USAA lost 1.3 billion dollars last year

[Guest]

Blacklab's house and its famous grotto...

[torre 1285]

On 5/8/2023 at 12:33 PM, Clintonaldo said:

Funny enough I am at Hilton Head for a work conference and the average cost to repair  went from $3,125 in 2019 to $4,240 in 2022 and the rental average went from 13.5 days to 18.5 days. 
 

 

 

Is there info available on the cost of EV vs ICE (gas) vehicle insurance  ?

[Clintonaldo 2572]

Is there info available on the cost of EV vs ICE (gas) vehicle insurance  ?

It’s more expensive to repair an EV if that’s what your asking but I can’t tell you on average how much more. It’s all so new that data is still being gathered and interpreted.

[fattyflattie 4639]

On 5/7/2023 at 10:59 AM, Incredulity said:

https://www.nhtsa.gov/equipment/driver-assistance-technologies#:~:text=Forward collision warning systems use,to prevent a potential crash.
 

all at the mandate or “recommendation” of the federal government.

 

P.S. A government “recommendation” to vehicle manufacturers isn’t the same as the government recommending you eat less salt.

This is stupid. As noted upthread, the govt is flawless and this is purely the work of capitalism.  Get a clue. 

[The Ace of Aces 5175]

USAA customer service used to be great. It’s pure shit now. I have a claim going for a YEAR and they have no idea what they’re doing. I have the state insurance board investigating them for inaction, there be ruling on my favor next month.  

There were always 2 USAAs.  The good one based on military service and the other (for teachers) one. The good one is gone. 

I’ll be speaking with a broker once my claim is finished. USAA jacked my homeowners rate up 32% in 2021 and car rate 12%. We had never had a claim until 2022. 

[SL Xpress 7513]

Do we not have an insurance expert on this board? I find that hard to believe.

I was at a board meeting for a Galveston condo home owner's association two weeks ago. They had a special presentation from the insurance broker talking about why there's 20% less coverage for wind damage at a 50% rate increase. One of the other owners got up and said he'd had the same personal experiences with his apartment complexes throughout the midwest, even though he has no history of making claims. I've read how catastrophic the impact on claims has been on Florida coast properties. Some mortgage companies are waiving insurance coverage requirements on beach properties because of the impossibility of finding any, or how cost prohibitive it is. Which seems completely and utterly insane to me. I don't even understand how that works as a business model. 

I had a recent fire that gutted a small 6 unit apartment complex I have (no one was there or hurt). It will be at least a $700k claim. The adjuster just came back and said it doesn't meet coverage requirements under the policy because of the presence of aluminum wiring. A have a documented statement from a licensed electrician that there's no aluminum wiring in the complex. This policy is from a broker I've done business with on all investment properties for 30 years. The broker's hands are tied. They cannot help with the claim. 

The insurance business is a state regulated industry. Sure, like any smart business the industry invests a lot of time, effort, and resources into influencing the make up of those regulatory boards to make them as insurance industry friendly as possible, but it's still not untrammeled capitalism, and there is a degree of political oversight on their business practices, regardless of how effective it might be. 

But their current business model is taking a beating across the board. This is not something isolated to USAA, although I find the anecdotal experiences listed on here interesting. My guess is that the industry stabilizes at some point, and we see rates go down and become more accessible, but maybe this is the new normal. 

I also don't understand the outrage about people charging higher prices for a good suddenly in greater demand. If all of your peers were getting paid 20-30% more than what they were previously but you chose to stand fast and make the same amount you'd always made, you'd look like a chump. You'd feel like one, too. But when it's something we purchase/consume versus our own services, suddenly there's some kind of moral authority attached. Maybe I don't have all the details and it's more like what has happened in the insulin market than I realize. But it's difficult for me to feel like there should be some kind of outrage attached because someone is charging a higher price for a product because they can. 

Anyway, I'd love for someone in the industry to explain further what's going on across the board. Or heck, I'd love for people outside the industry to opine, too. It's just that it's the industry perspective I'm looking for more than anything else. 

