Full Version: insurance
From: Cindy (CINDYM) [#1]
27 Feb 2007
To: ALL
Hi all - can you all post your insurance company's name if you are happy with your business insurance policy? I am going to be reviewing our business insurance and probably will be changing companies before too long. Our premium is creeping up and I've always heard it is good to get quotes if you've been with one company for more than 3-5 years.
On that note, what are some good insurance companies to check for quotes on building insurance? We own (I love saying that part!) the building the business is in and I'm not too happy with our agent at the moment. When we purchased the building, our mortgage payment includes the taxes and insurance. It's been a crazy year since we bought the building and moved the business, so cut me a bit of slack here, but I just figured out that I am paying twice - I get billed for my business insurance each month and that amount has included my building insurance payment also. But, you say, that is suppose to be paid with the mortgage payment. Exactly! So I've been paying my mortgage company for my building insurance, and I've been paying my insurance company for my building insurance. I get so tired of having to be on top of everything every day. Either my business insurance just took a jump up to $1478.00 a year from $650, or something is very wrong in my insurance world. So far, after a few calls, it turns out that when we bought the building, a paper was suppose to go in at closing telling the mortgage company to pay the premium and that paper didn't go in. So who knows what the outcome is going to be or how this will end up being fixed.
Meanwhile, I want to get some quotes on business insurance and building insurance and want to know what companies are making you all happy.
Thanks for suggestions -
Cindy M
From: UncleSteve [#2]
27 Feb 2007
To: Cindy (CINDYM) [#1] 28 Feb 2007
Keep in mind that there are different types of insurance for the business....
There is the property insurance to cover the building structure and keep the mortgage holder happy and then there is the business insurance against accidents, liability, loss of income in case of fire/flood/famine/pestilance/locusts/irate customers/etc......
If you are a member of the ARA or other business organization, look to see if they any special deals for the members.
From: Cindy (CINDYM) [#3]
28 Feb 2007
To: UncleSteve [#2] 28 Feb 2007
I do realize that there are two different types of insurance. I'm looking for company names for both types.
Since you never really know how good your insurance company or agent is until you have a claim - has anyone had a claim on their business insurance or building insurance and been happy afterwards with the service they received? That is usually very telling about an overall company's policy.
I'm with Safeco now, and they haven't been bad to me or anything like that. I'm just checking and updating. I know I'll be changing agents - my agent has left a real mess for me to clean up. I've been on the phone for two days between the insurance office, my mortgage company and my mortgage broker trying to figure out what's going on. The mortgage company told me they are taking out an amount that equals my business insurance premium and my building premium - so that has to be adjusted right away. So now it is more calls to my agent to get them to send an updated amount to the mortgage company showing only the building insurance amount. Doesn't sound difficult to fix, but it appears it isn't as easy as it sounds for some reason I'm not understanding.
Any company names are much appreciated. Then I'll check my different organizations that I belong to and see who uses which companies and go from there in getting quotes. No sense in getting a quote from a company everyone has bad experiences with.
Thanks for any help,
Cindy Murdoch, CRS
From: Engravin' Dave (DATAKES) [#4]
28 Feb 2007
To: Cindy (CINDYM) [#3] 28 Feb 2007
Cindy,
I have purchased my business property and liability insurance policy through the ARA-affiliated program through Hartford. It has been an excellent policy, at a very good price, with very modest annual increases. I have not had the opportunity to test the quality of their claim service. Knock on wood.
My home-owners policy is with Safeco. Again, I've never filed a claim.
Now, if I could just get all the insurance premiums back that I've paid all of these years and never filed a claim against. :|
From: Cindy (CINDYM) [#5]
28 Feb 2007
To: Engravin' Dave (DATAKES) [#4] 28 Feb 2007
My workers' comp is with Hartford and they seem to keep policy prices down. I haven't had a claim with any insurance (knock on wood too) company except about 35 years ago with State Farm when I owned rentals. They told me, when a renter started a fire in the middle of a bedroom floor, that the damage would be considered normal wear & tear. We haven't had State Farm since, but haven't had a claim since either.
I am keeping my deductibles high and putting the extra in savings to make sure those deductibles are there if I need them.
It would probably not be a good idea to add up all the premium payments for your car, home, business, building, health, dental etc you've made over the years - that would just be too depressing:(
Cindy Murdoch, CRS