I have a hate-on for insurance companies right now...

[AstarB1]

We just received a registered letter from our insurance company, letting us know that they will not be renewing our policy for our house. The reason is because we've had three basement floods in 5 years. The first time it happened, the contractor told us that it was due to debris in our sump well, leftover from when our house was constructed, so we cleaned that out. After the second time we were told that our sump pump wasn't adequate and we replaced it with a better model. After the third time, we re-evaluated the cause, and we replaced the sump again with an industrial grade model and regraded our backyard, adding a trench for drainage.

I'm so aggravated. My husband spent an hour on the phone with the insurance company tonight, offering to show them documents/receipts of everything that we've done to prevent another flood and suggested that they send an underwriter to our house to inspect everything. They just flat out refused.

I'm feeling very anti-insurance now. Aside from our house and car (because the potential loss is so large), I want to rid myself of anything insurance related! For example, we have a "comfort protection plan" that we pay monthly with our energy bill that covers our a/c and furnace in case of break-down. I'm thinking that I should instead, take that money and add it to our EF and earn interest on it and prevent more profit from ending up with an insurance company!!

Anybody else have similar experiences or feelings?

[Telephus44]

I don't have a similar experience (thank goodness!), but I do have similar feelings about insurance. My philosophy is only get insurance on things that you can't afford to fix or replace if they break (say, my car when I was recently in my car accident, or if we did own a house). Little stuff - I can buy myself a new A/C if it breaks, I can handle that kind of stuff. I don't need insurance for those things.

I would be pretty upset if I were in your shoes though. Are you going to have to call around and find another insurance company?

[M55FF]

I don't feel this way about my insurance but I have great disdain for doctors.

and feel the same about them that you do about insurance.

so I can relate.

[suki]

I have the same disdain for insurance.

Astar, now you will learn the ugly rest of the story as I once did. Once you are denied coverage on your home, it is virtually impossible to get anyone to talk to you! We were denied due to an agent writing the wrong policy and we could not get anyone else to even provide a quote. We ended up having to take the bank provided insurance which was much more expensive and did not cover the contents or replacement of the home... only their investment in my home.

[itlw8]

several years ago our ins company canceled all people with wood stoves and fireplaces... that cause us a problem as I do family childcare. Even though I have a seperate liability policy for it most would not cover us we were lucky to find one that would with signing a waiver staing they would cover nothing to do with the childcare.

[EmilyD]

I had a similar experience with an insurance company.

In July 2006, I was rear-ended by a woman on her cell phone that did permanant damage to my neck, head, and back. I was in therapy until the following year in Jun. , over $8,000 worth of medical bills.

In June 2007 I sent my claim in ... they finally agreed to a "SMALL" settlement yesterday. Multiple runarounds on the phone, multiple lies from the processors (said they had processed stuff when they hadn't, sent papers to doctors when they hadn't etc).

I hate all insurances ... they take and take and take and when it comes time to pay out it is the fight of a lifetime. BY LAW, we have to have car insurance ...even though we are in a no fault state ... and you can't buy a house without insurance.

Sorry ... but this was a really timely post for me.

[AstarB1]

Thanks for commiserating, everybody.

I called the company that insures our cars and they won't consider us, based on recent events.

They put us in contact with a broker. Sounds like the best case scenario our deductible will increase 2.5x and our premium will increase 3x. Assuming that she can find an insurer.

[mikandmari]

I started to post my experiences with insurance companies, but I feel my blood pressure rising just thinking about it

The entire insurance industry in the U.S. is something that needs a complete overhaul, but between the war, the economy, and Brittney Spears, no one seems to pay it any attention

[mombottoo]

I have never cared for insurance companies, but they are a necessary evil! It's horrid that you have to fight insurance companies every step of the way when something happens. Yet they don't mind taking your money!!!

Good luck finding a new company.

[cissylu]

Geez that stink`s ! I think insurace companies awful what they charge. hope you find something soon and it isn`t to high.