Monthly Archives: January 2012

Allstate Claim Satisfaction Guarantee Credit: How Much to Expect

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I blogged previously about the Allstate Claim Satisfaction Guarantee now available in 31 states. Here is a further explanation of how the claims satisfaction guarantee credit will work. I obtained this information from the terms & conditions applicable in most of the states where the guarantee is available, as referenced in my previous blog post about the guarantee. This explanation is how I understand how the guarantee credit will work, but you need to confirm with your Allstate agent in your state to know how the guarantee will work for you.

I’ve never seen an auto insurance company providing a claim satisfaction guarantee offering a premium credit before, and it will cost Allstate a lot of money if Allstate fails to provide good claims service. If you are eligible for the guarantee, and you have not checked Allstate’s car insurance rates lately, you definitely should consider contacting them for a price quote. A competitive auto insurance rate, combined with this guarantee, provides a lot of value to the customer.

I’ll show you a few examples of how I believe the claims guarantee credit will work. The promise of this credit may excite you to switch to Allstate, but check out the information on my website, to make sure Allstate is a good fit for you. Another car insurance company without the guarantee, with a great price for you, and a superior customer service record, may be a better a choice for you.

If you meet the eligibility requirements for the claims satisfaction guarantee credit, the credit will be equal to the 6 month premium of your car involved in the claim, at the time of your claim.

For example, you have two cars on your auto insurance policy. Your car insurance renewed 1/1/2012, and your 6 month premium is $350 for your red car, and $250 for your blue car.

On 1/5/2012, your red car is vandalized. You place the claim, and it is paid on 2/5/2012, but you are dissatisfied with how the claim is settled. After receiving payment for the claim, you send written notice to Allstate (see my first blog post about the guarantee to see how to do this), which Allstate receives on 2/15/2012. On 3/15/2012, Allstate applies the 6 month premium of your red car, the one which was vandalized, which is $350, as a credit for the claim satisfaction guarantee, to your auto insurance premium.

So, If you paid half your 6 month premium for your two cars ($300) when it renewed 1/1/2012, and the remaining $300 is due 4/1/2012, the $350 claim satisfaction guarantee premium credit applied 3/15/2012, will take care of the $300 bill due 4/1/2012, with the remaining $50 credit to be applied at your 7/1/2012 auto insurance renewal, or may be issued as a refund to you, at Allstate’s discretion.

You get only one credit per covered loss. So, if you are unhappy with how your medical bills were paid, and you are unhappy with how the repair to your car was handled, you can only get one credit if both your injury & car damage were the result of the same accident.

I also interpret this to mean, referring to the previous example used above, if both your red & blue car were vandalized in a single occurrence of vandalism, you would be eligible for only one credit.

You can get only one claim satisfaction guarantee credit, for the vehicle involved in the claim, per policy period.

For example, if your red car is involved in another paid auto claim, after the vandalism claim, before your policy renews 7/1/2012, and you are once again dissatisfied with the claims service, you will not get another credit. If the second claim happens on or after 7/1/2012, you can get the claims satisfaction guarantee credit.

However,  let’s say your other car, the blue car in our example, is the car involved in the second paid auto claim occurring before your 7/1/2012 renewal date. if this happened, you could get another $250 credit, if you are dissatisfied with the claim
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If the claim involves a car not on your auto insurance, like damage to a car you are renting, and Allstate pays for the claim, but you are dissatisfied, you can receive a credit equal to the car with the lowest premium on your policy.

To continue with the example, if the vandalism claim did not occur to your red car, but a rental car, you would be eligible for credit of $250, the 6 month insurance premium for your blue car, the car with the lowest 6 month premium.

For new customers, if Allstate receives your written notice of claims dissatisfaction within the first 6 months of your Allstate car insurance policy, you will not get the credit until your first renewal. Also, if your car insurance policy cancels within the first 6 months, your credit will not be more than the prorated 6 month premium for the vehicle involved in the claim, or what you paid for the auto insurance.

Returning to the example, if, instead of your auto insurance policy renewing 1/1/2012, let’s say that was the day you switched your auto insurance to Allstate.

