A Claim is a Claim

[galoisi]

I only sell Life, and Annuities..........know nothing about P+C.....was with a client last night, he asked me if it was true that if you make a claim on your home owners policy, and the company declines it.....it still counts as a claim on your policy, I said I didn't know but could find out.............Is that true? He also said his bro-in-law was his agent......anyway thanks for your help......

 

[briko3]

I've heard that it will count against you even if you call to ask about a claim...dont know if that's true either.

 

[galoisi]

Thanks for your reply........
Maybe someone else can shoot me an opinion......

 

[agentjaf]

Yes, with some companies, it certainly is true that if you file a claim and they deny it OR if it is below your deductible so they don't pay anything out, they will hold it against you. State Farm is an example of that, but they are not the only ones.

However, as far as I know, they cannot hold a claim against you for just ASKING about filing it. If they are doing that, the company you are insured with is probably not a very reputable one and you may think about looking elsewhere...

 

[djs]

Hmmm, wonder if this varies by state. I don't remember ever seeing a home claim that wasn't paid actually end up being rated against the insured. It might happen, just haven't ran into that. I've had lots of claims filed with no payout in the end, so I know the situation, just haven't ever seen it rated.

People call me all the time about claims. I talk them through it. Sometimes I recommend they file it, sometimes I recommend they don't. The typical one is a 20' section of 30 year old fence blew over in the windstorm and they have a $1000 deductible. Not really worth filing a claim since the damage is split between you and the neighbor and the repair costs will be below the deductible.

Fence company comes along and wants to replace the ENTIRE fence, not just the damaged area (it's all 30 years old). This is not the insurance companies responsibility. Yes, I lost a client over this scenerio once, but he wasn't rated for it. He just felt we were responsible to replace more of the fence.

Dan