by Kellymcgov » Sun Dec 15, 2013 02:33 am
My insurance company is threatening non-renewal because our property is in "disrepair" because we were devastated by super-storm Sandy and again by blizzard Nemo. There are trees down all over our property which they won't cover to be removed. They sent a check for one tree removal on our fence, but our fence has dozens of trees on it.
We've been approved for the Sandy relief fund, who will pay for the trees to be removed, which I explained to the agent, but they still sent a threatening letter. Do they have a right to demand repairs that they wouldn't even fully cover? And even if they gave us a check for damage, do they have the right to demand we fix it? Isn't that what we pay premiums for? All our claims have been weather related. And all the so-called disrepair is trees down--nowhere near the house.
We've been approved for the Sandy relief fund, who will pay for the trees to be removed, which I explained to the agent, but they still sent a threatening letter. Do they have a right to demand repairs that they wouldn't even fully cover? And even if they gave us a check for damage, do they have the right to demand we fix it? Isn't that what we pay premiums for? All our claims have been weather related. And all the so-called disrepair is trees down--nowhere near the house.
Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 04:26 am Post Subject:
They have a right to insure those who they want. What they don't want is to insure a property that is already at high risk for additional damage. This is why they are stating that they won't renew the policy unless the home is repaired.
Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 11:06 am Post Subject:
And even if they gave us a check for damage, do they have the right to demand we fix it?
The insurance company does not have this right, although your lender does. the insurance company only needs to satisfy its obligation under the contract of insurance by paying you or your lender for the damage covered.But, as tcope has said, the insurer does not have a legal obligation to renew your policy.
Homeowners insurance is not issued on a "Guaranteed Renewable" basis. It is issued on a cancelleable basis, which allows the insurer to "get off the risk" for any reason other than something discriminatory. If it chooses not to renew the policy for any reason, it must give you advance notice, which it has apparently done. And it seems the reason you are giving the insurance company the right to nonrenew the policy is that the property in in a state of "disrepair".
If they paid you to replace damaged property and the removal of one tree as you accepted when you purchased the coverage, and you don't repair the property to its pre-loss state, they can simply terminate your coverage because the risk of additional loss is greater than what they accepted at the time your policy was originally issued.
Don't complain about the number of trees that have to be removed and your policy's obligation being limited to payment for one tree. If you had read your policy, you would have seen that provision in your contract. You can always offer to pay more premium to include more trees, but the insurance company doesn't have to do that unless they want to. If they agree, they give you an endorsement for coverage for the additional risk of loss and you pay the additional premium they ask for.
our property is in "disrepair"
Apparently, you agree with this assessment, because you write:We've been approved for the Sandy relief fund, who will pay for the trees to be removed,
.So let's get this straight. Hurricane Sandy occurred in October 2012, and as of December 2013, you have done nothing to clear the fallen trees on your property? FEMA says this on its website:
See www.fema.gov/hurricane-sandyOne year later, more than $1.4 billion in Individual Assistance has been provided to more than 182,000 survivors, and an additional $2.4 billion in low-interest disaster loans have been approved by the U.S. Small Business Administration. More than $7.9 billion in National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) payments have been made to policy holders, and FEMA has approved more than $3.2 billion to fund emergency work, debris removal, and repair and replacement of infrastructure.
You didn't get your share of $4.6 Billion? How did that happen?
If you were an insurance company and someone came to you with property that looked like yours asking to be insured, what would you say to them?
Oh, you wouldn't offer them insurance? Welcome to the world of risk management. Don't expect another insurer to accept your risk in its current condition. Your lender will obtain "forced placed" covereage that will cover their interest but not necessarily cover yours. And that will cost you more than a good homeowner's policy.
As for disaster funding to pay to remove the trees, what is holding up the check for that? It's been over 12 months. Sounds to me like there is something missing from your tale.
Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 09:23 pm Post Subject: Thanks for your "expertise"
First of all, there is nothing in my policy that states they would only cover "One Tree." I'm not an idiot, though you presume that I am. I said they only gave enough funds for the removal of ONE tree. They gave us a check for 5 thousand and the work will cost more than triple that. They miscalculated the estimate and assumed the work would be done in one day, when it states at the bottom that it would take 3-4 days.
And don't ask ME why it's taking so long for the funds. We were just approved last month and told it would take many months before any work gets done! And it hasn't been a year since Nemo struck us on the heels of Sandy.
How can you presume we have done nothing???? We've done a lot of clean up work ourselves. The property is very large and we lost about 30 trees. None of which are anywhere NEAR our house, so how does it make our house more at risk??? If a tree falls in the forest, does that mean the entire area is more at risk for damage?
And I don't appreciate being told I'm a liar. This TALE, as you refer to it, is my life. Maybe you should consider that people live in these houses you approve or disapprove of and they deserve to be treated with respect.
And we don't have escrow, we pay for our own insurance and never missed a payment.
Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 04:11 am Post Subject:
First of all, there is nothing in my policy that states they would only cover "One Tree." I'm not an idiot, though you presume that I am
Trees are covered to a maximum of about $500 regardless of the number of trees involved. Read your contract.No one called you a liar. You complained about nonrenewal and you received a response.
Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 07:41 pm Post Subject:
They gave us $3,750 for the trees. I've read my contract, thank you. They miscalculated, period. I spoke to agent this morning and got it straightened out. I don't know where you got that maximum of $500. There is no such thing here or we wouldn't even have insurance.
Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 07:47 pm Post Subject:
There usually is a max allowance for tree removal, $500 or $1000 usually applies. Also, sometimes the tree needs to have caused damage before the removal is covered.
So they already paid $3,750 for removal of the trees (you state the plural, "trees" but eariler mention that they only paid for one tree). But now they are going to pay for all the trees. Problem solved... I guess.
Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 08:28 pm Post Subject:
$3,750 doesn't even cover half the amount to remove all trees. There are about 15 trees on the fence--which is another $3000 to fix. The actual amount to remove all the fallen trees will be upwards of $20,000. We've been approved for $26,000 from Sandy relief funds. Tree work is very expensive.
Add your comment