All Forum Posts by: Donald Stevens

You need to find an agent that specializes in vacant homes and/or landlord insurance. Most captive carriers like State Farm and Allstate don't have a market because it is not a risk the underwriters want to take on. We get a lot of referrals from other agents because it is such a niche policy.

American Modern may work. There are several companies out there that will insure mobile homes. The trick is when they are vacant or tenant occupied. Foremost is definitely an option. You may want to look at a commercial liabiilty policy that is one policy and covers liability for all of your properties.

Zurich writes builders risk policies which can be good if you are rehabbing or adding on to a property. There are other companies like Diamond State, Foremost, and American Modern. We write for these companies and some others and would love to help if we can.

Thanks for the link post jawsette! We work as hard as we can to do everything we can for our clients. Most of our clients are professionals and they are repeat customers. We write the really hard stuff and the easy stuff. Give us a try, I think you will like it.

I always tell my clients the same thing.

First, ask your agent if you are covered if you have a tenant in the property. It sounds like you actually have a landlord policy. I would find it hard to believe you have four homeowners policies with the same company. That would be hard to get through underwriting for sure. They may be calling them homeowners policies when in fact they are some form of a landlord or what they call a dwelling or fire policy.

Secondly, how horrible would you feel if you paid the insurance company $4800 a year for lets say four years which is almost $20,000 in premium only to have them deny a claim when you really need them due to misrepresentation. That could be a tough pill to swallow.

We have clients that take many different approaches to their insurance needs. Here are the three most common policies.

Get a liability only policy. If you are willing to self insure for the amount of cash you have invested in the house, that is an option. After all, insurance is a transference of risk and you decide what risk you can afford to self insure and what amount would cause a financial hardship. Lawsuits are extremely expensive even if you did nothing wrong and win the case you still pay the lawyer. An attorney is going to charge between $5,000-$20,000 just to get started. Liability insurance will pay legal fees and the judgement up to the amount of insurance.

Get property coverage with a higher deductible. Getting a deductible of $2,500, $5,000, or even $10,000 can drastically reduce your insurance rates and protect you in the event of a catastrophic loss. You self insure for the little things, we pay for the big stuff.

Third. Get a comprehensive policy. Yes they cost more but they cover more. Protect your cash flow so you don't have any interruptions in your business. Insurance isn't all bad, especially when you need it.

Wow! Thanks!

I would to start by saying anyone can sue anyone for anything. That doesn't mean they will win, but even the person getting sued loses because of the cost of legal defense.

If your wife is a personal injury attorney than I am sure she can tell you several things I will mention here. I am not an attorney, only an insurance agent, so keep that in mind.

Attorneys sue for what they can get. It doesn't make sense to sue someone for ten million dollars when they are a factory worker and only earn $30,000 a year. They will file bankruptcy and become very hard to collect very fast. With that in mind, think about how much you are worth including future earnings and get a liability policy for that amount. Maybe it is ten million, better too much than too little. The policy will usually also cover legal defense expense coverage in addition to the liability amount. When the insurance company has ten million on the hook, they hire some pretty fancy lawyers.

An LLC is another great idea. An LLC is a separate entity from yourself. This can add another layer making it at least a little more difficult for someone to collect against you personally.

The last advice I would give you is that if you hire anyone, have them list you as an additional insured especially if they hire subcontractors. As an additional insured it gives your insurance company the opportunity to subrogate the claim against the at fault party. That means the contractors policy will defend you also. Have the contractor give you a certificate signed by the agent listing you as the additional insured.

Hope that helps.

I don't know if they will drop them or blackball them but the insurance rate will probably go up at renewal. Some companies raise their rates so high on renewal it is almost like being dropped. Some companies will let one claim slide by. It really depends on the company and the agent you are working with.

Here is a way for your parents to get some piece of mind on whether or not they should file a claim.

1. If they call to inquire about filing a claim, it will probably show up as a claim even if nothing is paid. An inquiry about making a claim is very common and will affect the insurance rate other companies will charge if they try to move to another company.

2. They can have some contractors, preferrably at least 3, come out and give some estimates. If the damage will cost $1200 to repair and the deductible is $1000, it might be better to pay the extra $200 to avoid a 5 year up charge for having a claim.

3. Call another agent from the same company as if you are looking for a quote and ask how one claim would affect your rate if you are already insured with them. This doesn't mean what the agent says is 100% true because they are trying to win your business, but it may be an enlightening conversation.

4. Lastly, they paid for the insurance and can make a claim if they want to. Just be aware many insurance companies charge for a claim for up to five years.

Every situation has a need for different types of insurance. From a high risk, high hazard policy to an ultra preferred occupied home