[UTPhil2006 3801]

I think @C-Man is our go to 

[C-Man 27182]

On 5/6/2023 at 12:22 PM, tx 3 putt said:

They’ve ventured too far from their core focus / products, chasing $$$ 

The industry as a whole is under siege. This is the hardest personal insurance market anybody currently in it has ever seen.

 

On 5/6/2023 at 1:43 PM, Rimbo said:

It's going to take a while before my premiums with USAA catch up to my claims, so I'm sticking with them.

Still the best insurance there is.

There's better than USAA but not everybody qualifies. The high net worth carriers offer much broader coverage with better claims practice than any other carrier in the market. Chubb's minimum home is $500K on the dwelling but they're usually not competitive price-wise until you get to $1M and up. The other HNW carriers start at $1M or even $2M in parts of Texas now.

 

On 5/6/2023 at 8:13 PM, Horn said:

I’ve been with USAA for 20+ years. I knew I was overpaying for homeowners, but when they tried to raise my rate by 20% this year I finally caved.  I made one phone call to Allstate and they gave me the exact same coverage for 60% less.  My auto rate was competitive, but I switched both.  Clowns. 

Good luck with that. Allstate is hot garbage if you have a claim.

 

On 5/7/2023 at 7:28 AM, Clintonaldo said:

A lot of it. Also, manufacturers keep putting more cameras, radars and sensors on vehicles and crash frequency hasn’t really changed and crash severity has skyrocketed. The average cost of repair used to be around $2,600 4 years ago and it is now $4,000. Manufacturers are also making a lot of shit one time use thus contributing to high repair costs.

This is the crux of the problem. Cars cost much, much more to repair than they used to. They're safer, yes, but we've also added in the distraction of smart phones to the equation.

 

On 5/14/2023 at 6:09 PM, The Ace of Aces said:

USAA customer service used to be great. It’s pure shit now. I have a claim going for a YEAR and they have no idea what they’re doing. I have the state insurance board investigating them for inaction, there be ruling on my favor next month.  

I've heard that. Every time you need something done, you call the service center and get somebody different every time. That isn't ideal IMO.

 

37 minutes ago, SL Xpress said:

Do we not have an insurance expert on this board? I find that hard to believe.

I was at a board meeting for a Galveston condo home owner's association two weeks ago. They had a special presentation from the insurance broker talking about why there's 20% less coverage for wind damage at a 50% rate increase. One of the other owners got up and said he'd had the same personal experiences with his apartment complexes throughout the midwest, even though he has no history of making claims. I've read how catastrophic the impact on claims has been on Florida coast properties. Some mortgage companies are waiving insurance coverage requirements on beach properties because of the impossibility of finding any, or how cost prohibitive it is. Which seems completely and utterly insane to me. I don't even understand how that works as a business model. 

I had a recent fire that gutted a small 6 unit apartment complex I have (no one was there or hurt). It will be at least a $700k claim. The adjuster just came back and said it doesn't meet coverage requirements under the policy because of the presence of aluminum wiring. A have a documented statement from a licensed electrician that there's no aluminum wiring in the complex. This policy is from a broker I've done business with on all investment properties for 30 years. The broker's hands are tied. They cannot help with the claim. 

The insurance business is a state regulated industry. Sure, like any smart business the industry invests a lot of time, effort, and resources into influencing the make up of those regulatory boards to make them as insurance industry friendly as possible, but it's still not untrammeled capitalism, and there is a degree of political oversight on their business practices, regardless of how effective it might be. 

But their current business model is taking a beating across the board. This is not something isolated to USAA, although I find the anecdotal experiences listed on here interesting. My guess is that the industry stabilizes at some point, and we see rates go down and become more accessible, but maybe this is the new normal. 

I also don't understand the outrage about people charging higher prices for a good suddenly in greater demand. If all of your peers were getting paid 20-30% more than what they were previously but you chose to stand fast and make the same amount you'd always made, you'd look like a chump. You'd feel like one, too. But when it's something we purchase/consume versus our own services, suddenly there's some kind of moral authority attached. Maybe I don't have all the details and it's more like what has happened in the insulin market than I realize. But it's difficult for me to feel like there should be some kind of outrage attached because someone is charging a higher price for a product because they can. 

