"I did (this) and it saved me hundreds (or thousands!)"

[LovesTimone]

It's not necessarily one particular company.

Everyone should be reading their Policy to see what is covered or isn't covered. It's also state specific too since insurance companies file through each state's Department of Insurance (DOI).

Without having any details it's not really clear what the issue was with your friends but I'm betting it's not as simple as presented.

Your right on that everyone should be reading what is or isn't covered. No matter who your company is.

Living here in Florida hurricanes and flooding are always on the fore front when getting your insurance. Really a few days of thunder storms can cause flooding, in lowing lying areas. Even with flood and/or hurricane and /or sink hole which is something that most people in other areas of the country don't think or have to worry about.

My friend inherited her parents retirement home, about 4 years ago in a 55 and over community. They decided to keep it, and use it as seasonal rental and they use it during the summer for trips to come see Mickey and to enjoy the beach. After a hurricane the manufacture home, had some damages not major but not minor, and the all season room had some water damage which was lower than the rest of the house, and they did not want to pay out... Even though she had added more insurance, and including hurricane and flood insurance after her mom passed away. It took 18 months and some pushing by their lawyer, but they did finally pay out some, but not everything that they were due. She since has went with another company.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Your right on that everyone should be reading what is or isn't covered. No matter who your company is.

Living here in Florida hurricanes and flooding are always on the fore front when getting your insurance. Really a few days of thunder storms can cause flooding, in lowing lying areas. Even with flood and/or hurricane and /or sink hole which is something that most people in other areas of the country don't think or have to worry about.

My friend inherited her parents retirement home, about 4 years ago in a 55 and over community. They decided to keep it, and use it as seasonal rental and they use it during the summer for trips to come see Mickey and to enjoy the beach. After a hurricane the manufacture home, had some damages not major but not minor, and the all season room had some water damage which was lower than the rest of the house, and they did not want to pay out... Even though she had added more insurance, and including hurricane and flood insurance after her mom passed away. It took 18 months and some pushing by their lawyer, but they did finally pay out some, but not everything that they were due. She since has went with another company.

So a few things come to my mind:

1) Manufactured home. The insurance company I worked for modular homes were ok to write in our Standard (meaning Preferred) insurance company. Manufactured homes on the other hand had to be written with the specialty company. The main reason was because modular homes are built to all state, local and regional codes whereas manufactured are not necessarily done this way.

2) Seasonal rental. Higher risk due to renting and seasonal (like maintenance)

3) So questions like was there existing damage, was this a deferred maintenance issue, how the flood insurance part was handled, etc

These are rhetorical questions, just saying what would run through my head in particular.

Many places around the nation have their own risks-and it's too long to list the ones in my area but save tornadoes, floods and wind and hail issues are common enough (wind and hail likely being the most common).

In any case more or less anytime anyone says "stay away from this insurance company they screwed over xyz" there's normally much more to the story. Even with the details it's difficult to say what the issue really was with Allstate and the client (meaning your friends) is still vague enough (what was the reason for the initial denial, the time frame, what was the reasoning behind the difference in payout, etc etc etc). I'm not saying insurance companies are always amazing nor are they always amazing all the time just saying each person's situation is different than the next.

*Sorry not meaning to derail the thread too much*

 

[Carrie Ellis]

I have a set of twins on their 4th year of college (one will do 5 years...engineering). I have another set of twins that are seniors in high school.
Out of the 4, one is a girl! She cost us more in up keep! ha

We did have some of a GI Bill for the college kids and a 529. They are both gone and we are at a very reasonable college and they do get a scholarship. We help with food, insurance, cell phone bill (which is very small), and car payment.

Anyway....with 6 on car insurance, it is crazy. I need to shop again. We have USAA right now.

It is just a really tight time in our life right now. It will not last forever though. I require all of them to have a job but not so many hours that their grades go down.

Someday it is going to be crazy not to pay so much out!
I try to keep a close eye on cutting cost wherever I can.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

We got solar panels, and it's saving us pretty much our entire electric bill other than a small monthly connection fee.

Yes, of course it was money to get the panels. We will be break even after about 10 years, and then saving money for real for at least the next 15.

 

[MrsPete]

My biggest tip: Saving is saving. Few things will literally save you hundreds /thousands, but LOADS and LOADS of things will save you a single dollar. If you take advantage of all those things, it adds up to hundreds /thousands. For example, say you have a hard-core Diet Coke habit ... sub in water for 50% of your drinks, and you'll save a couple dollars a week, which turns into a couple hundred for the year.

