Here’s a list of things your insurance company and agent may fail to explain to you unless you probe them for information.
1) When they say everything is covered, everything isn’t covered. What they mean is everything is covered unless specifically excluded or limited in the policy.
2) If you have any type of large claim loss or a frequency of claims in a short period of time, they may drop (cancel) your policy.
3) A lot of people think a claim only counts against your history if they have to pay you for it. However, filing a claim that ends with a value less than your deductible still gets counted as a claim against your claim history. Remember that when considering #2. (It will be recorded in the CLUE database.)
4) Many claims adjusters look for ways to reduce the amount of the overall value of the claim.
5) Many insurance agents and their customer service representatives do not fully understand policy coverages. I used to get many phone calls from agents asking me questions about policy coverage because their client was in their office asking a question they couldn’t answer.
6) You can file a claim directly with the insurance company instead of filing it through your agent.
7) They may cancel your policy for things like trampolines, certain dog breeds, pool slides, and unrepaired damage to your home. When you buy a new policy the insurance company’s inspector will come out and take a look around your house. They may come inside and will take exterior photos. They are looking for things like vicious dogs, pool slides, trampolines, and tree branches touching or hanging over your roof line.
Dick Wagner is a Disaster Restoration and Commercial Marketing Consultant. 419-202-6745