Instead of getting the $350 credit applied on 3/15/2012, and the credit paying for your $300 auto insurance bill due 4/1/2012, you would not get the $350 credit until your 7/1/2012 renewal bill, and you would need to pay the $300 bill due 4/1/2012, to keep your auto insurance policy from canceling for nonpayment.

Let’s say you were so unhappy with how the claim was handled, you switched your auto insurance to another company, effective 4/1/2012, and canceled your Allstate auto insurance policy effective 4/1/2012.

Your 6 month premium for the red car is $350. Allstate charges you the prorated amount for the car for the 3 months you had the insurance, which is $175, so $175 would be the amount of the credit, which should be sent to you as a refund.

However, if instead of paying $300 at the time of starting your car insurance policy on 1/1/2012, you paid $100 for one month, ignored the next bill, and the following cancel notice, and your auto insurance cancels on 4/1/2012, with $200 still owed to pay to the cancel date, your credit would only be as much as you paid — $100.

Don’t let what I just described happen to you. You not only short yourself on the possible credit, the credit will be applied to the $200 owed on the canceled policy, and you will still owe $100, which will be referred to collections, if not paid by you.

Never ignore bills, properly cancel your insurance policy, and pay what is owed, as long as you are not paying for duplicate coverage. If you switched to another insurance company, don’t forget about the old one — contact them to cancel your old policy at the same date & time your new one started.

The dates and amounts due do not include installment fees, and are not representative of any of Allstate’s billing plans, and are used only to illustrate how the claim satisfaction guarantee should work.

What do you think about this new claim satisfaction guarantee offered by Allstate? Tell me about it. Please leave a comment on my facebook page. Follow me on Twitter for important insurance consumer news and new blog entries at CarInsWatch.

Home Insurance Canceled due to Claims? Here’s How to Appeal

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Did you know having more than one home insurance claim in 5 years can get your homeowners insurance canceled? In fact, if allowed by state law, ONE claim can get your home insurance canceled, if your insurance company is concerned the nature of the claim makes you a higher risk of having another, or large insurance claim. Buying home, condo, mobile home, or any other type of property insurance, only to have it canceled when you use it, makes many people feel insurance is a rip off.

I’ve blogged before about how to use your homeowners insurance to avoid being canceled for claims. But many customers find out this information too late, and have their home insurance policy canceled by their insurance company on the policy renewal date (This is called non renewal, or non renewing your insurance) for filing claims, the customer may not have filed, had they known they were risking the cancellation of their home insurance policy.

If your homeowners insurance is cancelled by your insurance company due to claims, you will not have many options for insuring your home, since you won’t qualify for homeowners insurance with many insurance companies due to your claim history. This blog post will give you some tips on how to get your home insurance company to reconsider canceling your home insurance policy.

For your home insurance company to cancel your homeowners insurance policy, they must give you advanced notice in writing. How many days advanced notice varies by state, such as 20 days from the date of mailing the cancel notice to you. In most circumstances, insurance companies can only cancel your homeowners insurance at its renewal date.

However, if there is a substantial increase in hazard at your property, such as it being unoccupied, or being used in dangerous or illegal activity, such as being used as a meth lab, your home insurance can be canceled by the insurance company before the policy renewal date / expiration date, with advanced written notice, as required by law.

The insurance company needs only show proof of mailing to the mailing address it has on file for you. If you do not receive written notice due to a post office error, or if you change your mailing address, and don’t notify your insurance company about it, it will not prevent or delay your insurance company from canceling your homeowners insurance.

If you have a good insurance agent, your agent will contact you as soon as the agent becomes aware the insurance company intends to cancel your home insurance, and review your options with you. A good agent will let you know if anything can be done to make your insurance company change their mind about canceling your homeowners insurance.

Unfortunately, some agents won’t contact you, and you are surprised when you receive the unpleasant news about your home insurance policy cancellation in the mail. If you buy your home owners insurance direct from the insurance company, don’t expect to be called. No one is monitoring your insurance policy, and the underwriting department making the decision to cancel your home insurance will not call you.

No matter how you are notified by your insurance company about the pending cancellation of your homeowners insurance, your first step should be to contact your agent or company to appeal the decision to cancel your policy.

