A good friend of mine works for an insurance agency and sent me this article. I personally know of several people who have had this experience: they filed a "normal" claim and then got slammed with huge premium increases and one of them did get cancelled and had a really hard time getting another company to take him and had to pay through the nose :( Anybody here have a similar experience?
WARNING:
Homeowners Insurance is a DOUBLE EDGE SWORD. It’s nothing like auto insurance. When you file an auto insurance claim, it could be the other driver’s fault and so they collect from the other driver’s insurance and so your rates won’t go up. In Homeowners any time you file a claim, it is and it will ALWAYS BE YOUR FAULT, even though they don’t say it but the new premium will say it or sometimes they will right out refuse to renew your policy. More than one claim and they will be keeping a close eye on you. Electrical fire, it’s your fault. Winds blow down your fence and knock down your tree and destroy half your house. It’s really not your fault, you didn’t do it but once you file that claim, it’s your fault. Even if you NEVER filed a claim before, your rates will be higher if the previous owner of your newly-purchased house has a previous claim on that property. That house is now considered a risk, therefore, higher rates for you. You get punished for just owning that “at-risk” property. That’s like getting a higher car insurance rate because the previous owner of that car you just bought had previous claims. Why are we held accountable for somebody else’s claim? Because a Homeowners insurance claim is always your fault. You need to write to your State insurance commissioner to end this practice.
Don’t even bother having that $500 deductible on homeowners insurance. I don’t even recommend it. $1,000 should be the minimum. $2,000 deductible is even better and it will save you money. Save that money for future repairs. Why such a high deductible? Remember, every time you file, it’s your fault that is why. You never, ever file a claim unless it’s too much of burden to you financially. $1,000 loss, don’t even bother; the insurance company will make you pay dearly for that claim. $10,000 lost is ok enough to file a claim in my opinion. Damned if you file a claim, damned if you don’t. A true example: a potential client called me up. I quoted him for $400/year on his 1500sq ft home, same amount on what he used to pay for with his previous insurance company. I ran a claim report and found out that he filed a claim, stolen item worth $150 and damages totaling nearly $500, totaling $650. He filed the claim; after the $500 deductible, the insurance company sent him a $150 check. At renewal, he found out that his insurance company raised his rates by almost double what he used to pay. He got angry and canceled the policy and called my company for a quote. Due to his claim, Preferred Rating Insurance companies refused to insured him, including my company. My insurance company does not like to receive new business that have THEFT and FIRE claims no matter how small the claim was. He became a high-risk client and falls into the standard market and so a friend of mine insured him for close to $1,000 year. In the end, he got a $150 check from the insurance company but lost thousands of dollars later on due to rate increases by filing that claim. He will continue to pay double or triple his original premium until he is no longer considered a high risk. So only use your homeowner's insurance when you really have to or you could end up paying that much too. It is up to a customer to file a claim or pay for the repairs themselves, I always let them know the consequences if they do go ahead with filing the claim. 1|1|My rates never went up on the old house and we filed two claims once for storm damage and once for the fire damage from when the house across the street burnt |teener|teenerzacsneenee@yahoo.com|10:32:34|09/06/2009|
>Posted on Sep-06-09 at 10:04 AM (Eastern)
>by 205.188.116.68A good friend of mine
>works for an insurance agency and
>sent me this article. I
>personally know of several people who
>have had this experience: they filed
>a "normal" claim and then got
>slammed with huge premium increases and
>one of them did get cancelled
>and had a really hard time
>getting another company to take him
>and had to pay through the
>nose :( Anybody here have
>a similar experience?
>
>WARNING:
>Homeowners Insurance is a DOUBLE EDGE SWORD.
>It’s nothing like auto insurance. When
>you file an auto insurance claim,
>it could be the other driver’s
>fault and so they collect from
>the other driver’s insurance and so
>your rates won’t go up. In
>Homeowners any time you file a
>claim, it is and it will
>ALWAYS BE YOUR FAULT, even though
>they don’t say it but the
>new premium will say it or
>sometimes they will right out refuse
>to renew your policy. More than
>one claim and they will be
>keeping a close eye on you.
