When we retired and we were looking for supplemental insurance to Medicare, AARP/UnitedHealthcare had one of the best plans available. We joined then and have kept that coverage. Good thing too. Almost as soon as we retired, between my wife and I, we racked up spinal surgery, rotator cuff surgery, surgery for metastatic breast cancer with associated radiation, chemo and hormone therapy, plus all the associated physical and lymphedema therapies. Then on top of it all, we both had to undergone rabies protocol for a bat exposure, $23,000 for the two of us but totally covered by insurance.
Generally speaking, if someone says they have MBC they are terminal. I also had a single lymph node that was cancerous so my lymph system was doing its job and hopefully stopped cancer cells from spreading farther. I would never describe it as MBC. Incidentally, my cancer was IBC and not found by mammography. And now, back to the AARP discussion.
I am not a member nor will they ever get one dime from me again. Their support for the Democratic party using members' money was all it took for me to get out of that money-grabbing organization that doesn't represent seniors as much as it does politics and big business.
I hate their politics too, have written them about gun issues, but I am obtaining a worthwhile benefit from them. I really wish companies would just get out of politics and concentrate on their purpose, providing a product or service to customers. We already have enough politics in every aspect of our lives. I really don’t need it in stuff I buy.
I was lucky that my State Farm auto and house as a package deal cannot be beaten by anyone (for the same coverage) since I have been with them for 50 years. I drive way under the minimum and have a great record for the last 30 years, so they give me a lot of discounts. If I think my rates are too much, all I have to do is go in with a quote from another company and it is amazing how they can find another discount to match those rates. Last time they raised my homeowner's rates slightly, I went in and showed them the city had installed a new super bright LED street lamp to discourage crime and also they had upgraded the fire hydrant in front of my house. They found another discount and my bill was lowered by $20 for 6 months. Insurance agents have a lot more leeway than they like to admit. Sometimes a little arm twisting pays off if you have leverage.
I'll be the first to admit that I HATE shopping for insurance, and tend to just let it ride. We've had Allstate for everything for the past 40 years or so, and I really never gave it a thought until this last renewal. I'm happily calling them later today to cancel the auto insurance and will begin shopping for homeowner's that renews in June. A lot of companies are refusing to insure homes in "hurricane zones" so that might have to stay as-is.
For what it’s worth, we switched both our home and auto to Erie some years ago. It saved us quite a bit and they’ve been just fine so far.
Is that through AARP? Our new auto insurance is with The Hartford, which is one of the AARP offerings. I'm not familiar with Erie.
No, Erie is a stand alone company. I have talked with others who have been satisfied with them. There might be other good companies but I think Erie would be worth your while to check out. Never hurts to ask. Also, I should mention, I had a hobby car that got hit, very rare, and Erie really went after the other company, even had them pay to ship the car back to the factory in Georgia for repair.
Atta girl! Several I know that have had Allstate have switched as they won't negotiate or show appreciation for long-time customers. One thing I consider when shopping for insurance is how they pay claims. If they have a bad record of paying claims fairly, then I don't care how low their premiums are.
Oddly, when I called today to cancel, they suddenly appreciated my "platinum status" and found some deals for me. A day late and several hundred dollars short, Allstate. Buh-bye.
AARP is a rather crass marketing organization. It is not a seniors' organization in any sense. People who are "members" have no vote and no say in the organization. If that isn't enough,you can usually get better deals than the stuff they promote.
I'm Canadian and here of course it's CARP but yes and it's the same here,most places listed are ones I never use but one thing I did find is a place they offered a discount on for barley tea,very healthy and I LOVE.They have lots of discounts but the prices on the products that have the discounts are to expensive for me.My 1st year as a member.