Not sure where you could save? Start recording everything you spend for a couple months, and some "weak spots" will appear. Do you pick up small splurges at the grocery store cash register? Play for-cost online games? Buy more clothes than the kids actually need? All of us could do better somewhere.

Don't get me wrong: I'm not saying don't aim for the big-ticket savings items, but -- at the same time -- never say, "It's not worth my while to save a dollar or two." Or, don't say it without thought.

Stopped leaving the house and aimlessly wandering around stores like Target and Bed Bath and Beyond and World Market... Saves me hundreds a month. Seriously...I just try and stay home and don't let myself do ANY online shopping unless I absolutely need something.

Yes, when I was younger, shopping really was a hobby for me. Having a job at the mall while I was in college didn't help; I loved to go to work an hour early and "wander".

It really hit me when I was expecting my second child: We were cleaning out the closet in the spare bedroom, and I kept pulling out bag after bag of things I'd bought without real purpose. Little outfits my older child had never worn. Things that were supposed to go into Christmas stockings. And we weren't rolling in the dough -- this was money I had no business spending. And I hadn't even taken these items out of the bags or remembered that I'd bought them -- clearly they meant little to me. I changed my behavior and stopped using shopping as a hobby.

I began to treat savings like any other bill. Instead of trying to cut costs and save what's leftover, I divided my annual savings goal by 12, added that to my list of bills and used whatever was left over for discretionary purchases.

I've always pulled savings out of my paycheck first, and I'll add two thoughts to this idea:
- Make it automatic. Don't rely upon yourself to remember; rather, have X amount deducted from your paycheck.
- Make withdrawals inconvenient. We opened a savings account at a bank separate from our regular checking /savings ... a bank that was somewhat out of our way, so we had to make a special trip to visit ... and we had no ATM card for that account. The point: We had to plan ahead and make a special trip to access that money, so we were less likely to use it.

More of a general tip--always be vigilant on your spending. Never assume you have the cheapest insurance--check every 6 months or so. Never assume you have the rock-bottom price for produce--be open to finding new places to shop. Consider if you can repurpose something you own, instead of buying new (or even used).

This is a good one. I'll add a bounce-off thought: Seek the lowest level that will make you happy. By that, I mean find the least amount of a product you can use.

Laundry detergent is a good example: The detergent makers give you that little plastic cup ... and you probably fill it without thought. Try using 1/2 that cup instead. Is your laundry still acceptable? Then try 1/4 next time. Keep cutting the amount until you say, "No, the laundry isn't clean enough", and then go back to the last acceptable amount. How many similar things could we decrease? Cheese in our homemade mac? Toothpaste? Peanut butter on our sandwich? Dishwasher detergent? Shampoo?

I got rid of my car 17 years ago. Saved huge amounts of money by doing that. I ride my bike to work instead. Also saves cash as I don't have to pay for a health club membership.

We had only one car for the first three years of our marriage, and when we added a second vehicle, it was a BIG shock to our budget. When we retire, we will revert to a single car. We'd rather save and travel more than have two vehicles in the driveway.

We do online order in-store pick up for Petsmart too though we've been mixing it up with Amazon. There's not a huge amount of spur of the moment spending in Petsmart though for us

Try Chewy.com for dog food. They send out nice coupons.

 

[tasha99]

* We refinanced our house from a 30 to a 15 year mortgage, which lowered our interest rate and save money because the house will be paid off faster.
* Limiting Costco trips to once or twice a month has lowered our bill by half.
* We buy some bulk items at a restaurant supply store.
* NOT buying a second car (DH didn't have a car when we met because he lived in NYC). This has been a little tricky, as I drive pretty far for work, but so far we've been okay sharing. I usually drop him off/pick him up.

 

[aprilchem]

I just renegotiated our homeowners and auto insurance, and we'll be saving $1300 a year. All it took was a couple of e-mails to our insurance agent.

 

[tzolkin]

This is a good one. I'll add a bounce-off thought: Seek the lowest level that will make you happy. By that, I mean find the least amount of a product you can use.

Laundry detergent is a good example: The detergent makers give you that little plastic cup ... and you probably fill it without thought. Try using 1/2 that cup instead. Is your laundry still acceptable? Then try 1/4 next time. Keep cutting the amount until you say, "No, the laundry isn't clean enough", and then go back to the last acceptable amount. How many similar things could we decrease? Cheese in our homemade mac? Toothpaste? Peanut butter on our sandwich? Dishwasher detergent? Shampoo?

