Liberty Mutual Review

Liberty Mutual Insurance Company

Every year I try to obtain quotes from all the insurance companies.  I know what coverage I want and need and compare these quotes to determine which insurance carrier I will use.  I do have insurance licenses in all fields but do not work for any insurance company plus I have a securities license as well but do not work for any securities company.

With insurance, you are looking for apples to apples coverage.  For autos - 250/500 coverage which means $250,000 to an aggregate of $500,000.  I have high personal wealth so I choose to take the highest limits to avoid being wiped out by any lawsuit.  I take $1000 deductible on Collision as a lower amount will cost way more than the $1000 out of pocket costs over any 5 year period.   For my house, I get 1 million in liability coverage and a company that allows a 20% above the rate used - for instance, $350,000 to rebuild plus an additional 20% on top of that or $70,000.  I also have a $1000 deductible as again, lower deductibles are far better for the insurance company than for the consumer in the long run. 

The discounts available for me in Cars:

Over 50 years of age for both drivers

low mileage - less than 2500 miles per year

Discounts for home:

Multi-policy

alarm system

retired

My car insurance is $800 per year for two cars with all the bells and whistles except rental car insurance for my own car but rental car insurance for my wife and homeowners is $500 per year.

The closest other competitor was $150 more per year for the exact same coverage.  

In February and early March I shop all other companies and do so sometimes twice as even from the same company quotes vary.  Just so you know, your credit score is a huge item in getting lower cost insurance.  If you have great credit, you will pay far less than others with worse credit.  Liberty Mutual beat every other company this past renewel date - April, 2009. 

Also, claims is a big factor in insurance costs.  I have had no claims for 20 years or more.  Sometimes you get a discount for being with a company for several years.  I have only been with Liberty Mutual, this being my third consecutive year.  

I could tell you many other items about your insurances like your grave site (if you have one) is covered by your homeowners policy.  There are two different water coverages - flood insurance and water back-up.  You buy a separate policy for flood insurance which all people who live even in rarely flooding areas - 1000 year flood zones should buy.  If you do not have flood insurance, you will not be covered should your home be swept away partially, completely or simply have damage from a flood.  Homeowners insurance does not cover any water damage by itself.  A rider you can add is water and sewer backup.  Should a drain become clogged and your basement or lower level suffer problems, flood insurance will not cover - only water and sewer backup will cover your losses.  That is why New Orleans is not completely rebuilt - homeowners did not purchase flood insurance.  What is not known is that hurricane insurance makes no insurance company any money as this is a federal program.  Any carrier having property and casualty insurance must offer this insurance and it is all the same regardless of carrier.  All profits from this coverage in a year of lower than expected hurricane damage is returned to the federal government.  If the insurance company has higher claims than expected, thefederal government makes up that loss to insurance companies.