Homeowner's Insurance Not Renewed: A Rant

officerripley

officerripley

Well-known Member
Location
Porlock, Calif
So after 35 years with the same local insurance broker, we got informed yesterday that our homeowner's insurance will not be renewed. The letter says, "Non-renewal - Underwriting Reasons, Loss History." Also last year, on the Wildfire Risk Classification (which has a scale of 0-no risk to 100-severe risk), they had us at 0, no risk. This letter says we are now at 59 moderate risk; nothing has changed in our property or any of the properties around us but we jumped more than halfway up the scale.

We did file a claim (which they approved & covered) a few months back for water damage in a bedroom closet due to the air conditioner's pipe leaking. Maybe that's what did it?

Anyway, since this is the long Labor Day weekend, we won't be able to call anybody now 'till Tuesday so get to worry about this all weekend. I hope we can find another company to insure us. So tired of living on this stupid old great big place...
 

Oh, Lord. Don't get me started on this! To begin with, I have never had a claim and my credit score is over 800.

When my homeowners insurance came due in mid-May, they had again increased the premium. I shopped around and purchased a policy with a different company (Allstate). Two weeks later, I received a letter saying they were cancelling the new policy effective in July unless I did some wild fire mitigation which would have meant bringing in a bull-dozer. I shopped around and every single company I called said, "No, wild-fire risk." I called the original company and asked if they would reinstate the policy. It was two weeks past the renewal date. They said no. Wild-fire risk. Ended up with USAA (much more expensive). USAA said they had no problems with wild fire risk.

A week or two later, received a letter from the original company offering to reinstate the original policy if I paid the entire year's premium plus a ten dollar "late fee". What??? Suddenly the wild-fire risk is gone? WTH?! I reinstated the policy, which meant that now I was covered by two companies. Reason: they would send out an "inspector" and I was concerned USAA would then cancel me. Waited for two months, then cancelled the USAA policy after reading an article that said they were one of the top five companies to deny claims for the Eton wildfire in California.

Last week, I received a letter from the mortgage company stating I didn't have insurance and they would purchase a policy for me that would be more expensive with less coverage. I called the insurance company and they said they had sent the notice of insurance to the wrong address. Argh!!!

This whole thing cost me hundreds of wasted dollars. I am so angry at the entire insurance industry. Eff them all. When my mortgage is paid off (a few more years, I hope), I will either not carry homeowners insurance or will purchase a specific policy (i.e., wild-fire coverage only).

Good luck!
 
Last year I received a cancellation notice. The insurer had sent around a drone and didn't like how close a few branches were to my house. After spending $6,000 to remedy the situation I was reinstated.

My theory is that with so many major weather events throughout the country they are desperately trying to cut costs and we share the burden. What climate change?
 

GoodEnuff said:
I am so angry at the entire insurance industry.
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Me too. I've researched this a little bit this morning and there's something called the FAIR act that is supposed to help if you can't find homeowners insurance. So I went to their website and it says the best way to use the FAIR act is to contact a broker for it so put in your zip code and we'll give you a list of the FAIR brokers for your area. So I do that and there are no FAIR brokers in this area or within 50 miles. So it says put in your zip code again and we'll give you a list of the companies who MIGHT insure you. So I do that, and one of the companies listed is the one that's not going to renew us.

I wish Tuesday would hurry up and get here so I can start working on this.

Some friends (well, it's just the wife now since the husband passed away) of ours are trying to sell their house and it's not selling. I already knew part of the reason is that they have solar panels leased from 2 diff. companies and if people want to buy the house, they have to apply to the solar companies to take over the loan. But now I'm remembering that a few years back, their homeowner's ins. co. cancelled them because it said they were in a high theft risk area (they lived on the corner of a busy street) and they had filed 2 claims of theft out of their garage and 1 claim when a stoned-on-marijuana teenager tried to turn that corner too fast and ran his car into the side of their house.

So they finally got homeowners' ins. by going to their auto ins. co and begging them to ins. the house too and they had to pay a lot and had less coverage than before. So I'm wondering if prospective buyers are finding that out and deciding they don't want the house.
 
I have State Farm, which has stopped covering homes in some states, but they still insure in Texas. Only thing is, my homeowner's premium has tripled in the past 3 years. I have auto with them as well, and strangely, it went down a bit each of the past 2 years, but not enough to offset the increase in the homeowner premium.

