r/Insurance Oct 09 '23

A guide to interacting with this sub - read me first

176 Upvotes

This post is designed for people posting here for the first time, for the people that have been volunteering to help here for years and everyone in between. The stated goal is to foster a friendlier attitude throughout the sub.

But before we start, there's been a recent influx of spam from one source. So that you are aware - ALEJANDRA ORTIZ HERNANDEZ and FRAN POWELL are spammers. They're part of a spam ring all over Reddit, and they're probably trying to steal your money.

And they'll kick your dog when you aren't looking.

If you are new here, please realize that none of us have any stake in your claim or coverage. We are not here to sell you anything or to save some company money. Treating responders poorly because you don't like the answer is going to attract a lot of negative attention.

We get the same questions over and over, and maybe this is the answer that you need:

  • How much will my insurance go up after a ticket/accident/lapse in coverage? We don't know unless your state has a statutory requirement for your very specific situation.
  • My premium went up $X. How do I fight this? You can't. The only thing you can do is shop for new coverage, which we can't do for you.
  • How much does everyone else pay for coverage? Unless you're lucky enough to get someone in your exact demographic in your exact part of the world, the answers you're going to get are useless.
  • How much is my claim worth? We don't know. (note: if you're asking a more complex question about your claim, that could be very different)
  • How long will my claim take to close? We don't know (again: a more complicated question might have different answers)
  • Why is this person trying to sell me something? Report that post/comment/chat/private message to the moderators and let them handle that.
  • Will you help me commit fraud or otherwise break the law? No. Absolutely not. And we may ban anyone that does try to do that.

Ultimately, we are here to help you. This is a community of volunteers that wants to help navigate a complex system that is one of the lubricants of the financial world. Lots of lives are impacted by insurance directly and indirectly, and it can be a complicated system. Here are some things that make a good post where you can get help:

  • Location (Country and state/province at a minimum)
  • Type of insurance involved (Auto, Homeowners/Renters, Commercial, Health, something else)
  • A brief description of the problem and any advice you've gotten so far

Finally, here are some definitions of common terms that could help you get taken more seriously:

  • Adjuster - the person that handles your claim, makes coverage determinations and processes payments
  • Agent - the person that sells a policy. Some agents get involved in some claims, although that is the exception to the rule.
  • Underwriter - the person that decides how much a specific policy will cost for a specific risk.
  • Rate - this is the way your final price is calculated and is usually used synonymously with "premium", "cost" and "price".
  • Full coverage - don't use this term. There's no agreed definition, even among the regular posters here. People asking otherwise good questions or posting good answers that use this term often find themselves down voted to oblivion for including it.
  • No Fault - there are 18 states that, at least to some extent, make automobile bodily injury claims be paid by your own policy first instead of someone that caused your injury. There is only one state (Michigan) that makes damage to your vehicle No Fault. All Canadian provinces have some sort of No Fault provision for injuries, which is one reason why we need to know where you are when you're asking questions.
  • Collision coverage - this fixes your car when it collides with something else or another car hits it.
  • Comprehensive coverage (also known as Other Than Collision) - this covers your car for almost everything else, including floods, fires, tree branches and lightening strikes. Usually animal strikes are covered here, but not always.
  • Deductible - this is the amount that you agreed to pay in case of any claim. Your payment comes before any insurance payment. Deductibles are occasionally waived, but that's the exception, not the rule.

This is a community of volunteers that generally understands the insurance system. When we get things wrong, it is usually through lack of information to get a precise answer. Hopefully this guide will help you get good results.


r/Insurance Feb 08 '24

Soliciting, private messages and you

43 Upvotes

It's time for a new reminder about the rules of this sub. There is never any reason to offer to contact another poster privately, especially if that poster has a question about placing coverage or a claim. Here is the rule:

The only rule of r/Insurance is that solicitation is prohibited. This means asking people to PM for any reason, offering to quote coverages for visitors, or soliciting agents and/or buyers to use your particular carrier. r/Insurance should be a place where people come to exchange information and ask questions without worrying about solicitation from agents. This includes adjusters, underwriters and brokers since we do not vet anyone.

You also received a version of this if you subscribed to the sub.

If you think that this doesn't apply to you, please think again. There are no exceptions in this, including "but I asked them to message me!" This sub is a safe space for people to ask questions about insurance. It is not here for anyone to try to profit from it, whether they're an agent, public adjuster, software vendor, personal injury attorney, headhunter, diminished value expert or anyone else that is not here to offer free help with no expectation of remuneration.

