Home owner 's insurance

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Author Message   wharfrat Citizen Username: Wharfrat Post Number: 773 Registered: 6-2001 Posted on Tuesday, July 22, 2003 - 5:42 pm:        Now I know there is nothing more boring than discussing insurance! However, friends of ours have recently had their home owner's insurance assigned to another company, at twice the premium. What home insurers are ya'll using these days? Any recommendations? Thanks!   algebra2 Citizen Username: Algebra2 Post Number: 1109 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Tuesday, July 22, 2003 - 8:18 pm:        we have USAA and if at all possible (you must be or have a relative who was in the armed forces -- I got it cause dad was in the coast guard) get it. Really, you can't beat USAA. Great. Reasonable. Helpful. They make everything very very easy.   bklyntonj Citizen Username: Bklyntonj Post Number: 47 Registered: 7-2003 Posted on Tuesday, July 22, 2003 - 9:44 pm:        I just obtained a policy from Allstate. Since it was the same insurance I used in Brooklyn and I plan on insuring my car with them too, I get a discount. But if their premium went up twice as much it sounds like they filed a claim recently.   jab Citizen Username: Jab Post Number: 86 Registered: 3-2003 Posted on Wednesday, July 23, 2003 - 12:08 am:        We had insurance from Chubb for a short time after our closing and the premium was really high. We got the insurance in time for closing, contingent on a home visit after closing, then they doubled our rate. We were able to switch to USAA.   AZ Citizen Username: Azaltsman Post Number: 158 Registered: 1-2003 Posted on Wednesday, July 23, 2003 - 9:04 am:        Wharfrat/Bklyntonj, you're should definitely check out Liberty Mutual or Prudential. Allstate is the one of the highest premium insurers in NJ. I stuck with Prudential from NYC to Maplewood and their rates were competitive. I also use Prudential for home insurance.   bklyntonj Citizen Username: Bklyntonj Post Number: 49 Registered: 7-2003 Posted on Wednesday, July 23, 2003 - 9:19 am:        What!? What's the number for USAA?   #9Dream Citizen Username: 9dream Post Number: 495 Registered: 12-2002 Posted on Wednesday, July 23, 2003 - 9:30 am:        We use Amica Mutual. They're at www.amica.com. Not sure how their rates compare but they're great to deal with. A few days after we moved into our house, the pipe that leads to the sewer backed up, flooding our basement with.....well you know. Our policy specifically states that the sewer pipe is not covered, but they paid us anyway and said not to worry about it.   Hank Zona Citizen Username: Hankzona Post Number: 665 Registered: 3-2002 Posted on Wednesday, July 23, 2003 - 9:36 am:        Ive used Chubb (the Masterpiece policy for homeowners as well as excess liability coverage) for all but the first 3 months Ive owned my home. They are more expensive than others, but not only are they highly rated by Best's and Moody's, they have a really good track record for paying claims. Thats the combination to look for...other highly rated companies may not necessarily be good on the claims paying end. When I had a small fire outside my house on my porch, the Chubb claims rep was there the next morning, a Sunday morning, and was willing to write a check on the spot. When I told him I wanted to get a couple of estimates for the repair work, he didnt pressure me to settle so he could close the file. My premiums did not go up significantly after that, although with the way property and casualty rates have gone up the past couple of years, I suppose it could be different today. Check your policy carefully too..I pay more in premium, but I also am covered for full replacement cost of my house. Some coverages that are less expensive may only reimburse for the assessed value. I unfortunately dont have the USAA option available to me. Firemans Fund and Atlantic Mutual have traditionally been known as good companies for homeowners, but I dont know the rates or availability of coverage.   peteglider Citizen Username: Peteglider Post Number: 177 Registered: 8-2002 Posted on Wednesday, July 23, 2003 - 9:37 am:        BTW -- USAA is a client of mine. They work exceptionally hard to please their clients, across their lines of insurance. IF you can get it -- you will likely be a happy customer for a long time. (usaa.com) Good luck! Pete   jem Citizen Username: Jem Post Number: 749 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Wednesday, July 23, 2003 - 10:59 am:        The only people who are able to use USAA are active duty, national guard, reservists in the US military and their families or in some cases formerly enlisted or an officer in the military (and family members). I once checked to see if my father's veteran status would allow us to use USAA, and it did not.   sportsnut Citizen Username: Sportsnut Post Number: 469 Registered: 10-2001 Posted on