AAA won't renew our homeowners insurance
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Originally Posted by Blkstanger
AAA did the same to me a few year ago. Then they kept upping my Auto rates for no reason. Zero claims! I dumped them fast.
I like their towing service ... I'll probably not get rid of that unless they give me a reason to. But I got a quote on their homeowners and auto insurance - both of which were more than twice what I currently pay. Except the AAA coverage was less in all instances. No thanks!
AAA did the same to me a few year ago. Then they kept upping my Auto rates for no reason. Zero claims! I dumped them fast.
I like their towing service ... I'll probably not get rid of that unless they give me a reason to. But I got a quote on their homeowners and auto insurance - both of which were more than twice what I currently pay. Except the AAA coverage was less in all instances. No thanks!
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
Stunning spread
Glad to hear you got it sorted through Farmers.
It happened to me 8 years ago when USAA advised us it would not continue our HO and wind policy because we live on the NC coast (hurricane risk). This came after being fully insured by USAA since 1986.
Deal with it, and write a complaint letter to your state insurance commission.
Deal with it, and write a complaint letter to your state insurance commission.
Sam_Julier
$50 Site Donor 2024
Not surprised. I've changed home insurance three times in the past 9 years. The biggest increase was after hurricanes Sandy and Irene and then the blizzard which dumped 44" in 18 hours. I'm now with Liberty Mutual. They offered me the highest coverage per premium dollar I've ever had for a home that was built in 1934.
Sam
Sam
Originally Posted by Miller88
I like their towing service ...
OP here, the first and only time in 40 years I used AAA's towing service. Not good.
Scott
https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4960771/1
I like their towing service ...
OP here, the first and only time in 40 years I used AAA's towing service. Not good.
Scott
https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/4960771/1
Supposedly, AAA is advising this non-renewal only affects 1% of their homeowner policies but I'm sure they'll be the first to cancel you based on a AAA photographer taking shots of your house versus a full inspection if there are underwriter changes and they blame it on weather related issues.
The insurance industry in CA was already given a setback when they lost to the state over their actuarial table fraud in auto insurance rates thus giving CA drivers cheaper rates sooo...you wonder if something similar will be forthcoming as a result of these fires and what they can legally attribute to risk.
I have an inguinal hernia that was apparently caused by unproductive coughing I had following the October fires. Basically, one day's exposure I couldn't avoid after hunkering down for the previous 7 days. I wonder if I would ever get recourse for a lax, incompetent "monopoly-think" organization like PG&E that starts these fires. Nope..but I'm sure an insurance company's ability to attribute X to your cancellation is still relatively unquestioned by the regulators. That may change in the future....
The insurance industry in CA was already given a setback when they lost to the state over their actuarial table fraud in auto insurance rates thus giving CA drivers cheaper rates sooo...you wonder if something similar will be forthcoming as a result of these fires and what they can legally attribute to risk.
I have an inguinal hernia that was apparently caused by unproductive coughing I had following the October fires. Basically, one day's exposure I couldn't avoid after hunkering down for the previous 7 days. I wonder if I would ever get recourse for a lax, incompetent "monopoly-think" organization like PG&E that starts these fires. Nope..but I'm sure an insurance company's ability to attribute X to your cancellation is still relatively unquestioned by the regulators. That may change in the future....
Originally Posted by SLO_Town
What does this mean for you? Whether you live in parts of California, areas on the Eastern Seaboard, Florida, the Mississippi River Valley, a tree lined street of 100 year old Victorians, etc., kiss it off - your home owners insurance may not be renewed. Is this another part of the "new normal"?
Funny thing is, when I told the agent that there is a fire hydrant directly across the street from us, his reply was "We don't take that into consideration". That's an exact quote. What a joke.
It's been pretty much water world on the east coast for well over a year now. Roofers must be rolling in money. Seriously. Not even remotely the fire hazard that exists in CA.
What does this mean for you? Whether you live in parts of California, areas on the Eastern Seaboard, Florida, the Mississippi River Valley, a tree lined street of 100 year old Victorians, etc., kiss it off - your home owners insurance may not be renewed. Is this another part of the "new normal"?
Funny thing is, when I told the agent that there is a fire hydrant directly across the street from us, his reply was "We don't take that into consideration". That's an exact quote. What a joke.
It's been pretty much water world on the east coast for well over a year now. Roofers must be rolling in money. Seriously. Not even remotely the fire hazard that exists in CA.
Originally Posted by SLO_Town
Originally Posted by Jarlaxle
AAA doesn't actually underwrite insurance...could be the company that does is bailing out of Cali.
Didn't know that. So you;re saying they're just a middle man. All the more reason to drop them!
Scott
I just switched my motorcycle insurance to AAA...it's Progressive.
Originally Posted by Jarlaxle
AAA doesn't actually underwrite insurance...could be the company that does is bailing out of Cali.
Didn't know that. So you;re saying they're just a middle man. All the more reason to drop them!
Scott
I just switched my motorcycle insurance to AAA...it's Progressive.
dnewton3
Staff member
A couple of comments ...
