I’m thinking of joining the AARP.
They offer condo & car insurance through the Hartford.
Anybody here go with them?
Good or bad experiences?
I used to work there. It seemed like the vast majority of the AARP customers I talked to were pretty happy with the place. I don’t think the coverage is any better or worse than the bigger players. I do know they won’t hesitate to jack up your rates if you ever file a claim, even if you’re not at fault. And they have a standard practice of raising rates pretty regularly. But hey, get a quote, it couldn’t hurt. If I’m not mistaken, they provide some pretty good bundle discounts–the more lines of insurance you purchase (auto, home, life, RV, etc), the higher % you get off. If their quote is cheaper than any of the other insurers you look at, there’s no reason not to buy the insurance. If they raise your rates later, you can always shop for another carrier again.
If you care about business practices, the new CEO pieced off and sold a lot of the company within the past couple years. A good chunk of Claims and IT were outsourced to India and the Philippines. When I started there, the workload was reasonable and it was a fairly laid-back place. By the time I left, it was a full-on balls-to-the-wall meatgrinder. Everyone was overworked and bitter. Even the managers looked haggard. I think at least 75% of my department gained upwards of 10 pounds due to stress. A lot of good people quit. I hope this doesn’t sound sour grapey; however, I am **really glad **I don’t work there anymore.
But at the end of the day, who’s to say that every insurance company doesn’t do similar things? They’re the only one I ever worked for.
You can find horror stories about any insurance company. Hartford seems a little better than average in my experience as someone who sues insurance companies for a living.
Ok, more input?
I’d recommend that you call around to several of the major insurance companies for quotes. And also contact an independent insurance agent, who can offer you coverage from several companies. The major companies like to pretend otherwise, but insurance is basically a commodity business.
We had them last year at work. My boss was involved in an accident that was not her fault. The insurance company was unable to get the $1000.00 deductible refunded to her even though the other person was responsible. My boss wasn’t pleased and we don’t have The Hartford this year.
For what it’s worth.
That had nothing to do with your boss’s insurance carrier and everything to do with the other person. They may have been uninsured and broke, or maybe their insurance denied the claim because of DUI/other reason.