People who have mortgages are required to have homeowners insurance, or the lender can (and usually does) apply single interest insurance, which only protects the lender for the amount of the outstanding loan balance, while offering little or no benefit to the homeowner. Those who do not have a mortgage may find it difficult if not impossbible to replace a home and all the contents from their own funds if it was destroyed by a tornado, fire, etc.

I used to get insurance quotes every year, but it seems they don't even want new business anymore. We are made to feel that we're lucky if an insurance company will even accept us at all.
 
officerripley said:
So after 35 years with the same local insurance broker, we got informed yesterday that our homeowner's insurance will not be renewed. The letter says, "Non-renewal - Underwriting Reasons, Loss History." Also last year, on the Wildfire Risk Classification (which has a scale of 0-no risk to 100-severe risk), they had us at 0, no risk. This letter says we are now at 59 moderate risk; nothing has changed in our property or any of the properties around us but we jumped more than halfway up the scale.

We did file a claim (which they approved & covered) a few months back for water damage in a bedroom closet due to the air conditioner's pipe leaking. Maybe that's what did it?

Anyway, since this is the long Labor Day weekend, we won't be able to call anybody now 'till Tuesday so get to worry about this all weekend. I hope we can find another company to insure us. So tired of living on this stupid old great big place...
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Someone probly already said it, but this is likely happening because the insurance companies are taking big hits after that major wildfire in and around LA. Some of them might have to go out of business. It's a really messed-up situation.
 
OfficerRipley, have you asked other neighbours if their insurance has been cancelled or who they use. At least let them know there may be a problem in their future.

Around here you can’t get a mortgage, if you can’t get insurance. I know of a person who can’t sell because of the wiring. Even with a drop in the price of the house, it’s not enough to encourage someone to come in and spend thousands on redoing the place.
 
officerripley said:
Me too. I've researched this a little bit this morning and there's something called the FAIR act that is supposed to help if you can't find homeowners insurance. So I went to their website and it says the best way to use the FAIR act is to contact a broker for it so put in your zip code and we'll give you a list of the FAIR brokers for your area. So I do that and there are no FAIR brokers in this area or within 50 miles. So it says put in your zip code again and we'll give you a list of the companies who MIGHT insure you. So I do that, and one of the companies listed is the one that's not going to renew us.

I wish Tuesday would hurry up and get here so I can start working on this.

Some friends (well, it's just the wife now since the husband passed away) of ours are trying to sell their house and it's not selling. I already knew part of the reason is that they have solar panels leased from 2 diff. companies and if people want to buy the house, they have to apply to the solar companies to take over the loan. But now I'm remembering that a few years back, their homeowner's ins. co. cancelled them because it said they were in a high theft risk area (they lived on the corner of a busy street) and they had filed 2 claims of theft out of their garage and 1 claim when a stoned-on-marijuana teenager tried to turn that corner too fast and ran his car into the side of their house.

So they finally got homeowners' ins. by going to their auto ins. co and begging them to ins. the house too and they had to pay a lot and had less coverage than before. So I'm wondering if prospective buyers are finding that out and deciding they don't want the house.
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You don't have to live near a broker to get the Calif FAIR plan. You can do it through their website. Most people who do it get the fire insurance through them, and get the rest of their coverage from a local broker (It's called a wrap-around plan). It's still not cheap, but it relieves the regular insurance companies of the wildfire risk.

The problem came about because of Prop 103 which limits the rate increases by insurance companies. If it wasn't in effect, then the insurance companies could just raise rates to cover the risks. To get rate increases (Because of 103), they have to open their books to the Insurance commissioner and prove that their payouts justify the increase.

Here's the horrible wrinkle in that. An area may not have had a wildfire in ten years, and there is no justification for an increase. However, all it takes is one major fire and the company could be out hundreds of millions of dollars that is not in their coffers to pay out. They want lots of money in the bank to be able to offset those claims, but Prop 103 doesn't work that way. So, the insurance companies have said, "Fine, we will just stop writing policies for people we feel are in harm's way". It's a real pickle.

No one wants to revoke 103 because it will surely mean rates will go up, but if they don't, then they may not get any insurance at all. The FAIR (Unfair) plan may be the only option,
 
Jules said:
OfficerRipley, have you asked other neighbours if their insurance has been cancelled or who they use. At least let them know there may be a problem in their future.
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I've only talked to one neighbor so far and she said her ins. hasn't been cancelled; I didn't ask which company though. My BIL, however who lives about 2 hours away in a forested area said this happened to him about 2 years ago and it took a long time to find a company that would ins. his house and the premium is much higher but covers a lot less. But at least he does have ins.
 
officerripley said:
So after 35 years with the same local insurance broker, we got informed yesterday that our homeowner's insurance will not be renewed. The letter says, "Non-renewal - Underwriting Reasons, Loss History." Also last year, on the Wildfire Risk Classification (which has a scale of 0-no risk to 100-severe risk), they had us at 0, no risk. This letter says we are now at 59 moderate risk; nothing has changed in our property or any of the properties around us but we jumped more than halfway up the scale.

