jja79 said:

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TexasRebel said:

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Teslag said:

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eric76 said:

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Waffledynamics said:

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Let's focus especially on insurance for property like homes and businesses. This is an area where I feel may need some sort of government intervention, which isn't a common thing for me to say. They seem to not want to insure areas like the Gulf Coast or California. If they will at all, they will do so at exorbitant costs. The rate increases are egregious. This impacts people's quality of life possibly even more than all of the other inflation.

Should anything be done about the insurance industry?

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You just learn to live with it.

Where I live, home insurance is very expensive because we are so far from town. If your house catches fire, it will be pretty much burned to the ground by the time the fire department can arrive. So nobody has insurance. We don't suffer from some idea that we are entitled to have insurance.

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If someone has a mortgage they are required to have insurance

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That depends on the mortgage. It's a requirement of the lender. Find a lender willing to take the risk and they could either charge more interest or get paid back faster.

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Have you ever seen such a mortgage? I haven't.

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Mortgage insurance is required by lenders if the equity is less than 20% of the loan value. Once your equity reaches 20%, you can drop mortgage insurance without having to refi or pay any fees. Most people don't realize you can drop it without fees, so they will refinance once they hit 20% to get rid of the mortgage insurance.

I had to pay MI on my first home for 4 years, I went ahead and refinanced because I could a rate more than 2 points lower, and our home's value had increased enough where our equity was more than 20% of the loan value.

MI is the worst thing out there. You have to pay for the mortgage company's insurance on the loan. It exists only to make sure the mortgage holder gets reimbursed if they have to foreclose.

Im Gipper said:

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Quote:

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This is an area where I feel may need some sort of government intervention

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NO!! Full stop!!

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Government intervention f-ed up the gas can. There's no way they can fix insurance.

OP- we are already a marxist country.

Waffledynamics said:

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Let's focus especially on insurance for property like homes and businesses. This is an area where I feel may need some sort of government intervention, which isn't a common thing for me to say. They seem to not want to insure areas like the Gulf Coast or California. If they will at all, they will do so at exorbitant costs. The rate increases are egregious. This impacts people's quality of life possibly even more than all of the other inflation.

Should anything be done about the insurance industry?

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How about a free market in states like California that are not allowed to operate like its a free market?

Californias problem is because of the state goverment...do some research.

kb2001 said:

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jja79 said:

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TexasRebel said:

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Teslag said:

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eric76 said:

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Waffledynamics said:

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Let's focus especially on insurance for property like homes and businesses. This is an area where I feel may need some sort of government intervention, which isn't a common thing for me to say. They seem to not want to insure areas like the Gulf Coast or California. If they will at all, they will do so at exorbitant costs. The rate increases are egregious. This impacts people's quality of life possibly even more than all of the other inflation.

Should anything be done about the insurance industry?

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You just learn to live with it.

Where I live, home insurance is very expensive because we are so far from town. If your house catches fire, it will be pretty much burned to the ground by the time the fire department can arrive. So nobody has insurance. We don't suffer from some idea that we are entitled to have insurance.

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If someone has a mortgage they are required to have insurance

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That depends on the mortgage. It's a requirement of the lender. Find a lender willing to take the risk and they could either charge more interest or get paid back faster.

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Have you ever seen such a mortgage? I haven't.

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Mortgage insurance is required by lenders if the equity is less than 20% of the loan value. Once your equity reaches 20%, you can drop mortgage insurance without having to refi or pay any fees. Most people don't realize you can drop it without fees, so they will refinance once they hit 20% to get rid of the mortgage insurance.

I had to pay MI on my first home for 4 years, I went ahead and refinanced because I could a rate more than 2 points lower, and our home's value had increased enough where our equity was more than 20% of the loan value.

MI is the worst thing out there. You have to pay for the mortgage company's insurance on the loan. It exists only to make sure the mortgage holder gets reimbursed if they have to foreclose.

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They will drop mortgage insurance but they will always require their collateral to covered with homeowners insurance regardless of the equity percentage

That isn't the topic of this thread I don't believe.

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Auto insurance is ridiculous.. i think we are paying for illegal immigrants or anyone who wants to drive and DOES NOT carry insurance.

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This is a strong point and should be used politically. However, the auto insurance is specific to the vehicle, not the driver, correct?

What if non-insured vehicles had a holograph of a big red X that only police can see with their special insurance glasses.

You don't mark the negative.

IndividualFreedom said:

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Quote:

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Auto insurance is ridiculous.. i think we are paying for illegal immigrants or anyone who wants to drive and DOES NOT carry insurance.

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This is a strong point and should be used politically. However, the auto insurance is specific to the vehicle, not the driver, correct?

What if non-insured vehicles had a holograph of a big red X that only police can see with their special insurance glasses.