1) just because there is a hydrant across the street does not mean it's rated for fire service. I have one in my front yard, but it's only a 2" line, and it's used for flushing the line only as I'm at the end of the service line. It is not rated for volume delivery for fire service. If a modern pump truck were to hook up to that line, it would suck a vacuum on that line so fast that you'd get cavitation in the service line, risk back-flow issues in homes, etc. So it may or may not be of any use for fire service; you'd have to call the servicing fire entity to ask.
2) even if the hydrant were rated for fire service, you must take into account the difference of potential fire issues:
- a single house catches on fire due to internal issues, then the hydrant may likely be able to fulfill it's demand.
- a whole neighbor hood catches fire due to catastrophic wildfire? That hydrant don't mean diddly squat.
1) just because there is a hydrant across the street does not mean it's rated for fire service. I have one in my front yard, but it's only a 2" line, and it's used for flushing the line only as I'm at the end of the service line. It is not rated for volume delivery for fire service. If a modern pump truck were to hook up to that line, it would suck a vacuum on that line so fast that you'd get cavitation in the service line, risk back-flow issues in homes, etc. So it may or may not be of any use for fire service; you'd have to call the servicing fire entity to ask.
2) even if the hydrant were rated for fire service, you must take into account the difference of potential fire issues:
- a single house catches on fire due to internal issues, then the hydrant may likely be able to fulfill it's demand.
- a whole neighbor hood catches fire due to catastrophic wildfire? That hydrant don't mean diddly squat.
Originally Posted by oilpsi2high
Lesson learned: it pays to shop around, and loyalty doesn't mean a thing when it comes to insurance. ...
I kept my personal and commercial separate; had the same personal agency for about twenty five years; separate commercial for probably a decade, never a claim on the commercial side; one on the personal side.
Long story short, I got a non renewal notice on one commercial policy for pretextual reasons, and being forced to start shopping around. found that my existing carriers were uncompetitive. I didn't give the personal agency, that I hadn't heard from in about twenty four years - they quit even sending me calendars and pens for crying out loud, the chance to re quote, but I discussed it pretty thoroughly with the commercial agent who just couldn't match the new quotes with the carriers he repped.
I'm now saving about $9K / annum between commercial and personal combined, with better coverage. I got a notice last month that one premium is decreasing.
Lesson learned; I'm going to put mine out for bid every year. If that one carrier had just left me alone and kept on taking their inflated premiums, I would have kept on overpaying.
Lesson learned: it pays to shop around, and loyalty doesn't mean a thing when it comes to insurance. ...
I kept my personal and commercial separate; had the same personal agency for about twenty five years; separate commercial for probably a decade, never a claim on the commercial side; one on the personal side.
Long story short, I got a non renewal notice on one commercial policy for pretextual reasons, and being forced to start shopping around. found that my existing carriers were uncompetitive. I didn't give the personal agency, that I hadn't heard from in about twenty four years - they quit even sending me calendars and pens for crying out loud, the chance to re quote, but I discussed it pretty thoroughly with the commercial agent who just couldn't match the new quotes with the carriers he repped.
I'm now saving about $9K / annum between commercial and personal combined, with better coverage. I got a notice last month that one premium is decreasing.
Lesson learned; I'm going to put mine out for bid every year. If that one carrier had just left me alone and kept on taking their inflated premiums, I would have kept on overpaying.
Originally Posted by Rmay635703
I've often believed that insurance companies are unnecessary and should be replaced by something else, they extract more than the give back by nature and waste a lot of money in the process
For those who believe insurance is better than government because government doesn't create any value, think again. The house always win, and when it loses it either get bailed out or file for bankruptcy to avoid paying.
I've often believed that insurance companies are unnecessary and should be replaced by something else, they extract more than the give back by nature and waste a lot of money in the process
For those who believe insurance is better than government because government doesn't create any value, think again. The house always win, and when it loses it either get bailed out or file for bankruptcy to avoid paying.
Originally Posted by y_p_w
It's a bit strange in that around here the land may be considerably more valuable than the house. I can't imagine it really costs that much more to build a 4 BR house in the Bay Area than it does to build an equivalent one in the Central Valley, yet it's worth $1.5 million in Silicon Valley while one of similar size/lot might be $400,000 or less in Stockton. I was under the impression that a lot of insurance liability is really about the costs of rebuilding a structure than about the full value of the property.
Still many (including myself) choose to live in a heavily wooded area with lots of brush. It's just what we live with around here. And lots of eucalyptus trees. I've heard Australians call them widow makers for their tendency to randomly drop large branches. And maybe explode in fires.
The problem is they prefer not to take on high risk home, and have the chance of one incident wiping out their entire company. Regular home flooding once in a while is factored in and becomes break even + small fraction of profit.
Insurance company has their own insurance for the catastrophic loss as well.
It's a bit strange in that around here the land may be considerably more valuable than the house. I can't imagine it really costs that much more to build a 4 BR house in the Bay Area than it does to build an equivalent one in the Central Valley, yet it's worth $1.5 million in Silicon Valley while one of similar size/lot might be $400,000 or less in Stockton. I was under the impression that a lot of insurance liability is really about the costs of rebuilding a structure than about the full value of the property.
