Well, I had a pulse check last weekend after receiving a letter from my insurance company canceling my homeowner's policy.
The house has been insured with the same company for 40 years - guess they don't like loyal customers.
So, I'm shopping for insurance and have a couple of months to find another company.
Should I go with one of the insurance aggregator companies that represent multiple underwriters or go and
knock on the door of big-name insurance?

I have found the local agencies that shop for you get the best prices. I dumped USAA years ago and never regretted it.
I am currently with Liere, but have heard good things about Rollo as well.

If you decide to go with Liere and want to do me a favor - PM me and I will send you a referral that gives me a credit.

Rollo acts as a brokerage from what I can tell.. they saved me almost a thousand when I moved away from Farmers.

Farmers wanted to charge me for insurance coverage on a secondary building on the property that didn't exist. Even when questioning it, they said they could only lower it so much... though it didn't exist.

Stay away from ANCO. Not a local company any longer. They are owned by a big conglomerate started in Canada and now based out of Chicago.

Just used Rollo last week on combined auto/home quote. Saved me about $2000.

Rollo helps me with home and auto. Reviews each year, easy to work with.

Have had Travelers for years and they've been good to me. I know, not local.

FlyRod said:

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Have had Travelers for years and they've been good to me. I know, not local.

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That's who we have, but looking at Ag Worlers right now. Travellers went up quite a bit.

Thanks to everyone for the excellent recommendations. I'm going to compare Liere and Rollo and see what works for me. tu ag if I go with Liere I'll reach out to you for referral information.

Make sure you check the policy for full cost replacement roof coverage. A lot of companies are beginning to not insure roofs over 12-15 years, or put them on a depreciated payment schedule (ridiculous, I know). Also add on the rider for code enforcement if possible- ut will save you thousands if you need a new roof, and new codes state you need a different size sheathing based on rafter spacing (College Station currently enforces code on this, and many houses are out of code). There are also a handful of companies that pretty much deny any wind/hail claim and you have to sue them to get a new roof. Its time consuming. Its easier to just find a company that treats customers well.

And lastly- USAA is the only company that I am aware of that still offers a 1% deductible on wind and hail claims. Its why we went with them (that, and they tend to be one of the few companies that arent in the denial business, and they dont short your pricing hoping you (or your contractor) dont notice.

My advice- call a roofing company and ask what companies they would personally use or avoid.