We did file a claim (which they approved & covered) a few months back for water damage in a bedroom closet due to the air conditioner's pipe leaking. Maybe that's what did it?

Anyway, since this is the long Labor Day weekend, we won't be able to call anybody now 'till Tuesday so get to worry about this all weekend. I hope we can find another company to insure us. So tired of living on this stupid old great big place...
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Insurance companies in Calif. are seizing the opportunity to gouge ans squeeze the homeowner's policy holders to death. Some people in this area have had their homeowner's policies cancelled because of the fires within the local zip codes. I've been expecting cancellation for a couple years now, the premiums have tripled.
 
New fire maps were released for CA based on the increasing damage from wind-blown embers. As we all know, the dry hot Santa Ana aka Devil Winds do not spread wildfires evenly; embers carried by the winds will set homes on fire that are miles away from an active fire border.

2025 new CalFire hazard zone maps

(The issue is not just CA, btw: 80% of all U.S. home construction within the last 75 years has been in the increasingly dangerous WUI: wildland-urban interface areas. Insurers are also starting to pressure the Feds to update flood maps, which are SERIOUSLY out of date.)

A look back at the Berkeley wildfire 100 yrs ago
In 1923 the northeast end of the city of Berkeley burned. If the winds had not died down it is estimated the entire city would have possibly burned all the way from the eastern hills down to its SF Bay waterfront. Interestingly, UC students helped save campus buildings, freeing up firefighters for other firelines.

1991 Tunnel Fire Oakland/Berkeley hills
The Oakland firestorm of 1991, also known as the Tunnel Fire, was a suburban wildland–urban interface conflagration covering over 1,500 acres that occurred on the hills of northern Oakland, California, and southeastern Berkeley over the weekend of October 19–20, 1991.
(We live in the hills area, and were within 2 miles of the mandatory evacuation area)

And of course, the stunning interactive 2025 Palisades fire map:
(from KCAL News)
Palisades fire map progression
=====
Please note: we Californians take this info for granted, but for the many others who may be unfamiliar with the quirks of our weather/geography, I thought these links would help them understand the dangers of our wildfires to the now-crowded urban/suburban areas.
 
About 17 years ago, I received a notice from my homeowner's insurance company that they were cancelling my insurance because of "tree limbs" over my roof. Huh? I went out to look and a tree that was on city property had a branch that stretched across my narrow side yard and extended less than 18" over my roof, and that was just the thin leafy little branch end.

I complained and they said, nope, sorry, it's over your yard and it either has to go or we'll cancel. You have six weeks to mitigate it. I said that it was a city tree and I wasn't going to be allowed to cut it. Sorry, not sorry.....

I called the "Urban Forester" (really) and was told I'd be put on a list for trimming that was about six months long. SIX MONTHS??? I got all weepy and pulled the Poor-Old-Widow-Woman-Gonna-Lose-Her-Insurance schtick on him and he said he'd see what he could do to move me up. I came home from work the next day and the entire branch, all the way to the tree, was gone. Nothing over my yard at all.

I took pictures from all directions and sent them to the insurance company. They reluctantly told me that I was in compliance and wouldn't be cancelled.

My insurance agent said that the companies were trying to cancel as many policies in Florida as possible after all the hurricanes. They were especially going after the cheaper houses because they weren't getting enough fees to make it worth while. But the state wouldn't let them cancel willy-nilly....they had to come up with passable reasons. So they were looking at anything.....
 
MACKTEXAS said:
I have State Farm, which has stopped covering homes in some states, but they still insure in Texas. Only thing is, my homeowner's premium has tripled in the past 3 years. I have auto with them as well, and strangely, it went down a bit each of the past 2 years, but not enough to offset the increase in the homeowner premium.

People who have mortgages are required to have homeowners insurance, or the lender can (and usually does) apply single interest insurance, which only protects the lender for the amount of the outstanding loan balance, while offering little or no benefit to the homeowner. Those who do not have a mortgage may find it difficult if not impossbible to replace a home and all the contents from their own funds if it was destroyed by a tornado, fire, etc.

