Insurance Agents, Agencies and Services

Insurance means protecting your investments in your home, your car, your health, and your family. Selecting the right insurance company and the right agent can mean the difference between how well you recover from life's disasters - big and small. These sites offer information and services on insuring those important assets.

My attorney gave me some great advice a few years ago when our 2 year-old car was totalled in an accident. He said, "Never take the first offer." If you accept an insurance company's first offer, you're usually settling for less than you should. In our case, the car was in truly superb condition (the credit for which goes entirely to my wife, who never, ever missed an oil change or maintenance visit), and had below average mileage because we both worked at home. So, we sent the first offer back with a letter explaining that the amount was inadequate for the reasons stated and I threw in some Kelly Blue Book data for good measure. It took a couple of back-and-forth sessions, but we ultimately received nearly 25% more than the first offer.

Allstate Insurance
The "Good Hands People." My dad always liked Allstate. They saw me through my teen years. A bit pricey, but I'm told they give much more personalized service than most other insurance companies.

State Farm Insurance
One of the nation's largest insurance companies. We bought our car insurance from them for many years. Our agent was a friend of my wife's, so we got pretty good service from him, but the company was very stingy with settlements. See above notes.

Geico Insurance
The ones with the gecko with the Cockney accent in the commercials. Excellent prices and superb online services. I recently switched to Geico, and while I haven't had any claims yet, I'm very happy with the price and service.