Home Owners, Auto Insurance, and Related Stuff

[UTGrad98 2343]

@C-ManDoes personal property insurance cover our cars? That makes a huge difference. 

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2779]

Nope. That’s what auto insurance is for.

[C-Man 27801]

3 hours ago, T’Boo Ted Marshall said:

Nope. That’s what auto insurance is for.

This

[C-Man 27801]

Of course. Happy to help.

[boilerhorn 1638]

@C-Man - silly question about diminished value claims.  At one point, I believe I read that Texas did not have a path to a diminished value claim. 

However, I am hearing anecdotes (and found some web references) where it is possible.  Where does it make sense and how successful is it?  I suspect it is more relevant for a classic car or a super car and not for a 2013 Honda Civic.  

With the baseball sized hail, I suspect an auto shop can repair the vehicle, but the claim against it might diminish the value.  Any insights would be very welcomed.

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2779]

46 minutes ago, boilerhorn said:

@C-Man - silly question about diminished value claims.  At one point, I believe I read that Texas did not have a path to a diminished value claim. 

However, I am hearing anecdotes (and found some web references) where it is possible.  Where does it make sense and how successful is it?  I suspect it is more relevant for a classic car or a super car and not for a 2013 Honda Civic.  

With the baseball sized hail, I suspect an auto shop can repair the vehicle, but the claim against it might diminish the value.  Any insights would be very welcomed.

Not on first party claims like Comp/Coll, only under UM/UIM coverage.  

C-man will come along and confirm.  I've been out of the game a bit.  

[C-Man 27801]

33 minutes ago, boilerhorn said:

@C-Man - silly question about diminished value claims.  At one point, I believe I read that Texas did not have a path to a diminished value claim. 

However, I am hearing anecdotes (and found some web references) where it is possible.  Where does it make sense and how successful is it?  I suspect it is more relevant for a classic car or a super car and not for a 2013 Honda Civic.  

With the baseball sized hail, I suspect an auto shop can repair the vehicle, but the claim against it might diminish the value.  Any insights would be very welcomed.

My experience is that it never hurts to ask. That doesn't mean you'll get it

 

8 minutes ago, T’Boo Ted Marshall said:

Not on first party claims like Comp/Coll, only under UM/UIM coverage.  

C-man will come along and confirm.  I've been out of the game a bit.  

You can TRY and make a claim for diminished value in an accident where you are not at-fault. That doesn't mean you're going to be successful. I've heard of instances where somebody has gotten it and others (more likely) that do not. Unfortunately, I don't have much experience with diminished value so I'm not a whole lot of help in this area.

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2779]

Check your policy first in the exclusions section. It will lay out whether or not they will even consider DV on a Comp/Coll claim.  Many even exclude it on UM/UIM.  

[bschoolprof 6352]

Insurance folks . . . one thing that keeps driving my (really our) homeowner premiums up is every asshole in my neighborhood seems to get a new roof every 5 years, no doubt because some roofer grifter tells him there's hail damage.  The frequency and regularity of this is not something we should be insuring, at least not like this.  

Question: are insurance companies required by state law to offer full replacement cost coverage on roofs?  If not, why do they?  I understand why we, as a society, want full replacement cost coverage on a house - if it burns down, we need a new house to live in, on land we already own.  But why are roofs insured this way?  If a hailstorm totals my 1982 Ford Fiesta, I don't expect my auto carrier to buy me a brand new car.  Why should I have this expectation for a roof?  

Can't insurers raise the deductible on roofs and/or move to a depreciated value model for roofs?  That would eliminate a lot of the shenanigans I see in my area. Maybe they are already doing this.  

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2779]

They are.  In more hail prone areas some carriers offer no less than a 2% W/H deductible.  

[westexhorn 2167]

How much did home insurance go up for yall this year in Texas?

Edited December 13, 2023 by westexhorn

[MonkeyDoughnut 10809]

1 hour ago, westexhorn said:

How much did home insurance go up for yall this year in Texas?

