Insurance Claims - Roofing

[Bgreer5050]

If you have a claim for Hail damage does your policy typically go up?

[Kyle Boatright]

In our area, there have been a couple of hailstorms in the last 15 years that drove the insurance replacement of thousands of roofs.

The only people whose insurance went up were people with multiple claims in addition to the hail damage.

[Special Ed]

Any time you file a claim, your premium goes up. Get used to it.

Edw.

[JerryL]

I'm looking for an insurance company that reduces your premium everytime you DON'T file a claim for damage.

[Bubba]

Not necessarily, but if you have ANY other claim, your insurance disappears. Dropped like a hot potato. They dont like customers that make claims anymore. Bubba

[Joseph Meehan]

Mine stayed the same.

[Not]

Ten or fifteen years ago premiums did not increase when you made claims, unless you made enough claims that they singled you out. But that was when they were making a lot of money in the stock market, and were not losing a lot of money on claims they had not forseen.

In more recent years, they are not making as much on investments, and they have lost quite a bit on claims that were not forseen (primarily the mold hysteria).

So today they are not as eager to sell homeowner's insurance, and their policy seems to be to refuse to renew policies, rather than to raise your premiums.

So the answer to your question varies from company to company, and no one other than the company itself can answer your question, and they probably won't.

Years ago I filed a claim when the garbage men took my outdoor grill (it was a little rusty, but it still worked) "by mistake"; I probably wouldn't file that claim today. If the damage to my roof was m> If you have a claim for Hail damage does your policy typically go up? >

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[Colbyt]

And if you have a big claim through no fault of your own they start a witch hunt and invent an excuse to cancel you.

All claims are entered into a DB and the new companies you shop have access to that. Have more than a couple and you can't buy it at any cost from a standard carrier.

Weather related claims don't count against you as much as the other type.

File no claims unless you have a large loss or no other choice.

In other words the B%@#* want your money but don't want to honor their end of the agreement.

[stevie]

[Rich256]

Mine went down 28% because I had my heavy shake replaced with a hail resistant Gerard roof and they paid for the whole thing!!

[Hell Toupee]

That's not the only reason. Over the past decade or so many insurance companies have changed from the mutual company organizational model to the stock company organizational model. In a mutual insurance company model, there are only two parties at the table: the private owners of the company and its policyholders. In a stock insurance company model, you've now got a third party at the table: the shareholders. The profits must be divvied up three ways now, instead of two. And the company's officers will be more highly motivated to please the shareholders than the policyholders.

When it's essential to keep profits up in order to keep the shareholders (and the market) happy, the insurance company will have a couple obvious strategies to employ: tighten up on paying out claims, and and cherry-pick their customers. Hey - it works if you own stock in the company.

HellT

[hah]

Cheaper if you don't use it.

[Mark Lloyd]

Here, they changed my home insurance policy, putting in something about limited payments for mold damage. Seems too many people were making claims.

[Mark Lloyd]

[Not]

If that were so, one would expect that all types of insurance would be affected, not just homeowners'.

By your explanation, the "private owners" of mutual insurance companies are in the same position as the shareholders of a stock company! In fact, a mutual company is owned by the policyholders, and they get their return on investment through lower premiums or earnings distributions. I had a policy in a mutual company that converted to a stock company; the reason they gave was better access to capital. I've seen no changes in terms of coverage or processing since the change, but I like the idea that I can keep my stock, even if I cancel my policy or switch to another insurer.

The explanation I initially advanced came from a mutual insurance company I have policies with, and they are pretty honest and open about how they do business, and from some financial newspapers.

[Douglas Johnson]

Depends on where you are. In Texas, they cannot increase your premiums for 'acts of god', including hail.

-- Doug

[James Shortz]

We had a fire in 1999 that ended up costing our insurance company (St Paul, now Metlife) over $110,000. We paid a $100 deductible, are still with the same company and our premiums have yet to go up.

[Bubba]

Keep in mind though...................."acts of god" or not.....if you have that claim and another they CAN drop all your insurance. No questions asked. They only have to give you notice. I speak of experience. :-) Bubba

[Douglas Johnson]

Sort of:

According to:

"In weather-plagued Texas, homeowners can't be dropped because of claims based on weather. But Texas will allow insurers to nonrenew if you file three non-weather-related claims in three years. "

My wife got dropped before we got married. But her claims were non-weather related.

-- Doug