[mgarblik]

The Champ has the real world experience and if what he says is true, I must have had the worst agent in the history of insurance. My primary bad experience was a homeowners claim that was denied for a roof. Every single house on my street got a new roof almost no questions asked except me. I was in the same hail storm and had the same damage. My agent really didn't go to bat for me and I had to fight it alone. The carrier Motorists Insurance, the scum of the earth, said go ahead and sue us, you will be dead long before this ever settles. 20K later, I have a new roof, 100% out of pocket. Switched to a new agent and agency, Erie for everything but my collector cars and Haggerty for the collector cars. Have had 2 claims in 10 years, handled very well and my agent was on top of the situation start to finish. My agent is a muscle car collector with an extensive collection. I feel he really knows the product, and the needs of his clients.
So when you buy a policy on-line with no human contact, what do you do when their is a claim or a problem? Fly to the call center in Pakistan and try to find someone who speaks English?

[The Champ]

Originally Posted by mgarblik

The Champ has the real world experience and if what he says is true, I must have had the worst agent in the history of insurance. My primary bad experience was a homeowners claim that was denied for a roof. Every single house on my street got a new roof almost no questions asked except me. I was in the same hail storm and had the same damage. My agent really didn't go to bat for me and I had to fight it alone. The carrier Motorists Insurance, the scum of the earth, said go ahead and sue us, you will be dead long before this ever settles. 20K later, I have a new roof, 100% out of pocket.

I don't know the details, but one possibility is that you had a very limited "named peril" policy (commonly referred to as an HO-1 or an HO-2 policy). A named peril policy only covers damage caused by one of the listed perils.

The companies I worked for only sold "all risk" homeowners policies. All risk policies cover all perils unless a peril is specifically excluded (HO-3 or HO-5).

Another possibility is that you had your home insured for "actual cash value" which means that they deduct for depreciation on a claim. If your roof was 20 years old (normal life expectancy of a roof), there would be no claim as it's depreciated 100%.

HO-3 and HO-5 policies are "replacement cost" policies, so the roof would have been covered in full (less deductible).

I'm just guessing at possibilities, trying to come up with why you received nothing from "Motorist Insurance". FWIW - I've never heard of them. That could be because they are a regional insurance carrier that operates only in your area.

[mgarblik]

I don't want to drive this collector car insurance thread off the rails so I will just say whatever policy you end up with for your collector car, force yourself to read and really understand everything in the policy. Don't assume anything and if it isn't in writing, it doesn't exist. In my 60 years of life, insurance is only thing I can think of that you pay for year after year with ever increasing premiums. Then in the unlikely event you have a claim, it is the primary goal of the insurer to find any loop hole or way to weasel out of paying a claim. It's like a crazy crooked card game and the insurance company has all the aces.

Champ: you may be right about my homeowners policy. I was so ignorant about insurance at that point in my life, it's entirely possible. I am a much better informed consumer now. Buying a new roof for 20K forces you to learn quickly!