Insurance Rates again ... was disturbing Sprint policy facts, learned the hard way

"Bob Smith" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Just for catastrophic claims? One itty bitty $250 claim (after the
> deductible) is not going to add any *Marks* on your record.

Extremely harmful "advice" of this kind is exactly why you should not be
extrapolating from your claimed knowledge of commercial insurance into the
consumer area, with which you obviously have no experience. A claim of *any*
size most certainly does put a black mark on one's record, at least with the two
largest and most important insurers in Illinois--Allstate and State Farm. My
Allstate agent strongly suggested that I increase my home insurance deductible
(up to $1000, if I recall correctly), precisely because any claim smaller than
that would needlessly damage my insurance record. Once again I point to this
article which explicitly mentions State Farm's policy in some states of
cancelling any home insurance policy that files two claims (of any size) within
three years:

http://stacks.msnbc.com/local/ose/m187626.asp

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› See More: Insurance Rates again ... was disturbing Sprint policy facts, learned the hard way

"Lawrence G. Mayka" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Bob Smith" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Just for catastrophic claims? One itty bitty $250 claim (after the
> > deductible) is not going to add any *Marks* on your record.
>
> Extremely harmful "advice" of this kind is exactly why you should not be
> extrapolating from your claimed knowledge of commercial insurance into the
> consumer area, with which you obviously have no experience. A claim of
*any*
> size most certainly does put a black mark on one's record, at least with
the two
> largest and most important insurers in Illinois--Allstate and State Farm.

No experience. First off, I have made homeowner claims ... without getting
my handslapped. Within a two year period, we had a hail storm, in the middle
of July, where I had to have my whole house repainted. Then we lost some
jewelry, and made a claim on matched sets. One year later, Hurricane Hugo
passed through, where we had to have a ton of stuff fixed with the house and
and landscaping ... My rates did not go up one iota and the carrier, Kemper
if I recall, didn't raise our rates or deductible one iota.

Stop calling it a black mark ... If it's being recording in a national
database, it's just an entry ... As to those two markets, I have some
stories to tell about Allstate and all of it negative ... Knowing what I
know about Allstate, as a former insurance adjuster, and agent ... I
wouldn't touch them with a 110 foot pole ... Now State Farm is ranked pretty
high as a good market in my book.

> My
> Allstate agent strongly suggested that I increase my home insurance
deductible
> (up to $1000, if I recall correctly), precisely because any claim smaller
than
> that would needlessly damage my insurance record. Once again I point to
this
> article which explicitly mentions State Farm's policy in some states of
> cancelling any home insurance policy that files two claims (of any size)
within
> three years:
>
> http://stacks.msnbc.com/local/ose/m187626.asp
>
That link is not working ...

Bob

On Sat, 06 Sep 2003 13:44:23 +0000, Bob Smith wrote:

> Stop calling it a black mark ... If it's being recording in a national
> database, it's just an entry ... As to those two markets, I have some
> stories to tell about Allstate and all of it negative ...

This isn't a very smart statement for an agent to make.

I don't believe you're an agent.

"Bob Smith" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Lawrence G. Mayka" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > http://stacks.msnbc.com/local/ose/m187626.asp
> >
> That link is not working ...

It works for me, but try this one then:

http://homes.wsj.com/buysell/taxesan...529-oster.html

"Many insurers are also setting up powerful disincentives to filing claims.
State Farm recently implemented a policy that says customers in its mid-Atlantic
region may be dropped if they file two claims within three years. In addition,
State Farm will reject any new customer who has filed even a single claim with
another insurer in the last 36 months.
At Travelers Property Casualty, two claims in five years will put customers on
the radar screen. Three claims in five years, and they stand a good chance of
getting dropped."

"So if hail causes $700 worth of damage to your roof, consumer advocates and
state insurance commissioners say you should think twice about calling your
agent. It may be cheaper in the long run to cover the cost yourself."

"C Roth" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...
> On Sat, 06 Sep 2003 13:44:23 +0000, Bob Smith wrote:
>
> > Stop calling it a black mark ... If it's being recording in a national
> > database, it's just an entry ... As to those two markets, I have some
> > stories to tell about Allstate and all of it negative ...
>
> This isn't a very smart statement for an agent to make.
>
> I don't believe you're an agent.

I am an agent, and it's not called a black mark in the industry ... it's
just called a claim entry (or something called that). Consumers might call
it a black mark, but is certainly not called a "black mark" in the industry
....

Bob

On Sat, 06 Sep 2003 14:55:50 +0000, Bob Smith wrote:

>> I don't believe you're an agent.
>
> I am an agent, and it's not called a black mark in the industry ... it's
> just called a claim entry (or something called that). Consumers might call
> it a black mark, but is certainly not called a "black mark" in the
> industry ...