This is very true. I don't think most people even realize that the amounts of some things they use are simply unnecessary (like grabbing an arm's length of paper towels when one small sheet would be sufficient).

I'm always seeing these recipes for making your own laundry detergent and how it will save you "hundreds" of dollars. That is just unfathomable to me. It takes us forever to go through one medium sized bottle. (I put some into a soap dispenser and use several "pumps" in each load). A bottle of tide costs like $10, so I'm under $10 spent on detergent per year and our clothes are definitely clean. How are others spending hundreds?

 

[DisneyHardin]

I'm always seeing these recipes for making your own laundry detergent and how it will save you "hundreds" of dollars. That is just unfathomable to me. It takes us forever to go through one medium sized bottle. (I put some into a soap dispenser and use several "pumps" in each load). A bottle of tide costs like $10, so I'm under $10 spent on detergent per year and our clothes are definitely clean. How are others spending hundreds?

I know what you mean. We use powdered Tide and go through maybe a box to a box and a half a year. The boxes I buy cost $12.99.

 

[QueenIsabella]

This is very true. I don't think most people even realize that the amounts of some things they use are simply unnecessary (like grabbing an arm's length of paper towels when one small sheet would be sufficient).

I'm always seeing these recipes for making your own laundry detergent and how it will save you "hundreds" of dollars. That is just unfathomable to me. It takes us forever to go through one medium sized bottle. (I put some into a soap dispenser and use several "pumps" in each load). A bottle of tide costs like $10, so I'm under $10 spent on detergent per year and our clothes are definitely clean. How are others spending hundreds?

Easy--Buy Tide at regular retail (no sales or coupons), and blindly pour a lot in for each load. I have a family of 6--I could easily spend hundreds on laundry detergent! But, I don't. I use Nellie's--one little scoop of powder per wash, costs about a nickel. It would probably be cheaper to make my own, but I've never done that. Added bonus, Nellie's works fine for sensitive skin--can't say the same for most laundry detergents.

I have to say generally, a lot of the money-saving tips that I see involve either shopping sales/using coupons, or switching to a cheaper brand. Nothing wrong with that, but if you already do those things, it gets tougher to find money-saving tips that are truly new. Sure, some people can glean from fields or dumpster dive, but I choose not to do those things. I also refuse to sell plasma to fund a Disney trip--YMMV, of course.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I just renegotiated our homeowners and auto insurance, and we'll be saving $1300 a year. All it took was a couple of e-mails to our insurance agent.

You don't really 'negotiate' insurance premiums.

You can change your coverage, if you live in a state that uses credit scores have that rerun if you believe your credit score improved, switch to a different product if the insurance company has multiple products for a specific line of business, etc, which can affect the premium you are charged.

 

[firefly_ris]

Here's what we have done.... I don't have as much life experience as several others do but here's what has worked for us so far...


- Do almost all of our own home improvement work -- studs, drywall, paint, tile, flooring, electrical, plumbing, bathrooms, etc. Even just doing 1 or 2 saves a lot over hiring.

- Used cars, in 12 years we've only had a car payment for 4 months of that time, for our pickup truck. It's easy to get distracted by shiny things but it's hard for me to pay out a lot for a depreciating hunk of metal, in the rust belt no less...

- Haven't had cable TV since 2006. Rooftop antenna, Roku. We don't watch a lot of TV though in general. I help DH stream sports from, uh, "places". This is all becoming less of a savings as they keep jacking up my internet bill and I'm in a semi-rural area where they are my only internet option, and because of my job, internet is not an optional expense. But for many years not having cable TV saved us thousands. But not sure how many more years that trend will continue.

- Don't over-use laundry detergent as mentioned above

- I am not big on shopping in general, so I save a lot by only going to a store when I need a certain specific thing, go in and then leave. My only problem store has been Target, and have been known to rack up my bill with crap I really didn't need (they have an excellent store layout and marketing team) so my solution has been to avoid Target altogether. I now only venture there maybe once a year.

- I tag-team grocery stores when I have the time. If it's a really busy week I just hit the one regular place and try to just stick with sale items. But when I can, I'll make a list, then go to Aldi first, then whatever I don't get from my list there, head across the street to Wegmans and finish up there, sticking with store brands as much as I can.

- Consignment shops for clothes. I can get some very high quality clothing here for a good price -- or even if I spend the same amount as I would on a top at Target, but the quality is better so it outlasts that Target top, even though it's gently used. I'm not exactly a fashionista so I only shop for clothing maybe once or twice a year. I try to make things last.

