My philosophy on insurance is its necessary and ultimately it comes down to peace of mind. What would you pay to know that your insurance company will pay without hassles, that you are adequately protecting your assets? For me, having good customer service and hassle free claims is worth a premium. I have State Farm, they are certainly not the cheapest but I’ve been with them for a long time and they are excellent in their service. However, if you have multiple policies with them, they do give credits, and if State Farm had a year where lower than expected claims were made, thereby increasing their profits, they mail you a check at the end of the year rebating some of your policy money.
If you have any assets- which I assume since you will soon own a home, I’d highly suggest you get an umbrella policy. I believe CA homestead exemption is ridiculously low. Most people are underinsured– in the case of the fires and total loss, many people found they were far from adequately insured. And lets not get into lawsuit happy America.
If you do get an umbrella, make sure you buy all your policies from the same insurer.