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Then half the cars in the major Texas cities would have giant red X's. And no, these aren't all or only illegal aliens driving.

I'm very willing to entertain government intervention in the insurance TV commercial market.

I don't think more government regulations are the answer, but at the very least the government needs to look at auto insurance pricing practices and make sure there is no collusion.

My auto insurance on my truck has increased 80% in 2 years despite no adverse events. In that time my vehicle as depreciated in value, so the insurance company's potential expenditure has decreased as well because they have the ability to total-out my vehicle if the repair costs exceed the value of the vehicle. My vehicle is 5 years old, and the current fair market value is about 30% of what I paid for it new. So the insurance company's potential expenditure has decreased every day that has passed and every mile that I have driven for 2 years, but my rates have almost doubled. The math doesn't make sense.

I have shopped around and all carriers are in the same price range. Are the insurance companies colluding?

Since auto insurance is required by law if you own a vehicle, at the very least some consumer protection needs to be provided and carriers need to be required to be transparent in their pricing. The argument that "repair costs have increased" isn't justification for an 80% increase- repair costs have not increased 80%.

Price in the fact that I do my own repairs.

PacoPicoPiedra said:

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Jason_InfinityRoofer said:

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Old May Banker said:

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Finn said:

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Start with things that make insurance go up like Regs, Fraud, Inflation, Non-Insured.

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Correct.

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There is a massive "correction" going on right now, at least on the roofing side, and I expect its with all aspects of home/auto insurance. We have carriers denying legitimate claims, automatic switching of RCV policies to ACV (customers aren't told about this, but they agree to it when they sign and don't read changes), and overall reductions in coverages, buried in the fine print. The fact of the matter is that insurance is like a love child between a Ponzi scheme and Las Vegas. You are betting that you will need insurance, so you place your bet. The carrier is betting you won't. In almost ALL cases, the house (insurance) wins. Always. Except...over the past 8-10 years on the Gulf Coast and several hundred miles inland, there have been major catastrophes. The house has lost. A lot. Over and over again. Now, they are making up for those losses by pulling out of states, reducing coverages, increasing premiums, and the like. The concern over fraud, inflation, and non insured is legitimate, to be sure, but it's a relatively small, but considerably unfortunate side problem of the recent weather events making a perfect storm of misery for you, the insured.

We are going to pay for this, or you do like everyone else that can't afford their deductibles, you finance it, or you just don't fix whatever it is you were going to fix. That, or figure out how to make the system work for you.

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And for 15+ years I watched roofers pad estimates in order to "waive" deductibles. Any roofer who came by office with this as their marketing ploy had their cards thrown away and never received any referrals from us. It was only a matter of time before the premiums were increased to offset this practice. I'm not sure how the new deductible collection requirement has truly affected roofers but I've heard of a few bigs who got caught waiving deductibles.

The commonality of ACV in policies will greatly change underwriting requirements. I think proof of repair or replacement will be required by companies still offering RCV. Ineligibility will tick up, as well, to a very high extent, no more excusing single weather claims.

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That was fraud then and it's fraud now. At least now, there is explicit language from pretty recent legislation that leaves all ambiguity out. It's fraud. Straight up.

We've always collected deductibles, yes, I lose a roof or two to some guy paying deductibles or writing crooked contracts, but they aren't my competition and any customer that would consider that isn't my customer anyway.

It's surprisingly difficult to report the people doing it. I can't just call up TDI and report them, I have to have solid proof, a contract, an email, something. I hate regulation but I wish more roofers would get busted for fraud. We even are starting to go so far as to request multiple checks from customers. One explicitly for the desuctible amount , one for the ACV, one for the depriciation. We can and will be audited and it's a good way to keep books straight.

But you're totally right, that was a big thing and it's probably stilll a thing in certain areas, especially right after a storm. Dudes roll up out of state even.

I see advertising on bandit signs for "no deductible". Same with auto repair. I don't know how they can legally waive a deductible for auto but they sure advertise it.

Outlaw insurance television advertising and rates come down.

jja79 said:

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Would you personally insure properties on the gulf coast for the same premiums as in other areas?

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What about places like:

Tornado Alley
California/wildfire high risk areas
River valleys, other inland flood prone zones?
Earthquake zones?
Places where hail is common?

kb2001 said:

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jja79 said:

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TexasRebel said:

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Teslag said:

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eric76 said:

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Waffledynamics said:

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Let's focus especially on insurance for property like homes and businesses. This is an area where I feel may need some sort of government intervention, which isn't a common thing for me to say. They seem to not want to insure areas like the Gulf Coast or California. If they will at all, they will do so at exorbitant costs. The rate increases are egregious. This impacts people's quality of life possibly even more than all of the other inflation.

Should anything be done about the insurance industry?

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You just learn to live with it.

