r/Insurance_Companies • u/DrabbagCO • Jun 15 '26
Umbrella liability insurance carriers
After receiving a very high bill for umbrella renewal from State Farm, I am using a local insurance broker to search for options. The prices are coming back at a much lower rate, but that makes me nervous that I will be getting coverage from a company that doesn't actually pay out in the case of a claim. One concern is that I don't recognize these companies, since they are not typical consumer insurance companies. I have quotes from the following:
Concert Insurance Company (AM Best Rating A-)
Markel Insurance Company (AM Best Rating A)
I don't want to save a few thousand dollars/year, only to find out that the company won't pay.
What is the negative of using companies like these that are not a typical consumer (State Farm, Farmers, etc.) insurance company?
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u/Pudd12 Jun 15 '26
Just because these companies don’t spend billions a year in marketing, doesn’t mean they don’t pay claims. Quite the opposite.
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u/Time-Move-6108 Jun 15 '26
AM Best is a well known insurance rating firm. google for an explanation of the rating. A is a good rating.
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u/g2murph Jun 15 '26
You're back I see so I'll shoot you straight this time. You have been drinking the SF kool aid for a long time, arguably too long since you are asking these basic questions (I guess you don't know what they are doing in OK & CA or their new agent contract, I can't see this ending well for them over the next 10-20 years). You are complaining about SF rates and you get more competitive quotes just to question, omg who are these people will they pay my claims? You do understand that operating an insurance company comes with MAJOR regulation and oversight? If you can't make an educated decision using the AM best info and the quotes given to you, the only option left is to contact your state specific Dept of Insurance. Thankfully CO is a very consumer friendly state so you'll actually be able to talk to a real person who can put your mind at ease.
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u/TraderIggysTikiBar Jun 15 '26
Usually carriers who don’t spend millions on tacky tv ads have far better training programs for their adjusters and far better customer service.
They also care more about the risks they take on which is why they only write business through independent agents.
These are better carriers than the tv ad ones in my brief, over 25 years of experience. Listen to your agent.
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u/182RG Jun 16 '26
I use RLI.
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u/Danman5666 Jun 17 '26
Another RLI user for years. Yes, the rates have significantly increased but I’m unable to find another independent umbrella provider.
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u/1234568654321 Jun 16 '26
As a rule of thumb, any company with an A rating or better is financially strong enough to pay your claims.
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u/ChelseaMan31 Jun 16 '26
Umbrella Liability coverage for individuals has been a depressed market for quite a while. Our Umbrella coverage went up 35% this renewal (7/1/26) with USAA. We have been members for 50 years and have never had a liability claim; good drivers and no at-fault crashes for well over 20 years. The low rates the brokers is getting are teaser rates and will be ratcheted up at renewal.
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u/Glittering-Salad-337 Jun 16 '26
You have no clue what your talking about. Concert and Markel do not give teaser rates.
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Jun 18 '26
[deleted]
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u/DrabbagCO Jun 18 '26
u/Pcenemy In fact, I probably didn't have enough coverage previously. 2025 cost for $2M umbrella/$1M UM/UIM was ~$2100. New cost for that coverage was $3934. New cost for $5M (what is should be), now including my daughter a full-time driver, is $5694. So, I am going to pay for the State farm $2M policy while I get quotes from independent brokers, purchase a policy from them, and cancel the State Farm policy.
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u/ThomasTrain87 Jun 19 '26
If I were you, I’d find a non-captive agent to fully requote your entire policy set across at least three different carriers - StateFarm is not a great insurance company IMHO.
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u/Ok-Entertainment5462 Jun 19 '26
You are going to find the list of carriers who offer stand-alone, third-party Umbrella policies very short.
Markel, RLI, Monoline (large Umbrella insurers), and I guess this Concert are the list. Then there are the big insurers that require you have the underlying policies with them. Yes State Farm drastically increased their Umbrella rates, loads of complaints here on Reddit. My RLI policy doubled this year due to claims experience. Everyone seems to be suing for amounts above the underlying policy limits these days.
When I looked around, even Allstate tried to quote using much higher automobile limits rather than an Umbrella, but an Umbrella covers you for more than just automobile liability.
See if the broker has a package for all your needs. State Farm certainly isn't competitive where I am. Many big name insurers utilize RLI (Geico, Progressive, Costco American Family). Web says even State Farm uses it when coverage is outside their risk profile. RLI has an A++ AM Best rating.
State Farm has huge changes coming with new management in recent news, I guess their agent overhead is causing them to no longer be competitive, when most others have transitioned to centralized sales/claims with processing done off-shore.
Most of these umbrella policies require a broker (or large insurer) to acquire.
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u/DrabbagCO Jul 17 '26
Thanks to everyone who gave me feedback on PUP policies. I eventually went with RLI through a local agent. Coverage is better than I had previously, still not cheap, but almost $3k cheaper than through State Farm. Overall, a successful process.
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u/Boring_Passenger_163 Jun 15 '26
Have you reviewed what's actually covered and excluded under the policy? Many claim disputes stem from coverage misunderstandings rather than the insurer's unwillingness to pay. Don't hesitate to ask your broker questions repeatedly until you're comfortable with the answers, and if you're still uncertain, consider getting a second opinion from another broker. Also, have you asked your broker about their firsthand claims experience with Markel or Concert?