Being dropped by our home insurer.

[Southernmiss]

I’m guessing the state will do nothing.

We did so much to our house and it feels like a punch in the gut.

It's not personal, it's business.

The things you did to your home, were not for insurance, but for your home-safety, security, resale value and most important your comfort and peace of mind.

 

[floridafam]

It's not personal, it's business.

The things you did to your home, were not for insurance, but for your home-safety, security, resale value and most important your comfort and peace of mind.

They kinda were for insurance. We installed impact windows and doors, roof straps, new roof, etc. All to lower premium and fortify our home. And to be dropped mid year just adds to the frustration. They should honor their policy until our renewal.

 

[WhatDinosaur]

They kinda were for insurance. We installed impact windows and doors, roof straps, new roof, etc. All to lower premium and fortify our home. And to be dropped mid year just adds to the frustration. They should honor their policy until our renewal.

I’m surprised that they can drop you right before hurricane season. I know that a lot of insurance companies won’t write policies if there’s a named storm, so they put you in a bad spot. Has it dropped already or do you have time to search for another insurance company?

 

[floridafam]

I’m surprised that they can drop you right before hurricane season. I know that a lot of insurance companies won’t write policies if there’s a named storm, so they put you in a bad spot. Has it dropped already or do you have time to search for another insurance company?

It drops Jun 29.

 

[tvguy]

What I can't figure out is why any insurance company would insure anyone and any price that lives along the coast in Florida. Same thing with those fire prone areas in California. Why even bother writing policies that are so risky?

I think some states the forbid "redlining" of areas within a state. An Insurance company has to cover everyone, or no one they can't cherry pick "safe" areas.
I was concerned when I got a letter from my Insurer this year about wildfires. I do live in California, but NOWHERE near areas where wildfires are a danger. But my insurance company put me on notice that IF there is a wildfire near me, they have contracted with a private fire safety company to come on my property, seal all the vents on my house with fire proof tape, and will clear any combustible material away from the house. There is no cost for this service, however I can opt out. Not sure why anyone would opt out though.

 

[bcla]

All insurances are for profit businesses, some apparently think they can make money by undercutting the competition and come out ahead in the long run. They make money by collecting more in premiums then they payout in claims. If they mis-calculated the risk of any particular area they cover, then clearly they will have financial problems. The above article talks about a 'restructuring' which sounds like the premiums they were collecting weren't enough to cover the claims they were paying out and now have too little left to pay future claims. Probably a good reason to have home insurance with one of the larger companies since they have a bigger base of customers to cover the cost of claims.

Some insurers are legally not for profit. I believe mine is. Whenever they turn a profit, that goes back as a dividend to the insured.

As for the OP's situation, it seems to be among a limited number of situations where policies can legally be cancelled by the insurer before renewal. The typical would be nonpayment or fraud (such as overvaluing a property's value). But it appears in this case they're in financial difficulty and can legally restructure and cancel existing policies.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I think some states the forbid "redlining" of areas within a state. An Insurance company has to cover everyone, or no one they can't cherry pick "safe" areas.
I was concerned when I got a letter from my Insurer this year about wildfires. I do live in California, but NOWHERE near areas where wildfires are a danger. But my insurance company put me on notice that IF there is a wildfire near me, they have contracted with a private fire safety company to come on my property, seal all the vents on my house with fire proof tape, and will clear any combustible material away from the house. There is no cost for this service, however I can opt out. Not sure why anyone would opt out though.

They can do things like prohibit coverage in a PPC 10 area and coverage where your house is not visible from the street or neighbors or doesn't have a fire hydrant or a large water source capable of pumping out X amount of water or where the only fire department is manned by volunteers only (usually there's then rules that they look at for subscription-based fire protection a homeowner enrolls in with the volunteer fire department, etc) and in some places they can prohibit coverage entirely or prohibit certain coverages on the policy (like W&H) to certain counties.

 

[bcla]

I think some states the forbid "redlining" of areas within a state. An Insurance company has to cover everyone, or no one they can't cherry pick "safe" areas.
I was concerned when I got a letter from my Insurer this year about wildfires. I do live in California, but NOWHERE near areas where wildfires are a danger. But my insurance company put me on notice that IF there is a wildfire near me, they have contracted with a private fire safety company to come on my property, seal all the vents on my house with fire proof tape, and will clear any combustible material away from the house. There is no cost for this service, however I can opt out. Not sure why anyone would opt out though.