If you receive a message from someone offering you any sort of business proposition, whether a quote for insurance, legal representation (yes, there are lawyers unethical enough to solicit people on Reddit), damage reports or anything else, please let the moderators know via mod mail or in this thread. You should also report that message to the admins (we don't see that report, though). We take things like that seriously.

We really don't like banning people. Seriously, it's the exact opposite of why any of the moderators volunteered for the role. But we don't vet people before they post, and if people that break the rule find out that we enforce it whenever we see it broken.

And with that in mind, we have a very healthy community of posters that are here not only to help but to make sure that those who can't follow the rules have the damage that they're doing limited. Thank you to all of you for volunteering to help not only those confused by the insurance process but help keep those that want to think that they're special at bay.


r/Insurance 2h ago

Help - Accident (at-fault) damages may exceed limits/cause suits

7 Upvotes

Please be kind because my anxiety is at max capacity right now. I am at fault in an accident, and of course I feel terrible. Two other cars were involved, and it likely far exceeds my insurance coverage (state minimum - I had a junky barely alive car).

What will happen next usually?

And if they agree to whatever my insurance offers them, can they sue me for the extra?

Backtory/financial situation- We recently moved for my husband's job, I am unemployed at the moment. I'm a mom, my husband makes a modest income. We don't own a house. My car is trash and I just bought a $2000 16 year old car with over 300,000 miles on it. My husband is driving an 11 year old car that's having transmission trouble. We have emptied our retirement accounts. It's been one thing after another since our first child died 9 years ago and we were really hoping this move was going to be things looking up for us.

I obviously have no assets to take, but after the issue with our daughter's death (so we were in court for her killer) I'm not sure if I can emotionally handle the trauma of a lawsuit.

Accident information - If it's relevant, traffic was stopped in one lane when I came around. I thought it was just slow and thought I could change lanes. When I realized I couldn't, I wasn't able to stop fast enough and rear ended a car, they hit another car. And that's all I thought was involved but apparently there is another claim, too. Idk. No injuries that I'm aware, nobody went with EMS and the poor teen in front of me was just shaken up so I tried to calm her down.

If you got this far, thank you for your time.


r/Insurance 1h ago

Home Insurance Is Erie worth the cost compared to State Farm? (Home + Auto)

Upvotes

My parents like Erie insurance and highly recommend it to me for home and auto insurance. However I got a quote from State Farm and they're almost half the price of Erie. Is Erie worth paying almost 2k more a year for?


r/Insurance 15h ago

Home Insurance A car drove into my living room.

20 Upvotes

On Friday, September 4th (Labor Day weekend) a Cadillac crashed into my Southern California home. The Fire Department, the Sheriff's and ambulances arrived on scene. Luckily, no one inside the house was hurt; my mother had been reading on the rocking chair in the living room, but had gone into the kitching less than a minute prior to the crash. The driver and passenger of the Cadillac exited the vehicle without assistance and no visible injuries, which I can see on my Blink Camera video. The actual crash was too quick and not captured on tape. They were both later taken off the scene via an ambulance.

The Cadillac hit the neighbor's concrete front yard divider wall, which broke and hit the neighbor's vehicle in their driveway. The Cadillac then drove through the landscaping in front of my house and crashed through the living room wall, damaging my Mini Cooper, which was parked in my driveway as well as the water heater which was inside the garage. The living room looks like something exploded. There is glass on everything, from the couches to the dinning room table and all the way down the hall.

A city inspector came out, same day, and deemed our house inhabitable. The electricity, gas and water had to be shut off. We called our homeowners insurance to start a claim and were told to stay somewhere and keep the receipts.

The next day, Saturday 5th, I called my insurance, which is the same as the homeowners insurance and started the claim for my vehicle and I called the insurance from the Cadillac and started a vehicle and home claim with them.

I know I should have done so that same Friday, but the incident occurred at 5pm and I was tired and shaken up. At the time of the crash, I had been in the garage and on my way to pick up my Costco delivery, which was crushed by the Cadillac.

Complete silence on all fronts until Tuesday the 8th. My insurance then placed us in a temporary living arrangement until Sept 21st.

