
Thanks for the lead on Amica. I’ll recommend them to clients when shopping for Earthquake insurance. Can’t beat 104 years.
I also like that customers are 95% satisfied.
I’ve never heard of Amica either but I know USAA is good. Living in SF I totally understand the scary aspect of earthquakes in CA. I try not to think about the next big one coming, but we just never know. I sure hope we won’t have a huge earthquake anytime soon. The smaller ones I can deal with, but thinking about the 7+ ones makes me shudder.
Unfortunately, I experienced the Northridge earthquake. I had no damage, but I was lucky. I never heard of them before either. A little research showed me they were a good company.
I ended up bundling it with my auto since combined, it was the best rate. I’ve tried shopping the bundled deal around the same time and it always comes up about the same. Would love to save an extra few hundred bucks one year, but they seem to be pretty competitive.
I don’t think I ever bundled my insurance (auto/homeowners) because I always had a better deal individually.
just got some relatively cheap earthquake insurance, with a huge deductible!!! fingers crossed that I won’t need it!!
The Amica policy offered 10% or 15% deductible. The difference was practically nothing. I went with the 10% deductible.
I used to bundle to. We got a fabulous deal for years. If it works for you, I would certainly consider it!
I never bundled because I managed to find good companies with reasonable prices.
We saw your post and wanted to welcome you to Amica Insurance! We appreciate the time you spent to research our company – and the fact that you’re educating your followers as to what to look for when choosing an insurance company. As you noted, it’s not always about price. The right coverage, financial stability and customer satisfaction are critical considerations as well. We’re glad you chose Amica and want to let you know we’re here when you need us, on Amica.com or by calling 800-242-6422. Thanks again!
I just thought I would share my process and hopefully help others make better insurance choices. With all the advertising out there, it makes it difficult to know what you should do.