I've heard of those private firefighting efforts. There can be some complaints because neighbors see these guys coming out to spray down homes and they look almost like public firefighters with their uniforms, vehicles, and equipment. And they wonder why they're only doing so for specific homes. But they're usually paid for by insurers, so it's not quite like some areas where HOAs pay for supplemental firefighting services - often from the same companies.

 

[Praying Colonel]

It's not personal, it's business.

The things you did to your home, were not for insurance, but for your home-safety, security, resale value and most important your comfort and peace of mind.

We have a place in a Florida community where once the roof gets over a certain age, insurers either drop you or substantially increase your premiums. So a lot of homeowners will get a new roof, even though the current roof is fine. The new roof is purely for insurance.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

They kinda were for insurance. We installed impact windows and doors, roof straps, new roof, etc. All to lower premium and fortify our home. And to be dropped mid year just adds to the frustration. They should honor their policy until our renewal.

For homes there typically are less reasons than autos to cancel after discovery period but they can legally cancel with legal notice (even before the renewal date) depending on the reason. If you're concerned they are doing something illegal check your policy contract for reasons they can cancel ou on, but chances are in a situation like this they are adhering to legal reasons. As for not carrying you to your exact renewal trust that they have done that intentionally either because they want the policies off the books now or because there are legalities involved if they got too close to renewal date.

I remember having policies that should have been cancelled (like for an unacceptable business on the premise) but the policy had started the renewal process and therefore there was nothing the insurance company I worked for could do at that point carrying the customer for a whole 12 more months. This also works to the customer's advantage at times when it comes to rate increases such that they won't see one for quite some time depending on when their renewal happened.

 

[tvguy]

They can do things like prohibit coverage in a PPC 10 area and coverage where your house is not visible from the street or neighbors or doesn't have a fire hydrant or a large water source capable of pumping out X amount of water or where the only fire department is manned by volunteers only (usually there's then rules that they look at for subscription-based fire protection a homeowner enrolls in with the volunteer fire department, etc) and in some places they can prohibit coverage entirely or prohibit certain coverages on the policy (like W&H) to certain counties.

I'm lucky on the fire hydrant issue, I have once right across the street.
My parents house was in an area that has no water district, so no fire hydrants. They weren't happy when an apartment complex was built next to them, but the county required the apartment builders to pay to hook up to a municipal water supply and put in fire hydrants. So there is now a fire hydrant 10 feet from their house. The last major fire in their subdivision was about 7 blocks away, and the fire department had to lay hose over a quarter mile to the closes hydrant.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We have a place in a Florida community where once the roof gets over a certain age, insurers either drop you or substantially increase your premiums. So a lot of homeowners will get a new roof, even though the current roof is fine. The new roof is purely for insurance.

Yes and no

An aging roof is susceptible to damage, leaking and failing. It's more like a matter of time thing.

So yeah your insurance company may require you to get a new roof or risk cancellation or they may raise your premium..but it's done due to data backing up with age of roof and claims. Those do play a role in someone's piece of mind and in resale value and potential damage they may incur.

Father-in-law sold his house a few years back and as a condition of the sale the house had to be reroofed due to existing damage on it. They were able to actually file it with the insurance company tracing back to storms months prior but that sale of the house would not have gone through unless the roof (which to a quick glance showed nothing really wrong and would not have been caught without a home inspection) had been replaced. Then there are times where you find yourself with leaks coming from the ceiling due to repairs needed. That happened to my mom. Roof looked fine but one day she came home to water damage on the ceiling. Went through insurance where she got the roof repaired in spots. The roof was 20-25 years at that point.

The insurance companies in the case you're talking about are trying to be more proactive in implementing a more generic rule but in truth you as a homeowner aren't just doing it for insurance reasons when you consider why the insurance company is doing what they are doing. Hassle now or bigger hassle later, YMMV

 

[Lumpy1106]

We bought our first house shortly after the Northridge earthquake. Insurers were required to offer you earthquake insurance and they were smarting from all the claims - so they didn't. It was literally holding down home prices because new home owners could not get insurance. We could only get "hazard" insurance; basically the same insurance they offer to people who live in burn areas. It was really expensive and had a huge deductible. That's when we got lucky; DWs college car was insured by her parents, and they had an umbrella policy through State Farm, home and auto(s). We piggy-backed onto that policy and have been insured with State Farm ever since.

