PICKY Homeowners insurance companies

[Little6pack]

Recently we got a letter from our agent telling us the company that we had homeowners insurance was going out of business.
(Pawtucket Insurance) Small company out of Rhodie island.

The agent has been calling us asking pesky questions like.

Do we have a dog, trampoline, pool, etc NO NO NO

What type of electric service.. we told them fuse box.
No one will insure a home with fuse box according to agent.

I am not about to spend $$ to make an electrician rich.

Has anyone come across this situation or am I being YANKED!

I think it is time to change agents?

 

[Little6pack]

My only claim ever was back in 1992.
Hurricane tree fell on roof.
they paid me 2200 dollars for a re-roof & it was a different insurance company

 

[salvageV6]

Tell them your fuses run on lower amperage service from the street.

Less chance of cooking someone.

Pull a permit and put in the breakers and all yourself.

Home Depot and a few hundred bucks.

Oh late springtime early summer job too, not now.

 

[Rogue Leader]

Unfortunately the Homeowners companies these days are very anal due to EXCESSIVE fraud and major losses (why do you think Pawtucket is going out of business).

Give GEICO a call, we dont write homeowners but we act as an agent for other companies and may be able to help. Like I said though you may just have to buck up and upgrade, homeowners choices are few and far between these days....

 

[GN One Day...]

Yeah, it's been hard to get insurance for new policies in MS due to heavy losses. State Farm cut off new ones all together and a lot of others followed suit.

Do you have ALFA insurance up there? From looking at my clients premiums, they seem to be incredibly low around here. Lots of discounts for multiplie policies etc. Can you restructure *all* of your insurance carriers? Might be a chance to save some money for the effort.

 

[whitehot84]

Have you given any thought as to why they won't insure homes with fuses anymore? 1950's technology. The same reason you don't drive a 53 chevy. It wouldn't be reliable in todays world without an upgraded motor and tranny.
You can call and get all kinds of free estimates for this work and you will find a large disparity in the pricing. Maybe you have a friend who is an electrician or can suggest one who would be willing to guide you through the process of changing the panel and upgrading the rest of the system.
Then again.............why do you think electricians have to serve a 4 or 5 year apprenticship and take an 8 hour examination to get their license. If you think about it, if a plumber makes a mistake you get water in the floor, a carpenter gets something out of square, and painter may take a dump in your closet, but electricity can kill people.

 

[salvageV6]

There's nothing wrong with fuses or 1953 Chevies, certainly nothing an insurance man could tell you about.

Old guy in town drives his '53 everywhere.

No it ain't me either.

Scarry 50's technology was aluminum wiring!!!

 

[Little6pack]

Originally posted by whitehot84
Have you given any thought as to why they won't insure homes with fuses anymore? 1950's technology.

BALONEY!
Carried over to a 1965 built home..
Lets see these fuses are still working for me


You are starting to sound like the Gov, car company's & EPA all in one.

Sure there are folks that drive old technology cars but the insurance companies still SUCK $$ in from writing policies..

That is like them saying our TR's don't have AIR BAGS so we won't write you a polocy..

 

[Rogue Leader]

Originally posted by littlesixsteve
BALONEY!
Carried over to a 1965 built home..
Lets see these fuses are still working for me


You are starting to sound like the Gov, car company's & EPA all in one.

Sure there are folks that drive old technology cars but the insurance companies still SUCK $$ in from writing policies..

That is like them saying our TR's don't have AIR BAGS so we won't write you a polocy..

I hate to say it but cars and homes are a completely different ballgame... Many people pay the same price for their homeowners insurance per year as their car insurance... yet the home is worth 10x or more than the car.

Plus homeowners companies are very particular about their markets and dont want to write too many policies in 1 particular area. (Imagine a large natural disaster... the company is SCREWED... Homeowners companies have gone out of business over it until they figured that out). GEICO as a homeowners agency isnt writing policies in Maine for the rest of the year for that very reason.

Its cost effective to upgrade home wiring, install fences, etc... its not cost effective to install airbags and antilock braking systems in a car.

 

[Little6pack]

RL
What disasters have happened in Manie latley?

NH has had no quakes, fires, canes, tornados, floods.
All we been getting is an influx of transplants moving in making it more crowded & expensive..

 

[Quick6]

Originally posted by littlesixsteve
RL
What disasters have happened in Manie latley?

NH has had no quakes, fires, canes, tornados, floods.
All we been getting is an influx of transplants moving in making it more crowded & expensive..

It was a huge windstorm!!! so huge it scambled the letters in the state name from Maine to Manie.

Had to to do it!

 

[Pronto]

Shop around for other agents. I can't believe you can't find a company to insure your house. Especially since Mister Destructo Ben is out of commission for a while.

 

[Little6pack]

Originally posted by Pronto
Shop around for other agents. I can't believe you can't find a company to insure your house.

Well here are the 2 MAIN problems.

1) My WIFEis dealing with this
2) Agent is a WOMAN

You catch on to what is happening. 2 broads = disaster.

I need to get invovled with a another agent. One that is a MAN..
You know how us guys turn a blind eye to problems..

 

[2quiktocare]

Wow, glad I didn't say that.

The main reason I see is that fuses sometimes allow a larger load than they are designed for at times and actually take awhile to melt and open a circuit. A breaker will actually pop from heat build up and will pop when it gets a surge, which a fuse won't unless it is sustained for a period of time. It is old technology and still around in many older homes. The insurance actuarials have shown many companies obviously they can limit their exposure to loss if they do exclude coverage for them. I know that isn't what anyone wants to hear, but if insurance companies overexpose themselves, they do loose money, and no one can stay in business when they are open to continued loses.

I couldn't get fire insurance in Southern California because 21st Century said we lived in a fire zone (was in a valley of all residential homes and no brush or dried wood around). Went to another company with higher rates and had no problem at all getting it. Mark

 

[Little6pack]

Yeah I don't mind calling it like it is. A spade is A spade

As for the losses by fuse box I would love to see the
insurance institutes figures. Wonder if turboscott has
access to that.

Honestly I have read the newspaper for the last 10 year
in my area & have not heard of any fires that was fuse box related.
I have heard tons from sleepy smokers or kids playing with matches.

 

[Rogue Leader]

Originally posted by littlesixsteve
RL
What disasters have happened in Manie latley?

NH has had no quakes, fires, canes, tornados, floods.
All we been getting is an influx of transplants moving in making it more crowded & expensive..

nothing at all, but they do it in all locations... (we just had good homeowners rates in maine).. They dont want to over insure in a certain area.

While yes nothing had happened in Maine or NH in like forever, the theoretical posibility is there..... its done by percentages.

 

[whitehot84]

Originally posted by salvageV6
There's nothing wrong with fuses or 1953 Chevies, certainly nothing an insurance man could tell you about.

Old guy in town drives his '53 everywhere.

No it ain't me either.

Scarry 50's technology was aluminum wiring!!!

Quite the contrary. The fuse itself is not the problem although people do tend to do such intelligent things as put pennies in the socket to keep them from blowing. The grounding system is not up to par and the wiring in a fused system is more often than not a two wire system. The code is upgraded every 3 years. There is a reason for this.
And........ aluminum wiring was introduced in the late 60's. It only lasted a few years (in homes). Utility companies use almost 100% aluminum wiring by the way.
Also........try buying full coverage insurance on a '53 chevy.