Insurance by Allied Brokers

Three weeks ago, I expressed concern about why Allied Brokers had not informed me that Mercury Insurance, the company Allied Brokers recommended to me, had a $ 27.5 million dollar fine against it for overcharing on auto insurance, the largest fine ever imposed on any insurer by the State Department of Insurance. See link below.
. I also noted Mercury had lost a case for overcharging on homeowners insurance in 2013 and were ordered to lower homeowner rates. I stated I felt I was owed a refund from Mercury for the above two situations.
Allied Brokers response, in a written e-​mail, was I was just a nut case and Allied ordered me to take my business elsewhere.
So much for Allied’s fiduciary responsibility to customers.
Please consumers go to the FBIC (Fight Bad-​faith Insurance Companies) website and select carriers from their good faith list at
. Amica, Chubb and Allianz get great ratings for paying their auto insurance claims. You get what you pay for!

Best service, always!
They helped me with all my insurance needs.

My experience with Allied Brokers couldn’t have been any better. I needed to find commercial auto insurance for my workplace. Mimi was my broker and she was attentive, professional and responded quickly to any inquiries I had, not to mention an absolute delight to work with. We were in a bit of a bind and she did everything in her power and then some to accommodate our requests. I highly recommend Allied Brokers for all of your insurance needs.

Ron helped me set up my individual health insurance very quickly on a Friday afternoon, and he responds to my emails right away. Thanks for your help!

Mimi at Allied Brokers helped me square away a Course of Construction policy for our house remodel. She was fast in responses, even on weekends! She collected all the facts with my bank and builder and then came back with options quickly to get our project moving.

Nope. You didn’t do a great job for me, hence my review. Not venting, just reviewing, because that’s what Unilocal is for.

If all you need is a simple auto insurance policy, you are probably fine with this brokerage. If you needs get a bit more complicated, my strong recommendation would be to avoid it.
We were long term customers of Allied Brokers in Palo Alto, starting with an auto insurance policy many years ago. We have, over the years, added homeowners, umbrella, and some commercial insurance policies to our portfolio. Paradoxically, as our business with them grew, their service levels deteriorated significantly. Specific examples of poor customer service include:
— on two occasions, we needed to purchase new property insurance policies on a very tight deadline. On both cases, the agents did not get back to me on a timely manner and ‘lost’ emails, did not return calls, or failed to follow through on things they said that they would do. in one of instance, the policy was issued on time, after much unnecessary pain and suffering on my part. On the last one, the policy was never issued correctly.
— for the last agent who I worked with, it was plainly impossible to catch him live on the phone upon contacting the agency. He was never, ever free and always on a call or in a meeting. Unsurprisingly, most of my voice messages went unanswered. I finally heard back from him once after calling for four days in a row.
— we sent a cancellation notice for one of our policies via email after talking to them on the phone. The policy was never cancelled and a random agent who was never involved with the business called our house on the eve of the expiration date to request payment. If only they could be that efficient with everything else!
— finally, questions that I’ve had about my policies, e.g., types of insurance to consider or competitive quotes from other carriers, were never answered. To their credit, the agent always said he would look into it. And then never followed up.
Regrettably, Allied Brokers’ levels of service have been among the most inefficient, incompetent, and frustrating that I have ever dealt with. But again, if your needs are very basic, your experience may vary. They did do a good job automatically renewing our auto insurance, for what it’s worth, and had competitive prices for most lines of business.

if you need flood insurance I would highly recommend Steve Fox. I’m a Mortgage Broker and Steve was able to provide my client with a flood policy at a much lower price than she was paying through FEMA… great service… it took one day for the policy

I’ve been with Allied almost 17 years now for my home and over 12 for home+car. I like that being a brokerage they can recommend what is best for my situation. And as life progresses and things change, they were there the whole time to assist through the changes.
I also went through the a claim years ago when a bad storm toppled a heavy palm tree onto my house causing damage. The process was wonderful, fast, friendly, thorough and repaired and closed out quickly. It took a bad situation for me and made it easy.

