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nonhuman · Nov 15, 2007, 11:32 AM

Anyone have any tips? I really have no idea who would be best to go with as none of the national insurance operate in Massachusetts (the more I have to deal with this state...). I did find this list of companies that offer homeowners insurance in Massachusetts, but it's not vary useful to just have an alphabetic list of bunch of different companies.

RobOnTheCape · Nov 15, 2007, 05:41 PM

I was doing some work for a realtor, and mentioned that I just bought a place here on the Vineyard. I mentioned how we were going to pay about $2,500 per year. She gave me this guys info: The insurance agency is Mark Sylvia and the telephone number is
> 508-428-0440, She said the hook is that you also have to agree to place your car policy with them, but she said hers (in Osterville, near water) was going to be $2,100, but he got it to around $750.00. This seems to good to be true, and with all the hammer banging I've been doing buttoning up this place for the coming winter I haven't looked into it. Good luck & let me know how it goes.

nonhuman · Nov 15, 2007, 05:58 PM

Wow. I just talked to a guy whose office is right down the street from me and he gave me a quote of $220/year... Of course that's for $25,000 of coverage which is the bare minimum (and which I don't think we even come close to hitting). I suppose it's worth mentioning that we have a condo, and so the building has a master insurance policy that covers the structure and such, and we only need to insure from the walls in ourselves.

Anyway, I think I'm probably going to go with the guy I found. He came well recommended and works with a number of different carriers, so I'll be able to look at a couple different options.

Sherman Homan · Nov 15, 2007, 06:12 PM

Generally, the insurance companies offer better deals with a house and car policy, so look into a bundled package.

nonhuman · Nov 15, 2007, 06:20 PM

Yeah, the guy I was talking to mentioned that. Doesn't really work if your car's registered and insured in another state though.

Rumor · Nov 15, 2007, 06:41 PM

I see that Liberty Mutual is able to provide insurance in your state. I'd try giving them a call, they generally have decent rates.

Sherman Homan · Nov 15, 2007, 06:50 PM

Originally Posted by nonhuman

Yeah, the guy I was talking to mentioned that. Doesn't really work if your car's registered and insured in another state though.

Snort! Of course you might find out that your out-of-state policy and your homeowner's policy are about the same as a bundled price. And you would get the added benefit of being legal...(!)

MacosNerd · Nov 15, 2007, 07:22 PM

Your best bet is to find an independent insurance agent. They can give you all of the information and they generally have a number of insurance companies they do business with. As others stated if you insure your auto and house with them you'll get a discount.

Rumor · Nov 15, 2007, 07:26 PM

I would avoid brokers if possible. Even though they may be able to write you into different companies, the broker fee often negates most of the savings. Also, you want to make sure that you are will a financially solid company. Check whichever company you are interested in against A.M. Best to find out how financially sound they are.

MacosNerd · Nov 15, 2007, 07:51 PM

Brokers or independent agents?

Independent agent's get commissions from the insurance companies. They do not charge you at all. In massachusetts (especially with the wacky auto insurance laws) its best to go with an independent agent. They're not tied to a specific company. Often insurance companies specialize in some sector which means better pricing (not auto insurance because of said wacky laws) and by going with an independent agent you can find a company that offers the best deal for you. If you just call a direct sales insurance company you really have no idea if its a good fit.

Rumor · Nov 15, 2007, 08:04 PM

Independent agents tend to work for a direct writer, i.e. State Farm or Farmers, exclusively. If an agent can write to multiple companies (that aren't associated with each other) then they are generally a broker. A broker still gets a commission directly from the company but they can also tack on a one time broker fee. Though, I have heard of some brokers that do not add that fee.

macforray · Nov 15, 2007, 08:58 PM

Originally Posted by Rumor

I see that Liberty Mutual is able to provide insurance in your state. I'd try giving them a call, they generally have decent rates.

