Hellobee Boards

You have to find your policy yourself. Your realtor should have some recommendations for you. Make sure to shop around to get the best rate! I would call at least 5 places.

You choose who you want to have your policy with and then they send what they call a binder to your mortgager. If your mortgage company has given you any numbers including your homeowners insurance, it's just an estimate.

We use Amica for ours and I've been really happy with them.

The number in your good faith estimate for your loan is likely just a guess. And our bank WAY over estimated what our insurance would be.

I went through GEICO. They don't offer home insurance themselves, but they work as a broker to try to find you the best deal (we got two other quotes outside of GEICO, and it was still the lowest).

And we got an additional discount on our car insurance for going through them.

Definitely shop around for the best rate and ask for bundle discounts and any other discounts you might qualify for.

We have Liberty Mutual and have been extremely happy. We had to file a claim 2 Christmases ago for a flooded basement due to storm sewer backup. It was so easy to deal with.

Geico will refer you to a third party. We have condo insurance though Travelers and house insurance through state farm

If you want to pull quotes from multiple companies, definitely work through an agent. It's just easier that way. You will also save money (generally) if you bundle so you should ask for quotes on homeowners alone and also quotes for a bundled package.

Also, some insurance companies have better customer service but there is a trade off with price. For example, Amica is awesome with customer service (they literally spend almost 2x more on training to ensure better customer service) but you will pay a little more. Liberty Mutual is also great for service.

If you or DH has a parent or grandparent in the military, USAA is awesome and really affordable. My DH's dad used to be in the army and we qualify for USAA and the rates are really low for the same coverage compared to other companies.

@regberadaisy: I have, and we switched afterwards. They're not user friendly.

I agree that sometimes you do pay more for good customer service, I worked for Farmers for almost years. Clients stayed with us until the agent and I left, they stayed for the service not the premium

I've been shopping too ( I don't like the new agent) and I've found that State Farm and Travelers have been by far the best.

Goodluck! In my experience the lender you're going through will give you rec's, you call get the quote then the lender will ask for a binder from the company. The rest is behind the scenes and you shouldn't have to do much unless you need to make a change.

with the house!

Your realtor will likely refer you to an insurance agent. But, you can always google one yourself. Some agencies only have one company to shop around while others have a few or several. When you get your policy you will want to make sure it's affordable in case you have to make a claim. For instance an agent may give you a great premium, but the deductibles are $2,500- ouch! You can evaluate companies by checking their AM Best rating.

@regberadaisy: we actually had an awesome experience dealing with USAA on a claim.

@MrsBrewer: Us too! We've been really happy with it.

@Ginabean3: I'm so so on it! Our rates have increased these past 3 years in a row! I mean not a ton, but $10-20/year.