Anyway, I'd love for someone in the industry to explain further what's going on across the board. Or heck, I'd love for people outside the industry to opine, too. It's just that it's the industry perspective I'm looking for more than anything else. 

When my wife and I went to Charleston for High Water Fest, we went about an hour north to meet her Clemson sorority big sis and her brother, who happened to be one of my wife's best guy friends in college. I'd never met them. He's a commercial insurance broker based in Myrtle Beach. He specializes in condos/apartments and is seeing the exact same thing you're describing.

An article came out in Insurance Journal yesterday discussing the federal flood program and increasing rates for this year in response to last year's hurricanes (and cat events before that). https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2023/05/08/719832.htm

I have a FW-based client who owns a 13th-floor condo on the West coast of Florida. This was in an area that got clobbered by Ian. I think the building is still without full power, at least it was about a month ago. It's uninhabitable. He can't use it. He can't use it as a STR. He's stuck. He's also been hit with $35K in tenant assessments. He had a $65K claim to his unit. Insurance paid $25K of his assessments but he's out of pocket for the rest. And he couldn't sell that property if he wanted to right now.

 

On a side note, I'm happy to look at anybody's stuff if they're shopping around. I just want to set expectations, especially in what we call middle market. We don't have many solutions beyond Safeco and Travelers and those aren't less than what you can get from direct writers in many cases. If you're in the HNW world for a "stuff" standpoint and with a direct writer like Allstate, State Farm, Farmers, etc OR with a carrier not named Chubb, AIG, PURE, Cincinnati, Nationwide Private Client, Vault or Berkley One we can without a doubt improve coverage substantially and hopefully do it at a reasonable cost. Insurance is NOT a commodity in the HNW sector. (It isn't really in the middle market as not all policies are created equal.) You get what you pay for. A few bucks more now might save you a ton down the road in a serious claim situation.

[Captainant 27618]

58 minutes ago, SL Xpress said:

I also don't understand the outrage about people charging higher prices for a good suddenly in greater demand. If all of your peers were getting paid 20-30% more than what they were previously but you chose to stand fast and make the same amount you'd always made, you'd look like a chump. You'd feel like one, too. But when it's something we purchase/consume versus our own services, suddenly there's some kind of moral authority attached. Maybe I don't have all the details and it's more like what has happened in the insulin market than I realize. But it's difficult for me to feel like there should be some kind of outrage attached because someone is charging a higher price for a product because they can. 

There's been interesting and recent research from the fed that shows no correlation between the recent rise in compensation (IE: cost in a generic economic model) and in inflationary rates, but rather the expectation and anticipation of increased costs in the future.

https://www.kansascityfed.org/Economic Review/documents/9329/EconomicReviewV108N1GloverMustredelRiovonEndeBecker.pdf

This has led to firms electing to increase prices in advance of their forecasted increase in costs (or supply constraint), and the ensuing spiral. If you've got time I highly recommend giving the above paper a read, it starts with modeling what pricing behavior looks like in a monopoly and then builds a view of what pricing behavior was and now is. 

 

Suffice to say - there's less and less real world evidence to show that wages have been driving true cost increases, and a growing mountain of evidence to show that the greater portion of inflationary pressure has been from increases in profit taking by firms.

[gmr548 16575]

6 hours ago, SL Xpress said:

Some mortgage companies are waiving insurance coverage requirements on beach properties because of the impossibility of finding any, or how cost prohibitive it is. Which seems completely and utterly insane to me. I don't even understand how that works as a business model. 

That is batshit crazy on the lender's part.

[Not a cat 5651]

6 hours ago, C-Man said:

The industry as a whole is under siege. This is the hardest personal insurance market anybody currently in it has ever seen.

 

There's better than USAA but not everybody qualifies. The high net worth carriers offer much broader coverage with better claims practice than any other carrier in the market. Chubb's minimum home is $500K on the dwelling but they're usually not competitive price-wise until you get to $1M and up. The other HNW carriers start at $1M or even $2M in parts of Texas now.

