Jeez I Said to Myself I'd Never Ask a Serious Question Here..

[ZipZap]

tl;dr - How do you change a bank and insurance company after 40 years?

But now I have a few...

I've been with USAA for almost 40 years for insurance and banking. They gave me an absolutely crappy personal service experience when I was just trying to cancel my renters insurance and change my car location as I moved back to CO after my retirement.

They also jacked my wind/hail deductible to 10k this year. I have NEVER made a homeowner's claim.

I believe that they lost sight of their original intent of serving military members/veterans with the most reasonable options.

So now, a few questions...

1) What has been your experience with changing auto/home/whatever insurance? People are talking good about SafeCo out here, but I have no idea who they even are.

2) Do you use an agent for insurance? I never have, because in my mind that's just another cost, but is there any advantage given they know the business better than you do?

3) How do you go about a full-scale change in banking? Credit cards and direct pay seem pretty straightforward, but I've been paying bills from this account for many years. Do you just bite the bullet and spend the time it takes to swing stuff over? I'm guessing you at least keep the account open for 6 to 12 months with some cash so you get it all done.

4) Do you have a good online capable bank that you reccommend?

TIA

[DAB]

use State Farm. nice to have an agent I can talk to when i have a question.

a few years ago we left Wells Fargo and moved to a local bank.

open new account, fund with some money from old bank, get direct deposits moved over (takes a month or two), confirm that they are working, close old account, sign up for online bill pay with new bank, move forward.

call around for homeowners insurance, there are a lot of options. and if you have a mortgage, they may require certain coverages to protect the lender.

not that hard to do, just takes some time.

[JRD77VET]

I've been with State Farm for decades. Always treated me well and previous to this covid bullshit, paid my premiums in the office with a check. ( paying on line now). Makes it nice when you have to ask them about coverage or whatnot.

For banking, I suggest a credit union. When we financed our vehicles, credit unions had the best rates.

As far as paying bills on line, Douglas covered it well. Open new account, start paying and after it's "working right" , close out the other one. ( or if the old bank really pissed you off, just leave the absolute minimum in the account to keep them generating statements. )

[MadInNc]

I use an Agent (Erie) for home, auto (one car at agreed value, not book) umbrella and also through them for Hagerty for classics.

Opened second bank account and slowly rolled all business there. Took ~3 months. A Credit Union that pays interest where at BBT it was Zero. Still have to keep $1k in each BBT account to eliminate monthly fees but I have a HELOC with them which was better than the CU as I pay interest only. CU wanted P+I... only need HELOC for 6 months

Haven’t gone full online as local’s like CU give better and immediate service with deposits, transfers etc....

EDIT- I pay online from CU

[Steve_R]

When we moved from CO to FL two years ago we moved everything. Bank at a local Credit Union. Had to find all new insurance since most of the big ones either don’t offer auto and homeowners insurance here or it’s stupid expensive. Just took some time and research but not a big deal really.

[snide]

I switched from AMICA to LibertyBiberty last year. Saved a shit ton of money.

[ZipZap]

Originally Posted by snide

I switched from AMICA to LibertyBiberty last year. Saved a shit ton of money.

Shit I hope you didn't end up in the Hudson

[Torqaholic]

1) I only insure vehicles because it's law. That varies from state to state but here we can not cancel current coverage until after obtaining replacement coverage. So I'd be paying two different companies for a short time. I know that doesn't sound like something a normal person would want to do but these asshole insurance companies have basically written the laws to benefit themselves and if you come to them looking for coverage on a vehicle that has had coverage cancelled the law entitles them to charge you double the normal rate for a few years.

2) I don't have an "insurance agent" but I do use an agency. They did the shopping for me and called me back in a few days with some recommendations. I told them who to sign me up with and they took care of it. If I have any problems or questions I go to them for assistance and it is handled. My checks mail out to the insurer. How the agency makes money is between them and the insurer, I've never paid them a dime.

3) I don't do banks. Credit Unions for the win. I switched once. Stopping interaction with the previous one was easy. The hard part is joining. The first one required a recommendation from another member. My current one was a benefit from the workplace and it serves my entire family.

4) I don't do online financial transactions. Can't help you there.

Hope that helps, good luck.

[BayouCountry]

Insurance through USAA was more expensive for me. I ended up closing my account.

Banking was fairly easy to move. Just leave the old account open for six months to let everything filter through. Capital One has local branches and free checking so I just went with them. Insurance took a little shopping because of the high cost in Louisiana compared to what I paid in California.

Worse than banking and insurance is changing your phone number and email. I wanted a local phone number so people I contact for jobs don’t think I’m a scammer when they see my area code. Yahoo kept screwing up my email account after they merged with AT&T so I bit the bullet and switched to Apple. I think changing my email was the hardest and most painful.

Take your time. Baby steps...