35%  (Last 3 years have been 35%, 43%, 31%)... been on my todo to look around, although everyone one I know has talked in similar light as home prices have increased and insurance has kept up and then some

[ROFL BOX 6655]

FYI, we are ONLY NOW completing a long running 'rasslin match with USAA on a freeze claim from Jan '23 (customer contacted ne in March).

USAA has turned over a LOT of their claims to AllCat & A.C. has bungled this one up multiple ways, even after sending a 2nd field adjuster for a full walk through.

& SafeCo (owned by Liberty Bibberty) is being a PITA for an approx. $ 1,000 detail on the re-eoof for @dieucla98 .

& I will reiterate that from the opinion of a restoration contractor, AllSnake & Snake Farm are horrible for basic details that should be evident for everyone.

[C-Man 27801]

On 10/2/2023 at 8:20 AM, bschoolprof said:

Insurance folks . . . one thing that keeps driving my (really our) homeowner premiums up is every asshole in my neighborhood seems to get a new roof every 5 years, no doubt because some roofer grifter tells him there's hail damage.  The frequency and regularity of this is not something we should be insuring, at least not like this.  

Question: are insurance companies required by state law to offer full replacement cost coverage on roofs?  If not, why do they?  I understand why we, as a society, want full replacement cost coverage on a house - if it burns down, we need a new house to live in, on land we already own.  But why are roofs insured this way?  If a hailstorm totals my 1982 Ford Fiesta, I don't expect my auto carrier to buy me a brand new car.  Why should I have this expectation for a roof?  

Can't insurers raise the deductible on roofs and/or move to a depreciated value model for roofs?  That would eliminate a lot of the shenanigans I see in my area. Maybe they are already doing this.  

T'Boo pretty much covered this above. Many carriers already have depreciating roof settlement schedules in their policies. Others will be adding them. Hell, even some of the HNW carriers are doing this for roofs that are 20+ years old. Also, you're going to start seeing 2% wind/hail deductibles be the norm. Basically, insurance companies are phasing out the idea that insurance is going to pay for a new roof for every Texas home roughly every 10 years. That model is going away.

[bschoolprof 6352]

4 minutes ago, C-Man said:

T'Boo pretty much covered this above. Many carriers already have depreciating roof settlement schedules in their policies. Others will be adding them. Hell, even some of the HNW carriers are doing this for roofs that are 20+ years old. Also, you're going to start seeing 2% wind/hail deductibles be the norm. Basically, insurance companies are phasing out the idea that insurance is going to pay for a new roof for every Texas home roughly every 10 years. That model is going away.

Thanks.  I can't believe that was ever the model.  What a terrible idea.

[deadshank 24654]

4 hours ago, westexhorn said:

How much did home insurance go up for yall this year in Texas?

Mine actually went down.  
 

Chubb. 
 

Go figure.  

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2779]

Had to move from Germania. Auto went up 70% on a single vehicle.
Home went up 25% and W/H deductible went to 3%
No claims on either, new home build in 2022 and credit scores over 800.
I talked to multiple independent agents that can’t even quote in my county or DFW.

[royiv 9826]

Received my homeowner's renewal today and it went up about 67%.

Houston. Home built in 2018. No claims on this particular home and no claims for me ever in >20 years of homeownership.

[C-Man 27801]

Received my homeowner's renewal today and it went up about 67%.
Houston. Home built in 2018. No claims on this particular home and no claims for me ever in >20 years of homeownership.

Yeah, I’m working on figuring out the reasoning behind that kind of hike.

[Anastasis 23724]

2 hours ago, royiv said:

Received my homeowner's renewal today and it went up about 67%.

Houston. Home built in 2018. No claims on this particular home and no claims for me ever in >20 years of homeownership.

Unsustainable. We need catastrophic loss backstops, but this shit is crazy 

[Judge Roybeanbag 11860]

6 hours ago, Anastasis said:

Unsustainable. We need catastrophic loss backstops, but this shit is crazy 

I’d say the same about any insurance racket.  They’re all crooks.  Health, car or home.  