- I like a nice, updated, clean house but I'm not into "such-and-such in IN! such-and-such is OUT!" I just like what I like and don't pay attention to trends. Which leads to...

- DON'T keep up with the Joneses. Not only is it tiring and debt-incurring, it's also impossible. You do you, and like what you like.

 

[4kids4karen]

I just renegotiated our homeowners and auto insurance, and we'll be saving $1300 a year. All it took was a couple of e-mails to our insurance agent.

As the other person stated, insurance premiums are not something you negotiate. I suspect you use a broker that wrote you with a different company that had lower premiums. This may also mean a difference in your coverages. I would be reading that policy in great detail to make sure it is a quality contract (open perils,
Water backup, loss of use, and much more.). $1300 less would be a red flag to me.

 

[DisArmyWife215]

As the other person stated, insurance premiums are not something you negotiate. I suspect you use a broker that wrote you with a different company that had lower premiums. This may also mean a difference in your coverages. I would be reading that policy in great detail to make sure it is a quality contract (open perils,
Water backup, loss of use, and much more.). $1300 less would be a red flag to me.

We've negotiated our insurance. And by that I mean called and asked about discounts and found several, including 1 for having a security system. That was probably always an option but we didn't have it and it saved us a few hundred. Same policy, no changes other than cost.

 

[MrsPete]

I just renegotiated our homeowners and auto insurance, and we'll be saving $1300 a year. All it took was a couple of e-mails to our insurance agent.

Wow, our homeowners and car insurance are just under 2K/year, so I don't think we could ever cut back by that much.

We've negotiated our insurance. And by that I mean called and asked about discounts and found several, including 1 for having a security system. That was probably always an option but we didn't have it and it saved us a few hundred. Same policy, no changes other than cost.

Sounds like you shopped around for better insurance prices. You can always raise/lower your coverage and your deductible, and you can always add /subtract items from your insurance ... but -- yeah -- you're not actually negotiating. More like looking at all your choices and deciding which options are best for you at this point in your life.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We've negotiated our insurance. And by that I mean called and asked about discounts and found several, including 1 for having a security system. That was probably always an option but we didn't have it and it saved us a few hundred. Same policy, no changes other than cost.

That's not negotiating though.

You can't negotiate insurance premiums...that would be illegal.

You don't go into an insurance company and the agent says "It'll be $500 for auto for 6months" and you say "How about $450?"..it doesn't work like that.

Basically my point to the other poster and now to you was/is it's the wrong description/terminology being used. What you're (general you) doing to lower your premium is changing things with your policy (adding discounts is a change to your policy) including switching companies, products within a company, etc..not negotiating the price of the coverage.

The only way I've changed someone's premium in the past without changing things on their policy was when a defect occured that incorrectly calculated premium....and that still isn't negotiating.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

- Do almost all of our own home improvement work -- studs, drywall, paint, tile, flooring, electrical, plumbing, bathrooms, etc. Even just doing 1 or 2 saves a lot over hiring.

My husband wants to do all that he can when the basement gets finished a while from now. The framing, paint, carpeting being the big ones. He said he would hire out for the mud and taping of the drywall but he could do the installation of the drywall himself as he helped his friend out with that in his basement (he'd likely ask that person to come help out). He'd have his friend that does plumbing as a side job to come help out (and if he couldn't then he'd likely hire that part out) and tile for in the bathroom not positive if he wants to do it himself or not.

But I totally agree that can save you a bundle doing the work yourself. Luckily our basement already has the shower and toilet parts carved out of the concrete as it was done during the building process. We recently had to replace one bedroom's carpet and he did a pretty darn good job so that was good practice for the basement (we're going to eventually years down the road upgrade and replace the carpet in the house).

 

[barkley]

That's not negotiating though.

You can't negotiate insurance premiums...that would be illegal.

You don't go into an insurance company and the agent says "It'll be $500 for auto for 6months" and you say "How about $450?"..it doesn't work like that.

Basically my point to the other poster and now to you was/is it's the wrong description/terminology being used. What you're (general you) doing to lower your premium is changing things with your policy (adding discounts is a change to your policy) including switching companies, products within a company, etc..not negotiating the price of the coverage.

The only way I've changed someone's premium in the past without changing things on their policy was when a defect occured that incorrectly calculated premium....and that still isn't negotiating.

i'm just thankful that our premiums are'nt going up as much as we had anticipated given the $$$$$$$$$$$ the insurance companies have had to/still have to pay out for the fires of this year and last. heck-i'm thankful not to be one of the many in the western states that's gotten notified that their homeowner's coverage won't be renewable at the end of it's current term.

