Insurance Companies

premium will increase as mush as 4%. Let me understand this. Allied will give me a check for the items taken then make me pay for the check over time….Isn’t that like being vicimized twice? Why would my premium increase for using my homeowners insurance? Isn’t that what I’ve been paying them for every month for the last 3 1/2 years?

Actually, that’s how it works with every insurance company these days.

Yes, I hear lots of complaints about that. But then they are assigning your rates based on your risk score. (How likely you are to have a claim.) The only way they wouldn’t charge you claims points (which is what they’re talking about when they say your insurance will go up) is if they charged EVERYONE like they were in the highest risk group. Why don’t you ask the people who were in the path of Katrina how they like those kinds of rates? (In other words, they could just assume that you’re going to turn in a lot of claims and charge you the highest possible rates all along. Or they can rate you based on your risk profile and then increase your premium if your risk profile changes.)

Incidentally, I doubt they meant a 4% increase. A theft claim will assign you 4 claims points and that usually translates to a 30-40% increase.

For big claims, there’s no question you turn it in. But this is why insurance agents recommend you take larger deductibles, because it’s rarely worthwhile to turn in small claims. (You’ll likely end up paying more out in premium over the three years that you’re assessed claims points than you ever got back out of the claim in the first place.)

Only if the roof leak is caused by sudden damage, like a tree branch putting a hole in your roof.

If the roof is just old, and wearing out, it’s not covered – it’s up to you to fix the roof.

You should probably call a roofer. If this was damage, you’d see a hole in your roof, or shingles blown off the roof or something like that.

Well, it’s going to vary. Different companies offer different "bonuses" to houses in their target area.

MY homeowners policy (Houston) is with State Farm – because as you know, Texas doesn’t use ISO forms, and my State Farm form is more broad, with more coverages, than any other form (they aren’t offering this form for new clients any more, though). It’s also the most expensive that I’ve found.

If you go to a local, independent agent, they’ll be able to give you several quotes, and compare pricing and coverages for you. PLEASE don’t shop based on price alone – coverages are IMPORTANT.

FWIW, the next "runner up" for my personal homeowners, would have been Travelers. They had the second most broad coverage form, and the pricing was competitive.

If you have been cancelled for too many claims, you will probably have a hard time getting coverage anywhere. At best, you will need to get a policy with a high deductable. This happens when companies lean towards the idea that you think they are there to fix everything that happens to your house or that you are "making" things happen to claim them.

just checking out which insurance company has the best record

homeinsurance.awardspace.us – try this one. Got my home insurance from them. As I know they provide such a service.

We have had our chow for 8 years and have lived in an apartment now we are close to buying a house and were wondering who in oregon (salem) will sell cheap-ish homeowners insurance

It is not going to be cheap to get insurance with a chow.

You should ask your apartment manager who they used, because it is even more to insure a dangerous breed for a renter then owner owned property.

I use State Farm. I have a Rottweiler and a huge Dutch Shepherd, both of which are very dangerous and on the list, even though my Dutchie is almost unheard of in the US,

I am trying to file a dog bite claim against my neighbors insurance, but I do not think he is responding truthfully about his insurance policy. He denies having insurance that has personal liability. He sent a copy of his mortgage protection coverage to our lawyer and claims that is the only coverage he has. He still has a mortgage, so he must have homeowners. How can we force it out of him? He has not provided proof of insurance or lack of from the time of the injury. If he truly does not have insurance, we are going to have to sue him because the medical bills are already into the tens of thousands. Please help.

You’re probably going to have to sue him. Then he has a choice–defend the suit himself or report your claim to his insurance company. I don’t believe his mortgage company would allow him to carry a mortgage without a liability policy, but he evidently thinks that if he stonewalls, you’ll just go away. That’s what litigation is for, and he will learn that this was a situation where he should have made the report up front.

cannot find on the BBB
" American Traditions Modern USA Company"
5700 Saint Augustine Rd.
Jacksonville, Fl 32207
904-764-9554

The agency address:
Bright Way Insurance
251 West Bay Dr
Largo, Fl
727-581-4200

Name of agent:
Forest Lightle

I submitted to BBB the co, the agency, phone number & email. Nothing came up. I’d appreciate if anybody has information on this insurance company or where I can look up information about it. Thanks

Due to the property insurance market in Florida, there have been a flurry of brand new companies starting up. American Traditions is one of them. They are brand new, which is why you’re not hearing anything about them.

They are NOT rated by AM Best (NR-5), and their reinsurance is Lloyds of London.

If you have ANY other choice, I would go with the other choice – even if it costs more. It does NO GOOD at all to buy homeowners insurance, if the big hurricane comes through, and they don’t have enough money to pay your claims.

I would go with Citizens, before an unrated carrier.

OH, they do say they’re rated through Demotech. Every new Florida carrier is rated through Demotech. Although I haven’t looked at the financials for THIS company, the Demotech A rated companies I HAVE looked at, don’t have enough reserves to pay off even 5% of their policyholders – so I don’t give much credibility to Demotech ratings.

I’m buying a house and currently getting the insurance rates.

Escrow. You give your quote to your lender and when you go to close you will pay it there. At least, that is what I had to do.

My daughter was bitten by my neighbors dog. He refuses to pay. I want to file a claim on his homeowners insurance, but he won’t tell me.

i am in the insurance business. you can contact YOUR insurance co. and let them know what happened. this will get the ball rolling. they will interview you about what happened, so make sure you have all medical bills on record. they can reimburse you for any expenses that you have incurred. what they will do is subrogate those damages against your neighbor which basically means they will make him pay your insurance co back. he will either have to decide to go to court and pay it out of his own pocket which means that he will also need to higher an attorney, or, go ahead and file it is a claim and let the insurance companies handle it. they will probably go ahead and let the insurance companies handle it since this will save him money. if you are really needing your money back go ahead and call your insurance co and file a claim. the only downside is that it may take awhile for them to get this handled if they do not have a contact number for your neighbor. they will have to notify them via mail.

you can always get an attourney but that could get costly and time consuming as well. i think going the insurance route is the better choice. every state has a department of insurance that you can contact as well. you can also call them and see what they recommend. good luck to you.

by the way, filing this claim on your insurance co. should not count against you or affect your future premiums in a negative way.