[Arctic Fox]

My Farmers coverage runs out soon and I have received a quote from Southern Oak.

Is this a company that you have used, and can recommend?

Thank you

[Hans53]

Originally Posted by Arctic Fox

My Farmers coverage runs out soon and I have received a quote from Southern Oak.

Is this a company that you have used, and can recommend?

Thank you

used them for a few years now and no complaints.

[gatorbill1]

Use them for 2 years - reduced my cost by $500 after new roof

[kkingston57]

Originally Posted by Arctic Fox

My Farmers coverage runs out soon and I have received a quote from Southern Oak.

Is this a company that you have used, and can recommend?

Thank you

If home newer than 20 years, go to a State Farm agent. If older than 20 years use whatever company that your independent agent suggests. Love those political adds, where politicians say they are going to lower rates. Not going to happen and problem is going to get a lot worse

[CarlR33]

It’s all about risk and how much you want to pay more or less for that potential risk. When I researched home insurance the agent would ask what my current coverage was so it was an apples to apples comparison. Also, some agents for nationally named insurance companies broker out their insurance to other companies, FYI.

[Arctic Fox]

Originally Posted by Arctic Fox

My Farmers coverage runs out soon and I have received a quote from Southern Oak. Is this a company that you have used, and can recommend?

Thank you, all - I now feel happy to use this company.

[OBRight]

Like many others our insurer pulled out of Florida so I began shopping around. Since I'm a veteran and have used them before one of the companies I called was USAA, they said they weren't currently writing policies in Florida but quoted me a rate with Southern Oaks which we ended up going with. Slightly more than we had been paying but still reasonable. New roof as of 2020 so that wasn't an issue. We haven't had any types of claims so can't speak to that but no complaints either.

[villagetinker]

Originally Posted by Arctic Fox

Thank you, all - I now feel happy to use this company.

OP, if you have a financial advisor, have them check this company out on AM BEST to see what their financial status is, this will be very important if you need to file a claim.

[CoachKandSportsguy]

Insurance is a financial product, therefore the financial strength of the company is the first research item.
Customer service for paying claims is the second research item.

Settling a claim fast with the customer is usually the number one issue, small items < $10,000 is usually expected and baked into the their financial budget. meaning, from historical customer analysis, not individual analysis, but by customer demo- and geo- graphics: age, income, location, etc. how many small claims and cost they expect.

But with large weather related, ie, random historical events, or other large issues, the financial strength will be tested and their re-insurance strategy will play a part in how fast / how much you may be offered for your event.

So, is an insurance company good to use is a non linear, event driven answer, and mostly, you won't know that answer until you encounter a large event, along with everyone else. The more people involved in the same event, either one will get very little or nothing, depending upon the financial strength of the company to pay the total claims from one isolated large event.

Example non hurricane related, a colleague of coachk's went on a month trip to Africa to visit relatives. Upon return, the washer water hose had burst, and flooded the main level and basement. The family just returned to the home after living in a hotel for TWO years. There were so many delays, paperwork filings, searching for contractors during after the pandemic, etc, that the family just moved back after two years, and the house is not finished rehab yet.

I don't know how one rates the insurance company for that scenario, but the insurance company did not appear to respond quickly to the incident, just based upon time to complete agreement on reimbursement amount for approval to begin searching for a contractor, which was between 3-6 months

YMMV