Edited December 14, 2023 by Judge Roybeanbag

[Snake Diggity 4715]

Just wanna chime in to say fucking fuck Allstate.  Had 4 policies for over a decade, no claims, no late payments, never even shopped/negotiated rates.  Roof damaged in hail storm in September.  Allstate adjuster denies 90% of claim.  50+ emails back and forth, dozens of hours of my time, and a conversation with a local attorney later, I tell the adjuster “pay me for replacing the roof today or I am filing suit tomorrow”.  The money was in my account 6 hours later.  Once everything gets resolved completely, I’m switching carriers, don’t care how much higher my premiums and deductibles are.  Fuck those motherfuckers.

[C-Man 27801]

10 hours ago, Anastasis said:

Unsustainable. We need catastrophic loss backstops, but this shit is crazy 

My understanding is that the increasing number of cat events in the last 10 years have destroyed the re-insurance market. Unfortunately, with global warming it doesn't appear that things are going back to "normal" any time soon. We've also allowed developments to overbuild in areas that Mother Nature probably never intended us to build things.

 

4 hours ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

I’d say the same about any insurance racket.  They’re all crooks.  Health, car or home.  

Why do you say that exactly? Insurance is simply hedging your bet on having a catastrophe destroy our biggest assets, whether it's a fire or hurricane or tornado or a party guest drowning in your swimming pool. Having the proper insurance can be lifestyle (life)-saving. Are there bad actors? Of course there are -- you're going to find that in everything.

[ROFL BOX 6655]

Why do you say that exactly? Insurance is simply hedging your bet on having a catastrophe destroy our biggest assets, whether it's a fire or hurricane or tornado or a party guest drowning in your swimming pool. Having the proper insurance can be lifestyle (life)-saving. Are there bad actors? Of course there are -- you're going to find that in everything.

Plus, auto insurance is actually more to protect people from YOU.

Houses? That is to protect the loaner.

[ROFL BOX 6655]

Just wanna chime in to say fucking fuck Allstate.  Had 4 policies for over a decade, no claims, no late payments, never even shopped/negotiated rates.  Roof damaged in hail storm in September.  Allstate adjuster denies 90% of claim.  50+ emails back and forth, dozens of hours of my time, and a conversation with a local attorney later, I tell the adjuster “pay me for replacing the roof today or I am filing suit tomorrow”.  The money was in my account 6 hours later.  Once everything gets resolved completely, I’m switching carriers, don’t care how much higher my premiums and deductibles are.  Fuck those motherfuckers.

Did "K" get in contact with you?

It seems they did not include the shed (& FYI to the readers, this is a 16×20 building, not anything small).

[C-Man 27801]

9 minutes ago, ROFL BOX said:

Plus, auto insurance is actually more to protect people from YOU.

Houses? That is to protect the loaner.

Sure, from a liability perspective, which is potentially the most devastating part. You know how much your vehicle costs. That's the most you can "lose" on the property side. The casualty side, the liability, is the unknown. Seven- or eight-figure judgements are not unheard of, especially these days. They're rare but they can happen even IF you do everything right because shit happens all the fucking time.

[Catpfish 618]

I thought I was going to shop around and tell Germania to pound sand.  They raised the insured value on my house by $100,000 (no problem there).  What sucked is that they raised my deductible to 2% and increased my premium by 50%.  Had a hail storm in 2021 on a 6 year old roof so that was replaced, but that's it.  Anywhoo, after checking around, I sat back down and shut up.  I really wasn't finding anything better. 

Don't really know what is going to happen to families in starter homes that would have to come deep out of pocket after a major hail storm.  They probably can't afford to scratch a 5 figure check.  I wonder what will happen with roof leaks and banks holding the notes.

Of course, I also wonder what will happen with the water rates going up so much and people choosing to not water.  How many slabs are going to pop in the next severe drought.

[ROFL BOX 6655]

[mention=1629]Catpfish[/mention] ,
Don't miss out on the new "feature" where roofs that are aged 50% or more of the expected life span will NOT get a recoverable depreciation.

