r/Insurance • u/Otherwise-Dot-9445 • 1d ago

Liberty Mutual WTF!

I had the same insurance plan through my mortgage broker for 16 years now. When I bought my second house I just went with the same company for homeowners and bundled auto into it for a discount. Never had an issue or questions about my rates.

The last 5 years has seen my rates skyrocket. Both my auto and home have more than doubled during that time. Dummy me just kept paying it. I got my renewal email last week and noticed my auto insurance was at $478 per month ($5,700 premium). That’s for 2 cars, and two drivers, 1 accident and no tickets. My homeowners premium was $2,400 for a 90’s build two-story 2,200 sqf house.

So I started to shop around. Every single quote I got was around the same: $300 less a month. $174 for auto and $1100 for homeowners for the same auto coverage and better homeowners. How the hell do they get away with doing this to loyal customers?

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6

u/Thisismethisisalsome 1d ago

Loyalty does not override insurability. Something about your profile makes you seem more risky than before. Could be something you can fix, could be something you cant fix. Go with the company offering the best coverage/pricing. Too many people think that they can debate their way to better rates, but rates are not really negotiable. Wysiwyg.

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u/Otherwise-Dot-9445 1d ago

Why would I be more risky to them than other companies? I would only make sense if the rates were high for all companies.

1

u/Thisismethisisalsome 1d ago

Could be one of a billion reasons. Maybe that company experienced greater than average claims in your zip code. Maybe there have been more storms or wind damage, or car accidents. Maybe they are too oversaturated in the area and they need to spread their risk out more.

If a single company insures a whole town, what happens when a storm blows through and everyone's claims exceed the premium theyve paid? The company has a duty to make sure they bring in enough premiums to pay all the claims.

Insurance companies are most stable when they have a well researched, rated, and defined demographic. Then, they price to sell to that demographic. Think of it like specialties. If you are not in the demographic that the company specializes in, then you aren't getting the best prices they offer. They consider you riskier because they know less about you.

You have to find the right company for your profile to get the best prices. You find it by shopping.

Note that demographic can be as simple as "households with two cars" - then if you have three cars the pricing doesnt seem to make sense.

You likely just dont fit with what that company is looking for. They'll still offer coverage but you wont get the most favorable pricing.

3

u/2ndharrybhole 1d ago

So switch companies or “loyal” and pay the higher price to stay

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u/Otherwise-Dot-9445 1d ago

I switched for sure!

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u/Responsible-Bat-5651 1d ago

It’s not about loyalty anymore, there’s very little incentive to stay with most major companies aside from convenience. You just gotta make the determination on when it’s no longer convenient for you. Most companies will offer lower rates initially and increase over time.

Additionally make sure for your new rates that it includes the accident, or else when they run your reports the rate will change to include it.

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u/Otherwise-Dot-9445 1d ago

Thanks. They ran it right when they quoted me. So it’s based on the report the pulled.

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u/Silence_Farmer 1d ago

Yeah I had an accident in my mother's vehicle (she was a liberty mutual customer at the time) about 14 years ago. I was at fault. For 3-4 years every time I would shop my rate after that they would quote me $5,000/mo. It was hilarious actually.

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u/FindTheOthers623 P&C Licensed PL Underwriter 1d ago

If you've had the same policy for 16 years, when was the last time you asked your agent to review and rerate it?

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u/Otherwise-Dot-9445 23h ago

Outside of buying my second home, never. That’s part of the problem I guess. But I don’t think a customer should have to ask and threaten in order to get a them to give you the best rate they can.

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u/FindTheOthers623 P&C Licensed PL Underwriter 23h ago

Threaten? Why would you threaten anyone? Its your responsibility to make sure you are properly insured. They have no idea if or when your personal financial situation changes. Its your job to review your coverages. Every insurance company has different rating tiers depending on different factors. As your factors change, you may be eligible for different tiers. All you have to do is ask for an insurance review.

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u/Otherwise-Dot-9445 20h ago

It is. But nothing has changed. That’s my point. If I can go to another company and get the same coverage for 1/3 of the price, but when I tell them I’m leveling all of a sudden they can match that price (new information here. When I told them I was leaving yesterday, they matched the price), that tells me they were taken advantage of the fact that I was a loyal customer.

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u/FindTheOthers623 P&C Licensed PL Underwriter 20h ago

I guarantee you your credit score has changed over 16 years. They didn't price match. Insurance rates aren't negotiable. They performed a complete review and determined you were eligible for a different rating tier. Where is your agent to explain all of this??

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u/Otherwise-Dot-9445 20h ago

Actually my credit score is about the same. lol Bren around 800 for 20 years or so.

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u/shadowstormer 14h ago

(new information here. When I told them I was leaving yesterday, they matched the price

Doubt.

Price matching is not a thing that happens in the insurance world because every company sees every risk different. Rates are also regulated.

Agents and brokers do not set prices (99% of them don't even work for the companies they sell)... your rate is determined by people who will never talk to them. Whatever rate the insurance company says is the rate. What it sounds like happened was your broker shopped across another company they had access to (good) or they lowered your coverages (bad).

I will say if they did price match it would be the dumbest and foolish thing to do. First off rebating like that is illegal in most states and could get their licenses suspended/big fines. Additionally 100% of your premium goes to the insurance company and they pay a commission to the broker/agent... if your broker price matched your $2400 policy to the $1100 then that is all on their end not the insurance company. The policy premium is still going to be $2400.... $1300 is still owed... who is paying the rest? The broker. But the broker is probably only making somewhere <$500 off that policy.... why would they lose a massive amount of money to retain a single client who is now not making them money? Get where I am going?

1

u/Mvdrummer95 1d ago

3 things. 1.) Always shop your insurance every few years. Hopefully you can get with an agency that can do it for you. Sometimes its a shell game. 2.) The agents that are quoting you are incentives to get you the lowest price. That doesn't mean your coverage is exactly the same. Make sure to look the quotes over carefully before making any decisions. 3.) Talk to your broker about this. See what they can do. Give them a chance to get you a better rate. Theoretically it would be great if they were completely looking at every renewal and quoting you out with their carriers every year. Realistically agencies and brokerages have been taking on more and more work each year. Let them know you are unhappy. You might be surprised to figure out what they can do. Its not fun to keep track of, but your policies are yours and you should be looking at pricing each year yourself as well.

Sorry you are having a bad experience. Hopefully you can find a policy and agent you can move forward with that you both trust and is in a better price range.

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u/woojo1984 1d ago

My mother had the same reaction to AmFam. "But I've been a customer for 30 years"

They make money off churn and new clients, period. Loyalty in insurance means jack shit.

Plus, liberty biberty can just go right the fuck away.