Still many (including myself) choose to live in a heavily wooded area with lots of brush. It's just what we live with around here. And lots of eucalyptus trees. I've heard Australians call them widow makers for their tendency to randomly drop large branches. And maybe explode in fires.
The problem is they prefer not to take on high risk home, and have the chance of one incident wiping out their entire company. Regular home flooding once in a while is factored in and becomes break even + small fraction of profit.
Insurance company has their own insurance for the catastrophic loss as well.
Each and every general insurance policy (homeowners, auto, workers comp, general liability, fire, etc.) sold and purchased by consumers and businesses is typically a one year contract. At the end of the contract, both the insurance company and the purchaser are free to stop doing business with each other, or continue on if both can agree to a price that both are willing to accept. No one is getting married for life here for better or worse.
Executives at insurance companies develop strategies each year for business they want to continue writing, the asking price for those policies and what business they no longer want at any price (or perhaps at a prohibitively high price). The fact that hurricanes did not hit any of their insureds in State X for the past ten or twenty years does not mean they want to continue writing business in State X. If John Doe has had no claims in the past decade, that does not mean that the insurer wants to continue that relationship with Mr. Doe.
Other considerations about staff and their cost of catastrophe or excess reinsurance protection (in case you do not know, your insurer purchases insurance on its claims from insurers to the insurance industry called reinsurance companies). It could be that their net worth (or policy holder's surplus in insurance accounting speak) has dropped and their ability to continue writing policies is restricted by the insurance regulators in each state who are attempting to make sure the companies do not over extend themselves so that there will be sufficient funds to pay future claims. This is done to protect the purchasers of insurance.
Insurance is a complicated business, and yes there have been many, many insurance companies that have gone bankrupt over the past several decades. I worked for many years at two companies that are no longer in business because they could not operate profitably.
Executives at insurance companies develop strategies each year for business they want to continue writing, the asking price for those policies and what business they no longer want at any price (or perhaps at a prohibitively high price). The fact that hurricanes did not hit any of their insureds in State X for the past ten or twenty years does not mean they want to continue writing business in State X. If John Doe has had no claims in the past decade, that does not mean that the insurer wants to continue that relationship with Mr. Doe.
Other considerations about staff and their cost of catastrophe or excess reinsurance protection (in case you do not know, your insurer purchases insurance on its claims from insurers to the insurance industry called reinsurance companies). It could be that their net worth (or policy holder's surplus in insurance accounting speak) has dropped and their ability to continue writing policies is restricted by the insurance regulators in each state who are attempting to make sure the companies do not over extend themselves so that there will be sufficient funds to pay future claims. This is done to protect the purchasers of insurance.
Insurance is a complicated business, and yes there have been many, many insurance companies that have gone bankrupt over the past several decades. I worked for many years at two companies that are no longer in business because they could not operate profitably.
Seems like normal. There's plenty of footage of wildfires running house to house burning down entire streets. It doesn't matter if there's a hydrant across the street because during a wildfire there very likely won't be anyone there to use it.
The recent fires along with continued development into fire prone areas have increased the exposure to insurers. They may not be able to offset that risk because they can no longer obtain reinsurance (insurance on top of their insurance).
Wild fires outside the West are relatively rare because of the high humidity however some times you see them in Florida during really dry spells.
You real problem will be how the bankruptcy of PG&E is handled.
The recent fires along with continued development into fire prone areas have increased the exposure to insurers. They may not be able to offset that risk because they can no longer obtain reinsurance (insurance on top of their insurance).
Wild fires outside the West are relatively rare because of the high humidity however some times you see them in Florida during really dry spells.
You real problem will be how the bankruptcy of PG&E is handled.
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Once again some entity needs to oversee the insurance companys. While I`m totaly for private enterprise the very nature of greed dictates oversite.
Move to east coast.
Originally Posted by Donald
Move to east coast.
OP here. A part of my backyard, taken today, Saturday, Feb 9, 2019, 10:30 AM, looking southwest, ocean just 11 miles away.
We're going wine tasting this afternoon with some friends, then BBQ-ing some dead animal on the patio later this evening. But I will need a long sleeve t-shirt while tending to the BBQ.
I kind of like it here.
Scott
PS Spoke with Farmers guy in more detail after my first contact with them. Both houses, four cars, umbrella policy - no problem - they'd love to get the business. Will sign with Farmers and drop AAA later this coming week.
Move to east coast.
OP here. A part of my backyard, taken today, Saturday, Feb 9, 2019, 10:30 AM, looking southwest, ocean just 11 miles away.
We're going wine tasting this afternoon with some friends, then BBQ-ing some dead animal on the patio later this evening. But I will need a long sleeve t-shirt while tending to the BBQ.
I kind of like it here.
Scott
PS Spoke with Farmers guy in more detail after my first contact with them. Both houses, four cars, umbrella policy - no problem - they'd love to get the business. Will sign with Farmers and drop AAA later this coming week.
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