 

[aprilchem]

You don't really 'negotiate' insurance premiums.

You can change your coverage, if you live in a state that uses credit scores have that rerun if you believe your credit score improved, switch to a different product if the insurance company has multiple products for a specific line of business, etc, which can affect the premium you are charged.

As the other person stated, insurance premiums are not something you negotiate. I suspect you use a broker that wrote you with a different company that had lower premiums. This may also mean a difference in your coverages. I would be reading that policy in great detail to make sure it is a quality contract (open perils,
Water backup, loss of use, and much more.). $1300 less would be a red flag to me.

Wow, our homeowners and car insurance are just under 2K/year, so I don't think we could ever cut back by that much.

Sounds like you shopped around for better insurance prices. You can always raise/lower your coverage and your deductible, and you can always add /subtract items from your insurance ... but -- yeah -- you're not actually negotiating. More like looking at all your choices and deciding which options are best for you at this point in your life.

That's not negotiating though.

You can't negotiate insurance premiums...that would be illegal.

You don't go into an insurance company and the agent says "It'll be $500 for auto for 6months" and you say "How about $450?"..it doesn't work like that.

Basically my point to the other poster and now to you was/is it's the wrong description/terminology being used. What you're (general you) doing to lower your premium is changing things with your policy (adding discounts is a change to your policy) including switching companies, products within a company, etc..not negotiating the price of the coverage.

The only way I've changed someone's premium in the past without changing things on their policy was when a defect occured that incorrectly calculated premium....and that still isn't negotiating.

Goodness - Thank you ALL for pointing out that I used a word you deemed incorrect.

My use of the term "renegotiated" was chosen because we own a 15-passenger van, and I negotiated with our insurance carrier to change the rate they were charging on that vehicle from a business rate to a personal use rate. We don't use that van for business purposes - we don't own a business. The carrier doesn't normally insure 15-passenger vans as personal use vehicles, but based on proof that I was able to provide to them that we are not transporting large groups of people (namely, that we have removed a lot of the seats and installed a bike rack in their place), we eventually came to an agreement for them to insure it as a personal use vehicle. I used the term "negotiated" because we went back and forth and several prices and ways of covering it were mentioned before we settled on a price and amount of coverage that I thought was fair.

And before someone responds "but that's not a negotiation," I will admit I am not an insurance professional - perhaps you all are, and you know the proper term for this. But I am an educated adult with a terminal degree in a highly technical field who understands what insurance means and knows how to read a contract. If you prefer to use another term, just read that in your head when you read the post.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Goodness - Thank you ALL for pointing out that I used a word you deemed incorrect.

My use of the term "renegotiated" was chosen because we own a 15-passenger van, and I negotiated with our insurance carrier to change the rate they were charging on that vehicle from a business rate to a personal use rate. We don't use that van for business purposes - we don't own a business. The carrier doesn't normally insure 15-passenger vans as personal use vehicles, but based on proof that I was able to provide to them that we are not transporting large groups of people (namely, that we have removed a lot of the seats and installed a bike rack in their place), we eventually came to an agreement for them to insure it as a personal use vehicle. I used the term "negotiated" because we went back and forth and several prices and ways of covering it were mentioned before we settled on a price and amount of coverage that I thought was fair.

And before someone responds "but that's not a negotiation," I will admit I am not an insurance professional - perhaps you all are, and you know the proper term for this. But I am an educated adult with a terminal degree in a highly technical field who understands what insurance means and knows how to read a contract. If you prefer to use another term, just read that in your head when you read the post.

The only reason I responded thusly is because it could be confusing for other posters reading along looking at what others have done to save money.

You're free to continue to read 'renegotiated' in your head and I'm free to clarify things for understanding purposes.

You didn't negotiate you adjusted the usage of the vehicle which in turn adjusts the premium. Typically speaking business usage is higher risk and thus is charged higher premium. You also adjusted coverage and without knowing specifics you may have reduced coverage. Some people unfortunately don't understand what reducing coverage can do as far as exposure and just see what money they are saving and that's why another poster brought up reading your policy.

It's awesome you saved that much money but wanted others to understand that you don't negotiate your premium on your insurance premium.

And with no disrespect meant if you are an educated adult with terminal degree in a highly technical field who understands what insurance means and knows how to read a contract you can understand how using the wrong terminology can be construed

In any case I was just providing clarification for other readers