California Personal Injury and Insurance Blog

New Article on Filing a Claim

The Sacramento Bee wrote a story yesterday about the true price of filing an insurance claim. The story, which can be found here, quotes yours truly. The Bee had readers write in with questions about filing a homeowners insurance claim. I then provided answers to questions. While the theme was the recent storm damage in Sacramento, it really applies to anyone.

And if you have a homeowner's claim, you should request my free report on the 10 Biggest Pitfalls in Filing a Homeowners Claim. Just send me an email and the report is yours!

Some advice for Northern Californians

Those of you in Northern California remember this past weekend. For those of you who were not here, you may have seen it on the news. Over 2" of rain in one day in Sacramento. Wind gusts over 60 mph. Horrible weather. (I know, nothing like a hurricane or a tornado, but for us, this was really bad.)

Some of you have downed fences or trees knocked over. You are considering filing an insurance claim with your homeowners insurance. Stop!

A small insurance claim can result in your insurance being cancelled or rates going through the roof. It is a practice known as "use it and lose it." United Policyholders website has a ton of stories about this.

I know the tv news people and folks in the newspapers are telling you to file claims. Well, I won't tell them how to report the news if they will stop telling people what to do with insurance. Deal?

If you are unsure if you should report a claim, call a contractor, get an estimate and then determine what to do. But remember, even if you need a loan to pay for it, it may be cheaper than being uninsurable with your house.

Insurance Premium Flat for 2008?

Reuters is reporting that insurance premiums for auto and homeowners insurance should either be flat or reduce for 2008.

You can thank competition. "Strong competition is forcing insurers to lower their premiums or, at the very least, hold them stable," said Orin Linden, who runs Watson Wyatt's insurance and financial services consulting group in New York. "It's clearly a buyer's market."

Interestingly, this comes as the total damages from the fires in Southern California are tallied. You need to remember to shop your insurance this year, but just don't shop on rates alone. And remember, before you buy or renew your insurance, California residents should get my free Consumers Guide to Buying Auto Insurance by emailing me.

The Pinch After the Fires

More coming out on the fires in Southern California. The Department of Insurance says 40 percent of homeowners do not have enough coverage. WOW!

Interestingly, some fault seems to be placed with the homeowners for not realizing that they do not have enough coverage. Of course, homeowners don't write the insurance policies, insurance agents, people who are supposed to be experts in valuation, do. And they don't insure the homes for enough.

I called 10 insurance agents and asked for a quote. I told them about my house and how much I wanted it insured for. How many gave me a quote based on the amount I asked for? ZERO!

Yet, despite this, homeowners are being blamed. Maybe the insurance companies need to take some blame for not valuing the homes properly!

Free Virtual Office for Fire Victims

If you have been affected by the fires in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside counties or anywhere in Southern California, Syngery Workplaces is offering free access to their virtual office space in Irvine and Laguna Nigel.

More Fire Information

I have been combing my resources for more information for fire victims. I already posted my claim tips on the blog. Here you can find fire claim tips from the great people at United Policyholders.

But, the other issue you may run into is underinsurance. Underinsurance is a situation when your insurance company did not write the policy for a high enough limit to cover the damage to your house. If you think this might be your situation, you should read this from UP.

And, if you need anything else, let me know.

Free Legal Assistance to Fire Victims

Consumer Attorneys of California issued a press release today. You can read it here. The gist: Consumer Attorneys have banded together to provide free legal help to the victims of Southern California's wildfires.

Some information from the press release:

Among the groups offering support are members of AAJ, CAOC, Consumer Attorneys of San Diego, Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, and United Policyholders, a non-profit group that helps insurance consumers.

Please read it and pass it along.

More on the Southern California Fires

Personal injury attorney and friend Reza Torkzadeh posted about the Southern California fires. In addition to all of the other great information on his blog, he has provided a list of evacuation centers.

This is a great resource. If you know someone in Southern California who has been evacuated, you may be able to find them and bring them some necessities of life so they can have as normal an experience as possible. If you are going to be evacuated, you now know where to go.

Thanks toReza for this great list.

Cancellations on the rise

Insurer cancellations are on the rise. This is probably not news to those living in hurricane prone areas such as Florida or Texas. But, insurers are also cancelling policies in NY and Connecticut. Huh?

Some legislators are calling it a crisis. The insurers say they are only being smart about business and avoiding future risks.

Insurers need to remain solvent, for sure. But they are recording record profits. So, they apparently are going to be solvent for some time. And if every insurer cancels policies in some locations, where are those people to get insurance? Sure, insurers have a reason to be cautious in places like New Orleans or Texas, where hurricane damage has caused millions in losses. But, what exactly are the concerns in NY or CT or NJ?

For now, consumers need to be cautious about who they are getting insured with. Once you get a nonrenewal, start shopping around - and make sure you use a good broker!

The value of a good broker

Its that time of year for me - insurance renewal time. In the past, I would spend a few hours calling around to agents trying to see who had the best deal.

Not this year!  I am letting my broker do her thing. She will shop it around, tell me the best deal, whether anyone has a discount, and what my choices are. I can then make the decision based on the important factors:

• Ability to pay a claim;
• Fairness of the insurance company;
• Price;
• Quality of the policy.

Now, I understand that some people shop price alone, even though I strongly discourage it. But, whatever your important criteria, having a broker makes your life easier.

(And I forgot: if you need a new broker or want to get quotes, talk to Jacqueline Doench at Warren Bender and Co and tell her I said hi.)