My wife and I are building a new home. The builder has a homeowner's insurance company they partner with called Westwood Insurance. Westwood is quoting us a policy with a company called Praetorian Insurance Company at $474.
I've never heard of this company and a quick Google search returns some negative reviews. Because of this, I started getting comparison quotes with other companies with coverage amounts and items as close as possible. So far, no one can touch Praetorian.
Does anyone have an opinion on Praetorian or have a recommendation for homeowner's insurance?
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Praetorian Insurance Company $474
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Traveler’s $661 Home Only. $416 for home when combined with auto policy. Auto was too expensive
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Liberty Mutual $710
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Geico $724
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Allstate $766
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Progressive $816
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eSurance $877.98
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Erie Insurance $955 with discount for purchasing auto also
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USAA $1140 w/1K deductible, $823 with 1% deductible
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StateFarm $1275
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Amica $1492
I'm very familiar with them on the commercial side, I honestly didn't know they also wrote personal lines. They are owned by Australian company QBE now. I'm not surprised they're the cheapest as they've recently had to withdraw from some commercial markets due to being underpriced and unprofitable. Their claims handling is sub par from all I've heard - just slow, disorganized, and overly complicated, but you'll eventually get the correct payout. Overall I'd have no problem being insured by them, I would just pay attention to pricing at renewals, they may start making some pricing corrections on the personal side like they have for commercial. And really stay on top of them in the event of a claim.
I've not heard of the company but given there are a gazillion out there that's not unusual. A far as the reviews, you'll not find good ones online. No one goes to the trouble to post a review online about how happy that are with their instance company just as they don't go online to rave about their grocery store.
Use an insurance broker rather than going straight to the source. You'll also get a better rate if you bundle with car insurance.
Ya, I just started to look into insurance brokers. I'm not sure how to pick one. Can you share how to best find one? We are in Maryland.
I usually try to bundle insurance but the rates didn't work in our favor when we moved to Maryland. Geico was the cheapest by a lot for auto insurance. I can't remember what their renter's insurance came out to be but we ended up going with Amica because it was cheaper and they had a great reputation.
Join a local Facebook neighborhood group or sub-Reddit in your area and ask for recommendations on local independent agents. That's always worked for me.
Why not ask your agent what he/she would pick?
I'd check to see if it's the same policy form and not ACV. Depending on the coverage it can be vastly different in pricing. I'd go with Travelers it's much safer that way.
I'm only getting quotes with replacement cost value. The quote from Praetorian is RCV.
The different companies have different standard offerings in some cases but I've tried to keep the coverage as close as possible between the companies.
Also your HO3 isn't going to cover it while under construction. Find something that does.
The home is under the builder's insurance until we settle. This is a big builder.