Got a call from our agent yesterday warning us to expect a notice from our insurance company (rhymes with Great Harm) informing us that they would be cancelling our homeowner’s insurance policy. Our offense? We had the temerity to actually file 2 claims since 2001! How DARE we!
Fuckers! We’ve been clients since 1986, for car, home, umbrella… The claims they take issue with both involve our old house - which we no longer own. In 2001, a sump pump malfunctioned, and we put in a claim under the flood rider for the damaged carpet. Forget the total amount, but it was only a couple thou. In 2011 a sewer pipe broke (not due to anything we did), causing sewage backup. Think the insurers paid $40k for that, and we had to pay $17k for work outside the foundation. We agreed to work with their contractors, which they said was cheaper and faster for them and us. Never saw a bill. Very pleased with the service.
So because of that, they want to dump us as customers. We have long known that we could have paid less for insurance, but we stayed with State Farm because we felt they always gave us excellent service. And we regularly spoke well of them, recommending them to others. Just recently, we upped our personal property coverage, which they gladly accepted, not hinting that anything was amiss.
Do these jerks think we’re going to keep ANY insurance with them if they bounce our homeowners’? Our agent says he’s going to protest/appeal, and thinks it has a good chance to succeed, but I don’t know that I want to stay with them. I feel as tho we’re on double secret probation, and any future claim will result on cancellation. Of course, I can imagine any other prospective insurer refusing insurance of upping rates based on our history…
I can only imagine how tough it must be for someone who is careless enough to have their house burn down after being struck by lightning…
Geez. I’m sorry we filed two claims over the past 15 years. I guess we have a lot of nerve assuming that insurance is supposed to do something other than simply accept our regular donations in the form of premiums. I can’t write anything more because - honestly - I’m at a loss for words.
Leaving aside the question of whether dropping you is the right thing to do, if they’re dropping you for making two claims, why didn’t they do it immediately after the second claim, in 2011?
If they thought you were a risk, why let you maintain your policy for another five years. And, now that those five years have passed without another claim, why are you suddenly too much of a risk to insure? It’s very odd.
I’m guessing the appeal will go fine, especially considering you don’t live in that house anymore. It wouldn’t surprise me if they just ran a report and sent out a cancellation notice to everyone that was over a certain threshold for something.
You said you got a call from your agent. Do you mean a State Farm Insurance Agent or an insurance broker, one that works with multiple companies?
If you have a broker you have a few things going for you. First off, I would tend to trust them more when they say that the appeal will go through. Second, you can have them start getting quotes for you with other companies so if the appeal is denied, you pull the trigger right away. Third, a broker knows better how to word things and what ‘history’ to give to a new insurance company regarding past claims.
Basically, if your appeal gets denied, your State Farm Agent is done, all he can do at that point is see if there’s anything he can do to get you to stick around for a few months so he can keep getting commission. A broker can just slide you into a new company, they do it all the time, it’s part of what they do.
Have you ever called to ask a question about coverage for something you never actually filed as a claim?
My sister got canceled because such inquiries counted the same as claims. She now says that any question to an insurer should start with “This is NOT about a potential claim situation and should not go on my record.”
My wife handled the call from the SF agent, so I’ll have to wait to see what the notice says. No, we don’t have a broker (tho I imagine we may soon.)
I almost wish we’d cheaped out and gone with some cut-rate coverage, instead of thinking there was a benefit to paying a premium for presumed service. I make decent money, and think I conduct myself pretty conservatively and responsibly. I really wonder how hard it would have to be for uneducated, below average intelligence people to even exist in our society. Life really oughtn’t have to be this difficult.
Possibly their roof is due for replacement and State Farm smelled a future potential claim when OP requested a policy limit increase. Or maybe credit scores went down and they no longer qualify. State Farm is known for putting very strict limits on insurability – they won’t even write a policy if you don’t look perfect on paper. They’re my auto insurer now, but I couldn’t even get a quote from them in my early twenties.
Most people don’t file any insurance claims at all, let alone to the tune of $50K.
You remind me of the insurance company commercial that advertises that people are shocked when insurance only pays say 1/2 of what a new car is worth. Duh.
This was my beef with SF. We had a slab leak a few years ago, and my agent assured me it was covered. When I called the claims number they told me they didn’t cover the repairs, they were counting it as a claim, and sent me a nasty letter threatening cancellation if I didn’t repair it at my expense and send supporting documentation (bills, pics, etc.) that it was fixed.
I, my house, my four cars, my RV, my boat, and some other expensive toys now reside happily with their competitor. We cancelled them after 35 years as a customer.
MOST people. This is the fact that allows being an insurance company to be a viable business plan. It’s my understanding that insurance companies structure their premiums around the actuarial likelihood that they WILL pay out SOME claims, even for covered incidents that are up to the maximum range of the policies they sell.
Is it your contention that once a customer has filed a claim on his (or her) policy, it’s a legitimate business practice that he (or she) should be barred from doing business with the company?
If that is your contention, what’s your position on how candid an insurance company should be with prospective policyholders regarding its intention to operate in accordance with that business practice?
My suspicion, too. Though one would imagine that they would have denied the increased limit right off the bat if it were only a matter of risk history, so you may be right in that maybe some other factor like a credit score change (or the house reaching X age at a specific date) was the final trigger.
Now, yeah, the people in the Liberty car insurance ads are oblivious doofuses, but as long as Liberty tells you “you know that full car replacement/first accident forgiveness thing comes at an extra cost” when they actually sell you the product, I’m cool with the company.
No , this is not odd at all , the insurance was trying to get back some of the money they paid out to the OP . They most likely are dropping him now b/c they got want they wanted from him . It was risk the insurance company took b/c the OP could had another file claim . So they’re dropping the OP while they’re ahead . Insurance companies are in business for only one reason to made money.
I’m sure that there might be some actuarial considerations that i’m overlooking here, but your explanation still doesn’t make sense.
If your last sentence is true—and it clearly is—then the rest still seems odd. I understand that they want to “get back some of the money they paid out,” but if they truly believe that the customer is an unacceptable risk, then allowing him to remain a customer is a bad decision. Because if he’s an unacceptable risk, then it’s better to forego his premiums altogether and cut him loose.
It’s like a poker player throwing more money into the center of the table on a losing hand, based on the assumption that the money he’s already put in is his to recover. That’s a loser’s tactic, because once the money is in the pot, it’s not yours anymore, and you need to make your decisions based on your chances going forward, not based on making up for money that’s already gone.
Allowing him to make another five years of payments clearly suggests that he’s worth the risk of keeping him on the books. And the fact that he makes no claims during that time actually supports that position. It might have been logical to end the policy right after the big payout in 2011, but doing it now is pretty pointless, unless something about the OP’s risk profile has actually changed recently.
Looks like a great opportunity to move all your insurance business to a new company.
Had the same thing happen. Wife was at work, someone broke into her car, smashing the window, and stole the $29.00 stereo. We filed to replace the window. Probably <$200 and we had 100 deductible. 8 months later she got a broken windshield. Again, about $200 less 100 deductible. Next cycle we were cancelled for too many claims. That was some company that sounds like Ball State. They are happy to take your money, but they don’t like paying.