Wednesday, July 23, 2003 - 11:01 am:        FWIW, I use Allstate. I had Liberty mutual for my auto insurance and when I inquired about homeowners insurance they informed me that they no longer write policies on homes with in ground oil tanks. As for premiums - Liberty Mutual absolutely refused to remove my 22 yo son from our policy despite the fact that he now lives in another state and has for over a year. He didn't change his license yet but even if he did they still woulnd't remove him. We had three cars at the time a 98, 2001 and 2003. The premium for Liberty Mutual was 5500 per year. My wife and I have spotless records and my son had a not at fault accident. I went to Allstate to get a quote for four cars we recently added another 2002 and it is 5500 for all four cars and they removed my son from our policy. So I don't think the rates differences are significant. However, customer service from Allstate has been light years better than Liberty Mutual. To me that alone would justify a slightly higher premium.   Chief Bangs-head-on-desk Citizen Username: Java_drinker Post Number: 233 Registered: 8-2002 Posted on Wednesday, July 23, 2003 - 11:20 am:        Whatever you do, don't use StateFarm!   peteglider Citizen Username: Peteglider Post Number: 179 Registered: 8-2002 Posted on Wednesday, July 23, 2003 - 2:01 pm:        Why not State Farm? I know they are leaving the state for car insurance, but not home. I have State Farm -- and their service (and rates) are great (for the house). Be good to hear if there are specific concerns about them! BTW -- I understand USAA is opening their requirements a bit -- in terms of former spouse, relatives etc that would make you eligible. Pete   1-2many Citizen Username: Wbg69 Post Number: 170 Registered: 6-2002 Posted on Wednesday, July 23, 2003 - 2:04 pm:        another plug for Chubb, related to the "who's gonna pay for this" department: Chubb was the FIRST in the insurance industry to agree to pay 9/11 claims, and to decline to use the war exclusion to avoid paying. This move is arguably what led to all other insurance companies doing the same. This has cost Chubb, as you might guess, a ****load of money. And, as we should all expect, SOMEONE's gotta pay for it. If Chubb costs a little more, this is one of the reasons why. I use Chubb. In the interest of disclosure, I also represent them, which is how I learned the above.   1-2many Citizen Username: Wbg69 Post Number: 171 Registered: 6-2002 Posted on Wednesday, July 23, 2003 - 2:06 pm:        another plug for Chubb, related to the "who's gonna pay for this" department: Chubb was the FIRST in the insurance industry to agree to pay 9/11 claims, and to decline to use the war exclusion to avoid paying. This move is arguably what led to all other insurance companies doing the same. This has cost Chubb, as you might guess, a ****load of money. And, as we should all expect, SOMEONE's gotta pay for it. If Chubb costs a little more, this is one of the reasons why. I use Chubb. In the interest of disclosure, I also represent them, which is how I learned the above. I am also told, in this capacity, that Chubb reads the term "claim" very broadly, which leads to them covering a lot of would-be-questionable claims. this is great for us insureds.   Dr. Strangelove Citizen Username: Dr_strangelove Post Number: 16 Registered: 3-2003 Posted on Wednesday, July 23, 2003 - 4:18 pm:        Avoid Chubb. When I bought my house my attorney (recommended by my broker, as I knew nobody in Jersey) insisted that I insure it. He called his buddy at Alslop in Summit and hooked me up with a Chubb policy right there at the closing. The broker insured the house for the full purchase price, not the replacement cost. When I said that I felt that that was excessive, the broker told me "no problem, we will send an inspector over as assess the house and adjust the insured value to reflect the actual replacement cost". Needless to say, thier inspector found that the replacement cost for a 90 year old 10 room house was $476,500 (exactly what I paid for the house including the underlying land!) As I figure that the actual replacement cost for the house to be around $150,000 -$175,000, that would be all that they would pay in the event of a claim. (i'm talking about the physical property here, not liability.) Quite p.o.'ed I cancelled the policy as they were attempting to rip me off to the tune of 250%. Chubb my be the first to pay off 9/11 claims, but they sure are making it up other ways. Lucky for me I found this on the NJ State Department of Banking and Insurances web site: http://www.state.nj.us/dobi/acrobat/essex.pdf I now have a policy with Franklin Mutual (Roychock brokerage on Springfied Ave.) for the actual replacement value at about one sixth the price of the Chubb policy. Chubb sucks.   