Example:
Roof replacement value (total cost) @ $ 20,000.⁰⁰

Insurer says "aged 16 years on a 30 year life span = Ø recoverable depreciation."

2% Deductible on a home valued @ $ 350,000.⁰⁰ = $ 7,000 policy holder responsibility.

ACV (Actual Cash Value) = $ 10,000.⁰⁰ (i.e. the "up front $ for the life left in the shingles prior to the covered peril / loss").

$ 10k - $ 7k = $ 3,000.⁰⁰ to policy holder & Ø else.

Total expense to property owner for total roof replacement:
$ 17,000.⁰⁰

Pay VERY CLOSE ATTENTION to your H.O. policy language & what you're paying for v. what you are receiving.

I have met MANY field adjusters who say they have to explain to customers about this "N.R.D." (Non Recoverable Depreciation) thing.

[royiv 9826]

1 hour ago, ROFL BOX said:

[mention=1629]Catpfish[/mention] ,
Don't miss out on the new "feature" where roofs that are aged 50% or more of the expected life span will NOT get a recoverable depreciation.

Example:
Roof replacement value (total cost) @ $ 20,000.⁰⁰

Insurer says "aged 16 years on a 30 year life span = Ø recoverable depreciation."

2% Deductible on a home valued @ $ 350,000.⁰⁰ = $ 7,000 policy holder responsibility.

ACV (Actual Cash Value) = $ 10,000.⁰⁰ (i.e. the "up front $ for the life left in the shingles prior to the covered peril / loss).

$ 10k - $ 7k = $ 3,000.⁰⁰ to policy holder & Ø else.

Total expense to property owner for total roof replacement:
$ 17,000.⁰⁰

Pay VERY CLOSE ATTENTION to your H.O. policy language & what you're paying for v. what you are receiving.

I have met MANY field adjusters who say they have to explain to customers about this "N.R.D." (Non Recoverable Depreciation) thing.
 

I can see this sort of thing being pretty devastating to the roofing industry. For the longest time, it seems like roofers and homeowners have been in cahoots to get a new roof replaced every 10 years or so at the expense of the insurance company. You could probably draw some parallels to the health insurance world where people are more willing to seek conservative treatment when the CT scan for their headache is a $2k deductible versus a $10 copay.

Edit to add:

Probably not a bad thing in the long run if it weeds out the fly by night scammers and the end result is the reputable roofers being the survivors.

 

Edited December 14, 2023 by royiv

[deadshank 24654]

45 minutes ago, royiv said:

I can see this sort of thing being pretty devastating to the roofing industry. For the longest time, it seems like roofers and homeowners have been in cahoots to get a new roof replaced every 10 years or so at the expense of the insurance company. You could probably draw some parallels to the health insurance world where people are more willing to seek conservative treatment when the CT scan for their headache is a $2k deductible versus a $10 copay.

Edit to add:

Probably not a bad thing in the long run if it weeds out the fly by night scammers and the end result is the reputable roofers being the survivors.

 

In hail prone states, there is a big difference between retail roofing contractors that survive on hailstorm work ("stormers") and roofing contractors that do new construction.  Each of these two types of RCs may or may not have a robust re-roof book of business even with no hail storm insurance money involved.  Stormers are in and out: close the deal, swap out the roof, maximize margins as much as possible, get paid, move on.  New construction roofers can be on jobs for a year or more.  (Our record covers 3 turns of calendar years).

Many to most stormers will  have "offices" in every large to medium-sized city in hail prone states.  The office consists of a local phone number that transfers the the mothership office in what ever city they are based in.  When the hail storm bat signal goes up they mobilize to hit the storm affected area.  

I go to Charlotte and Pittsburgh quite a bit.  Neither is a hail prone area.  It is surprising how few residential RCs there are in those cities. When compared to Texas, both NC and PA require licensing so there is a barrier to entry for the industry and a reduced amount of contractors.

