Current Events > Insurance is such a fucking scam man

(+) Yeah! (+)

So we had a leaking pipe cause some water damage in our house. Got some estimates and ended up filing an insurance claim based on the cost for water removal and repair of the damage

been a homeowner nearly 15 years and never had to file any claims or anything so its all new to me. While the guy was out inspecting for water damage noticed there was some damage to the outside of the garage, as well as potential damage to the roof causing water to get into the garage. So I look into whether that would be covered as well and submit a claim

Well shortly after this I discover that most insurance companies will not renew coverage for multiple claims in the span of 3-5 years???? So even before speaking to anyone were potentially screwed out of home insurance in the near future

nobody teaches you these things; I had no idea what the home insurance procedure was until now but I guess I fucked up even reporting the second thing? Cant even withdraw the claim or anything

TheGoldenEel posted...

been a homeowner nearly 15 years and never had to file any claims or anything so its all new to me.

insurance companies have no problem taking money but when they have to payout they have to cut losses by removing homeowners.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/2/22642bc9.jpg

There's nothing stopping you from getting coverage from a different company. Frankly you should be getting quotes on insurance semiregularly anyway to keep your existing company honest.

Frankly I wouldn't put in a claim on anything unless it was actually sizeable.

Hospy posted...

There's nothing stopping you from getting coverage from a different company. Frankly you should be getting quotes on insurance semiregularly anyway to keep your existing company honest.

Frankly I wouldn't put in a claim on anything unless it was actually sizeable.

For the first claim we discovered it when there was a mushroom growing out of our wall so the concern was that the damage behind the wall could be extensive, which ended up not being the case although the repair is still a couple thousand.

the second claim could potentially be a lot since there is damage to the garage roof and we are seeing some rotted wood showing behind the flashing. Dont know how extensive damage will be

How much was the initial claim?

Theres a reason for people to have at least a $5k deductible on their home insurance (besides just saving some money). You are less likely to make a small claim that hurts you in the long run.

Yeah, I've heard similar for home insurance. They really fuck you over for just making a claim, which is just ridiculous.

Is home insurance essentially just for catastrophic cases?

Cuticrusader09 posted...

How much was the initial claim?

Theres a reason for people to have at least a $5k deductible on their home insurance (besides just saving some money). You are less likely to make a small claim that hurts you in the long run.

our deductible was $1000 with $500 good standing credit or something so we only are paying $500

idk how much the initial claim will be since the water removal was contracted directly through the insurance company, and the repair to the wall is estimated $1200

TheGoldenEel posted...

For the first claim we discovered it when there was a mushroom growing out of our wall so the concern was that the damage behind the wall could be extensive, which ended up not being the case although the repair is still a couple thousand.

the second claim could potentially be a lot since there is damage to the garage roof and we are seeing some rotted wood showing behind the flashing. Dont know how extensive damage will be

Yeah, I wouldn't be claiming insurance for things like that without doing a little exploring of your own. Insurance isn't really intended to be a substitute for maintenance.

Hejiru posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/2/22642bc9.jpg

I'm just quoting to express my love of that cartoon.

A perfect encapsulation of advertising vs reality.

Hospy posted...

Yeah, I wouldn't be claiming insurance for things like that without doing a little exploring of your own. Insurance isn't really intended to be a substitute for maintenance.

So the issue with the first thing is the water damage was over a structural beam of the house. When we see a mushroom poking out of the wall the fear is that there is long term water damage causing structural problems which could potentially be a big deal to replace

fortunately that was not the case but we had no way of knowing without opening the wall up, and opening the wall up could have potentially exposed any mold or fungi that was in there

knowing what I know now I wouldnt have filed a claim but it wasnt a repair that could really wait

emblem-man posted...

Yeah, I've heard similar for home insurance. They really fuck you over for just making a claim, which is just ridiculous.

Is home insurance essentially just for catastrophic cases?

Basically yes.

Amy time you are insuring a risk, you are paying for that risk + the insurance company's costs of doing business + the company's exorbitant profits (and that assuming the insurance company doesn't cheat on paying out the claim).

This makes no sense at all unless the risk is bankruptcy level risk (e.g., your house that you have a mortgage on burning down, or being liable for death/injury in a car crash).

Thus nickel and dime insurance deals (extended warranties are the perfect example) are pure profit for the offerers, which is precisely why they hound people so relentlessly for those offers.

