At 78 years of age my life is quite hectic right now. A last thing that I need to further complicate my life is to have to worry about my Home Owners insurance coverage...
I have been diagnosed with Prostatic cancer and usually on every weekday now I wend my way to The Midwest Proton Radiotherapy Institute, in Bloomington, Indiana for radiation therapy.
If a therapy day is missed during the week it gets made up by a treatment on the weekend. My course of treatment will consist of 44 episodes & I have a bit of a way to go yet. There are some bothersome side effects but they have not been as vexing as insurance matters have been.
In addition to the therapy, my home is listed for sale. Perhap many readers can relate to the stress involved in that persuit.
There was for us first the auction off of 32 years of accumulated "treasures"(?) . A chore that proved to be not very rewarding.
Also there were/are the property viewings by Realtor clients for whom we were either involved directly in showing a rather unique property or being asked to vacate our home for several hours while other clients looked.
The viewings of course were all proceeded by the last minute tidy up of a still much lived in house while feeling fortunate that we were indeed getting some viewings given the current worrisome Real Estate market.
Next came the preparations for our out of state move next month whether we have sold our house by then or not.
Attendant to the above were questions that arose about Home Owners insurance for a left empty home as well as insurance coverage for our belongings during the move.
I had maintained various insurance policies continuously with a local State Farm Insurance Agency since the 1960s. My wife & I each receive a yearly Birthday card from the Agents office. Also numerous times each year we receive phone calls or mail from the Agents office offering to meet with us to review "your insurance NEEDS".
I took the time, amidst everything else on my plate, to drive cross town to the Agency office hoping to meet briefly with my agent or his responsible insurance other. Instead, my interview was by a young lady who apparently served as upfront receptionist.
In response to her ,"What can I do for You", I asked to speak to my Agent about how could I obtain Home Owners insurance for a property that was to be unlived in and standing empty while it was up for sale? Her response was to simply maintain my current H.O. & Umbrella Insurance Policies with her inference being then that I need not have to worry about being protected while we were gone.
So far, so good I thought, or at least until I viewed David Brancaccio’s program "NOW" on my local PBS TV station. He brought to light for me an investigative report in a recent "Bloomberg Market " magazine issue dealing with how insurance companies manage to screw over their Home Owner policy holders.
Previously, I heard on that TV report, one could purchase guaranteed full replacement value home insurance coverage. Whether that is still the case was not clear to me from the TV coverage .
What is offered today is "Extended Home Replacement" coverage. As the TV show pointed out, one might think that "extended coverage" might be something more than just a full replacement cost payout. No way, "Extended Replacement" seemingly places a limit on the insured’s ability to obtain a full financial recovery.
Sue the insurance company for an equitable settlement and one is likely then to be tied up in the courts until your legal fees become untenable.
Keeping insurance companies acting in a responsible way for their clients is apparently a responsibility of the individual states. State’s rules in this regard stem from legislative action. State legislators are heavily lobbied. Now lets see here, what industry is it that is
among the heaviest players when it comes to lobbying?
Was I being naive to feel that my insurance Agent had real concern for my insurance welfare?
I knew, after witnessing the "NOW" expose, that it might be folly for me to rely on the advice of an apparent office receptionist. I then e-mailed my Insurance Agent directly requesting the information I needed and written assurance from him that if I was to just maintain my current H.O. policy, as advised, that it would provide my required protection.
Well, my friendly insurance agent may contact my wife & I on our birthdays each year but ,so far, no direct written response from him to my e-mail request for my insurance information.