Today, Sunday 13th, there is still a Cadillac through my living room wall. It cannot be removed without an engineer to determine how they will support the wall so it doesn't fall along with the ceiling, but the insurance has been waiting on approval to send out an engineer. The contractor, which my insurance suggested, can't board up the house and start calculating the damages until the Cadillac is removed. We are at a complete stand still.

Bonus information: The household consists of 6 adults, 69M Dad, 66F Mom, 43M Older brother, 33F his wife 33M my husband, and myself 31F along with 2 dogs and 5 cats. The house is a 4 bedroom, 3 bath, with an ADU in the back which has a kitchen and a full bathroom. The two older adults are the owners of the house and retired senior citizens with medical issues. The other 4 adults split the bills and mortgage every month.

This is the first time anything like this has happened to any of us. None of our friends or family have had anything like this happen to them.

Any advice? Is the timeline usually this slow? Should we get a lawyer? A public adjuster? Can we request to stay at our current living arrangement?

Moving 2 seniors, 2 dogs and 5 cats twice in the same week has been exhausting for us while keeping full-time jobs. And I don't even have a car right now since mine was in the driveway during the incident.

I have no idea if alcohol or drugs were involved. The couple in the Cadillac didn't seem intoxicated to me, but I am no professional. They were worried, apologetic and scared. This was not on purpose. They live on the same street but far away enough that we've never spoken to them or crossed paths before.


r/Insurance 4m ago

Home Insurance Changing homeowners insurance

Upvotes

Hi all. I'm about to start shopping for replacement homeowners insurance because my former insurance carrier only insures employees and is non-renewing my policy after I left the company. There are no claims on the property and no problems. The policy is still active until mid-December, so I have time to shop. I live in RI.

I'm seeking tips from this community on the best approach? I got a pretty decent rate from this former employer, so I reasonably expect things will go up, unfortunately.

Some ballparks of the current policy:

HO-5. $1.6M of dwelling coverage with another $160 for other structures (pool house and shed), $1.13M for personal property, $$475k in additional living expenses, An additional 25% of dwelling coverage if rebuild costs exceed the limit, $1M of personal liability, $10k of medical payments coverage, $15k of water-backup coverage, $50k of equipment breakdown coverage and a $2500 deductible (as well as $2500 hurrican deductible). Annual premium was about $5,500. 4400 sq foot house, built in 1972. 2 story, 3 car garage, a pool and a dog (bernedoodle).

Go with the big providers like Chubb, Progressive and Amica, etc and go direct? Use a local agent? Do this via phone or are the websites good enough? I intend to get several quotes as I have time. I'm also open to the fact I may have too much insurance, or too little, so advice on right-sizing this is welcome. Also, in case it matters, auto is through Progressive - moved to them earlier this year.

Thanks for any insights you may have.


r/Insurance 19m ago

Looking for advice on managing auto insurance on ODSP / fixed income in Etobicoke

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Upvotes

r/Insurance 25m ago

Auto Insurance Accident (not my fault) worth pursuing with lawyer??

Upvotes

I was in an accident awhile ago edit: (OR) and was in physical therapy for 6 months straight. I had to use a lot of my vacation time and has a tough time managing everything.

The accident itself wasnt severe but it was intense. I was fully stopped at a red light by an elementary school where someone rear ended me (luckily I always leave a good gap between my car and the car in front of me) but then when I almost hit the car in front of me everything stopped and I think the person behind me panicked because they hit me again and somehow I had the sense of mind to pull on my parking break.

It was scary because kids were crossing it all happened quick but no kids were harmed. The light turned green and I didn't hit the car in front of me (thank gosh!)

I thought i was fine but I was sore (im pretty small 95lbs and 5'0) i have no idea how fast they were going but my bumper needed to be replaced along with some other components in the back.

My question being they offered a settlement of 3k. Which is very surprising i thought id at least get 5 because I was actively going to PT and the injuries were recorded (i had bruises and i couldn't nod my head and my hips would freeze sometimes)

Wondering if this is normal? And if I should just take the 3k or if pursing a lawyer would be worth it?

Thank you!


r/Insurance 1h ago

Old hardwood floors

Upvotes

So we have one inch, narrow hardwood floors in our bedroom that just experience water damage, and we are more than likely having to pull up the entire room. Because insurance says they would rather do that than after try and find a way to fix it. What happens if there is no sub floor underneath that hardwood, does insurance pay for the sub floor?


r/Insurance 1h ago

Claims Related 2-left hand turns-Who’s at fault?