 

Good luck with that. Allstate is hot garbage if you have a claim.

 

This is the crux of the problem. Cars cost much, much more to repair than they used to. They're safer, yes, but we've also added in the distraction of smart phones to the equation.

 

I've heard that. Every time you need something done, you call the service center and get somebody different every time. That isn't ideal IMO.

 

When my wife and I went to Charleston for High Water Fest, we went about an hour north to meet her Clemson sorority big sis and her brother, who happened to be one of my wife's best guy friends in college. I'd never met them. He's a commercial insurance broker based in Myrtle Beach. He specializes in condos/apartments and is seeing the exact same thing you're describing.

An article came out in Insurance Journal yesterday discussing the federal flood program and increasing rates for this year in response to last year's hurricanes (and cat events before that). https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2023/05/08/719832.htm

I have a FW-based client who owns a 13th-floor condo on the West coast of Florida. This was in an area that got clobbered by Ian. I think the building is still without full power, at least it was about a month ago. It's uninhabitable. He can't use it. He can't use it as a STR. He's stuck. He's also been hit with $35K in tenant assessments. He had a $65K claim to his unit. Insurance paid $25K of his assessments but he's out of pocket for the rest. And he couldn't sell that property if he wanted to right now.

 

On a side note, I'm happy to look at anybody's stuff if they're shopping around. I just want to set expectations, especially in what we call middle market. We don't have many solutions beyond Safeco and Travelers and those aren't less than what you can get from direct writers in many cases. If you're in the HNW world for a "stuff" standpoint and with a direct writer like Allstate, State Farm, Farmers, etc OR with a carrier not named Chubb, AIG, PURE, Cincinnati, Nationwide Private Client, Vault or Berkley One we can without a doubt improve coverage substantially and hopefully do it at a reasonable cost. Insurance is NOT a commodity in the HNW sector. (It isn't really in the middle market as not all policies are created equal.) You get what you pay for. A few bucks more now might save you a ton down the road in a serious claim situation.

Re Allstate, it's a sample size of one but I had a claim from them in 2020 that had no problems.  Granted, it was in an area that was declared a disaster area by the state due to a huge hail storm (pretty much every house within a half mile of me got a new roof) so there might have been pressure from the Minnesota state regulators but I got all new roof, gutters, skylights etc. with no questions asked. 

Since the roof was already pretty old and at the end of its useful life, my pocketbook was not upset with that turn of events.

[C-Man 27182]

39 minutes ago, gmr548 said:

That is batshit crazy on the lender's part.

Yeah, that doesn't seem like sound business.

[The Ace of Aces 5175]

7 hours ago, C-Man said:

The industry as a whole is under siege. This is the hardest personal insurance market anybody currently in it has ever seen.

 

There's better than USAA but not everybody qualifies. The high net worth carriers offer much broader coverage with better claims practice than any other carrier in the market. Chubb's minimum home is $500K on the dwelling but they're usually not competitive price-wise until you get to $1M and up. The other HNW carriers start at $1M or even $2M in parts of Texas now.

 

Good luck with that. Allstate is hot garbage if you have a claim.

 

This is the crux of the problem. Cars cost much, much more to repair than they used to. They're safer, yes, but we've also added in the distraction of smart phones to the equation.

 

I've heard that. Every time you need something done, you call the service center and get somebody different every time. That isn't ideal IMO.

 

When my wife and I went to Charleston for High Water Fest, we went about an hour north to meet her Clemson sorority big sis and her brother, who happened to be one of my wife's best guy friends in college. I'd never met them. He's a commercial insurance broker based in Myrtle Beach. He specializes in condos/apartments and is seeing the exact same thing you're describing.

An article came out in Insurance Journal yesterday discussing the federal flood program and increasing rates for this year in response to last year's hurricanes (and cat events before that). https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2023/05/08/719832.htm

I have a FW-based client who owns a 13th-floor condo on the West coast of Florida. This was in an area that got clobbered by Ian. I think the building is still without full power, at least it was about a month ago. It's uninhabitable. He can't use it. He can't use it as a STR. He's stuck. He's also been hit with $35K in tenant assessments. He had a $65K claim to his unit. Insurance paid $25K of his assessments but he's out of pocket for the rest. And he couldn't sell that property if he wanted to right now.