I have been approached a several times by "entrepreneurs" that have asked me how they can get into the roofing business.  My first question to them is "why would you want to do that?"  I get the same answer every time: "there's a lot of money in re-roofing houses for insurance claim money."

We don't do much storm work.  Most of what we do is high-end new construction roofing, waterproofing and sheet metal work.  We also do a fair amount of re-roofing for homeowners.  On occasion it is related to an insurance claim.

I agree that the days of easy, insurance money roof  replacements are drawing near to end.

 

 

 

 

 

[ROFL BOX 6655]

In hail prone states, there is a big difference between retail roofing contractors that survive on hailstorm work ("stormers") and roofing contractors that do new construction. 

It is my opinion that around 25 years ago, some roofing companies sorta developed a "system" to get more insurance business & that was canvassing neighborhoods with the promise of a "free roof" (back when most people had a flat $ 500 ~ # 1,000 deductible.

The days of the craftsman roofer dwindled & volume increased.

I will say that I do enjoy an insurance paid roof as there really isn't any negotiation with the customer required because insurance essentially "sets" the price. I don't have to worry that someone is going to undercut my price... the hassle now becomes what did the adjuster possibly mis-price or mis-calculate? (Got one Shagger² roof where the adj. used "roll roofing" for a flat roof section & it actually has a Mod Bit S/A product that we installed last year... I still have the receipts. The Roll Roofing price point is ½ of the correct Modified Bitumen system).

[MadTrapper 154]

I recently transferred ownership of our rental house to an LLC that I set up. Any suggestions on companies that do business insuring homes/assets owned by an LLC instead of an individual? Would I have to go down the business insurance path?

[C-Man 27801]

On 12/15/2023 at 2:04 PM, MadTrapper said:

I recently transferred ownership of our rental house to an LLC that I set up. Any suggestions on companies that do business insuring homes/assets owned by an LLC instead of an individual? Would I have to go down the business insurance path?

Not necessarily but you're going to make some carriers' heads explode. Who is your primary home Insured by?

[JGrayDBU 377]

On 12/13/2023 at 6:11 PM, T’Boo Ted Marshall said:

Had to move from Germania. Auto went up 70% on a single vehicle.
Home went up 25% and W/H deductible went to 3%
No claims on either, new home build in 2022 and credit scores over 800.
I talked to multiple independent agents that can’t even quote in my county or DFW.

My last Germania auto policy ended in January 2022 I think, don't remember.  During the year-long policy my independent agent told me I missed 3 Major insurance increases.  The new policy would have more than doubled!!  

I couldn't deal with that and my agent is down to very few companies to choose from.  I am a renter, and our new 6 month auto policy was a relaxing $1700, Progressive, then the next six months increased a little bit and then this time was scheduled to go to $1900.  I balked and took quotes, and will get the State Farm experience for six months, maybe a year.  Loss lead rate to start is $1534.  This is for 2 Hyundais, three drivers, the wife, myself, and our 25 year old son.  2022 Kona and 16 Accent.  He doesn't turn 26 until March, so I am told he is good to go until the next policy, which will be July. 

I assume the rate will go up in July about 20-25%, but if that is what happens, the rate is still lower than the scheduled 1900 with Progressive.

I really appreciate the now very rare one year policy.  My next quest for a year policy will start with AAA.

 

 

 

 

 

[ROFL BOX 6655]

 My next quest for a year policy will start with AAA.

That's The Hartford.

I like them for most of the claims I have worked; independent field adjusters & the desk adjusters haven't really been much of a hassle to work with.

[JGrayDBU 377]

2 hours ago, ROFL BOX said:

 

 

That's The Hartford.

I like them for most of the claims I javelin worked; independent field adjusters & the desk adjusters haven't really been much of a hassle to work with.

 

ok. good.  The Hartford is the one that offers or used to offer a senior friendly plan, I think? For auto. I am not quite a senior, but getting close, will be 59 in a week. 

[ROFL BOX 6655]

ok. good.  The Hartford is the one that offers or used to offer a senior friendly plan, I think? For auto. I am not quite a senior, but getting close, will be 59 in a week. 