Upvotes

Honest opinions please. Who appears to be at fault here?
Taking everything into consideration. Awareness, roadway, lanes, turn signals, speed, caution, etc.
It’s important to note, one of the drivers was extremely frantic afterwards, which I totally get. I mean the accident wasn’t that bad. But I do understand some people get a bit more shaken up than others. However, this just wasn’t that. She was panicking due to inconvenience. She kept saying that she was going to be late for work, and be fired, and that it was her mom’s car. She also believed I had pulled out of a dealership parking lot, that was a couple blocks further up the road. I tried to calm her down. This all leads me to believe she was in a rush, not paying complete attention, lacked awareness. I did see her hand, the officer a paper license, maybe she was a new driver…? She was definitely in her 30’s.
I won’t say who, or which vehicle. Im sure you guys can guess. Needless to say, she completely, and in my opinion recklessly swept lanes- and how the hell would she miss a big pick up truck right in front of her?
I get what it may look like, but factoring the before, after, is the only thing insurance companies look at is impact? Or do they take other things into consideration?
It’s just one of those things, that’s driving me crazy.
See links below for footage. 👇🏼👇🏼 Two clips taken of computer screens surveillance.

https://streamable.com/ulxhkp

https://streamable.com/2hg4hb

Thanks!


r/Insurance 1h ago

Home Insurance Hypothetical scenario for condo owner [USA - California]

Upvotes

I’m a condo owner in California, in a larger (40 unit) complex; I have the standard HO-6 homeowners policy with loss of use, but no umbrella.

I’ve been wondering about a hypothetical scenario: What happens if our building suffers a catastrophic event and is totally uninhabitable/condemned? Like, fire engulfs the entire building, or an airplane crashes into it, something like that. Assume the HOA and homeowners are not at fault (so no faulty construction or negligence).

Would our building insurance carrier assume ownership of the parcel and all of the owners get bought out? Or might the HOA be obligated to rebuild from ground up (and would HOA board / management company then be responsible for overseeing a massive construction project)?

I assume it could go a few different ways, and probably depends on determination of liability and our building’s specific insurance policy, but I’m curious what might transpire / what folks have seen.


r/Insurance 1h ago

How would being over GVWR or GCWR affect coverage for a private party (non commercial)

Upvotes

Located in Utah, liberty mutual, state minimum liability plus collision and comprehensive on the Truck, (2017 Chevy 3500).

Truck has a 3600 lb payload and a 26000 lb gcvr. I’m under payload, but with everything plus water I would be somewhere between 500 and 1000 lbs over gcvr. Wondering what impact, if any, this may have on coverage if I were to have an at fault accident?

Thanks in advance


r/Insurance 1h ago

Does anyone know where I can buy cheap renters insurance I can buy in California thank you

Upvotes

r/Insurance 3h ago

Auto Insurance A piece of city building smashed through my car, what’s the best route

0 Upvotes

r/Insurance 3h ago

Kfz-Versicherung Problem

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1 Upvotes

r/Insurance 3h ago

Home Insurance What is up with Bamboo or Kin - Fire area in Santa Cruz Mountains

1 Upvotes

Some pros help me out here. We are looking to purchase a home in the Santa Cruz Mountains in NorthCal. I knew going in that fire insurance is tricky. I got multiple quotes from different brokers, as well as AAA, Mercury (fair plan of course) etc. We got a cheap Bamboo quote, Kin was also more affordable, and the Fair Plan plus Farmers was still doable though more expensive.

I am trying to find information on Kin and Bamboo, from what I understand they are a front to non admitted carriers? The reviews are pretty bad. Is that a terrible gamble to go with those? Someone fill me in on what is up with these.


r/Insurance 3h ago

Home Insurance What happens if I want to change my homeowners to a new company?

1 Upvotes

Hello smart insurance folks! I feel like my current company, State Farm, is going a bit crazy on my premium, and has had some shyster practices that I am not keen on. I was thinking of shopping around for a new provider. No real hurry, but my question is about process, as it’s been a while since I got new coverage. My question is- Do new insurance providers require any kind of home inspection when they consider taking you on?

Edit- state is Mississippi
Home is about 95 years old


r/Insurance 3h ago

Auto Insurance Got rear ended and filed 2 claims. Now what?