There are two main reasons an insurance company will cancel your home insurance because of recent claim(s):

1. Statistically, people having recent claims are more likely to have more claims in the future. Some previous claims indicate a possible huge claim in the future.

For example, if your German Shepherd bites your neighbor unprovoked, the injury may result in a relatively small homeowners insurance claim. But the situation causing the claim, your dog biting someone unprovoked, may result in a large liability lawsuit the next time your dog attacks someone.

Likewise, a small fire of unknown origin, when your teen children were home alone without adult supervision, could lead to your house burning to the ground in the future, if your kids are hanging out with the wrong crowd when you are not around.

2. Your recent claims history may not be an indication of a greater risk of a large claim in the future, but people placing recent claims tend to place more claims in the future.

Insurance companies base their rates to insure people with an average risk, or less than average risk, of having a claim. A good portion of homeowners never have any home insurance claims. The average frequency is one claim every 7 years per homeowners insurance policy.

You may have & file a small claim every few years. You do the math, and realize you are still paying more in insurance premiums than your insurance company has paid you in claims. Yet, you are still an expensive customer in the eyes of the insurance company.

The insurance company is not only paying you your claims, but they have the expense of selling and servicing your policy, and expenses to process the claim. Also, the insurance premium you pay is calculated and expect to pay the very large claims of the unlucky few customers experiencing a catastrophic loss to their home from storms & fires.

If you have a history of filing homeowners insurance claims every couple of years, many insurance companies will not want you as a customer.

If you want the insurance company to change their mind about canceling you, and get your home insurance policy reinstated, you need to convince the insurance company you are changing your behavior, or taking action to prevent future claims.

For example, returning to the dog bite situation above, some insurance companies will recommend dog training programs to get your dog to behave better, and may agree to reinstate your home insurance if your dog successfully passes the dog training program.

More likely, you may have to give up your dog, or possibly exclude coverage for your dog, to keep your homeowners insurance policy.

If your house is subject to the occasional burglary, ask your insurance company if getting a burglar alarm, monitored by a central station, will make then reconsider canceling your insurance.

Find out the specific concerns of the insurance company, and if you can address them, you may be able to keep your home insurance.

If the insurance company is canceling you because of what they consider too frequent claims, tell them you had no idea placing claims would get your insurance canceled, and had you known, you would not have filed them.

When you have a good agent, they should be advising you when to file a claim, and the consequences. This can be an awkward conversation, so some agents are afraid to upset you by advising you to not file a claim, and don’t discuss it with you. Also, many people place the claim directly to the insurance company, without consulting their agent.

If you can convince the insurance company you now understand you will use your home insurance only for large claims, and take a higher deductible, they may agree to keep your home insurance policy.

Don’t argue about how the insurance company is still making money off you, and how your past claims were valid claims the insurance company is supposed to pay. You don’t want to take the attitude that you pay your premium, and every time you experience the frequent setbacks in life, you are going to place a claim.

Having your mountain bike stolen, and bearing the cost to replace it yourself, rather than placing a homeowners insurance claim, on a policy you have been paying for ten years without a claim, may seem like you are paying insurance for nothing.

However, do you want to lose your homeowners insurance, and pay a lot more for less coverage, with whatever company willing to take you, if you are unlucky enough to have another claim you HAVE to file, and then get canceled for having 2 recent claims?You’ll pay more in higher insurance premiums than you would have received for the mountain bike claim.

Filing these types of frequent, sometimes small claims brands you as “claims conscious” by the insurance company, and if you want the insurance company to continue to insure you, you want them to know you now understand homeowners insurance is intended for large, infrequent claims of the unlucky few customers.

You may be upset your insurance company is canceling your home insurance, and you may no longer wish to do business with them.

Unfortunately, when you are being canceled for claims, your BEST option is to get your insurance company to reinstate your policy. You won’t be able to get comparable coverage at a decent price with another insurance company. Most likely, no standard homeowners insurance company will insure you. If you want to switch insurance companies, do what you can do to reinstate your home insurance policy, and if you are successful, stay with them until your 5 year claims history is clean, then shop for a better insurance company.

It is important to get your home insurance policy reinstated, or buy another property insurance policy, before the date your homeowners insurance coverage is canceled, to avoid any period of time your home is not insured. Your insurance company may still agree to reinstate you after the cancel date, but they will not backdate the reinstatement to the cancel date.

