A word of advice from someone who did not read the renewals

[yy4me]

on her Homeowners Insurance policy.

Without going into company names, please read your policies each year to note changes made by the insurance company you are using.
We have been with a particular company for about 30 years and never had a claim. Just get the renewal each year and pay my bill monthly.

Last year my sump pump died and during a heavy rain, the cellar flooded. We did not know the pump was bad. It had very little use but this was a heavy rain and the water came up from the bottom of the sump pit. Cellar flooded. Per the Insurance company, we were not covered for the loss of our furnace because we did not have the "pump rider". For the $23.00 a year we would have paid, we would have had coverage for the new $7300.00 furnace.

This year, in the middle of the night, a neighbors tree fell on our house. Are you aware that you are responsible for the removal and repair of the damage even though the tree was not yours? That was the case here anyway. I tried to argue this one every way but no dice. This years good news...

It seems a clause in our policy now states that we have a "1% of the insured value" deductible on our house for wind and hail damage. Plus, it does not matter if you roof was good or not, they depreciated the claim. The total to repair the roof and siding was a little over 11,000.00, they paid us $5600.00.

I just got a check from the insurance company which I had to forward to the mortgage holder. They are holding the Insurance settlement and will be giving me 3 separate checks. One will be at the start of the work, one in the middle and the last third of the $5600.00 upon submission of the signed off affidavit stating there are no contractor liens on the house and that I had all the work done. We are now having the work done because we are running out of time and the roofer has other contracts to fulfill. We will be done before we get the first check. This will just about wipe us our of our rather meager savings.

If I had known about the new clause which I have traced back to 2 years ago, I would have switched companies.

What the heck good is insurance anyway. I just thank my lucky stars it was not worse.

Please read your policies and call to question anything you do not understand or inquire about changes they have made. It may have an effect on you.

[Buzz Clik]

1. It's getting more and more important to read every contract in your life.

Ignorance may be bliss, but it certainly leaves one's backside naked and unprotected.

[liberal N proud]

2. You must carry insurance but yet they are not required to cover anything

Insurance is nothing more than the ransom paid to thugs for "piece of mind" That is until something happens.

[ThomCat]

11. It is a total scam, that you are legally required to participate in.

x(

[lazyriver]

12. They call it "protection" and it's illegal

when the Mafia does it.

[sinkingfeeling]

3. Try a claim against your title insurance sometime. I had to hire a lawyer and

file a lawsuit to get them to pay. The title company messed up the description on a second piece of property adjoining my house that I bought and put the legal description of the house lot on a note for the adjoining lot, giving the holder of the note first lien against my home instead of the mortgage holder! Such a screw up makes it impossible to sell or refinance your home. It cost me a lower refinancing rate a few years ago because I couldn't close due to the title mess up. After months of 'negotiating', the title insurance company finally paid me the lifetime difference for the mortgage loan plus $500 for the legal hassle.

The sole purpose of title insurance is to make sure the title company gets things right. The two policies (one on home and the second on the lot) were issued by the same company and had cost me about $1500.

[AndyA]

4. And we've got to get some people in Washington who are willing to stand up and

fight the insurance and pharmaceutical companies.

John Edwards said that "someone, at some point, is going to have to do it." And this is another example of the abuse people put up with at the hands of corporations run amok by greed and instead of spending money to take care of their customers, it goes to lobbyists so they can provide less and charge more for it.

And the wording on insurance policies is so confusing. It would take you a week just to look up all the definitions so you are certain you understand what's covered and what isn't. And I think it's intentional on the insurance companies part - they know no one has the time to figure it all out!

[DeeDeeNY]

5. Insurance companies are wonderful until you make a claim

Funny how I always thought it's their business to be there to pay claims.
Our homeowners insurance policy was just cancelled after 7 years because we are suddenly considered to be in a prime hurricane/flood area, even though we are very far inland, on high ground, and have never had flood damage. We are now paying almost double what we were paying before.

[in_cog_ni_to]

6. Insurance companies SUCK...just ask Michael Moore. We were flooded 3 times

with weeks of each other and our insurance company wouldn't pay either because the water came through the basement windows and wasn't "seepage." Had the water come through cracks in the foundation then that is fine, you're covered. If the water comes through cracks around a window, you're not covered. We were flooded 3 times because we initially thought our sump pump just didn't work...and that's not covered, so we didn't know the water was coming through the windows until the 3rd time. We were actually home that time and witnessed the water just POURING through the basement windows.:( We replaced the windows and haven't been flooded since.

Can I make a recommendation? We bought a back-up WATER POWERED sump pump. When the electricity goes out and the electric sump pump doesn't work, the water powered pump kicks in when the water gets to a certain height in the well. No electricity needed! Here's a link:

http://www.do-it-yourself-pumps.com/homeguard.htm

Then, if your new sump pump ever decides to stop working...you're still safe from flooding by having the water-powered pump.:)

I'm really sorry your insurance company screwed you. We have been screwed by our Homeowners Ins. and our BC/BS health ins. comapnies. It 's CRIMINAL what they do.

[yy4me]

7. Never knew such a thing was available. Thank you!

I will have my husband contact this company. We had thought about buying a generator but have no spot put it or to store it off season. This system could be great.

[in_cog_ni_to]

14. You're very welcome! I think it's worth every penny!

Best of luck to you in getting your home repaired. :hi:

[catmandu57]

8. Insurance people are in the bottom level of scuzsuckers

along with collection agents and used car salesmen. We've never had to file a claim....yet. We have a large piss elm tree that borders our property, one of these days it's going to fall either on our house or the neighbors. I'm trying to come up with how they are going to weasel out of paying for whatever damage it causes.
The tree has been topped out at some time in the past when that was in vogue, I'm thinking that's how they're going to weasel on that. I'd like to get it taken out before it does any damage. Good luck with your scuzsuckers.

[DaveJ]

10. That is true

But I would take out used car salesmen (I think they have improved lately), and add people who sell loans and credit cards. I know they go hand-in-hand with collection agents, but it's a very large problem.

I worked for an insurance company for awhile. The people in underwriting were the nicest in the world, and the people in claims... ugh, I don't know where they dug those guys up.

[Hissyspit]

9. It's all a scam.

And to do it with health insurance, people's lives and health, is despicable.

[Thirtieschild]

13. We had a good experience with our home insurance

Last year we had water damage from a leaking roof. Agency owner came out, called an estimator who made a 240-mile round trip, measured the room, immediately sent us a check a little over $3000, which is slightly more than repair costs. Years ago we had another claim (same company, different city) for a sycamore killed by lightning. It left no mark because the lightning went through the heart of the tree; fortunately I saw a ball of fire at the base of the tree simultaneous with a clap of thunder. The next day all the leaves fell off. The company didn't even send an estimator out, paid to have the tree cut and hauled away, minus our deductible of course.

Wish I could mention the company by name - assume there are rules on DU about that - but will risk saying they've been a good neighbor.

[noamnety]

15. We spent $90 on a backup sump pump

best investment we ever made.

It uses a floater in the well, and if the water rises too high, it opens the water valve and uses the city water to force it out. So you use about a gallon of city water to remove every gallon of accumulated water. Not incredibly efficient - but it only kicks in if the other one fails, it's not normally ever used. If you are away for a week and the power goes out (killing the normal sump pump), it'll save your basement. It's saved ours.