 

On a side note, I'm happy to look at anybody's stuff if they're shopping around. I just want to set expectations, especially in what we call middle market. We don't have many solutions beyond Safeco and Travelers and those aren't less than what you can get from direct writers in many cases. If you're in the HNW world for a "stuff" standpoint and with a direct writer like Allstate, State Farm, Farmers, etc OR with a carrier not named Chubb, AIG, PURE, Cincinnati, Nationwide Private Client, Vault or Berkley One we can without a doubt improve coverage substantially and hopefully do it at a reasonable cost. Insurance is NOT a commodity in the HNW sector. (It isn't really in the middle market as not all policies are created equal.) You get what you pay for. A few bucks more now might save you a ton down the road in a serious claim situation.

Can you sell to this who live outside Tx?

[C-Man 27182]

5 hours ago, The Ace of Aces said:

Can you sell to this who live outside Tx?

Yeah, I've got clients with stuff all over the US and abroad. Not all of the HNW carriers are in all 50 states but they're in most of the ones that are necessary.

[Chopper 17228]

On 5/9/2023 at 12:46 PM, torre said:

Is there info available on the cost of EV vs ICE (gas) vehicle insurance  ?

I've read it's 2x. Many EVs have to be completely junked if they're in an accident because there's no way to tell if the battery was damaged and you can't pull the battery out in a couple brands of cars because it's a structural element. Tesla and a couple other manufacturers use the battery as a structural element. There's no way for a body shop to even get readings about a battery's condition.

My USAA banking story from 2 weeks ago: I've banked with them for over 25 years. Have 3 joint accounts. For an investment in Europe I needed to wire funds from a bank account that the developer had pre-approved and for which I was sole-owner. I told USAA what I needed, they set me up a solo account. I got it approved 3 days later. When I was ready to wire funds, USAA said, NOPE. You can't wire funds from that account because it hasn't been opened long enough. "But I'm a 28 year customer with 3 other accounts from which I can wire funds why would you block this one?" "Policy" was their answer. They wouldn't even tell me how long I'd have to wait to be able to wire funds out of that account. I said, taking a deep breath...I have 3 other accounts from which I can immediately wire funds so your policy makes no sense, and if you screw me over on this it turns out you've wasted a week of my life, I assure you the next step I take will be to wire all funds out of USAA and over to one of my other banks that isn't so bureaucratic and antagonistic toward their customers.

An hour later it was adios, USAA FSB.

[Colonel Sanders 1336]

I used to have USAA for pretty much everything, banking, credit cards, insursance, investments. Hell, I even bought my wife's engagement ring from them when they had that service.  However, over the past decade I've divested myself from almost all of their products.  Now I just have a checking account.  I think some of that was my perception that their customer service was becoming worse, but most of it was they we're more expensive or I could get better benefits elsewhere.  It sucks becasuse it was nice and easy to have everything in one place.

[StassneyHorn 6573]

I have coverage with State Farm and my premium went up 35% after having no claims since 2017. Saw they had lost 6.7 billion in 2022. I may have gotten worked up in the moment and sent an email to my agent to cancel my policy cause I’m tired of giving his father and him money when they can’t help with basic things.

 

[Eastwood 4394]

USAA seems to be going through a nationwide technical issue. Myself and apparently a ton of people can’t login and are being told by the automated system their accounts don’t exist when trying to access them over the phone. 
 

Hope it’s just a server issue and not a breach issue. 

[Captainant 27618]

1 hour ago, Eastwood said:

USAA seems to be going through a nationwide technical issue. Myself and apparently a ton of people can’t login and are being told by the automated system their accounts don’t exist when trying to access them over the phone. 
 

Hope it’s just a server issue and not a breach issue. 

