Underinsured (again) in California? > Catastrophe Central, The Adjuster's Forum > CatAdjuster.org

Subject: Underinsured (again) in California?

Prev Next

You are not authorized to post a reply.

Author

Messages

John Postava User is Offline

SIMSOL.com

Member

Posts:93

11/13/2007 9:22 AM
There was an article in the NY Times yesterday where the reporter interviewed an insured whose home burned to the ground. The article went on to say he was insured for approximately $230.00 a foot and preliminary bids were coming in from $350.00 to $500.00 a foot for a custom home like his. You would think after the Oakland fires companies would start valuing homes better on the front end. Of course, if the agent would have valued this home at $500.00 a foot (and priced the premium to that level), the insured would have shopped around for another agent.

S Sims

Posts:36

11/13/2007 10:22 AM
John You raise a valid point this happens every time there is a disaster where the insured has a claim. 90% of Insured’s want the cheapest payment with the most amount of coverage and it doesn’t matter if it will cover the dwelling as most don’t plan to use. Then disaster strikes, adjuster arrives….estimate is written…scope agreed at the loss site…turned in for review and payment. Contractor shows up and there we have it again not enough money..lawyer hired…your going to pay x-amount of dollars or we are suing you for 100 times the amount of the policy. The fight starts not enough insurance..I told the agent to make policy for x-amount…thought it would be enough. Disaster strikes….prices hit ceiling…and it goes on and on. I remember during the 04 & 05 season…for example roofs where 150.00 a square and by the time it was almost over we were paying up to 600.00 a square for the same roof. Companies blamed it on not getting supplies. You could drive around and see new fences being put up to store all the roofing supplies and still telling you they didn’t have in stock. Another example was pool cages or screened in sun porches. The prices started well enough and by the time it was at it highest...pool cages you had paid 10K for were now 30 to 40K. Our home was a great example. We had 6 months before the first major hurricane (Charley) came; we paid a company $7,500.00 dollars to close in our sun room. After the three visitors of 04...Charley, Jeannie and Francis that same room was now $15,000.00 and that was if they could get to you. We were put on a waiting list. We never received a call from them…we finally called and were told it would be another 6 months or so and the price was now 3 times what we paid. All I know is this company grew really fast and built a new warehouse and now they are calling you to get work. We don’t plan for disaster to strike us we plan for it to hit someone else. Truth is we are all live in some form of disaster area no matter where we live. But it all goes back to what we pay for and how it works best for us when it hits! This is just my 2 cents worth or should I say 10 cents with the high prices.

Nick Angelides User is Offline

Posts:24

11/18/2007 1:09 PM
people will always be underinsured because they will always want the best deal. its the same reason people had their roofs felted for 9 months in florida after the hurricane, because they wanted the best deal and went with the cheapest contractor(the contractor that didnt account for rising labor and material prices). The pool enclosures did get crazy expensive in florida. Legit roofing contractors however went up about 10-15% from $260/square to $300/square. by legit i mean those who are licensed and pay their GL and WC policies properly.

You are not authorized to post a reply.

Forums >General Discussions >General > Underinsured (again) in California?

ActiveForums 3.7