jab Citizen Username: Jab Post Number: 87 Registered: 3-2003 Posted on Wednesday, July 23, 2003 - 4:29 pm:        We had a similar experience with Chubb. Prior to closing we described the house and its location and they said that they insured based on replacement cost, but the number they came up with was similar to the purchase price and that seemed appropriate. After visiting the house post-closing they decided that the replacement cost was really twice as much as the purchase price. We argued for a reduction, explaining that we would never build a house for 2X that would be worth only 1X upon completion, but they insisted that they could not alter the policy. They also claimed that nobody but us ever questions them when told that the replacement cost is higher than the purchase price. So, as stated earlier, we switched to USAA.   xavier67 Citizen Username: Xavier67 Post Number: 217 Registered: 6-2002 Posted on Wednesday, July 23, 2003 - 6:16 pm:        Replacing a 75 year old Colonial exactly as it stands today (without the wear and tear), using the standards with which it was built 75 years ago, will be more than the market value of your house. Unless replacing your old house as it currently stands is of little importance, then Chubb, and their upmarket premium, probably is not for you.   llama Citizen Username: Llama Post Number: 187 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Wednesday, July 23, 2003 - 10:20 pm:        I have had a USAA policy since I bought my house 6 years ago. My house is worth about 400K in this market. My original policy rated the dwelling at 171K, Personal property at 128K, and loss of use at 34K. The premium cost me $550 per year. USAA sent a little survey a few months ago because they had re-calculated the way they appraised everything and wanted to make sure policy holders had adequate coverage. I would guess that anyone covered by USAA will be recieving this letter if they haven't already. I called them up and went through their survey, and low and behold, they calculated the dwelling at 343K, paersonal property at 257K, and loss of use at 69K, effectivively raising my premium to $908 from $550. I was in shock, and questioned them about how thier calculations could be so high, and how I could have been so under-insured and they just said it is a new and more accurate system. I feel cheated, that they are just raising their rates because they need to or can, and am torn between lowering my coverage or possibly being ripped off. I just don't know what to think. I would like to know that Ihave adequate coverage but not be over-charged. Where do I go???   CFA Citizen Username: Cfa Post Number: 945 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Thursday, July 24, 2003 - 5:30 am:        I second Prudential. We have them for car, home and life.   Dave Ross Supporter Username: Dave Post Number: 4902 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Thursday, July 24, 2003 - 7:22 am:        If your employer is a member of the NJ Business & Industry Association, you can get very good policies through the organization's NJM Insurance group. http://www.njm.com/   algebra2 Citizen Username: Algebra2 Post Number: 1111 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Thursday, July 24, 2003 - 9:06 am:        llama -- I have USAA too. I bought about 5 years ago and out house is probably in the same range as yours -- my premium has been in the $908 range the whole time though I believe I have lots of liability insurance (I hope). I haven't gotten a survey yet, then again I probably have tons of unopened mail lying around. What do other people pay for homeowners insurance premiums, I have no idea what is reasonable.   Dave Ross Supporter Username: Dave Post Number: 4904 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Thursday, July 24, 2003 - 9:09 am:        It's going to be different based on amount of coverage, replacement costs for house, if you have a doggie, and other items that actuaries sit up nights thinking about.   llama Citizen Username: Llama Post Number: 188 Registered: 5-2001 Posted on Thursday, July 24, 2003 - 10:39 am:        algebra2; It's quite possible that I was under-paying before, but what is disturbing is that I would have been under-covered over all those years. I also had a problem with the concept of re-building being more costly than the value of my home & property combined. It just didn't seem to make sense, but perhaps it's true. I need to do some research on that. They also have personal property at 257k now, and that seems a bit high. If you haven't gotten the "survey" yet, I would hate to see what they would do to your premium when they re-calculate!   Yonti2323 Citizen Username: Yonti2323 Post Number: 7 Registered: 6-2003 Posted on Thursday, July 24, 2003 - 11:27 am:        We use Liberty Mutual for Home, Auto and Umbrella, and have been very satisfied in terms of both customer service and prices. Our auto rates went up a lot this year, but when we shopped it around, no one could beat their premiums, so we renewed with them.