So it's not just me then. I can log in and see balances but I can't do anything. I think it's probably an outage and not a breach - usually attackers try not to impede operations if they're stealing data.

[Incredulity 11643]

7 hours ago, StassneyHorn said:

I have coverage with State Farm and my premium went up 35% after having no claims since 2017. Saw they had lost 6.7 billion in 2022. I may have gotten worked up in the moment and sent an email to my agent to cancel my policy cause I’m tired of giving his father and him money when they can’t help with basic things.

 

Just heard they are not taking on any new residential or business insurance in the entire state of California.  That seems bad.

[DanRydell 799]

On 5/17/2023 at 5:09 PM, Not a cat said:

Re Allstate, it's a sample size of one but I had a claim from them in 2020 that had no problems.  Granted, it was in an area that was declared a disaster area by the state due to a huge hail storm (pretty much every house within a half mile of me got a new roof) so there might have been pressure from the Minnesota state regulators but I got all new roof, gutters, skylights etc. with no questions asked. 

Since the roof was already pretty old and at the end of its useful life, my pocketbook was not upset with that turn of events.

i can't speak to their homeowners claims but on auto liability claims, I have to sue Allstate insureds more frequently than any other insurer so if you carry Allstate and hit someone, you're likely to find yourself in a lawsuit.

Edited June 1, 2023 by DanRydell

[Hornius Emeritus 12448]

Auto insurance rates up an average of almost 24 percent across Texas last year:


"There’s a good bet that we haven’t seen anything quite like this, because if you’re having 24% increases, those can be pretty intolerable. And then when you look at, you know, you look at some of the insurers, the numbers are even larger. So if you take GEICO, which is one of the leading auto insurers, their average rates were up 54%. Allstate, another top provider, 38%, and Farmers 32%. So that’s just to give you a little bit of a picture of what’s going on."

https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/car-insurance-rates-highest-annual-increase-20-years/

[tx 3 putt 76859]

price gouging 

[Dbeasy 15039]

I dropped USAA for auto insurance after 43 years. They were 40% more expensive than other choices. 

However, the industry is in trouble. The reinsurers, who are basically an oligopoly, just bent over the insurers with 50% increases. That, combined with all of the stories about inflation we’ve all seen means the next few years are going to be brutal on the consumer. 

The only option is to hop carriers every year to minimize the damage. 

People may want to start demanding the FTC get more aggressive on these oligopolies or it’s going to get way worse: cell service, etc. 

[StassneyHorn 6573]

I switched to Progressive and had my phone track the amount of non driving/driving I’m doing these first 6 months. Sucks when you forget you’re a passenger in a car or have to reclassify trips afterwards to show you were ina a city train, bus, or Uber and won’t let you change cause it’s been a few days.

[StassneyHorn 6573]

Most the time it’s right, just the being a passenger in a car/Uber fucks it up mostly. Pretty good at realizing trains. Did a scooter the other day that I need to check now ha

[52-80 19140]

12 hours ago, Hornius Emeritus said:

Auto insurance rates up an average of almost 24 percent across Texas last year:


"There’s a good bet that we haven’t seen anything quite like this, because if you’re having 24% increases, those can be pretty intolerable. And then when you look at, you know, you look at some of the insurers, the numbers are even larger. So if you take GEICO, which is one of the leading auto insurers, their average rates were up 54%. Allstate, another top provider, 38%, and Farmers 32%. So that’s just to give you a little bit of a picture of what’s going on."

https://www.texasstandard.org/stories/car-insurance-rates-highest-annual-increase-20-years/

 

12 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

price gouging 

Nah, It's right in the article:

Quote

The average statewide auto insurance rates are up nearly 24% [in 2022]. This is practically unprecedented. So to give you an idea, that’s eight times higher than it was last year, the previous year in 2021

One of it is the higher values of cars, and used cars in particular – they really shot up during the pandemic. But the claims are also up a lot. You’ve probably heard people talk about how we got out of practice when we were down in lockdowns, as far as driving goes. And sure enough, when driving resumed, the number of accidents and the severity of accidents has really been a lot higher. If you look at fatalities, I think they were up 18%.

