Liberty Mutual-Good or Bad?

[robbiedawg]

as many of you know,they have the bmwcca group insurance,and say they use genuine bmw parts for repairs.i searched for experience with them and didn't find anything.they gave me a quote of about $400/yr. less than the insurance i have now with unitrin.it was so much less it made me wonder.

has anyone here had experience with them-how they treat you on a claim,how their customer service is,etc.? thanks

[flagger]

I've had Liberty since the early 80's. Fortunately, limited claims experience,but always positive and prompt. The covered a hit and run side swipe on my '04 M3 very efficiently.

[///Matthew]

My E92 M3 and my E36 M3 were both totaled due to flooding from Hurricane Sandy's storm surge. My E92 was insured by Progressive, while the E36 was insured by Liberty Mutual. The E92 claim was settled within days, and I wound up getting $2.5k less than I paid for my car. The E36 claim has been an absolute joke/nightmare. After telling them I intended to buy the car back and retain it, they attempted to tow it 7 times. Mind you I spoke with Liberty Mutual or the towing companies each time and explained that the car wasn't to be touched. They straight up lowballed me 3 times as far as the car's value, comparing my 75k pristine E36 M3 with cars that had 138k on them... I've since let my attorney loose on them, and they are now ignoring him. He's sending yet another letter this week since they refuse to return phone calls. I cannot stress enough to you to stay away from that company.

[LittleBlueBMW]

They are meh. Had to fight to get genuine new parts for a month after I hit a block of ice in an ice storm. They wanted to use other types or junkyard parts.

[pseto]

Originally Posted by LittleBlueBMW

They are meh. Had to fight to get genuine new parts for a month after I hit a block of ice in an ice storm. They wanted to use other types or junkyard parts.

Did you have the CCA coverage at the time?

[robbiedawg]

Originally Posted by pseto

Did you have the CCA coverage at the time?

i was wondering that,too,if the cca coverage gives you better service?

[///Matthew]

Originally Posted by robbiedawg

i was wondering that,too,if the cca coverage gives you better service?

Please trust me, you want nothing to do with these people...

[pseto]

Originally Posted by ///Matthew

Please trust me, you want nothing to do with these people...

Originally Posted by robbiedawg

i was wondering that,too,if the cca coverage gives you better service?

LM has been great for me. I had GEICO for many years and haven't looked back since switching a few years ago. Claims have been very smooth and as a CCA member, OEM parts are required.

Obviously not everyone will have a good experience, sucks to be ///Matthew and whatever he endured.

[M3 Esq.]

I had my first auto policy with them back in the late 90s. Terrible customer service. I would not recommend them.

[kscarrol]

Not directly related to auto insurance but I agree with /// Matthew. Had several friends with Liberty when Katrina hit New Orleans. They were awful to deal with...

[jphughan]

Yes, if you have the CCA add-on with Liberty Mutual you're guaranteed OEM BMW parts; at least that's my understanding and what I've heard from others. Apparently some other insurance carriers that default to aftermarket parts offer (but don't advertise) an "OEM parts only" addendum you can request for your policy (likely at additional cost) that will mean they'll pay for OEM replacements. You can always call your agent to ask a) whether they default to aftermarket parts, and b) if so, whether they have an OEM-only option.

Also note that in some states, the law states that insurance companies CANNOT prevent you from demanding OEM replacements on your car -- but the law does NOT say that insurance companies have to PAY from OEM parts, so in those cases if you want OEM, unless your carrier offers OEM replacements by default, you'd have to pay the difference from aftermarket out of pocket. There are some exceptions to that though, even with aftermarket replacement carriers. For example, your car needs to be restored to "pre-accident condition", so if an aftermarket part clearly doesn't fit or function correctly, the carrier will pay for an OEM part. I just heard about this at a presentation from a body shop this past weekend where the owner said he'd seen constant occasions of insurance carriers starting off wanting aftermarket even though the owner knew the aftermarket part wouldn't work correctly, but he ordered it because he had to, demonstrated to the adjuster that it sucked, and then had to go order OEM anyway. Of course the loser there is the customer, whose car was out of commission longer.

