Dairyland Insurance...really?

dbaliko said:

I pay my Progressive policy online....
Doug

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akbeemer said:

Me too.

Get the Progressive app. You can do just about any plausable transaction.

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The UMBRELLA policy, not the auto, bike, home, etc. Tell me you can do that online or with an app and I may pay attention.

Rainman48 said:

The UMBRELLA policy, not the auto, bike, home, etc. Tell me you can do that online or with an app and I may pay attention.

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So, who is "Columbia Insurance Specialties" and what do they have to do with Progressive?

FWIW I've had Progressive for several years thru my local insurance agent. Never gave it a thought. I too have a umbrella policy that ties the various car, motorcycle, business together... I even renew it in late February

Because of this blog I checked out Dairy land on line. The cost was less than half of Progressive!

I call my agent, yep he writes Dairy Land too, will check it out for me. Said his experience with Dairy Land and Progressive were similar...good!

I got a call back from him...50% saving. I switched over. Will be getting a refund from Progressive soon!

PGlaves said:

So, who is "Columbia Insurance Specialties" and what do they have to do with Progressive?

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They are an independant insurance agency. Agencies are a shrinking industry because of online access to big name insurance conglomerates like Progressive, Farmers, Safeco, The General, Foremost, etc. where people are generally shopping for low premium prices. Independant agencies can help you shop for best coverage from multiple companies and may be able to get you a package that comes from multiple providers. Agents and agencies have an advantage of understanding claims history, loopholes in coverage and requirements, and my experience has been they get you a better price than you can on your own. They get paid by insurance companies to write contracts (policies) that fit your best needs and will actually talk to you about what you want and how to keep you happy.

This one agency specializes in writing policies for "toys". Boats, motorcycles, ATVs, RVs, autos, etc. I had Progressive from an independant agent that worked directly for my local BMW dealership, but when they sold the dealership, Columbia picked up (bought?) the policies. I didn't have a say in that at all. If I was unhappy, I could have taken my business elsewhere.

The OP seems disgrundled at "Dairyland" because they asked him to update his coverage of "discount" information he feels he had already given them, but the fact is, life events can change. I'd rather let them know I'm still single, own a home, belong to a motorcycle club like MOA, I had previous insurance on the bike, and prove that any claims they found from the previous insurer were not my fault, than to need a claim settled and then find it isn't covered because I withheld information that was needed to set the premium appropriately. I'm also sorry that whoever he spoke to that thought his BMW MOA membership wasn't legit for a discount. He could have asked to speak to a supervisor or another agent to verify the MOA is indeed a legit safety-minded club. I had no trouble using the MOA, I'll bet none of you did either. Agents are humans too, and subject to ignorance or lack of education or experience. Move on.

I'm not involved in the insurance business at all, but I can tell you something else. I suspect ALL major insurance companies incorporate underwriters for polices depending on your location, your risk factors, and the type of policy you want. Read your company's privacy document(s) or the fine print at the bottom of the 1st page of your policy. For instance, on my Dairyland privacy document for my '16 RT
it lists 17 different agencies & underwriters. On my RT policy it lists Dairyland Insurance Company or Patriot General Insurance. For Texas it lists Dairyland County Mutual Insurance Company of Texas, in California it's Viking Insurance Company of Wisconsin. When I recently bought another Dairyland policy for a couple of other bikes that policy added Sentry Insurance and Peak Property and Casualty Insurance Corp to the mix, and Sentry Insurance had the name and logo on the policy.

And........They heavily data mine information about you from all “regular” sources and some “dark” ones as well.

BTW, an agent should be shopping you the best without you asking......IMO.
OM

Omega Man said:

And........They heavily data mine information about you from all “regular” sources and some “dark” ones as well.

BTW, an agent should be shopping you the best without you asking......IMO.
OM

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Sure,... and the "best" depends on talking with you about your overall goals and then presenting you with options that may have to do with all your insurance needs, not just what you may have initially been looking for. That's another reason why a good independant agent is better than an online search alone.

I'm an independent insurance agent and have been for close to 35 years. For cycles, I represent Dairyland, Foremost Progressive, Allstate and Safeco. My bikes are with Dairyland but have gone back and forth on the mentioned companies. Each company has it's "sweet spot" that it likes to write for. If you have a sport bike, Allstate has good rates. At least in Kansas. I've had the least amount of headaches from claims with Dairyland, next is Progressive. As for "shopping" a clients policy, we have to have permission of the client to do that now since the companies are using credit for rating.

My experience

I purchased Progressive at the dealership when I purchased my first BMW. They requested proof of discounts for the discounts I qualified for and I provided them after the fact. No hassles as I recall. I had them for 3 policy periods or three years absolutely no issues with them. My premiums ended up around $700 per year for a 2016 R1200 GSA. Many of the local club members used Dairyland and had positive comments. I called and got a quote for a policy with the same limits and coverages and I was quoted $450. I was asked to send in the documentary proof for the discounts I qualified for and had no issues with that. The BMWMOA was one of these and is listed on my policy under Driver discounts under the code Bmwm. When I forwarded the documents I got back emails indicating they received my correspondence and would let me know if there were any issues. So far no issues of any sort with them either.

Both have apps by the way that have been useful to me.

Best regards,

Chris

Listen carefully: Your "best" insurance depends on state and locale. Here is an example I have posted before. We had State Farm for 40 years in North Dakota, Iowa, and Kansas. We moved to far southwest very rural Texas. I went to renew a policy that went from a $98 price in Kansas to a $498 price in Texas. Do the math! The agent said, and I very carefully quote, "State Farm does not like to insure motorcycles in Texas." We went with Farmers on the cars and Farmer's subsidiary Foremost on the bikes.

You can heed what we say on this Forum, but unless you do your own research and due diligence in seeking quotes in your own state and locale you are just p!$$!#& in the wind.