Homeowners Insurance Carrier Say I Owe

[fallonboy]

I just purchased a house and got the homeowners through a big agent in town. The annual premium was paid for at closing.

I just got a bill in the mail from the carrier saying I have a balance of $100+.

Is this the ole bait and switch? Do I have any recourse?

Thanks

 

[Mark]

Call your local insurance dept, if you feel like he lied or tricked you.

 

[Sales71]

Maybe the house was inspected and the insurance company thinks it needs more coverage. It happens. Just call ur agent and ask why did ur premium go up.

 

[FL P&C Broker]

Can easily happen if he didn't fill out the replacement cost estimator right or maybe he gave you credit for an alarm system and somebody failed to send a copy to the carrier.

 

[VolAgent]

Seriously, the first thought you had is that someone is out to cheat you? It can't be something legitimate or even an honest mistake? No, someone is automatically trying to cheat you...

 

[Guest]

so your first course of action was to probaly google to find this forum and not call the agent yet?

Could be a simple error, maybe the auto/home discount wasnt applied,

Maybe the inspection revealed something.

Maybe, this, maybe that, call the friggin agent, it aint rocket science man.

 

[fallonboy]

Thanks for the replies.

I did call agent as soon as I opened the bill. She said she called the underwriter was waiting for a call back.

Hey...this is Florida. Insurance is high and not alot of choices. I guess I should take it in the shorts so to speak and be happy.

 

[VolAgent]

No one is saying you should pay more than is necessary. But there is no reason to jump to conclusions as to why the premium increased.

 

[Josh]

Call your local insurance dept, if you feel like he lied or tricked you.

Come on Mark, why are you always jumping to that? Why not let the insurance department go after people who actually did something wrong rather than field BS complaints.

This could be something as simple as the replacement cost being off because the guy misinformed the insurance company what the build quality or other info on the house is. Heck, the guy could have simply remembered the premium wrong. Do you really think an agent should be getting hassled by the DOI because of a client making a mistake? If the agent actually lied to him that would be one thing, but there should be a few steps between here and there.

I think the best next step would be to find out the reason for the increase. I would bet good money that something changed like the bank wanted a lower deductible, replacement cost was too low, etc and that was the reason for the suspected increase.

To the OP: You can usually always switch carriers and you can shop it around, but there is a good chance this was a misunderstanding. Why is the agent saying there was an increase? Does it say something on the letter about why the adjustment happened? To answer your question, no, this isn't bait and switch, it's most likely the equivalent of you having the butcher sell you 10 pounds of steak and putting the price on it, then you want to add another 2 pounds of steak and not have the price go up. That make more sense?
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Maybe, this, maybe that, call the friggin agent, it aint rocket science man.

Spoken like a true P&C guy!

 

[joshb]

Thanks for the replies.

I did call agent as soon as I opened the bill. She said she called the underwriter was waiting for a call back.

Hey...this is Florida. Insurance is high and not alot of choices. I guess I should take it in the shorts so to speak and be happy.

FallonBoy, Which carrier is it? I too am in Florida, represent MOST of the carriers in the state, and there are a few that are notorious for changing coverage amounts after coverage is bound. They have up to 90 days in Florida to underwrite the policy and make any changes that they deem necessary to insure the home properly, so if you were to file a complaint it won't hold any ground. Let me know which carrier, and that will probably explain it.