Page 17 - Sonoma County Gazette October 2018

INSURANCE cont’d from page 16
Insurance carriers writing homeowners coverage in California have always run hot and cold— sometimes aggressively seeking market share, then reassessing their risk and limiting or stopping writing new policies. The pendulum is always in motion in the insurance industry. These fluctuations are not as capricious as they may seem, and your elected insurance commissioner (currently Dave Jones) and their office play a watchdog role in all of this.
I’m not suggesting that insurance companies aren’t in the business for profit— they are— just reminding you that their actions and reactions are overseen by a governing body, which regulates the market and ostensibly protects consumers.
If you’re being non-renewed, or worried about that happening,
you’re not alone-- it’s happening to a lot of people, many of whom are our clients. In fact, my own home insurance is being non-renewed on October 1st!
Insurance carriers such as Nationwide and Allied, Pacific Specialty, and
The Hartford, to name a few, are “re-underwriting” policies they’ve had for years— decades even. In the process they’ve found a multitude of “reasons” to non-renew clients. Post and pier foundations, size of the home (too big or too small), width of the road, type of heating or type of roof, and of course, the fire- line score are just a few of the reasons we’ve seen recently.
Almost 100% of the time nothing has changed with the home, the only thing that has changed is the insurance carriers “underwriting guidelines.” Gone are the days of “grandfathering” or carrier loyalty. You may find yourself being non-renewed from a carrier you’ve been insured with for decades.
So, what can you do?
Sometimes you can mitigate the so called “exposure” by changing something such as installing a hard wired thermostatically-controlled permanent heating source, or trimming trees and clearing brush from around the home. But often times what the insurance carrier really wants is to not be insuring you, and practically no amount of mitigation is going to satisfy them right now. Remember the pendulum, because it’ll swing the other way eventually!
In the meantime, know that you’ll be able to find insurance, though it may take some effort and it will undoubtedly cost more than you’re currently paying. My insurance is going to go from $971 to $2544. I’m not happy about that, but I understand that’s the way it is right now.
And, of course, call us! We can help you find new coverage, figure out how to mitigate exposure, or answer any other questions you may have. We’re happy to help. 707-874-2666
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