TheGoldenEel posted...

our deductible was $1000 with $500 good standing credit or something so we only are paying $500

idk how much the initial claim will be since the water removal was contracted directly through the insurance company, and the repair to the wall is estimated $1200

Yeah unfortunately if the total was $5-6 you shouldve just paid out of pocket.

TheGoldenEel posted...

So the issue with the first thing is the water damage was over a structural beam of the house. When we see a mushroom poking out of the wall the fear is that there is long term water damage causing structural problems which could potentially be a big deal to replace

fortunately that was not the case but we had no way of knowing without opening the wall up, and opening the wall up could have potentially exposed any mold or fungi that was in there

knowing what I know now I wouldnt have filed a claim but it wasnt a repair that could really wait

I mean, it's your home, you're generally going to be the point person on investigating anything that happens in the house. If you think it's a big deal to get the insurance company involved, they're almost certainly going to be cracking open the wall anyway so there's not much reason to not try it yourself.

From the viewpoint of the insurance company, if you're a home owner who has frequent claims, the most likely explanation is that your home either has established issues or you're not keeping up with maintenance, which represents a different level of risk from someone who doesn't have frequent claims.

Hospy posted...

I mean, it's your home, you're generally going to be the point person on investigating anything that happens in the house. If you think it's a big deal to get the insurance company involved, they're almost certainly going to be cracking open the wall anyway so there's not much reason to not try it yourself.

From the viewpoint of the insurance company, if you're a home owner who has frequent claims, the most likely explanation is that your home either has established issues or you're not keeping up with maintenance, which represents a different level of risk from someone who doesn't have frequent claims.

The reason not to try myself is what I saidI dont have industrial level air filters so I didnt want to expose a main area of my house (and my young children) to hazardous mold without a way to mitigate it

Also, how would I even know any of this, is the issue in the first place. Its like intentionally difficult to get any answers about anything AND the insurance website makes filing a claim straightforward and easy

theres nothing that says oh btw only do this for major claims because were going to drop you otherwise

TheGoldenEel posted...

Also, how would I even know any of this, is the issue in the first place. Its like intentionally difficult to get any answers about anything AND the insurance website makes filing a claim straightforward and easy

theres nothing that says oh btw only do this for major claims because were going to drop you otherwise

That's a legit issue. Public education should include basic information on insurance, credit etc., but that would cut into corporate profits.

emblem-man posted...

Is home insurance essentially just for catastrophic cases?

not even that usually.

your house got destroyed by a flood? better hope you got a flood insurance plan that very explicitly states it covers exactly how your house was flooded. it was a river and you just have it for seawater? get fucked. it hailed and damaged some shit? hey, you got the hail damage premium that only applies for specific months and it wasn't one of those months? lol. tornado came through and erased your house from existence? well it turns out you don't have a house, so you don't have insurance anymore sorry.

there is very much a reason why so many people think insurance is a scam.

and it's because it is. but if you don't have it? well the insurance companies lobbied to make that illegal, yay!

TheGoldenEel posted...

The reason not to try myself is what I saidI dont have industrial level air filters so I didnt want to expose a main area of my house (and my young children) to hazardous mold without a way to mitigate it

If you're worried about mold intrusion you can mask off the area with plastic sheeting and wear a mask while cutting.

TheGoldenEel posted...

Also, how would I even know any of this, is the issue in the first place. Its like intentionally difficult to get any answers about anything AND the insurance website makes filing a claim straightforward and easy

theres nothing that says oh btw only do this for major claims because were going to drop you otherwise

If you had an agent they wouldve warned you not to. Even a google search or question on Reddit would have warned you not to.

Insurance is the biggest scam in this country yet we have no choice but to pay for it

They pretty much get paid to do nothing majority of the time

xAzNPimP4LiFex posted...

Insurance is the biggest scam in this country yet we have no choice but to pay for it

They pretty much get paid to do nothing majority of the time

That's the reason insurance companies are always building new corporate palaces no matter how bad the economy is.

Cuticrusader09 posted...

If you had an agent they wouldve warned you not to. Even a google search or question on Reddit would have warned you not to.

I mean, in modern times you just go online and sign up for insurance

I'm sure we have an agent assigned to us but its not someone weve interacted with in any meaningful way beyond when they were sending us the initial documents many years ago