Insurance Horror Stories

Halloween

Just in time for Halloween we thought we’d share some recent insurance horror stories. Truthfully, we encounter these stories more often than we should. Names and companies will be omitted to protect the privacy of the individuals involved.

Part I: Insurance Company Tells Contractor How to Run Their Business!

Yes, you read that right. We’ve had calls where contractors keep asking if new home construction is allowed on the policy. We thought it was strange for a contractor, so we told them that yes we could insure new home construction projects and asked why they kept asking. Apparently their current insurance provider told them to focus on renovations and not do new home construction as it was too expensive on insurance.

The truth is, the insurance company did not insure any new home construction, and the agent wanted to keep the client, so they were trying to convince them to say no to a job. Needless to say, we can insure it. Never let your insurance company dictate your business. Tell them what you are doing and have them design a policy for it. If they can’t, call us.

Part II: Insurance Company Charges Long Time Client Way Too Much

We had an interesting call with a prospective client that could not believe our reasonable our policies were. Turns out this client had home and auto with a large well known insurance company, saw us on Facebook and thought they’d try us out.

Based on the size of their business, The Basic coverage was $650, the Classic was around $900, and the Plus was $1,400. This individual said that sounded great, but wanted to check with his current provider.

The next day we get a call back, the current provider said that the pricing was too low and the coverages must be missing, so we had the client read us his current coverage to compare. Turns out his current coverage fell between the Basic and Classic package, but he was paying $1,700. In the end he switched to us and the classic package – saved $800 and received better coverage.

Part III: Tools Stolen But Insurance Company Denies Coverage

We had a call where a Tradesman had his trailer stolen with over $20,000 of tools and equipment inside. His current insurance company was not paying for the tools as his policy had a “Locked Vehicle Warranty” on it. What this means, is that in order for coverage to be in place, the insured must show proof of forced entry.

The thieves cut the tongue lock and stole the trailer, but since the insured was unable to find the cut lock, the company was denying coverage. Though we agree you should always lock up your tools, sometimes it’s difficult to prove it was in fact locked.

We have the ability to secure an insurance policy without the locked vehicle warranty, call us for details.

Avoid The Horror Stories

Avoid the insurance horror stories, call us to review your insurance needs.

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