It is always worthwhile to try to appeal an home owners insurance cancellation. A good agent can often assist you in the process. In the past, deciding to reinstate a cancellation was a judgment call made by the underwriter reviewing your situation. It is not unusual, if the insurance company’s concerns can be addressed, to have your homeowners insurance non-renewal reversed, and your insurance reinstated before the cancel date.

However, some insurance companies, in the spirit of being fair to all their customers, have moved away from an individual underwriter’s judgment, in favor of more specific guidelines regarding when an home insurance policy can be reinstated.

I will address, in a future blog post, what your next best options may be, if you can’t get your home insurance policy reinstated.

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Allstate Claim Satisfaction Guarantee Terms & Conditions Analyzed

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Allstate insurance recently announced it is offering a claim satisfaction guarantee for Allstate‘s standard auto insurance customers, with an insurance premium credit applied to the car insurance policies of customers dissatisfied with how their auto insurance claim was paid.

Some of the buzz on the Internet from insurance agents is customers are often dissatisfied with their auto insurance claim, either justly or unjustly, and this claims satisfaction guarantee will cost Allstate a lot of money.

I’ve reviewed the terms and conditions for the claims satisfaction guarantee, and I will explain them in this blog post, as I understand them. There are press releases & articles on the Web announcing Allstate‘s new claim satisfaction guarantee, but none of them go into detail about the amount of the insurance premium credit Allstate will give customers dissatisfied with their auto claims, so I will tell you more about it, and what I think  you should do to avoid having a problem getting the claim satisfaction guarantee premium credit.

My analysis of Allstate‘s claims satisfaction guarantee is my interpretation, and the actual rules & availability will vary by state. If you are insured with Allstate, contact your agent to find out how this new claim satisfaction guarantee applies to you.

Allstate‘s claim satisfaction guarantee will be available in 31 states:

Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, District of Columbia, Delaware, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, & Wyoming.

More states will be added in 2012.

Allstate had a pilot program in 2011, so if you live in Georgia, Indiana, Ohio, or Michigan, you may already have the claim satisfaction guarantee. Contact Allstate or your Allstate agent to find out if you have it, or if it is available to you.

The terms & conditions for the claim satisfaction guarantee vary by state. I reviewed the one terms and conditions applying to all the states but Illinois, Montana, Texas, & Michigan’s 12 month Allstate auto insurance policies. Contact your agent to confirm how and if the claim satisfaction guarantee applies to your Allstate car insurance policy.

With the exception of Texas, which is supposed to offer the claim satisfaction guarantee on all Allstate auto insurance policies, Allstate will provide the claim satisfaction guarantee on Allstate‘s standard auto insurance companies, at no additional cost, in the states where the guarantee is available.

Specifically, the Allstate website mentions Allstate Property & Casualty Insurance Company, & Allstate Fire & Casualty Insurance Company. However, you want to contact Allstate to confirm you are eligible for the guarantee if you are insured with these Allstate subsidiaries. These two Allstate subsidiaries are newer Allstate companies, with more sophisticated rating plans.

In many states, Allstate‘s oldest insurance subsidiary, Allstate Insurance Company, also offers standard auto insurance. It is not clear from the Allstate website if long time standard auto insurance customers insured with the Allstate Insurance Company subsidiary will have the guarantee, though stating all of Allstate‘s standard auto insurance policies in the states offering the program, indicates they should get it.

If you are insured with Allstate, how do you know if you are insured by a standard auto insurance policy?

If you have accidents or tickets, less than 3 years driving experience, claims, or a lapse in auto insurance coverage, or no continuous insurance history (where allowed by state law), you may not qualify for standard auto insurance, and may insure with a nonstandard auto insurance company.

In most states, Allstate‘s nonstandard auto insurance company is called Allstate Indemnity Company. If you are not insured with an Allstate standard auto insurance company, the claims satisfaction guarantee will not be available to you.

The best thing you can do, if you are insured with Allstate, regardless of the name of the Allstate insurance subsidiary insuring you, is contact the company or your agent to find out if the guarantee will apply to your auto insurance policy.
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You will know you have the claims satisfaction guarantee when Allstate mails a revised car insurance policy to you adding the claim satisfaction guarantee auto insurance endorsement, which will contain the terms & conditions of the guarantee.

