Occidental Fire & Casualty Company Insurance Review & Complaints: Home & Flood Insurance (2023)

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Based out of Raleigh, North Carolina, Occidental Fire & Casualty Company offers personal insurance in several states. They operate as a subsidiary of IAT Insurance Group.

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What is Occidental Fire & Casualty?

Occidental Fire & Casualty Company of North Carolina was founded in 1961 and has since expanded to cover a number of other states. The insurance provider is a wholly-owned subsidiary of IAT Insurance Group, and also partners in some states with Insurance Manager SageSure.

Occidental appears to offer auto insurance, but the confusing nature of the website makes it difficult to determine if that is true. In fact, our search for information on Occidental brought back some of the most confusing search results we have ever encountered for an insurance company.

Occidental does not have a straightforward website that we could locate, although we did come across some other companies also using the Occidental name. None appear to be related.

The homeowner’s insurance website is a one-page site offering very limited information. For auto, we were able to find a website that goes straight to a login page for existing customers; while the web URL uses the Occidental name, only the IAT name appears on the page itself.

The IAT Insurance Group website, meanwhile, is much more comprehensive, but still tells us only that Occidental writes homeowners and flood for both commercial and individual needs. That website does not indicate that Occidental writes auto insurance; in fact, the only personal auto mentioned on the site is Mexico/Non-Resident Private Auto.

Occidental products do appear to be sold through independent insurance agents.

What types of insurance products are offered?

The only products we can confirm from Occidental at the time of this review are homeowners and flood insurance.

Information on these programs is limited to the fact that they offer standard homeowner’s as well as dwelling fire depending on the state of residence.

Flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program is offered for both personal and commercial properties.

Third-party company SageSure handles policy administration, but they do not handle claims processing for current homeowner policyholders.

SageSure provides all customer service, policy processing and other operating support outside the claims process.

What does flood insurance cover?

A flood insurance policy typically covers you if groundwater rises and floods your home a situation that isn’t usually covered by homeowner’s insurance policies. Generally, most of your house is covered by flood insurance.

Specifically, the core parts of your home, like the home foundation and the systems that keep it running, are typically covered. Built-in home appliances, like refrigerators, dishwashers, and stoves, are typically covered as well.

Are the company’s rates competitive?

Occidental only offers quotes through agents, therefore we are unable to provide a comparison to other companies. The lack of information available regarding this company’s products makes it difficult to make any sort of guess as to where their rates might fall.

How are claims processed?

Claims appear to be handled through IAT – or at least that is where claims information can be found.

There are two toll-free claims lines, depending on the state of residence. IAT also has an online claim form for homeowner’s insurance. It does not specifically state that Occidental policy claims should be filed there, again leaving us (and their customers) to guess and make assumptions.

The claim’s section does not offer a lot of information, so customers are probably better off-putting in a phone call to get some guidance – and to confirm they’re actually submitting to the right place.

Are the ratings and consumer reviews positive?

The insurance company has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB), with six complaints on file in the past three years. There have been no complaints closed in the past 12 months.

There are ten complaints on Google, with an overall 1.6-star review. Of these, one is a 5-star review citing excellent claims service. The rest of the reviews are negative, mainly citing a poor customer service experience.

When it comes to customer complaints, Occidental  has performed worse than is typical within the insurance industry.

Occidental Fire & Casualty Company Insurance Review: What’s the bottom line?

Occidental Fire & Casualty’s online information is so scattered and confusing that we can’t help but worry that the customer experience will be similarly difficult. We were unable even to confirm whether the insurance company still writes auto insurance. Those in search of good value for personal insurance might be better off looking elsewhere.