I use Liberty Mutual here in CNY for both auto and homeowners insurance. I have been very happy with them. I have had three auto claims that were handled within hours.

MacosNerd · Nov 16, 2007, 09:12 AM

Originally Posted by Rumor

Independent agents tend to work for a direct writer, i.e. State Farm or Farmers, exclusively. If an agent can write to multiple companies (that aren't associated with each other) then they are generally a broker. A broker still gets a commission directly from the company but they can also tack on a one time broker fee. Though, I have heard of some brokers that do not add that fee.

Well here in Massachusetts we don't use the word broker and all independent agents write for multiple insurance companies. I was in the insurance business here in Mass. for many years and never once came across the term broker. Also most if not nearly all independent agents do not charge a fee to the customer - at least with the ones I've dealt with (on a personal and professional basis).

Eug · Nov 16, 2007, 10:28 AM

$25000 insurance? Isn't that kind of pointless?

Or do you get real liability coverage with that too, for a much higher amount?

nonhuman · Nov 16, 2007, 10:34 AM

Originally Posted by Eug

$25000 insurance? Isn't that kind of pointless?

Or do you get real liability coverage with that too, for a much higher amount?

Yeah, we get liability too. Not sure the exact amount, but I'm going to go in and talk with the guy today and discuss the different options.

Eug · Nov 16, 2007, 11:20 AM

Well, I wouldn't get anything with less than 1 million liability. I currently have 2 million.

For theft, $25000 is fine if you don't have very much stuff, but for many people $25000 is too little even in a condo.

nonhuman · Nov 16, 2007, 02:34 PM

$25000 is more than enough theft coverage for us. The only really expensive thing we own is my fiancée's engagement ring, and that's covered separately anyway. For $281/year I can get all that plus $500,000 liability. Not really sure why I'd need more than half a million in liability coverage.

Eug · Nov 16, 2007, 03:04 PM

Originally Posted by nonhuman

$25000 is more than enough theft coverage for us. The only really expensive thing we own is my fiancée's engagement ring, and that's covered separately anyway. For $281/year I can get all that plus $500,000 liability. Not really sure why I'd need more than half a million in liability coverage.

What happens if your clothes are all gone, your Macs are stolen, and all your AV equipment is destroyed? $25000 could be eaten up right away just for that. But you may be right. $25000 may be OK if you really don't have much (and your ring is separately insured). However...

People often don't sue for just $5000 for personal injury. They may sue for $50000. OK, you're fine. Or they may sue for $150000 for hospital expenses. OK, you're still fine. Or they may sue for a million bux, because of lost future earnings after they become a paraplegic. That's not even counting medical expenses. Now you're screwed by only having $500000 liability. The good news is that getting extra liability insurance is cheap.

nonhuman · Nov 16, 2007, 03:09 PM

Originally Posted by Eug

What happens if your clothes are all gone, your Macs are stolen, and all your AV equipment is destroyed? $25000 could be eaten up right away just for that. But you may be right. $25000 may be OK if you really don't have much (and your ring is separately insured). However...

A quick mental calculation of the value of our possessions (excluding the ring) gives me a total of less than $10,000. For the time being, we have very little. Most of our furniture is stuff that either we bought for college, or that we've had since even earlier. We really don't have much in the way of valuable stuff. After Christmas I'm planning on putting together a home theater system, but I don't really expend to spend more than about $2500 on it. I think $25,000 will be fine for a while at least.

People often don't sue for just $5000 for personal injury. They may sue for $50000. OK, you're fine. Or they may sue for $150000 for hospital expenses. OK, you're still fine. Or they may sue for a million bux, because of lost future earnings after they become a paraplegic. That's not even counting medical expenses. Now you're screwed by only having $500000 liability. The good news is that getting extra liability insurance is cheap.

That's a good point. I guess the trick is to just make sure that they're outside the walls of our condo when they injure themselves so that the building's master insurance covers it.