Insurance Rant!

[Torvy]

Pricing is only half of the battle and you don't know until it is too late if the company will pay for everything. My Allstate has never required me to go to the glass place to get repairs or replacement. They have come to the house and to my office when I worked in the city.

Wife and I used to work for travellers parent company. (20+ years combined service) Based on that alone, I would not use them.

I am that customer who is loyal to service based companies when they consistently deliver. I am a walker, though. If they cross a line for me, I will not use their services. Product based companies are only as good as their current products. Nissan/Datsun used to be awesome, then they weren't. IH used to be the #1 tractor brand, now it is not. If I was ever to switch from Allstate, it would be to USAA or of I needed a type of coverage they don't supply. (Even then, I would just use another company for that one coverage)

 

[ddbackhoe]

Assessed market value and replacement costs are two different things. It's not just materials cost, but every other expense a contractor faces has gone up too.
Even if you just went by market value, housing prices have soared in the last 5 years.

In my little world, “assessed market value” is a term used by the government for tax purposes. “Market price“ is a somewhat reasonable value of what you could expect someone to pay for that house. Insurance companies are sometimes using “market price” vs. sq. footage cost calculation for replacement cost value. That really is not fair to the homeowner. “Market price” includes well, septic/sewer, sprinkler system (code required in some places)and foundation most of which is not covered in a homeowner policy.

 

[tallyho8]

I don't have wind insurance to protect my property in case of hurricanes or tornadoes. Insurance companies do not write homeowners insurance policies in our area anymore due to the frequency of hurricanes. The state has a last chance insurance policy you can buy but it is much higher than any insurance company policy and it only covers your home.

My home has suffered no damage in the last 6 hurricanes but my fences, outbulidings, trees and barn have had tens of thousands of dollars in damages that are not covered by any insurance policies. Our insurance commissioner lets the insurance companies stop writing homeowners policies in our area but lets them continue to write lucrative auto insurance policies where they make huge profits. He should tell the insurance companies to write all policies here or none. Of course, our last 3 insurance commissioners are all in prison for bribes from insurance companies and it is considered normal here to make a few million in bribes before spending a year or two in prison, getting out and retiring wealthy.

 

[Jstpssng]

it is considered normal here to make a few million in bribes before spending a year or two in prison, getting out and retiring wealthy.

Some people were raised differently than the rest of us.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

My insurance agent told me that they were going to require me to get a new roof due to the fact that my roof was 20 years old, I told him my roof still looked good and had no shingles blown off or missing, he said the company didn't care, I told him just go ahead and cancel my policy because my home is paid for, he said really? I said if they told you that those motors in that truck you drive were known to blow up after 5 years so we are going to require you to replace it even though you know there is nothing wrong with it would you? He said I see what you mean, a week later they took pictures of my roof and sent me a letter that said I was good for another 5 years, I might really need a roof by then, if not I am cancelling.