Any paid auto insurance claim, occurring after the date the claim satisfaction guarantee endorsement was added to your auto insurance policy, will be eligible for the guarantee.

The key phrase in the above paragraph is “paid auto insurance claim.” If you are unhappy because your claim was denied, or not paid because it was less than your deductible, you cannot get the premium credit offered by the guarantee.

For example, if you forgot you had a $1,000 deductible for Collision coverage, and another driver rear ends you, causing damage costing $900 to repair, Allstate will not give you the policy credit under the guarantee, if you are unhappy Allstate did not cover the claim. Even if the at fault driver’s insurance company pays the claim, the guarantee does not apply unless Allstate pays you for the claim.

Here is the good news: the claim satisfaction guarantee for a paid auto claim can be for any reason, and Allstate does not have to validate or concur with your dissatisfaction.

For example, your car insurance claim may have been paid quickly and fairly, but if you were treated rudely by an Allstate employee during the claims settlement process, you can get the premium credit under the claims satisfaction guarantee.

Here is the really good news: the premium credit is substantial. You can get a credit up to the 6 month premium for the vehicle involved with the claim.

For example, you have one car and the 6 month auto insurance premium for the car is $350. Your car is involved in an accident, and Allstate pays the claim, but you are unhappy with how long it took for your car to get repaired, and the cost of your rental car was not covered. You can get $350 as a premium credit under the guarantee. Tomorrow, I will blog again & explain the credit in more detail.

In order to get the car insurance premium credit under the guarantee, you need to write and send a first class letter to Allstate expressing your dissatisfaction with the paid auto insurance claim. You need to write your name, address, claim number, date the claim occurred, your phone number, and the reason (it can be any reason) for your dissatisfaction with the claim. Allstate must receive notice within 180 days of the date the claim occurred.

This is Allstate’s current address where you must send the letter:

Allstate Insurance, CSG
PO Box 11904
Roanoake, VA
24022-9933

However, I know from experience, mailing addresses for insurance companies can change frequently. If you want to apply for the claim satisfaction guarantee credit, contact an Allstate agent to confirm you are eligible for the guarantee, and where to mail the written notice. I recommend delivering a copy to your Allstate agent, and keep a copy signed by your Allstate agent to confirm its receipt.

Here is the source of the information for this blog post. http://www.allstate.com/auto-insurance/claim-satisfaction-guarantee-terms.aspx.  Check out the terms and conditions for your state.

Bookmark this blog post, because I will update it as the guarantee becomes available in more states.

What do you think about Allstate’s claim satisfaction guarantee? Tell me about it. Please leave a comment on my facebook page. Follow me on Twitter for important insurance consumer news and new blog entries at CarInsWatch.

The Biggest Home Insurance Discount is Knowing How to Use Your Homeowners Insurance

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Before you consider shopping for the best home insurance, and knowing the homeowners insurance discounts to save money, let me tell you the best way to use and think about your homeowners insurance to avoid problems and keep your rates low. Continue reading →

Home Insurance Discounts & How to Get Them

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Here are some common homeowners insurance discounts, how to get them, and make sure you pay the lowest home insurance rates possible.

Claims Free Insurance Discount

Many homeowners insurance companies offer a substantial discount for not having any claims in the last 5 years. Avoiding claims is the best strategy to get and maintain low homeowners insurance rates.

Good Credit Insurance Discount

Your insurance credit score, determined by information from your credit report, is not a discount, but a major rating factor influencing the cost of your homeowners insurance premium with almost all insurance companies. The better your credit, the better your home insurance rate.

IMPORTANT: Some states, like Oregon, have a law allowing you once a year to ask your insurance company to re-determine your insurance score. If your credit has not changed, or if you think it may be worse now, you should still request the new insurance score each year, because your rate cannot go up from a worse score; your rate can only go down, or stay the same. If your state allows the use of credit to rate insurance policies, check with your State’s Department of Insurance Website to see if your state has similar laws.