If you are in Texas, you should allow @C-Man to quote you.

[JGrayDBU 377]

9 minutes ago, ROFL BOX said:

12 minutes ago, JGrayDBU said:

ok. good.  The Hartford is the one that offers or used to offer a senior friendly plan, I think? For auto. I am not quite a senior, but getting close, will be 59 in a week. 

If you are in Texas, you should allow @C-Man to quote you.

will be in Texas in late May.  Thanks for the tip.  

[JGrayDBU 377]

Just now, JGrayDBU said:

will be in Texas in late May.  Thanks for the tip.  

and the cars already live in Texas with the wife.  

[MadTrapper 154]

Not necessarily but you're going to make some carriers' heads explode. Who is your primary home Insured by?

Was with Central Mutual via HUB but switched over to Progressive a week ago. Reaching out to some folks this week to dig a little deeper...

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2779]

13 hours ago, JGrayDBU said:

My last Germania auto policy ended in January 2022 I think, don't remember.  During the year-long policy my independent agent told me I missed 3 Major insurance increases.  The new policy would have more than doubled!!  

I couldn't deal with that and my agent is down to very few companies to choose from.  I am a renter, and our new 6 month auto policy was a relaxing $1700, Progressive, then the next six months increased a little bit and then this time was scheduled to go to $1900.  I balked and took quotes, and will get the State Farm experience for six months, maybe a year.  Loss lead rate to start is $1534.  This is for 2 Hyundais, three drivers, the wife, myself, and our 25 year old son.  2022 Kona and 16 Accent.  He doesn't turn 26 until March, so I am told he is good to go until the next policy, which will be July. 

I assume the rate will go up in July about 20-25%, but if that is what happens, the rate is still lower than the scheduled 1900 with Progressive.

I really appreciate the now very rare one year policy.  My next quest for a year policy will start with AAA.

 

 

 

 

 

I made the jump to SF.  My policy stayed flat and lost a little in some coverages on the HO side.  

[C-Man 27801]

10 hours ago, JGrayDBU said:

ok. good.  The Hartford is the one that offers or used to offer a senior friendly plan, I think? For auto. I am not quite a senior, but getting close, will be 59 in a week. 

Yeah, Hartford used to be accessible through AARP or something with an affinity program.

 

10 hours ago, ROFL BOX said:

10 hours ago, JGrayDBU said:

ok. good.  The Hartford is the one that offers or used to offer a senior friendly plan, I think? For auto. I am not quite a senior, but getting close, will be 59 in a week. 

If you are in Texas, you should allow @C-Man to quote you.

Thanks @ROFL BOX. Just as a reminder, you don't need to be in Texas for me to handle the insurance. I have clients all over the US, though most have at least their primary home in/around DFW.

The shitty thing is that we're really not much help any more on what we call middle market business. We just don't have many markets for homes under $1M any longer, just Safeco and Travelers really. Safeco's rates have risen exponentially. Chubb and Cincinnati will write the under-$2M homes but aren't always price competitive. The coverage is fantastic but it's not cheap. For $2M+ we still have the usual HNW suspects -- PURE, Chubb, Cincinnati Private Client, Berkeley One.

[UTGrad98 2343]

Home insurance premium increased exactly 75% for me this year. I am not exaggerating. This is unheard of. I have no claims on the house. Is everyone else getting the same? I am in the DFW area. @C-Man Is this what you are seeing? Am I getting fucked in the ass for Florida Louisiana and California company losses? Farmers told me insurance premiums are based on the state only, not nationally.

 

[C-Man 27801]

36 minutes ago, UTGrad98 said:

Home insurance premium increased exactly 75% for me this year. I am not exaggerating. This is unheard of. I have no claims on the house. Is everyone else getting the same? I am in the DFW area. @C-Man Is this what you are seeing? Am I getting fucked in the ass for Florida Louisiana and California company losses? Farmers told me insurance premiums are based on the state only, not nationally.