I was pleased with the experience of buying health insurance with allied. I had many questions and concerns which were answered on the spot. Way better than buying it online. I would recommend them for all you insurance needs. Thanks Allied

Chris Graham from Allied Brokers called today. He explained what charged to me is insurance standard practice and indicated that Steve had informed me all the charges before I cancel my policy. BUT Steve DID NOT inform me anything at all!!! Chris is trying to protect his people!
Chris G. requested me to remove my review from Unilocal and called me a «bad people.»
This is unbelievable! How can this person work in service industry!!! How can Mercury Insurance use this kind of unprofessional brokers???
BTW, 15 years of service does not mean nothing! It means you earn my commission for the last 15 yrs.

I’ve known about Allied Brokers and had them as vendor previously in another business. Now I am with Eco-​Care «green» housecleaning, and they are; most cordial, professional, and of course knowledgeable, from the receptionist, to the insurance reps!
Mimi Watson has been very patient with me in explaining the different insurances and the benefits, and guidelines for each program they offer. Thanks Mimi !!

Highly disappointed!
Found them on Unilocal with good reviews. Really liked their professionalism on the phone — sounded knowledgeable and responded quickly to my emails during quoting process. I
thought I found a decent insurance broker. Our second bill was about $ 200 higher (home insurance) than the first one. After calling them they said it is because we now have a 2-​story house (!!! — that’s what we quoted originally!). They promised to figure this out and give us a call.
A month late we received a cancellation letter from the provider. I called Allied Brokers again. Again, they promised to figure it out and give me a call back later that day — didn’t happen.
Bottom line:
careless
once they got your business — you are on your own.
their quotes were also high, but they convinced us we need a higher coverage.

We worked with Mimi and Jocelyn in getting business insurance through Allied Brokers. They were accommodating, professional, helpful and quick.
I would highly recommend working with Allied Brokers.

Sandy White is amazing for health insurance. I have sent many financial planning clients who needed insurance. She spent lots of time helping them even when they would not generate a commision.
Mimi Watson has helped me with insurance for building a new house.
It’s been a good experience all around. I once had a problem, the manager took care of it right away.

Getting insurance for the company I work for is generally a nightmare and robs me of sleep, energy, and joie de vivre. Once again I was on the brink of broker depression and quote therapy when I decided to ditch the old agents cold turkey and try my luck elsewhere. My expectations were low when I first stepped into Allied Brokers.
The minute I met with Mimi, my tension was eased and it felt as if I was going to be in good hands. The quotes came over quickly and she was fast to respond to any questions I emailed to her. We’ve been very happy with the insurance carrier she recommended and are now considering changing some of our other business insurance policies over to Allied Brokers. They provide you with lower quotes than what you currently pay and their outstanding customer service has me feeling relaxed and taken care of.
Thanks for breaking the insurance agent stereotype, Allied Brokers!

I just moved to San Jose and was seeking a local carrier for my car insurance. I was excited to find Connie Prince of Allied Brokers in the Pink Spots Directory of LGBT friendly businesses. I scheduled an appointment with Connie Prince at their Palo Alto office. I rearranged my day, and made the drive up there, only to find that she had forgotten and was not there. I was excited to work with her, and was grateful that she was willing to reschedule and meet me in San Jose (for a closer appointment). While driving to the café where we agreed to meet, I get an e-​mail stating that she had a belly ache and wouldn’t be able to make the appointment. At this point I was very upset, as a.) she had not been respectful of my time — twice and b.) I would now be driving my car without insurance.
I went with another company that processed it all over the phone and got me insured that day.

I have been a customer of Allied Brokers since 1988. They have helped me with auto, health, renters and boat insurance. They have always been completely professional, competent and always expedite business quickly.
I am particularly grateful for Sandy White and her expertise in health insurance. In a quagmire of confusing legal loopholes in the health insurance industry Sandy will lead you straight and give you the reality of what you can expect; I can not thank her enough.
This is a business the truly cares about their customers. After 24 years of being their customer I am still glad I can count on them. I can’t recommend them enough, in fact I have done so several times!
Wendy Waller Singer/​Songwriter/​Voice Teacher

I’ve had my car and homeowners with Allied Brokers for the last 10 years or so. Every single interaction with their CSR’s is a very pleasant and positive customer experience.
I would highly recommend them.

I have worked with Allied Brokers over the years a few times. They never disappoint!!! I have worked with Sandy White and she is amazing. She is very thorough and makes sure you know all options available to you. Sandy will work hard for you to ensure you come up with the ‘right’ solution every time!
Thank you Sandy and Allied!!!