As time goes by, your insurance score is always changing — your debt balance, the age of your accounts, etc., so don’t think it is not worth your time because you don’t think your credit has changed. Call your insurance company once a year and ask for a new insurance score for your auto & home insurance.

If you have bad credit, you may want to search for an insurance company not using credit to determine rates. This type of company may no longer exist. Contacting a local independent agent is your best bet of finding one.

If you have fair, good, or great credit, you will most likely save money by using an insurance company using credit to rate their homeowners insurance.

Home/Auto Insurance Discount or Multi Policy Insurance Discount

Another big home insurance discount is insuring your home and cars with the same insurance company. Likewise, if you own other properties, motorcycles, boats, etc. You usually get the best insurance rates by insuring them with the same company.

Some companies sell only auto insurance, like Geico insurance & Progressive insurance, but partner with other insurance companies to offer homeowners insurance.

It is usually best to have your car & homeowners insurance with the same insurance company. You will be a more important customer to the insurance company, and it will be easier to file a claim if there is a common cause of damage, like a severe storm or fire, which damages both your car and home.

Smoke Detectors/ Deadbolt locks / Fire extinguishers Insurance Discount

Everyone should get this common home insurance discount. Smoke detectors are required on all floors, deadbolt locks are required on all exterior doors (Sliding glass doors should have a bar lock), and keep a portable fire extinguisher in the kitchen.

Burglar / Fire Alarm Systems Insurance Discount

A monitored central alarm which alerts the fire or police department gets the largest insurance discount, but the cost of the monitoring service will cost more than you save with the home insurance discount.

Many insurance companies offer a discount for a burglar alarm wired to all doors and windows which sounds locally if triggered.

Some insurance companies offer an additional homeowners insurance discounts for natural gas sensors and water leak sensors.

Ask each home insurance company if they have any other discounts for other protective devices.

Having a dog to attack intruders is not a good thing from the insurance company’s standpoint, since they are concerned with dog-bite liability claims.

Insurance Discounts for your Occupation,Job, or Profession, or being 55 or older & Retired

Some insurance companies have home insurance discounts for various professions, such as teachers, or government employees. Many insurance companies offer an homeowners insurance discount for being retired and over a certain age. If you are now retired, or changed professions, call your insurance company and make sure you are getting these insurance discounts, if available.

Non-Smoking Insurance Discount

Few companies offer this homeowners insurance discount, though you would think all of them should.
If you or your spouse, or other family members, recently quit smoking, ask your insurance company about this insurance discount.

New Home or Renovation Insurance Discount

Some insurance companies offer an home insurance discount for a new roof, or an Underwriters Lab approved, impact resistant roof, re-wiring your electrical system, new plumbing, or a new heating system. The work will need to have been completed by a licensed contractor, and you must have a receipt to show the date and work done.

Most insurance companies offer home insurance discounts for newer homes (in the last 10 years). You should get this discount automatically, because your insurance company asks what year your home was constructed as part of the application and quoting process.

Both the new home and renovation insurance discounts usually are reduced, and eventually removed as the home or renovations get older.

Cash Back Insurance Discounts

Some insurance companies give you cash back for being claims free for a period of time, like a year, or 3 years.

Cash back is nice, but does it make sense to pay 10% more to possibly get 5% back next year if you don’t have claim? Ignore cash back bonuses on your insurance unless you are getting a good price, and the chance for cash back gets you the lowest price for your insurance coverage, and the service you need.

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Water Back Up from Sewers, Drains, & Sump Pumps

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As mentioned in my blog post about Flood Insurance Coverage, flood is excluded from coverage in your homeowners insurance policy, so there is no insurance for your home and contents if they are damaged by flood waters. Many people do not live in a flood plain, and have very little risk of flood, so they decide they do not need flood insurance.

However, ALL homeowners are at risk of the backup of sewers and drains, and given the large amount of rain we get in certain areas of the US, like the Pacific Northwest, homeowners should be VERY concerned with this possibility, even if you think you have no risk of flood damage.

Do you have water back up coverage of sewers & drains? Do you have enough coverage, or the right type of coverage? Shop with all the leading insurance companies to find the best price & coverage for you.