What we call it isn't relevant to what I was saying. We can call
it "FISH" if you prefer.

I'm an agent as well, as I stated earlier -- and I don't believe you are.

If you WERE an agent, you would know perfectly well you can find good and
bad stories about just about any company. For you to say here, in
public, ". . . I have some stories to tell about Allstate and all
of it negative ..." is, in my opinion, not proper and puts your claim of
being an agent in question in my mind.

As an agent in Florida myself, I would clearly state that any advise I
give is only applicable in my state. You make no such distinctions and
some of what you are stating as fact and arguing with the people here
clearly don't apply in all areas.

"C Roth" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...
> On Sat, 06 Sep 2003 14:55:50 +0000, Bob Smith wrote:
>
> >> I don't believe you're an agent.
> >
> > I am an agent, and it's not called a black mark in the industry ... it's
> > just called a claim entry (or something called that). Consumers might
call
> > it a black mark, but is certainly not called a "black mark" in the
> > industry ...
>
> What we call it isn't relevant to what I was saying. We can call
> it "FISH" if you prefer.
>
> I'm an agent as well, as I stated earlier -- and I don't believe you are.
>
> If you WERE an agent, you would know perfectly well you can find good and
> bad stories about just about any company. For you to say here, in
> public, ". . . I have some stories to tell about Allstate and all
> of it negative ..." is, in my opinion, not proper and puts your claim of
> being an agent in question in my mind.
>
> As an agent in Florida myself, I would clearly state that any advise I
> give is only applicable in my state. You make no such distinctions and
> some of what you are stating as fact and arguing with the people here
> clearly don't apply in all areas.
>
You can say all you want C Roth ... I have no clue how long you've been an
agent ... I've been one since 83, and a claims adjuster for 4 years before
that ... I also cover 6 states ... So, I think I know what I'm talking
about.

As to what you think is proper or not proper, I don't care. I know what I'm
talking about.

Now, as to this thread, I'm bowing out, as it's gone way off tangent to the
newsgroup. If you want the last word, so be it ... go for it ...

Bob

On Sat, 06 Sep 2003 17:16:26 +0000, Bob Smith wrote:

> So, I think I know what I'm talking about.

I wish I had a nickle every time I've been told that . . .

> As to what you think is proper or not proper, I don't care. I know what
> I'm talking about.

Why do you keep repeating that phrase?

> Now, as to this thread, I'm bowing out, as it's gone way off tangent to
> the newsgroup. If you want the last word, so be it ... go for it ...

Bye.

On Sat, 06 Sep 2003 13:44:23 GMT, "Bob Smith"

Bob, your experience may have been like that 14 years ago when Hugo
rolled through but things have changed greatly. Your past experience
is not good advice now. Wether you want to believe it or not, the
industry has changed. Everything I've read in the past 3-5 years
about insurance comes to pretty much the same conclusion. Get a
higher deductable and start thinking of the insurance from a
catastophic or major loss only standpoint, not a nickel dime
replacement poilcy. You do have some playing room with natural causes
but not much other then that. YMMV. Maybe this is just a scare
tactic from the industry to save some money but it got me thinking
diffent.

"norelpref" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Sat, 06 Sep 2003 13:44:23 GMT, "Bob Smith"
>
> Bob, your experience may have been like that 14 years ago when Hugo
> rolled through but things have changed greatly. Your past experience
> is not good advice now. Wether you want to believe it or not, the
> industry has changed. Everything I've read in the past 3-5 years
> about insurance comes to pretty much the same conclusion. Get a
> higher deductable and start thinking of the insurance from a
> catastophic or major loss only standpoint, not a nickel dime
> replacement poilcy. You do have some playing room with natural causes
> but not much other then that. YMMV. Maybe this is just a scare
> tactic from the industry to save some money but it got me thinking
> diffent.

Why do you folks think I have low deductibles ..? I've already outlined what
I have in this or another thread ... I don't even want to say how high my
health insurance ded is ... It's high!

Bob

"Lawrence G. Mayka" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:Yfm6b.19453

> "So if hail causes $700 worth of damage to your roof, consumer advocates
and
> state insurance commissioners say you should think twice about calling
your
> agent. It may be cheaper in the long run to cover the cost yourself."
>

And the long run is what matters. Unless your cellphone is more than $700,
this advice certainly applies [to claiming a loss of a cell phone on your
home owners insurance].

Tom Velhdouse

"C Roth" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...
> On Fri, 05 Sep 2003 16:57:32 +0000, Bob Smith wrote:
>
> > Tom, are you in the industry? As I explained in another thread, there
are
> > number of reasons why rates go up
>
> You need to step down a little bit.
>
>

Yeah ... I never said my rates went up. They didn't.

Tom Veldhouse