I used to get insurance quotes every year, but it seems they don't even want new business anymore. We are made to feel that we're lucky if an insurance company will even accept us at all.
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Same here. I've had auto and homeowners insurance with State Farm for decades. My auto insurance hasn't changed much but my homeowner's insurance has increased significantly.

It is unfortunate, but State Farm has completely withdrawn from CA and FL due to fires and hurricanes. State Farm continued my insurance when I moved from Central to South Florida after many hurricanes but my parents, who moved there in 1996, were no longer covered and were forced to take some type of multi-company insurance.

It has just become a fact of life. Insurance companies make their money on covering catastrophes that don't usually happen. These days, catastrophes are likely to happen in any location.
 
Here is my plan, NO INSURANCE!

It sounds crazy, let me explain. My plans were put on hold when I moved back to AZ to help my ex-wife.

Going to live off grid in New Mexico on cheap land a few miles out of town. The cost of my cabin will be about 15k and I will set aside that much for insurance on the structure. My social security will easily allow me to replace that fund every couple of years. So if my cabin burns down, gets washed away, or blown up by the drug cartels, I'll just replace it or keep replacing it if necessary. If not it will be more money for my kids when I croak. I'll have an RV as backup, when building or rebuilding.

I know, this sounds pretty bizarre, but at least I will have freedom from crooked insurance companies.
I will probably quit driving a car and depend on motorscooters for transportation, so no auto insurance required. Heck, if I moved to a South American country, I wouldn't need health insurance either.

I'm living in a converted cabin now, got rid of my crap several years ago. Been experimenting with solar and water solutions, so I won't be struggling to adapt.

I know this sounds extreme to most people. But living simply is actually more difficult to conquer mentally than physically. It is easier than one could imagine, way less stress, peaceful and very satisfying(y)
 
We’re desperate to have insurance to protect our investment in our home. They know it and make us jump through hoops to get it and jump through different hoops if ever we need to make a claim.

Whenever there’s a fire, you can count on a year before they even approve it. They have to look for a way to turn you down first. For those who lost homes in recent major wildfires, most are still waiting.
 
Last year my cellar flooded due to remnants of TS Debby. I filed a claim. With what it would cost to have a professional water remediation service do it (cheapest estimate was $12,000) and the material loss (probably about $500), they only allowed me $5000. I got my neighbor to help me and with what he charged and the roll-off dumpster rental, I just about broke even - not taking into consideration the property loss. When I got my invoice this summer, my premium had gone up $1440 for six months. I don't know about being in good hands with this company - all I got was a finger!
 
My BIL lives in a little blue collar/working class town but it does have one neighborhood with big fancy high dollar homes that belong to professionals who commute an hour away to a city that's not as nice as the little town because it's not forested and is hotter in the summer. Well, he just told us that almost every house in that ritzy area is up for sale because the homeowners ins has gone up so much.
 
officerripley said:
And an add-on rant to this: We got the word about the ins. not being renewed day-before-yesterday. Then, yesterday, we got a letter saying our primary care physician (Huzz and I go to the same one) is leaving, so now we're gonna have to look for a new doctor, sigh.
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I was wondering how you were doing, so i checked back at this thread.
That's sure a rough and stressful week for you. 🙄😒
 
I feel so bad for you my friend. I hope you can find coverage and a new doctor who is good, soon! I've had Allstate forever, but I live in a co-op apartment, not a house. Also, we are not in a flood zone and there have been no major fires in the area in decades (even then not in my neighborhood). I know you hate living where you are but can't move and that really sucks! :cautious:
 
officerripley said:
So after 35 years with the same local insurance broker, we got informed yesterday that our homeowner's insurance will not be renewed. The letter says, "Non-renewal - Underwriting Reasons, Loss History." Also last year, on the Wildfire Risk Classification (which has a scale of 0-no risk to 100-severe risk), they had us at 0, no risk. This letter says we are now at 59 moderate risk; nothing has changed in our property or any of the properties around us but we jumped more than halfway up the scale.

We did file a claim (which they approved & covered) a few months back for water damage in a bedroom closet due to the air conditioner's pipe leaking. Maybe that's what did it?

Anyway, since this is the long Labor Day weekend, we won't be able to call anybody now 'till Tuesday so get to worry about this all weekend. I hope we can find another company to insure us. So tired of living on this stupid old great big place...
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I received a notice Friday that our county has reassessed all our property values and mine went up significantly. Of course home value is one of the metrics used in determining your insurance premiums so next year I'll get a double whammy, property tax increase and insurance premium increase.

You try and position yourself to be financially secure but these kind of uncontrollably expenses hurt.
 

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