 

This is NHTSA data.

 

New car prices +20%; Used car prices +40%

[MonkeyDoughnut 10226]

When I see average car transaction is now > $48k I can understand when insurance prices are way up. 

[52-80 19140]

GEICO lost money in 2022, and in others years have single-digit pre-tax profit.  Allstate has single digit gross profit and loses money after operational expenses.  Progressive eked out in the green that year.  Nobody in consumer insurance is raking in money.

Chubb is healthy but they do chi-chi boutique insuring (like for ChiTownDoc's shoe collection) with much less competition. 

[Captainant 27618]

5 hours ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

When I see average car transaction is now > $48k I can understand when insurance prices are way up. 

Love those $5-10k dealership lot markups that totally aren't greedflation

[Zwylde 812]

22 hours ago, 52-80 said:

GEICO lost money in 2022, and in others years have single-digit pre-tax profit.  Allstate has single digit gross profit and loses money after operational expenses.  Progressive eked out in the green that year.  Nobody in consumer insurance is raking in money.

Chubb is healthy but they do chi-chi boutique insuring (like for ChiTownDoc's shoe collection) with much less competition. 

Lets see their advertising expense.

[52-80 19140]

13 minutes ago, Zwylde said:

Lets see their advertising expense.

for progressive, policy acquisition costs, which includes salaries and direct advertising attributable to new insurance contracts, represent <10% of insurance revenue.  it increased sequentially about 1% or so. 

the loss expense ratio, i.e. claims paid out vs premiums taken in, increased more quickly from last year.  someone could track that back to pre-covid if they're more bored than i am

[HonkeyVape 107]

12 minutes ago, 52-80 said:

for progressive, policy acquisition costs, which includes salaries and direct advertising attributable to new insurance contracts, represent <10% of insurance revenue.  it increased sequentially about 1% or so. 

the loss expense ratio, i.e. claims paid out vs premiums taken in, increased more quickly from last year.  someone could track that back to pre-covid if they're more bored than i am

Someone in the industry last week told me that 53% of all automobile claims are fraudulent. I've been trying to verify that, but this person is generally reliable and knows this industry-- I'll keep digging for the source. 

But if that's even remotely true, that cost of "shrinkage" is being passed on to the end customers bigly.

--

ETA, looks like he might have been way wrong: https://www.valuepenguin.com/auto-home-insurance-fraud

Insurance fraud statistics

• There is an estimated $45 billion in property and casualty insurance fraud per year, according to Colorado State University Global’s White Collar Crime Research Task Force (WCCRTF). This includes home, auto and business insurance.
• Life insurance fraud is the most widespread type of insurance fraud, costing companies $74.7 billion each year.
• Between 10% and 20% of insurance claims are fraudulent.
• Policyholders commit $35.1 billion in fraud that lowers their rates each year by lying on their insurance applications to get a better rate.
• American families pay an additional $400 to $700 per year in insurance premiums to help cover the cost of insurance fraud, according to the FBI.

Edited July 5, 2023 by HonkeyVape

[52-80 19140]

16 minutes ago, HonkeyVape said:

Someone in the industry last week told me that 53% of all automobile claims are fraudulent. I've been trying to verify that, but this person is generally reliable and knows this industry-- I'll keep digging for the source.

does he coincidentally drive a car that's way too nice for a person of his means?

[Clintonaldo 2572]

On 7/3/2023 at 7:16 PM, tx 3 putt said:

price gouging 

Not exactly. They have to show the Department of Commerce and Insurance why they are raising rates and justify what they are asking. They also know they will be losing at least 10% of their customer base. 

[Updawg 2266]

Not exactly. They have to show the Department of Commerce and Insurance why they are raising rates and justify what they are asking. They also know they will be losing at least 10% of their customer base. 

And probably gaining 10% right. Not like there are many choices

[Incredulity 11643]

An industry where the Gov’t approves price increases= gouging 

 

 

 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13506]

Each insurance renewal I receive is a stomach punch but is anyone really surprised by it? We’ve had years of rising costs, scarcity and companies profiting from it. The only recourse is earning more. And people, who have no ability to do so, are the ones who feel the pain.

