Homeowner Deductibles

[Sherre]

South Texas is $9000 for 600k and 3% WHH, which is a good one.
We write in NY as well. the coverage and prem's are great in comparison.

 

[ehall2]

State Farm has been using a percentage deductible for years. I have seen deductibles of 1% all the way to 5%. I never liked the percentage deductibles because I could sell a flat $1,000 deductible and be competitive but that is changing in today's market. I am beginning to wonder if State Farm was right with the percentage deductible. I have a friend that is a State Farm agent and he says they have no limitation on the age of the roof and their rates are very competitive. Recently with renewals where I can't move the coverage to another company I have shown the insured's a $2,500 deductible and most insured's are accepting this. I don't know the answer to the homeowner problem but something must be done. I would like to tell the insurance companies to either get in the insurance business or get out. In Georgia Progressive doesn't want any new homeowner business but instead of being honest with the agent and telling us they don't want new business they still advertise for homeowner business but when I take a good risk with a new roof they put a block on the quote and state that the insured must get a home inspection, at their expense, done within 60 days and send it to them and allow at least 15 days for them to let you know if they will insure. Don't piss in my ear and tell me it's raining, just tell me you don't want any homeowner business. I talked to our homeowner rep with Progressive last week and he admitted they don't want any new business.

 

[Policy Monkey]

That's actually not terrible, a lot better than I assumed it would be

I agree. That policy in FL would be twice that price. Even more if it's coastal.

 

[Juannywags]

Agreed, but tell that to the policy holder that was paying $1800 at expiration with a $450K coverage A limit, with a son who is a contractor who can rebuild at $300K.....

I love this response from the insured. I let them know that while they may help you in a bind they arent going to help the insurance carrier if a claim were to arise.

 

[Policy Monkey]

I had a very similar conversation with a grouchy old guy some time back. He kept saying "My son is in construction. He would build this house for way less than that Dwelling amount." Finally I said to him "Next time you see your son, ask him how much he would charge you to build the same house. I'm sure he'd give you the best price in the world. Then ask him how much if it were an insurance job, and watch his eyes light up." The old guy paused and said "OK, I see what you're saying." and it never came up again.

My point is that the carriers know they are not getting any breaks from the contractors. So their cost estimators are at top dollar, including parts, labor, profit and overhead, cutting no corners and pulling all permits.

Above is from a separate post I made last year. Seems relevant here too.

 

[ehall2]

The replacement cost is what would a contractor charge to rebuild the house, not what some general replacement cost software calculates. I can take 5 or more contractors to a house and ask them to tell me what they would charge to rebuild a house and I would get 5 different estimates and the estimates would probably be $50,000 or more less than the replacement cost guide of an insurance company. The guide that the insurance companies use states that, this is a guide only and may not represent the replacement cost of the house.

 

[Dutch]

For us in Nebraska, even when we shop around homes... Premium ends up being around 1% of Dwelling value. So for $400,000 house, it's around $4,000 premium. That's with a flat 2500 or 5000 deductible.

 

[shawnmwalker]

Students of the industry; I was in a meeting last week with a President of a large national carrier. Here are some of my notes:
'Although we have not seen an Insurance Market collapse, yet'...some seem to be well on their way.
'We as an industry have created a product that is not profitable. Until we change it (The product), we'll be in this situation.'
'Property; I think we will be in a protracted hard market for many, many years. ACV is the answer.'

 

[LostDollar]

Many of our customers are switching over to HO2 from HO3, plus maxing out the deductibles.

Non-agent consumer.

What does that mean please?

 

[ehall2]

I am in Georgia. Majority of the companies here don't write an HO2 or HO1 anymore.