FWIW, I use Amica Mutual. I called them about the OEM replacement question and they told me that while the replacement parts may not be NEW, they will definitely be OEM. I honestly can't say enough good things about them in general, even though I've already written about them in other threads here. I just added renter's insurance through them, and every time I talk to them on the phone I'm left thinking they were an absolute PLEASURE to deal with -- how often can you say that about your insurance company? When I had a claim on a previous car, the other party was at-fault but turned out to be shady and unreachable, so it looked like I was going to lose my $1000 deductible. Well Amica called me 7 MONTHS later (LONG after I'd considered that money gone) and said they'd finally tracked her down, gotten her insurance company to accept liability, and I would be getting my deductible back -- I was especially impressed because my deductible was greater than the amount they'd had to pay to fix my car. That's how you build customer loyalty.

I'd never heard of them before but when I was shopping around they were rated top in customer service for something like 12 years running by JD Power (behind USAA and one other company not open to the public), so I called them and it turns out they also gave me the lowest price. I was initially worried they were just giving me a great deal now and wouldn't be there for me when I needed them, but obviously that hasn't been the case at all. Plus unlike USAA and many other insurance carriers, they haven't yet switched to the "No coverage for driving on racetracks for any reason" wording, so HPDEs are still covered with them.

[bga23]

Crap, I have LM and while I've found their service was fine in establishing my policy I haven't had to make a claim. Guess I had better look to move my coverage...

[cmk227]

Originally Posted by bga23

Crap, I have LM and while I've found their service was fine in establishing my policy I haven't had to make a claim. Guess I had better look to move my coverage...

Same boat. This thread just made me worry.

[robbiedawg]

i got a copy of the policy language and it says they can require non-oem parts,in contrast to what bmw and bmwcca say.i specified i wanted to know about the cca coverage.those of you who have it,check your policies and see what they say.this is from the language they sent me under payment of loss-

[IN THE REPAIR OF
YOUR COVERED AUTO UNDER THE
PHYSICAL DAMAGE COVERAGE
PROVISIONS OF THIS POLICY, WE MAY
REQUIRE OR SPECIFY THE USE OF
AUTOMOBILE PARTS NOT MADE BY THE
ORIGINAL MANUFACTURER. THESE PARTS
ARE REQUIRED TO BE AT LEAST EQUAL IN
TERMS OF FIT, QUALITY, PERFORMANCE
AND WARRANTY TO THE ORIGINAL
MANUFACTURER PARTS THEY REPLACE.]

it says the same thing later in the policy under important notices.i'm going to bitch to bmwcca about this.if those of you who have the policy join,it would be helpful.also ,complain to your agent if you have the policy.

[SamS]

I have LM, but never had to make a claim.

What is the benefit of having both CCA + LM?

[robbiedawg]

Originally Posted by SamS

I have LM, but never had to make a claim.

What is the benefit of having both CCA + LM?

one supposed benefit is that you get oem parts.this what bmw and the cca both say.but the policy i saw says the opposite,that they can require non-oem parts,which is a problem.so there appears to be a disconnect between what bmw and the cca say,and what happens at lm.

here's the link to what bmw says about this supposedly special insurance-
http://welcome.libertymutual.com/bmw...html?src=BMWFS

but it's less clear you're getting that from lm.

[jdip23]

Look at State Farm...I am an Agent for them in NJ. I am almost positive that State Farm is the only company in the country that ONLY uses OEM parts. It's not an option or additional cost.

[kiloil]

Originally Posted by jdip23

Look at State Farm...I am an Agent for them in NJ. I am almost positive that State Farm is the only company in the country that ONLY uses OEM parts. It's not an option or additional cost.

Not so fast--windshield replaced and they would budge on using an OEM glass that was from Pilkington. I still have SF on all properties, cars, boat etc. I get excellent service from SF. I just paid the difference which was fine.

[jdip23]

Here in NJ there is no glass only coverage so I can't attest to OEM for that. Glass in NJ falls under comprehensive coverage so we don't see many claims for it since there is usually a 500 or 1000 deductible. As for repairs we have to use OEM parts. They can be used OEM (that's with any company) but they must be OEM.

Want an honest opinion on claim handling with insurance companies call a coupe of reputable body shops in your area and I'm sure they will let you know who to use or not use.