I remember there was a year in the mid-1990s, where Portland, Oregon, the city in which I live, received so much rain, areas flooded, which did not usually flood, and many of the customers for the insurance company where I worked at the time, had water back-up claims, although they had no flooding of their property. These customers were happy they had Water & Sewer Back-up coverage.

But even without heavy rains, sewer back-up can occur for any homeowner, and one of the main causes of sewer back-up is obstruction of the system, such as the growth of a tree root.

Water damage & cleanup from the back-up of sewers and drains, or the failure of a sump-pump, is not covered under the basic homeowners insurance.

Do you need Water Back Up insurance coverage?

If you have an unfinished basement, with no property of value in it, and you don’t have a sump-pump, you may not need the coverage.

However, if the sewer backs up into your unfinished basement, you might be able to pay for a damaged washer and dryer, or even a new furnace without insurance, but even if nothing is damaged, do you want to pay for the cost of clean-up, or clean up sewage yourself?

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Buy the amount of coverage you would need to refinish your basement — drywall, floors, carpeting, wall studs — because sewage tends to destroy everything it touches — and replace all the personal property important to you.

If you have a sump-pump, buy Water & Sewer Back-up coverage, but make sure it covers sump-pump failures, too, because not all insurance companies include coverage for sump-pumps in their Water & Sewer Back-up coverage.

Those homeowners insurance companies covering sump-pumps, may cover them under more restrictive conditions than other insurance companies, such as if the sump-pump failure was caused by you, or a power outage. As I’m sure you know, power outages are common with big storms, so if you have a sump-pump, install a battery back-up for the pump, in case you lose power.

Avoid this mistake: A lot of people think they do not need Water & Sewer Back-up coverage because they do not have a basement. Without a basement, your first floor is STILL at risk for sewer back up from your toilets, tubs, and sinks. If back-up occurs, it will do more damage to your main floor and personal property, than it would to an unfinished basement. If you do not have a basement, buy Water & Sewer Back Up in an amount that covers the cost of what you have to lose.

Some homeowners insurance companies automatically include limited Water & Sewer Back-up coverage, such as $5,000, on their deluxe policies, but most homeowners insurance companies allow you to add Water & Sewer Back-up coverage for an additional premium.

Warning: Water & Sewer Back-up coverage can be very different among companies regarding what conditions, and what property is covered, so be sure to read the policy language and ask questions of the agent, before choosing an insurance company. Know what property is covered, under what circumstances, and buy the broadest insurance coverage best fitting your situation.

Do you have questions or opinions about water back up of sewers & drains insurance coverage? Tell me about it. Please leave a comment on my facebook page. Follow me on Twitter for important insurance consumer news and new blog entries at CarInsWatch.

Find The Best Homeowners Insurance for You

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I’ve written a lot about shopping for auto insurance, so now I’ll review some of the things you need to know to choose a good home insurance company.

When you don’t own a home, shopping for auto insurance is relatively simple. You can get accurate auto insurance quotes online, if you put in the proper information (I still recommend speaking with an agent to make sure you get the best price), from insurance company websites, without talking to an agent.

But when you own a home, and you are shopping for home & auto insurance, you can’t get homeowners insurance quotes online from most companies, and you need to speak with an agent, or directly to the insurance company, to review your home insurance needs and get an accurate price quote.

Auto insurance is much the same among auto insurance companies. Liability, Comprehensive, Collision, & other coverage, for the most part, are covered the same way by all insurance companies.

There are sometimes minor differences, such as a company offering limited coverage for injury to your pets, and some insurance companies may offer optional features, like a vanishing deductible or replacement car coverage for an additional cost.

However, most people can choose an auto insurance company based on the price and reputation for customer service, without worrying the insurance company does not offer coverage comparable to any other insurance company.

Homeowners insurance is not like auto insurance in this way; coverage options & policy language can vary greatly among insurance companies, and not choosing your homeowners insurance company wisely can cost you a fortune in uncovered claims costs.

On the surface, homeowners insurance appears to be the same with all companies. They all have the standard coverage. But where they can differ greatly, is important additional coverage.

For example, studies have shown from actual claims, that most homes are under-insured, and do not have enough home insurance coverage to rebuild a similar home after a loss.

