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insurance on your house 'RANT'

sharpshooter039sharpshooter039 Member Posts: 5,897 ✭✭✭
edited September 2007 in General Discussion
me and state farm are having a little disagreement,,,

lets say you have a house ,market/replacement value is 200k,this amount was set by their agent at inspection.their way is if the house is destroyed they will pay up to this amount to rebuild it,,I think if it is destroyed they should cut me a check for the amount the house is worth minus what is owed on the mortgage,if I want to rebuild ok,,if I want to by a damn old double wide that should be ok also...if I am paying the premiums based on 200k what does it matter to them how I choose to do it,,,I ask if I had a car worth 10k and it was wrecked,,do they go out and buy another car just like the one wrecked or do they cut a check to the owner for the value of the car,,I was told it is not the same thing..
2nd thing is contents,,I was told my insurance covered 200k worth of contents and part of what I pay is based on this,you only get this amount if you can show you lost this amount,I do not have 200k worth of junk in my house so I could never show a loss this big,,I told them I wanted contents dropped to 100k and my premiums dropped to match and I was told they would drop contents if I wanted but the premiums would not drop

Comments

  • ElMuertoMonkeyElMuertoMonkey Member Posts: 12,898
    edited November -1
    Sounds like more bull$#!t insurance agent, aka rip-off artist, double speak. You pay your money into a plan that's supposed to cover your @$$ when the $#!t hits the fan and when the day comes, they tell ya the price of toilet paper just went up.

    Mind you, insurance is like a gun - I'd rather have it and not need than need it and not have it - but boy oh boy if it isn't a real pain in the neck when you need it, you have it, and it doesn't do you a bit of good.

    It's a legislated racket - the law says you need it or you can't drive, rent, or buy. But most of the times they'll nickel and dime you so much that once you get it, you can't afford to do any of the above.[xx(]
  • iluvgunsiluvguns Member Posts: 5,351
    edited November -1
    Not real sure what your beef is. They will rebuilt up to $200K. If you want more, you pay the difference. My insurance is that way. I guess your problem is this: my ins. company will pay me up to $200K (if that is what I have it insured for) and I can do what I want with it. Again, if I want to go over $200K, the overage is on me. As far as replacement furnishings...INVENTORY, INVENTORY, and INVENTORY! Video cameras make that really easy. Save ALL your receipts from major purchases. You do have to document EVERYTHING! When I was 13, our home burnt. Didn't burn to the ground, but smoke and water damage "totaled" it. Spent weeks recording every item that was in it. Then after I got married, we had a home burn to the ground. Thankfully, I had a tape of the contents and receipts stored in a lock box at my bank.
  • EVILDR235EVILDR235 Member Posts: 4,398 ✭✭
    edited November -1
    I live on top of a hill and have to pay for flood insurance.In order for my house to be damaged in a flood,Portland Oregon would have to be 200 feet under water.On the flip side,my mother lives in Northern California right next to a creek that floods every few years.In 60 years of living in the same house,her yard has never has a drop of flood water in it.Her side of the creek bank is 4 feet higher than the other side of the creek bank and flood water always flows away from her house.She cannot get flood insurance.
    XXXXXX
  • sharpshooter039sharpshooter039 Member Posts: 5,897 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Not real sure what your beef is
    my beef is the fact I am paying every year for a policy supposed to be worth 200k,,,if I ever needed it state farm or any insueance company should not have the right to tell me I have to rebuild to get it,,even then I dont get the money,,it goes into a fund to pay the rebuild bills and if my rebuild only cost 175k they keep the difference,,,if I pay for a 200k policy I should get 200k " minus mortgage" to spend any way I want ,,I only owe 30k on this place,,if it did burn state farm should send mortgage company pay off and me the rest and then on top of that to force me to pay more for contents than I could ever use,,,next week I will be hunting a new company to deal with [:(!],,I have been with State Farm for 20yrs but this is a rip for me
  • TexasVetTexasVet Member Posts: 2,847 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by sharpshooter039
    me and state farm are having a little disagreement,,,

    lets say you have a house ,market/replacement value is 200k,this amount was set by their agent at inspection.their way is if the house is destroyed they will pay up to this amount to rebuild it,,I think if it is destroyed they should cut me a check for the amount the house is worth minus what is owed on the mortgage,if I want to rebuild ok,,if I want to by a damn old double wide that should be ok also...if I am paying the premiums based on 200k what does it matter to them how I choose to do it,,,I ask if I had a car worth 10k and it was wrecked,,do they go out and buy another car just like the one wrecked or do they cut a check to the owner for the value of the car,,I was told it is not the same thing..
    2nd thing is contents,,I was told my insurance covered 200k worth of contents and part of what I pay is based on this,you only get this amount if you can show you lost this amount,I do not have 200k worth of junk in my house so I could never show a loss this big,,I told them I wanted contents dropped to 100k and my premiums dropped to match and I was told they would drop contents if I wanted but the premiums would not drop