[Fudge Nuggets 19184]

On 5/30/2023 at 3:53 PM, Incredulity said:

Just heard they are not taking on any new residential or business insurance in the entire state of California.  That seems bad.

Does this also seem bad?

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2023/07/11/farmers-insurance-pulls-out-of-florida-angering-patronis/

[Incredulity 11643]

9 hours ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

Does this also seem bad?

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2023/07/11/farmers-insurance-pulls-out-of-florida-angering-patronis/

Yes

[HiggyBaby 2528]

I’ve been with USAA for 20+ years. I knew I was overpaying for homeowners, but when they tried to raise my rate by 20% this year I finally caved.  I made one phone call to Allstate and they gave me the exact same coverage for 60% less.  My auto rate was competitive, but I switched both.  Clowns. 

Ive been with USAA since ‘95. Was loyal for everything but have gradually moved away from all their insurance products. Just too expensive. Found an indie insurance guy who has me hooked up with Safeco now.

Yeah, I don't get why USAA has been spending so much on TV ads that essentially say, "you can't have this"

Also this. Seems like money not spent advertising to people who can’t use your service anyways could go back in your customers pockets.

[Blotto 23484]

Shit like this doesnt help matters.

https://archive.li/fELsN

Quote

New cars and trucks are packed with sensors and technology that protect and pamper drivers and passengers. But those features are also raising the cost of repairs after accidents.

The average cost of making damaged cars good as new has soared 36 percent since 2018, and may top $5,000 by the end of this year, according to Mitchell, a company that provides data and software to insurance companies and auto repair businesses. That big increase is the main reason that insurance premiums have been soaring — up 17 percent in the 12 months through May.

New sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks, including a rapidly growing number of electric models, have become so complex and luxurious that seemingly simple repairs can cost a small fortune, auto experts said. Insurers are often on the hook for much of those costs, leading them to raise their rates.

I mean what the fuck are we doing here, Rivian? Seriously, how does this shit even makes sense? People who pay for these shit buckets should be forced to self-insure, so the rest of us dont get f'd in the ass with rising premiums

Quote

Consider the case of Chris Apfelstadt and his Rivian R1T pickup truck, which was rear-ended by a Lexus in February at a stoplight in Columbus, Ohio, while he was driving and his infant son was in the back seat.

The damage was initially deemed relatively minor, and the other driver’s insurer offered him $1,600. The actual cost to fix the bumper at a business certified to repair Rivian vehicles — one of just three in Ohio — was $42,000, roughly half the truck’s selling price.

“I expected it to be expensive,” said Mr. Apfelstadt, who owns a lighting company, “but it was still a shocking number.”

A key reason is that the accident damaged a sleek panel that extends from the truck’s rear to front roof pillars. Repairing and repainting it set off a cascade of pricey work, including removing the interior ceiling material, known as the headliner, and front windshield.

[elfenix 34221]

autopian had a long article about that

Quote

I just want to restate this bit so we’re all clear here: because this truck had a low-speed hit to the rear bumper area, somehow that ended up meaning that the freaking headliner had to be removed. From inside the car, many feet away from where the car was hit. Through the windshield.

So, by the time all of that is done, an awful lot of that truck has been disassembled. And that’s not even addressing the new bumper or the brackets behind the bumper and the rear under-bumper sill panel, which, in this case, did sustain some damage, and had to be replaced, also a non-trivial job because they’re riveted and bonded into place, according to the person I spoke with at K-Ceps.

In short, the cascade effect that starts with needing to paint a new tailgate to the color-matching quality demanded turned into a process that took apart half a very complex pickup truck. I was not able to get an itemized list of the work from the folks at the body shop, who said that a lot of the procedures on there constituted proprietary Rivian information, and the owner declined to send me his itemized receipt, stating that he was “advised not to send it to anyone.” I asked why, but never got an answer back.

https://www.theautopian.com/heres-why-that-rivian-r1t-repair-cost-42000-after-just-a-minor-fender-bender/