 

[_19disnA]

Some insurers are legally not for profit. I believe mine is. Whenever they turn a profit, that goes back as a dividend to the insured.

Could be, I am not in the insurance industry. My point was that insurance isn't some kind of charity or govt funded program. Some people seem to think the money just "falls from sky" to pay for claims but in reality comes from the pool of money that insurance company has accumulated by assessing risk and setting rates they expect to cover those costs.

 

[bcla]

Could be, I am not in the insurance industry. My point was that insurance isn't some kind of charity or govt funded program. Some people seem to think the money just "falls from sky" to pay for claims but in reality comes from the pool of money that insurance company has accumulated by assessing risk and setting rates they expect to cover those costs.

The insurance industry is really complicated with insurance companies and reassurance companies.

There's been controversy over some well known insurers such as Lloyd's of London. But that's arranged as syndicates where the partners in each syndicate can make a lot, but are also personally liable. The big controversy was over which policies (with the highest risk) were sent to which syndicates.

 

[tvguy]

Could be, I am not in the insurance industry. My point was that insurance isn't some kind of charity or govt funded program. Some people seem to think the money just "falls from sky" to pay for claims but in reality comes from the pool of money that insurance company has accumulated by assessing risk and setting rates they expect to cover those costs.

And in some states insurance companies are HIGHLY regulated. Their profit margin is set by law.
And voters here in California passed several laws over the years that........ if you watch insurance tv commercials and read the fine print..........result in many things being illegal in California. Accident forgiveness, dropping deductibles all illegal here because voters decided they discriminate against those who have frequent claims.

 

[MillauFr]

I'm lucky on the fire hydrant issue, I have once right across the street.
My parents house was in an area that has no water district, so no fire hydrants. They weren't happy when an apartment complex was built next to them, but the county required the apartment builders to pay to hook up to a municipal water supply and put in fire hydrants. So there is now a fire hydrant 10 feet from their house. The last major fire in their subdivision was about 7 blocks away, and the fire department had to lay hose over a quarter mile to the closes hydrant.

Would they even issue policies if you weren't near a fire hydrant?

 

[tvguy]

Would they even issue policies if you weren't near a fire hydrant?

Well there are several hundred homes in that area nowhere near a fire hydrant, so apparently insurers aren't afraid to cover them. They just don't get the discount some insurers offer for being within a certain distance of a fire hydrant. This was a middle class neighborhood when my parents bought in 1960 that is an area now where homes like my parents are torn down and 7,000 square foot mcmansions are built. People are apparently affluent enough to pay the higher premium.

Now, the homeowners have asked for over 30 years for fire hydrants to be installed, the county has refused. Last estimate I saw was probably 20 years ago and it was $10 million. The county, however keeps offering to put in sidewalks and street lights which the residents don't want.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Accident forgiveness,

We used to get a lot of phone calls from people demanding this in CA because they saw it on a commercial. We had to explain the disclaimer on the commercial was not available in all states.

I'm lucky on the fire hydrant issue, I have once right across the street.
My parents house was in an area that has no water district, so no fire hydrants. They weren't happy when an apartment complex was built next to them, but the county required the apartment builders to pay to hook up to a municipal water supply and put in fire hydrants. So there is now a fire hydrant 10 feet from their house. The last major fire in their subdivision was about 7 blocks away, and the fire department had to lay hose over a quarter mile to the closes hydrant.

I believe generally the question was a fire hydrant within 1,000 feet. I've got at least 3 I believe on my street one across the street from my house. Every so often the city does testing on them to ensure they still work. I think the last time they did testing was about 2 years ago but I do know when the house across the street was in the early stages of being built earlier this year the city came out to do utility work and had to shut off the water to our house for maybe 5 mins or so but then they turned it back on, I saw the fire hydrant working then as well.

 

[LSUmiss]

It's not personal, it's business.

The things you did to your home, were not for insurance, but for your home-safety, security, resale value and most important your comfort and peace of mind.

I think that’s part of what’s wrong with so much in the world today that everything is just business.