Auto insurance in Florida. Any recommendations?
 

I'm not sure if this has been discussed or not, but what should you look for in auto insurance in Florida? I would love to hear about any good or bad experiences. Why did you choose your current carrier? What does Florida require? How does the cost compare to other states? Thanks :mornincoffee:

We had Unitrin and now have Amica. Just went through a total loss because our one car got struck by lightening. Amica has been great to deal with, very quick to settle and fair amount too. Will keep them for our new golf cart too. Rates are good too.

We had Travellers and their rates went up. I searched around and got a quote from AAA for a company called Safeco. I was able to get insurance for a full year on our 2010 Camry for $678 for the entire year. I was paying almost twice that with Travellers.

Check with Allstate, AARP, The Villages Insurance, USAA, State Farm. They gave us quotes and were the best rates we found (except for Safeco).

Auto Ins
 

Check with the company that you have your home insured with because most ins companies offer and additional discount if you both home and auto with them. When you do your comparison shopping get a quote with and without combining home and auto together. You should also check on an extended liability policy.

if you are an AARP member try theirs....it is actually The Hartford insurance company.

If not an AARP member here is the customer service number 800-423-6789.

Hartford is very efficient....excellent customer service people.....I found their rates to be better than State Farm (almost anybody is anymore), Progressive and GEICO.

I am more satisfied with Hartford in the last 2 years than I have been with State Farm (especially since living here in TV). The HArford people will treat you as a customer should be and not the usual "next" from a too big, too busy State Farm office here in TV.

btk

I just called Geico yesterday to see what the rate would be when I move to T.V. in September. I have a '07 Honda Accord EX and live in Philly suburbs. Currently paying $277 every 6 mos.; the new rate in FL would be $477 every 6 mos. I am absolutely astonished that it almost doubles. It might be worth maintaining my PA residency. I will check other insurers when I get there. How does this new rate compare with what others are paying.

In Cleveland we had Hartford through AARP. When looking into FL ins., Hartford doubled our rate for the same coverage. We went with Safeco, through Brightway Insurance. Rate is still higher than in Cleveland, but one of the lowest of all the quotes we received for FL. I was surprised insurance rates in TV were so much higher than Cleveland's.

USAA has been insuringour cars since 1971. I found FL to be pretty close to what we were paying in Montgomery County, PA. And much less than what we paid in South Jersey.

The rates around vary for sure. We just went through all this ourselves and found "Farmer's" Ins. Hadn't heard about Safeco...that may be a better bet BUT I think it all depends on the vehicle, year and safety features etc.

State Farm was EXCEEDINGLY expensive for us...it would have cost over 2k for the entire year!!! Our car isn't a luxury car and is an '08!! Good luck in your quest. You definately need to shop around.

Of course, keep in mind that your driving record has everything to do with rates you are quoted. As for us, we went with AAA and our rates are much cheaper than in NC.

We had Travelers and now changed to Met Life. $200 a year cheaper. We went through AAA.

We have State Farm in Woodstock, GA and our rate here is basically the same.

We went through this 6 months ago. Ended up with AAA and felt excellent about it. Ask for Bonnie Colangelo. She can definitely explain your options, give you quotes and send you off from there to decide.

State Farm in FL, specifically TV is a very different provider compared to State Farm other locations. We were with them almost 60 years...auto, home, boats, RV's, etc.

Our second year here our home owners doubled! Connie Wise answer was to go else where...guess where she sent us? To a company her husband was starting up....and later sold. Something smelled there.
Her answer from her reps was to reduce coverage to reduce the cost.

We now insure home with a local FL company, same coverage we always had....almost half what State Farm was plundering. After the home owners episode, where almost 60 years meant literally nothing...we then proceeded to shop our cars and again reduced our costs compared to State Farm..

When all got said and done it was disappointing to see that the customer loyalty was so one sided. Perhaps when one has the franchise for a growing customer base like TV, hence new customers arriving daily (almost) there is less need to be as customer oriented.

There are a lot of choices available for home owners and auto insurance and the rates and coverages do vary substantially...but just work it and you will find what you want/need.

btk

I may be wrong (it's happened before :)) but if Philadelphia has state income tax you would probably be better off being a resident of Florida..the money you will save on taxes would help to offset the difference. Also, as everyone has suggested, shop around!