Trouble Getting Insured After House Fire..

[goroyals24]

Hello,


We had a house fire last January that was very significant. It didn't total the property, but the insurance paid out was over $200k overall. The fire was started by a faulty mini fridge. We had another claim about 3 years ago when some hail storms came through and ruined our roof. I believe we received around $10k for that claim to repair the roof. Our insurance company just dropped us now that the house fire claim has been completed. This is something we anticipated happening, however we didn't really know what would happen after that. It appears we're essentially uninsurable by the standard insurance market, so now we have to get a policy with in a non-traditional market. The real problem is the cheapest quote our independent agent got us was for $4,300+ a year. We were previously paying $900+ a year for insurance. The new price of insurance will price us out of our home, so we'll either have to sell soon or possibly face a foreclosure in our future. It's been suggested that we contact our state insurance commissioner about the situation, but would that do us any good? If so, what should I tell them? Thanks for listening and I appreciate any advice.

 

[AZDave]

Get other quotes.
Assume a high deductible -maybe $5000- at least for the first year or two...
Insurance Commissioner won't be much help.

What state are you in....Many forum members here can help you.

Good Luck.

 

[goroyals24]

Get other quotes.
Assume a high deductible -maybe $5000- at least for the first year or two...
Insurance Commissioner won't be much help.

What state are you in....Many forum members here can help you.

Good Luck.

Thanks for the info. We're in Missouri. We have an independent agent, but she hasn't given us the option of a high deductible yet. She said she had a hard time finding anyone to take us on. Yesterday she told us she found two companies, one of which gave us the $4,300+ quote and we haven't heard about the other yet. I've never used this or any other forum before. Is there a better way to contact people who may no more about our specific situation?


Thanks for the help.

 

[djs]

The 2 claims starts getting tough in a lot of areas, though it depends on the roof claim somewhat.

A couple of suggestions:
- The high deductible is a good option. Ask about it. Make sure your lender is okay with it, but in some cases, its better to see if they complain, rather than checking. You can always lower the deductible if they complain about it.

- Find out when the first claim goes over 3 years. At that point, you will probably be eligible to go back to a reasonably priced policy. In doing this, make sure you know what the cancellation policy is on your 'new' policy though. You need to ask about short rate vs pro-rate and if there is a minimum earned premium. It really doesn't matter what the answers are, just know them upfront so you aren't surprised later.

- This is a rare case where you might be better off looking at some of the captive companies (State Farm / Farmers / Allstate). In some areas, they are more lenient on losses than the independent carriers. In other areas, they won't touch a 2 loss house, so there isn't any clear answer on this.

Also, the insurance commissioner won't get involved in this at all, except to perhaps point you to the state ran equivalent of a 'Fair Plan' to cover those who can't get coverage elsewhere (not sure what plan they have in MO, just most states have something). These are usually poor coverage and expensive.

In general, its tough to complain about a higher premium for a year when the insurance company just paid a fairly significant sum (twice) to fix your house. I get its a hard amount to come up with, but its probably only for a year.

As a small correction, they didn't drop you because your claim was completed, they non-renewed you on the renewal date. This doesn't really help you in any way, except to understand what actually happens on these.

Dan

 

[goroyals24]

The 2 claims starts getting tough in a lot of areas, though it depends on the roof claim somewhat.

A couple of suggestions:
- The high deductible is a good option. Ask about it. Make sure your lender is okay with it, but in some cases, its better to see if they complain, rather than checking. You can always lower the deductible if they complain about it.

- Find out when the first claim goes over 3 years. At that point, you will probably be eligible to go back to a reasonably priced policy. In doing this, make sure you know what the cancellation policy is on your 'new' policy though. You need to ask about short rate vs pro-rate and if there is a minimum earned premium. It really doesn't matter what the answers are, just know them upfront so you aren't surprised later.

- This is a rare case where you might be better off looking at some of the captive companies (State Farm / Farmers / Allstate). In some areas, they are more lenient on losses than the independent carriers. In other areas, they won't touch a 2 loss house, so there isn't any clear answer on this.

Also, the insurance commissioner won't get involved in this at all, except to perhaps point you to the state ran equivalent of a 'Fair Plan' to cover those who can't get coverage elsewhere (not sure what plan they have in MO, just most states have something). These are usually poor coverage and expensive.

In general, its tough to complain about a higher premium for a year when the insurance company just paid a fairly significant sum (twice) to fix your house. I get its a hard amount to come up with, but its probably only for a year.

As a small correction, they didn't drop you because your claim was completed, they non-renewed you on the renewal date. This doesn't really help you in any way, except to understand what actually happens on these.

Dan

Thank you for the information, Dan. That's extremely helpful. Just a few more questions/clarifications. Never being in this situation, we were wondering how long we'd end up paying such high premiums, but you're saying that only typically lasts a year and then they'll normalize? We were also wondering about past claims. The roof has been nearly 3 years, so in most cases will this not be counted against us anymore when pursuing non-surplus line insurance? I couldn't think of what it was called earlier, but our independent agent says that surplus line insurance is the only option we currently have after she checked around. Thanks again for all your help.

 

[benk622]

I've dealt with similar situations. It is unlikely you will find a standard company to take you for the next 3 years with that house fire on your record. Also that hail claim counts against you big as well, most of my carriers won't take people with 2 losses in 5 years. In Ohio all of my carriers look back 5 years on home claims. Also most companies are losing money on homeowners at the moment so they typically aren't making exceptions either.

If your state has a fair plan try that. If the house is in good condition thats what I usually do. If not your stuck in the E&S market. High deductible and ACV coverage might help save some money. Not sure about the captives, in my area they are way tighter than any of my companies.

 

[CraggyFraggy]

I'm an independent in MO and had a similar situation with a client-they had a hail claim and water damage claim within 3 years. All premium options were dramatically increased even with high deductible and conservative coverages....I have two captive colleagues that have Nationwide and Farmers agencies......Farmers turned out to be the most desirable in this situation. But as soon as those claims fall off we'll look at markets again. Unfortunately, it's a huge red flag for insurers to see claims; like Dan said, insurers are incurring more losses with homeowners insurance, so their apprehension is reflected with high premiums.

 

[F150]

these are easy to get, they are pricey, call a different agent who has access to other carriers..

 

[Soaringagent]

Good info about home insurance

 

[Theinsuranceguys]

Does your state have a fair plan? If so that will probably be your best bet.