[09CTSV]

Several years ago I went thru the same BS with USAA. I feel they lost sight of serving the members and got too big for their britches. When they opened up the membership to anyone in the service, I noticed a big jump in my rates. When it was E-7 and above with officers the rates were superb and the service was beyond anything a big insurance company could do. I saw the writing on the wall when they closed the big service center in Norfolk to "Save money".
We switched over to State Farm, pretty painless move. We saved over half of the cost of our homeowners, with better coverage, and over $1000 a year in auto coverage.
As for the banks, we dumped them many years ago. We have Navy Federal Credit Union. Great to do business with, great rates. We have done everything online for years, including a refinance and a home equity loan with no issues. They are always a phone call away and if you are near a military base, they have a branch there. When we were looking near Fort Campbell they have three branches in the area there. Very easy to do business with.

[Mick]

Originally Posted by ZipZap

1) What has been your experience with changing auto/home/whatever insurance? People are talking good about SafeCo out here, but I have no idea who they even are.

A few years ago, we changed our home and DD auto from Liberty Mutual to Geico. No agent, just called and arranged new insurance, called LiMu and cancelled the old. Seamless, and save stupid money, like $2500 per year.

Do you have a good online capable bank that you reccommend?

TIA

I use Chase, have for 25 years. Their online bill pay is easy to use.

[Little Red L98.]

A good friend has been my insurance agent for auto and home forever. I don’t know if he gives us special treatment but he takes care of us. He always shops the best deal at renewal time and asks if he wants us to switch. I trust him so if he says this is a better deal switcheroo time. We’ve had Travelers for home and auto for a few years now.

No need to change financial institution. Wife is in charge of spending my money. I trust her too.

[Dan47]

Switched from a CU to a local bank, last year. Rumor has it Credit Union management was so screwed up they changed their name to escape all the bad social media. This particular one was called SAC Federal Credit Union and changed their name to Cobalt.

Numerous problems running our business accounts with them but it wasn’t always so. They were very well run for many years but started to automate beyond their means to provide quality service. I guess it’s just human nature for organizations to experience a life cycle of sorts, like everything else? More so under the current monetary rat race, IMO.

State Farm for private insurance. Just have to review with them annually to keep cost and coverage on point.

[mrvette]

I moved from Md/outside DC and was with Erie Ins. Exchange for many years....but they don't write in Fl. so I have switched various coverages because this state is messed up, insurance wise......took me 3.5 years to finally win a roofing claim from hurry-cain IRMA yet....and got my roof done about a month ago......and of course Peoples DIStrust Ins co. cancelled my homeowners policy......did some shopping around and found out that of all places AAA yes, Amer, Auto, Assn has an insurance agent here locally....so homeowners and auto under one roof now.....decent enough rates too....Wife has two vehicles under it, but my '72 vette is with NCM.....

ALL my banking as been online since I moved here and joined a Fed Cr. Union....I can't imagine doing like my neighbor here, writing checks and mailing them 6x/week......both credit cards and of course the CU, and PPal, etc are online funds move in hours, instead of days/weeks?......

[Aerovette]

I would (and did) join a credit union as opposed to a proper bank.

I changed from Allstate to State Farm long ago (before credit checks). It was painless.

[Egnalf]

I just switched commercial banks, god what a pain. with various checks out there waiting to cycle through, auto pays for utilities, auto pay by clients, etc, it sucked. had to keep the first account open for three months to cycle everything through.

switched personal stuff to a credit union which was much simpler. went to bank, asked for cashier checks for everything which was there and deposited into new account.

[ZipZap]

Originally Posted by Egnalf

I just switched commercial banks, god what a pain. with various checks out there waiting to cycle through, auto pays for utilities, auto pay by clients, etc, it sucked. had to keep the first account open for three months to cycle everything through.

switched personal stuff to a credit union which was much simpler. went to bank, asked for cashier checks for everything which was there and deposited into new account.

I hate going into a brick and mortar, so will probably just pay the $25 wire fees to move the money...

[MadInNc]

Originally Posted by ZipZap

I hate going into a brick and mortar, so will probably just pay the $25 wire fees to move the money...

Why bother, write a check for balance, deposit in new bank. Phone old bank and cancel account

Send me $10 for advice. I’ll send PayPal email in PM

[ZipZap]

Originally Posted by MadInNc

Why bother, write a check for balance, deposit in new bank. Phone old bank and cancel account

Send me $10 for advice. I’ll send PayPal email in PM

What is this "check" you speak of?

[69camfrk]

I reluctantly went back to them for cheaper rates. That said, the camper I had several years ago sustained water damage, and having full coverage, I filed a claim. I had been deployed for several months and had no idea what had happened until serious damage occurred on the way back from a camping trip. They told me to go pound sand. They lost my business for a long time. They did pay out with no issues when my oldest son totaled his car though.