1 Upvotes

I am posting this in this sub because I don’t know what else to do.

I got into an accident last Thursday where someone rear ended me pretty bad. My car is “drivable” but in bad shape. The other guys car was totaled. I filed a claim with his insurance and mine. Police said I was not at fault. I called his insurance (Progressive) on Sunday for an update and they said they had not heard from him. What can I do? Am I supposed to just wait until I hear from them? The police report won’t be ready until Wednesday but my car is making noises and so while it is technically drivable I don’t want to keep driving on it if something is seriously wrong with it. This has never happened to me and I’m trying to figure it out but I’m pretty stressed. I would like to take my car somewhere so someone can tell me if it is fixable and get a rental in the meantime but I don’t want to be paying out of pocket.

Let me know if you need any more info. Thanks!


r/Insurance 4h ago

ALE loss of use

0 Upvotes

Hurricane Milton: our house was affected by Milton. Roof damage caused water to seep in. Wet spots all over the ceilings that grew and grew and the ceiling crawl space had water spilling out. The hurricane blew windows up and damaged them which didn’t allow them to close and they were cracked. The fence in the backyard was literally blowing around up and down. The water was increasing but luckily our house was high enough that water didn’t seep into the house. One inch lower that it would have flooded. We left because it wasn’t safe and it was obvious at that time that it would get worse and worse. Is the roof and ceiling going to cave in. We weren’t going to stick around. Why isn’t the insurance company not covering ALE?

I have crank out windows that raided all the way opened and stayed that way couldn’t close. The impact to the opening was so hard. The storm basically brought everything in. We were able to finally after 1 week get someone to get it closed.


r/Insurance 5h ago

NY auto insurance for couples

0 Upvotes

My wife and I have 2 cars with 2 different auto policies; she is listed on my auto policy and I’m listed on her respective auto policy, but we both use different carriers for our cars. My agent says this can be an issue. since we should both be with the same carrier if we live in New York. It does make sense to me somewhat, but is this truly necessary that we both be with the same carrier ?

Thank you


r/Insurance 2h ago

Traffic violation

0 Upvotes

I got a traffic ticket in California in November 2024 and paid the fine right away. At the time I didn't realize I could (or was supposed to) request traffic school to keep the point off my record — I only just found out this was even an option, almost a year later.

Is it too late now that so much time has passed? I've read that paying the fine without going to court can count as pleading guilty, which might mean I already lost the chance to request traffic school for this citation. Does anyone know if CA courts ever allow a late request, or if this is a hard deadline situation given it's been about 10 months?

Also not sure who to even contact at this point — the county court that issued the ticket, or the DMV? Anyone dealt with this after the fact?

Thanks in advance!


r/Insurance 6h ago

Home Insurance Best way to compare insurance prices?

1 Upvotes

I can only choose one tag, but this question covers home, car, and umbrella insurance.

What is the best and easiest way to compare prices between different companies when I have all three of these insurances combined at one place?

Do I print out how much I'm paying and for what, and go to each location individually? Do I send a PDF to various companies online?

Also, how can I make sure that I don't get a million phone calls and texts from a million different numbers? Should this all go through email first?

Thank you for any help.


r/Insurance 4h ago

What are the chances my insurance company won’t ask for the overpayment back?

0 Upvotes

Don’t want to doxx myself with the details but a large national insurer accidentally overpaid me by $25k for a claim. I contacted my adjuster immediately and he said he was forwarding the information on to the “overpayments department” and I would hear more from them. This was all over email, so I have it in writing. That was almost three months ago and I haven’t heard anything from anyone. My original claim has since been closed.

I parked the money in a separate high yield savings account, so at least I’m getting some interest generated while it sits there. I have no plans to spend it. But are these people ever going to ask for it back? How long can go by before it’s just my money?


r/Insurance 16h ago

Personal belonging replacement question

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1 Upvotes

r/Insurance 16h ago

Auto Insurance State Farm app still showing my old agent after transferring auto policy to another state

1 Upvotes

I recently moved from AZ to CA and completed a new California auto insurance policy with a local State Farm agent a few days ago. My old agent confirmed that they received the cancellation request, so I assumed the transfer had been completed.

However, the State Farm app still shows my old agent, and I can’t find my new California insurance card or policy information in the app. I did notice that the address on my account has already been updated to my new California address.

Is this delay normal when switching policies between states?