Quick public service announcement from the two of us this week. Our producer Paul sent us a video of some guy ranking insurance companies — A tier, B tier, D tier — and we watched it going no, no, no, that's wrong, that's wrong, that's wrong based on what we see here in Texas.
Which doesn't necessarily mean he's wrong where he is. And that's the whole point of this episode. The internet is full of insurance advice. Some of it's useful. Some of it's a lead-gen funnel that's about to sell your phone number 15 times. And almost none of it is specific to where you actually live and what you actually need.
Why "best insurance company" rankings are almost always wrong for you
Insurance is weirdly local. A company that's great in Arizona can be terrible in Texas. A company that's great in Dallas-Fort Worth can be a nightmare on the Gulf Coast. Within Texas alone, we have coastal regions, metroplexes, rural counties, hail alleys — and carrier appetites, pricing, and claims performance can vary dramatically across all of them.
Even Dallas-Fort Worth is one thing, and then you get a little bit out, and you get a little bit on the outside — the world is your oyster with the different options you have.
So when a creator on TikTok (or YouTube, or Instagram) ranks the "top 5 insurance companies to avoid" — the first thing you should ask is where are they? And honestly, you usually can't tell. There's no requirement that they tell you.
The one thing that is useful about those rankings
Use them as a starting point for research, not an answer. If you keep seeing the same carrier flagged across multiple sources — different creators, different regions, different years — that's worth taking seriously as a question to ask your agent. Not as proof, but as a prompt.
What you want is to show up to a conversation with a real local agent and say, "I keep hearing XYZ about Company A. What's your experience with them here?" That gives you specific, local, informed information. The agent either confirms it, denies it, or explains the nuance. Any of those is better than a stranger on the internet telling you what to buy.
Policy language matters more than carrier name
Here's the other thing those videos almost never cover: a policy isn't a policy isn't a policy. Even within the same carrier, policy language varies. The word "and" vs. "or" in one clause can completely change what's covered.
Insurance is a legal contract. If you buy a policy because a TikToker said the company was A-tier and never read what the policy actually says, you can end up with a cheap premium and a worthless contract. The claim happens, you file it, and you learn the hard way that your "great policy" didn't cover the one thing you needed it to.
The "cheap insurance" ads are not what they look like
You know the ads. "Lois saved me $2,000 on auto insurance." "Cut out the middleman — agents make 80% of your premium." (We don't. It's a tiny fraction of that. We'd be retired if it were 80%.) Those ads are not from insurance companies. They're lead generation companies.
Here's what actually happens:
- You click the ad to "get a quote"
- You enter your name, phone number, email, address, and basic info
- The company sells your info to 15 different insurance agents around the country
- Those 15 agents all call you, each one 10+ times
- You never actually get a quote from the ad itself. You get spam calls for the next three months.
The irony of "cut out the middleman"
One of the ads Dennis complained to the state about literally said "cut out the middleman — agents keep 80% of your premium." The whole business model of that ad was getting your info and selling it to middleman agents. They cut out one middleman by inserting a different, worse middleman. We complained enough times that Texas Department of Insurance has been investigating these — Dennis actually filed one of the complaints personally.
What to do instead
- Find an independent agent in your region. Not captive — captive agents can only sell you one carrier. Independent means they shop multiple carriers for the same policy.
- Ask them to tell you about the companies they'd put you with. A good agent will tell you honestly why they chose Company A over Company B for your specific situation — service, claims reputation, pricing, policy language.
- Ask hard questions. "I heard Company X has bad claims service — what's your experience with them in this region?" If the agent gets defensive, that's a sign to move on. Good agents welcome the questions.
- Don't fall for the free quote funnel. Most reputable brokers don't charge policy fees — the quote itself is free. If a form is just collecting data without connecting you to a real human, back away.
The honest bottom line
There are good sources of insurance information online — including us. We're not saying "distrust everyone, call us only." We're saying distrust generic rankings that aren't specific to your region, your situation, or your policy needs, and absolutely distrust anything that wants your contact info before it gives you an answer.
Use the internet as a starting point. Then talk to a real human in your area who shops multiple carriers. That's how good insurance decisions get made.