>Electrical fire, it’s your fault. Winds
>blow down your fence and knock
>down your tree and destroy half
>your house. It’s really not your
>fault, you didn’t do it but
>once you file that claim, it’s
>your fault. Even if you NEVER
>filed a claim before, your rates
>will be higher if the previous
>owner of your newly-purchased house has
>a previous claim on that property.
>That house is now considered a
>risk, therefore, higher rates for you.
>You get punished for just owning
>that “at-risk” property. That’s like getting
>a higher car insurance rate because
>the previous owner of that car
>you just bought had previous claims.
>Why are we held accountable for
>somebody else’s claim? Because a Homeowners
>insurance claim is always your fault.
>You need to write to your
>State insurance commissioner to end this
>practice.
>Don’t even bother having that $500 deductible
>on homeowners insurance. I don’t even
>recommend it. $1,000 should be the
>minimum. $2,000 deductible is even better
>and it will save you money.
>Save that money for future repairs.
>Why such a high deductible? Remember,
>every time you file, it’s your
>fault that is why. You never,
>ever file a claim unless it’s
>too much of burden to you
>financially. $1,000 loss, don’t even bother;
>the insurance company will make you
>pay dearly for that claim. $10,000
>lost is ok enough to file
>a claim in my opinion. Damned
>if you file a claim, damned
>if you don’t. A true example:
>a potential client called me up.
>I quoted him for $400/year on
>his 1500sq ft home, same amount
>on what he used to pay
>for with his previous insurance company.
>I ran a claim report and
>found out that he filed a
>claim, stolen item worth $150 and
>damages totaling nearly $500, totaling $650.
>He filed the claim; after the
>$500 deductible, the insurance company sent
>him a $150 check. At renewal,
>he found out that his insurance
>company raised his rates by almost
>double what he used to pay.
>He got angry and canceled the
>policy and called my company for
>a quote. Due to his claim,
>Preferred Rating Insurance companies refused to
>insured him, including my company. My
>insurance company does not like to
>receive new business that have THEFT
>and FIRE claims no matter how
>small the claim was. He became
>a high-risk client and falls into
>the standard market and so a
>friend of mine insured him for
>close to $1,000 year. In the
>end, he got a $150 check
>from the insurance company but lost
>thousands of dollars later on due
>to rate increases by filing that
>claim. He will continue to pay
>double or triple his original premium
>until he is no longer considered
>a high risk. So only use
>your homeowner's insurance when you really
>have to or you could end
>up paying that much too. It
>is up to a customer to
>file a claim or pay for
>the repairs themselves, I always let
>them know the consequences if they
>do go ahead with filing the
>claim.
2|1|A couple years ago we put in a claim for a gutter ripping off the house due to a nor'easter...|whitmarg|robin@whitmannet.com|13:09:32|09/06/2009|
... and the insurance company paid us the $1500 to replace the gutter. When the new year came up, we noticed a significant increase and asked them about it. They said it was to pay for the gutter. The increase would last a set number of years and then go back down (assuming all the rest of the things remained the same, including the overall economy ... oops). So basically, homeowners becomes a sort of "lending" process. Happened again when a car came down and demolished our hedge and tree. They gave us money to fix and replace and the premium went up.
A lot different than auto insurance.
Hmmm, makes you kinda wonder about life insurance!!! LOL 3|2|always happens here for any claim (house or car):|aloha2u|alohamillion@yahoo.com|13:21:57|09/06/2009|
They call it being claim free. Ours also gives us a discount for having house and car both and then for both being claim free.
Don't kid yourself- they get their money back out of you for any claim.
We never file any claims on anything and also just keep the minimum needed. I think insurance is a crock but cannot live without it so we pay them.
Stacey 4|2|Well, the thing with life insurance is....there's only one claim, and it's kinda permanent, lol.|saint6811|waylan@comcast.net|14:48:45|09/06/2009|
A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have.
--Thomas Jefferson--
6|3|unless you die during the contestability period|brainyblonde|brainyblonde@prodigy.net|14:58:50|09/06/2009|
and you weren't exactly truthful when you filled out the application.
In my 30 years of working in this industry, I have seen quite a few things......
Debbie 5|1|google CLUE reports|brainyblonde|brainyblonde@prodigy.net|14:51:50|09/06/2009|
another tool that is used to rate homeowners policies
Debbie