Can Fla. insurance co. be held to homeowners binder rate that differs from policy rate due to incorrect info submitted by agent?

[Doc]

My former carrier sent a notice of non-renewal so I went shopping for homeowner's.

Among the quotes I got was from State Farm who I currently have my auto policies with. I got the quote last Wednesday 2/27, as it happened I discovered they were going to cease writing homeowner's policies in Florida as of close of business Friday 2/29. They said if I wanted to go with them they had to get it in by close of business Friday.

They at first quoted me a rate that was on the high end, but later on the phone the agent quoted a rate that was substantially lower, by about $500. Obviously I wondered why the difference. She attributed it to "the way their quoting system works" implying that quotes sometimes are higher than what the policy comes in at due to some quirk.

I told her I'd evaluate all the quotes and various elements and call her by Friday noon. The amount she quoted was lower than any other quote I got so I called her and told her to go ahead.

I got the binder in the mail on Monday with the same amount she had quoted me so I figured I'm all set.

Not so fast. I called today just to see if they needed contact information for my Mortgage Co. to send proof of insurance, but she asked me if I was calling about the policy difference. I had no idea what she was talking about. She said when I got my policy from corporate it would be around $1500 rather than the $978 she quoted me and which the binder I got reflected. The reason is she quoted based on having a hip roof. At the time she asked me about this I advised I don't have a hip roof if my understanding is accurate of what a hip roof is - where the roof sits on the house like a hat and ledge runs around horizontally with no upward angles. AFAIK mine is a gable roof

- it has points where the roof is shaped like an "A". This is what I told her to begin with and when I described it she agreed I had a gable roof. When she came back with the lower quote, at no time did she advise me it was due to quoting for a hip roof.

She said after looking at pictures, she thought it would qualify as a "partial hip"roof and said she's still trying to get corporate to give me "somewhat of a discount".

This is the roof in question:

Do you see any basis to call this anything but a gable roof?

Since the binder reflects the amended amount she quoted me over the phone, do I have any basis to hold the company to this since the lower quote was based on the information this agent submitted?

Thanks for all input

[Bill]

You have 'Gabel roof'. Hurricanes like to open them up, more so than a 'Hip roof'. Grab what insurance you can, as in Florida, the insurance companies all seem to be jumping ship.

State farm was $500 more than what Liberty Mutual offered me.

[Charles Pisano]

I was also under the impression a hip roof is better. I believe it's also on the loss mitigation form most HO companies provide you with for things they look for to qualify for a discount. (ie roof clips etc).

We got hit with 3 hurricanes in 2 years here in St. Lucie county and I'm grateful to be under $1k a year for my HO's....

I'd cancel the state farm and go elsewhere. They didn't pay off very well for the people of lousiana...

[Charlie Bress]

I had been with State farm in Florida for 25 years. I didn't get canceled but that was not a good thing. They had jacked the price up beyond believe. I found a relatively new company that was not only cheaper than SF's new quote, they were cheaper than the previous barely tolerable year,

This outfit is in the Tampa area. While they did not write a policy for the same house value as SF, there deductible was so much lower that in the event of a total loss the proceeds would be higher.

Check around with independent agents and see if you can find one that sells policies by American Traditions

Charlie

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Looks like a cross gable to me.

A binder is just that. The insurance company has the final say, not the agent.

[gfretwell]

That is not what the insurance company considers a hip roof. You have

3 exposed gable ends

[gfretwell]

Sorry, my mistake FOUR exposed gable ends. Have you done the gable reinforcing recomended by mysafeflorida.com You might be able to do other things on that site for other discounts. They will give you a free inspection and recomendations

[<josh]

I&#39;m not a Florida insurance agent and I don&#39;t know the specifics of your laws, this is just general information, but usually, the language of a binder makes it clear that the binder&#39;s coverage is temporary, and that the company reserves the right to decline coverage or adjust the premium after underwriting the risk.

So, in general, no, you can&#39;t hold them to the quoted rate beyond the temporary coverage period of the binder.

[Doc]

That&#39;s what I thought. There&#39;s absolutely no way to call this a "partial hip" roof correct? Sounds like the agent was engaging in some bait &#39;n switch or just tossing crap and seeing what sticks.

I appreciate the tip, will definitely look into it.

[Stacia]

Not necessarily. When I was in insurance (not in Florida) often the agents weren&#39;t given all the information necessary to make a good underwriting decision. They&#39;d write the policy, then an underwriter would come along and tell the agent he wrote the policy with the wrong terms, so the agent gets the fun of going back to the customer and telling them the policy is now unavailable or more expensive. If the underwriter insists you have a hip roof and you don&#39;t, you should go elsewhere. It means the company has underwriters who aren&#39;t knowledgeable enough to write correct policies. You don&#39;t want to get stuck with a policy that incorrectly defines what type of house, roof, etc. you have, because if you have a claim, that incorrect roof classification could bite you in the butt. Good luck.

Stacia

[<josh]

Or the underwriters are working of a field inspection by a marginally- competent drive-by inspector. An agent I know had a house declined for having an "open foundation" -- actually, it was a brand new concrete foundation, the pictures were so bad the black waterproofing coating on the concrete looked like the shadow of an open foundation.