 

75% is a massive increase. We've seen some that are pretty huge but can't recall any that have gone up that much unless there were claims issues or the risk profile changed. I'm not 100% sure if it's state-only or nationally how the carriers look at it but Texas is in the top five (if not top three) in rates in the US due to the size of the state and the fact that we get everything from hurricanes to hail to tornadoes to floods to winter storms that turn the grid off for a week a time.

What is the Dwelling Value/Coverage A of your home? Happy to take a look if you want but the market is absolutely brutal right now. We hope things will begin to level off at some point because this is unsustainable YOY.

Shoot me a DM if you're interested in talking further.

[HRSchenker 2341]

My home and auto both went up 40%. I was able to move my auto to a different carrier but my wife's car (a Kia soul) is now liability only because carriers are refusing to pay for damages due to rampant theft. I can't move my home policy because I have 2 claims from last year and the other carriers my agent uses refuse to write a policy for the home with that many claims in 3 years.

I think it was you C-Man that mentioned the $0 claim from my initial roof inspection could fuck me. Sure enough it did.

[C-Man 27801]

9 hours ago, HRSchenker said:

My home and auto both went up 40%. I was able to move my auto to a different carrier but my wife's car (a Kia soul) is now liability only because carriers are refusing to pay for damages due to rampant theft. I can't move my home policy because I have 2 claims from last year and the other carriers my agent uses refuse to write a policy for the home with that many claims in 3 years.

I think it was you C-Man that mentioned the $0 claim from my initial roof inspection could fuck me. Sure enough it did.

Hard to say if that that mattered but I absolutely advise people to call their agent before filing claims these days.

As a non-sequitur, Travelers is not offering property on Kia or Hyundais between a certain year range (like 2013-2018, I can't remember) because there was a TikTok "challenge" to steal these fucking cars.

[deadshank 24654]

4 hours ago, C-Man said:

Hard to say if that that mattered but I absolutely advise people to call their agent before filing claims these days.

As a non-sequitur, Travelers is not offering property on Kia or Hyundais between a certain year range (like 2013-2018, I can't remember) because there was a TikTok "challenge" to steal these fucking cars.

Two years ago we replaced the roof on a house owned by the sister of a builder customer of ours.   Straight up retail re-roof contract.   No insurance claim. 
 

Three weeks ago, a tree branch broke off and damaged some shingles. She called us to take a gander and repair the damage.   $400 later she wants pictures of the damage and the replaced shingles so she can file an insurance claim. 
 

Oh dear.  
 

And some ask why we have high and increasing premiums.  

[ROFL BOX 6655]

22 hours ago, C-Man said:

I absolutely advise people to call their agent before filing claims these days.

No, no, no.

Agents typically respond with a lazy "Call & get 3 estimates from roofing contractors".  That's a waste of our time.  Have the customer get at least ONE estimate to start & move forward from there.  Another waste of time is when actually filing a claim (when determined to be valid) is to go through the agent's office.

The agent then calls in, gets a claim #, then returns contact with the insured & provides them with the exact same information the insured could get from their portal, website, app or a direct phone call.

[C-Man 27801]

45 minutes ago, ROFL BOX said:

No, no, no.

Agents typically respond with a lazy "Call & get 3 estimates from roofing contractors".  That's a waste of our time.  Have the customer get at least ONE estimate to start & move forward from there.  Another waste of time is when actually filing a claim (when determined to be valid) is to go through the agent's office.

The agent then calls in, gets a claim #, then returns contact with the insured & provides them with the exact same information the insured could get from their portal, website, app or a direct phone call.

I’m speaking from a much broader claims perspective than just roofing claims. I’m talking about ALL claims. Good idea to discuss with agent, assuming they’re independent, to get a sense of what filing a claim could do. We also like to talk through smaller claims so they don’t wind up with death-by-paper-cuts.

[Herbie Hancock 7499]

Homeowner’s increased by 91% with no claims ever made. Auto went up by 37% with no claims or citations in the last 7 years. Not directed to C-man, but fuck these insurance fucks. Buttfuck ‘em too