Assume you have a home insured for $200,000, which was what the insurance company determined to be enough coverage to rebuild your home when you started the policy. You have a fire and your house burns down. Contractors estimate it will cost $260,000, not $200,00, to rebuild your home.

Almost all homeowners insurance companies include additional coverage if you insure your home to their estimate of the cost to rebuild it.

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Yet some insurance companies offer more than 20% extra coverage, and a FEW insurance companies still offer UNLIMITED extra coverage, to make sure you are able to rebuild, even if the insurance company greatly miscalculated how much insurance you would need to rebuild when they sold you your policy.

You may say to yourself, this extra coverage may cost you a lot more to have it. This is not true. The insurance company offering unlimited coverage to rebuild your home may be the least expensive homeowners insurance quote you find when shopping.

This is only ONE example of MANY ways home insurance coverage can be different among insurance companies.

If you are like most people, your home is your biggest investment. Even though you are not likely to have a large loss to your property, the financial impact for you and your family is too devastating to take a chance not having the best coverage you can get at a reasonable cost.

Homeowners insurance policies have many limitations & exclusions people find out about the hard way when they have a claim. When these people find out an expensive claim not covered, could have been covered at a reasonable cost, they regret not shopping for the coverage they needed.

Agents are sales people, not consultants. Though most agents want to help you the best they can, they have no legal obligation to make sure you have the coverage you need.

You are responsible for deciding what coverage you need & knowing how your insurance policy limits & excludes coverage.

First, find out what you need to know about homeowners insurance coverage, limitations, & exclusions, by reading my blog and using my website’s Auto & Home Insurance Reviews.

Then, contact your agent or insurance company to review your homeowners insurance policy, and all its limitations & exclusions, with you. Shop your insurance and get a second, third, or fourth opinion to make sure you have the coverage options you need.

Comment or ask me questions on my facebook page. Follow me on Twitter for important insurance consumer news & new blog entries at CarInsWatch. Email: help@smartshopyourcarinsurance.com.

Homeowners Insurance Replacement Cost Coverage

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Before your homeowners insurance company pays your claim, the company determines the settlement amount.

Many homeowners insurance policies, unless your property does not qualify for standard homeowners insurance, or you have an old policy, pay replacement cost for claims for your Dwelling, Other Structures, and your Personal Property insurance coverage.

Replacement cost for your personal property may be optional, but many agents automatically include this option when they quote you.

Replacement cost is an important feature because there will be no deduction for depreciation.

Although, I am explaining replacement cost for homeowners insurance, it is equally important to have it on any property insurance policy — Dwelling insurance for rental houses, Condo insurance, Mobile home insurance, and Renters insurance. For rental properties, some insurance companies will offer replacement cost, and others will not offer it. Some homeowners insurance companies no longer offer replacement cost for your roof.

As always, I recommend shopping with all the leading insurance companies to find the best insurance coverage and price for you.

Examples of the Importance of Homeowners Insurance Replacement Cost Coverage

If a windstorm blows off your roof, and it costs $10,000 to replace the roof, you will receive $10,000, less your deductible, if you have replacement cost.

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If you do not have replacement cost (RC), claims are settled at “Actual Cash Value” (ACV) which is replacement cost less depreciation.

If your roof blows off in a windstorm, and your roof is a 15 year-old roof that is supposed to last 30 years, you would get $5000, less your deductible, instead of the $10,000 needed to replace the roof, if you do not have replacement cost ($10,000 (RC) – $5,000 for 15 years of depreciation = $5,000 (ACV).

If your roof was 30 years old, and beyond its useful life, you would get nothing!

Your 15 year-old sofa may cost $1000 to replace, but the sofa’s value less depreciation, may only be $250.

Imagine if you have a house fire and lose all your personal property. Unless all your personal property was brand new, you would not have enough money to replace your lost items unless you have replacement cost on your homeowners insurance.

Important: Contact your agent and make sure you have replacement cost for your house and contents, and make sure you are being quoted replacement cost when you shop your homeowners insurance. This is extremely important if you have not updated your homeowners insurance policy in many years.

Do you have any questions about the importance of replacement cost coverage? Tell me about it. Please leave a comment on my facebook page. Follow me on Twitter for important insurance consumer news and new blog entries at CarInsWatch.