HO insurance overcharge

[flatrock]

I wanted to relate a home owners insurance overcharge situation that I have gone thru recently. For the past few years my HO ins. premium kept on going up significantly. I would call the agent and was told a number of different reasons. Its replacement value ins. so the premium does vary with building costs. Finally, my last bill was unbelievably high. At this point I foundmy house replacement value was twice what is should be. After a bitter argument where the agent refused to lower the replacement value I changed agents but stayed with the same insurance company. At this point I found out the insruance company had my house listed as having a full basement, architectural shingles, attached masonry garage, ornate woodwork, & deck. My house has none of these items and never has. This underwriting information does not appear on the annual declaration. Its hard to figure exactly but my best guess I was overcharged around $2000. I contacted the underwriter directly and was able to negotiate a one thousand dollar refund & get my replacement value & annual premium significantly reduced. Watch your replacement value which is on the annual bill declaration and if you think it significantly more than what it costs to rebuild your house you need to investigate.

[Lady Valerio]

I agree with your suggestion. But keep in mind that all markets are different. While in your case you were being overinsured in some markets houses can become underinsured because inflation does not keep up with the market trends. It's important to research the market, review your annual tax assessment and finally your insurance policy.

[Fern]

1st, goog doing on getting a refund and all.

It's good advice, i always feel a little unsure of whether i have the right coverage; i've questioned them several times. I will have to really examine my next bill and check the replacement value. i have never seen it listed anywhere before.

[flatrock]

HO insurance

I checked with a few builders and a bank loan officer to get a rough ideal of the current square foot price to build a home like mine in my area. The problem was the replacement value price on the policy exceeded that price by about $100,000. The insurance company in fact agreed it was too much.
Please remember though replacement value is different from the market price if you listed it. They may or may not be the same. You need a rough ideal of what it costs on a square foot basis to build a house in your area & then using your homes square footage compare that against whats on the policy. I also intially had alot of trouble even talking to the insurance company about this. I had to revert to 1) Keep calm, do not use profanity,2) Hit the up escalator button to talk to the mgr.3) Persevere

[Ima saver]

We figure a price of about $110 a square foot. Poured concrete basement walls are figured at $25 a square foot which includes land clearing, septic,, etc. and the garage is about $25 sq. ft. You should not include the cost of the land.

[mom-from-missouri]

Years ago I worked part time for an insuance agent. At that time, he was paid a commission based on the premium that the customer paid. If were you, I'd double check any othe policies you bought from him as well. Of course, I am not saying it was deliberate, but one never knows. On a related issue, my PP tax was very high one year on my CHEVETTE. Turns out the county had it down as a CORVETTE. Everything was entered in the computer by code--chevette was 1 digit different that a corvette. Honest mistake.