    Easy to fix ... Change insurance companies. That's what I did when State Farm dropped mold and water damage coverage. I went with Germania; their rates were 20% less than State Farm
  • iluvgunsiluvguns Member Posts: 5,351
    edited November -1
    I wasn't real clear what your beef was after reading your first post. Now I am! Like TexasVet says...change companies. End of problem!
  • JamesRKJamesRK Member Posts: 25,670 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Another vote for change companies.
    The road to hell is paved with COMPROMISE.
  • linthicumlinthicum Member Posts: 825 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I'd be upset if I had payed 200k in premiums, If you payed 10k a year for 20 years. But more than likely you have not payed no where near 200k . If they pay back more than what you have payed them, I can't see much of a problem.
  • linthicumlinthicum Member Posts: 825 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    quote:Originally posted by linthicum
    I'd be upset if I had payed 200k in premiums, If you payed 10k a year for 20 years. But more than likely you have not payed no where near 200k . If they pay back more than what you have payed them, I can't see much of a problem.
  • n/an/a Member Posts: 168,427
    edited November -1
    I changed from State Farm to ALFA, State Farm is BAD, remember Katrina, thank goodness they lost that law suit with that Missisippi family.
  • A J ChristA J Christ Member Posts: 7,534
    edited November -1
    Time to tell your insurance carrier to take a hike and get insurance elsewhere.

    Wife's friend is just getting into the insurance business. She really went out of her way to get our business and then proceeded to get us better coverage at a better price, with the same company. My motorcycle insurance dropped by half, house went up $39 but the coverage almost doubled.

    Point is, shop around.
  • gunnut505gunnut505 Member Posts: 10,290
    edited November -1
    First off, insurance is supposed to make things the way they were before you had a claim (if you chose that coverage); NOT make you filthy rich, pay off your mortgage, buy a new car, get you laid or anything else.
    Most companies will pay the mortgage company instead of the homeowner because that's who owns the house. If there's anything left over; they pay to rebuild/repair with like-kind materials or construction.
    If you don't keep current with your inventory and suffer a loss; your loss. They are not the Tooth Fairy.
    Be sure and remember Katrina; BILLIONS of dollars in fraud, false claims, outright theft & extreme overpadding of claims have caused most insurance premiums to rise NATIONWIDE to keep the companies solvent. I'm not an insurance agent, nor do I play one on the internet; I just think that if it were your company cutting all those checks, you'd want a coupla ground rules as well.
    I have SF home insurance, and for the paltry sum of $135 a year; they cover my house (total replacement with like materials-cinder block) and I have $75K contents coverage. That should replace everything handily.
    I also have more pix, video and receipts than anyone I've ever met.
    But if SF is making you unhappy; go with any other company, and good luck.
  • allen griggsallen griggs Member Posts: 35,183 ✭✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    Dennis is right. Lots of people would like to get out of their current house situation. Right now, with the drop in house values nationwide, there are lots of people who would like to sell to prevent foreclosure, but it is hard to sell in this market.
    If, taking the figures from your case, the house "happened" to burn down,the mortgage co. would be all paid off, and you would get a check for $170K, there would be a big increase in arson.
    Arson is one of the most difficult crimes to solve, ie, people usually get away with it.
  • PennyPincherPennyPincher Member Posts: 126 ✭✭✭
    edited November -1
    I feel for you but read the policy closely and you will see that it has some magic words like "up to" and "for" which means they won't pay more than and they won't pay for anything other than what has been designated. In other words they aren't going to cut you a check to go spend as you wish. Same thing with long term disability. My sister in law works for a major insurance carrier and all she does is ask for money back from the disabled! I love giving her a hard time. The deal is when you buy LTD you think the insurer is going to hand you over 60-75% of your pretax income (depending on your selection)if you are disabled right? WRONG! If you qualify for disability from the government they will make you apply for it and then let's say you only get 40% of your pretax income from SS. The insurer will cover the other 20-35% (again, depending on your policy). I always wondered why this stuff was so cheap. Remember, an insurance companies goal is to make money not pay it out!
  • spryorspryor Member Posts: 9,155
    edited November -1
    Tis a racket indeed!!
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