Where I live, home insurance is very expensive because we are so far from town. If your house catches fire, it will be pretty much burned to the ground by the time the fire department can arrive. So nobody has insurance. We don't suffer from some idea that we are entitled to have insurance.

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If someone has a mortgage they are required to have insurance

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That depends on the mortgage. It's a requirement of the lender. Find a lender willing to take the risk and they could either charge more interest or get paid back faster.

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Have you ever seen such a mortgage? I haven't.

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Mortgage insurance is required by lenders if the equity is less than 20% of the loan value. Once your equity reaches 20%, you can drop mortgage insurance without having to refi or pay any fees. Most people don't realize you can drop it without fees, so they will refinance once they hit 20% to get rid of the mortgage insurance.

I had to pay MI on my first home for 4 years, I went ahead and refinanced because I could a rate more than 2 points lower, and our home's value had increased enough where our equity was more than 20% of the loan value.

MI is the worst thing out there. You have to pay for the mortgage company's insurance on the loan. It exists only to make sure the mortgage holder gets reimbursed if they have to foreclose.

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Mortgage insurance is not the same as insurance on the dwelling

schmellba99 said:

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jja79 said:

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Would you personally insure properties on the gulf coast for the same premiums as in other areas?

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What about places like:

Tornado Alley
California/wildfire high risk areas
River valleys, other inland flood prone zones?
Earthquake zones?
Places where hail is common?

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Infland flood zones yes (and we do), the others no. The events in those areas are far too acute and limited. For most areas on the gulf it's not an if, it's a when.

schmellba99 said:

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kb2001 said:

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jja79 said:

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TexasRebel said:

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Teslag said:

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eric76 said:

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Waffledynamics said:

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Let's focus especially on insurance for property like homes and businesses. This is an area where I feel may need some sort of government intervention, which isn't a common thing for me to say. They seem to not want to insure areas like the Gulf Coast or California. If they will at all, they will do so at exorbitant costs. The rate increases are egregious. This impacts people's quality of life possibly even more than all of the other inflation.

Should anything be done about the insurance industry?

---

You just learn to live with it.

Where I live, home insurance is very expensive because we are so far from town. If your house catches fire, it will be pretty much burned to the ground by the time the fire department can arrive. So nobody has insurance. We don't suffer from some idea that we are entitled to have insurance.

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If someone has a mortgage they are required to have insurance

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That depends on the mortgage. It's a requirement of the lender. Find a lender willing to take the risk and they could either charge more interest or get paid back faster.

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Have you ever seen such a mortgage? I haven't.

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Mortgage insurance is required by lenders if the equity is less than 20% of the loan value. Once your equity reaches 20%, you can drop mortgage insurance without having to refi or pay any fees. Most people don't realize you can drop it without fees, so they will refinance once they hit 20% to get rid of the mortgage insurance.

I had to pay MI on my first home for 4 years, I went ahead and refinanced because I could a rate more than 2 points lower, and our home's value had increased enough where our equity was more than 20% of the loan value.

MI is the worst thing out there. You have to pay for the mortgage company's insurance on the loan. It exists only to make sure the mortgage holder gets reimbursed if they have to foreclose.

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Mortgage insurance is not the same as insurance on the dwelling

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Mortgage insurance is more akin to a bond than insurance, but it still falls under the umbrella of financial risk management.

I assume rates are set based on risk.

Kenneth_2003 said:

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I don't know all of the details but more government is NEVER the answer.

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Unless the question is "what causes problems"

jja79 said:

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Outlaw insurance television advertising and rates come down.

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Banning ambulance chaser attorney ads would help more.

It's really simple. You build millions of homes in hail country or hurricane country. You create a huge real estate bubble where homes are crazy expensive. You increase the money supply by 50%, then we get a few years of bad weather events and bingo rates have to rise historically to account for claims paid

Also if you live on one of counties that touch the Gulf most admitted carriers only cover for Fire. Windstorm is excluded in the policy. Most homes are insured through Texas Windstorm Insurance Agency(TWIA). With TWIA if you have to make any certain repairs (roof, doors, windows, siding or anything attached to the house) you can't do it usually yourself or someone on the cheap because every one of those have to inspected by a licensed engineer during and after repairs so they can issue a WPI8.

Remember what president Reagan once said was the most terrifying sentence in the English language. "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help."

eric76 said:

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Waffledynamics said:

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Let's focus especially on insurance for property like homes and businesses. This is an area where I feel may need some sort of government intervention, which isn't a common thing for me to say. They seem to not want to insure areas like the Gulf Coast or California. If they will at all, they will do so at exorbitant costs. The rate increases are egregious. This impacts people's quality of life possibly even more than all of the other inflation.

Should anything be done about the insurance industry?

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You just learn to live with it.

Where I live, home insurance is very expensive because we are so far from town. If your house catches fire, it will be pretty much burned to the ground by the time the fire department can arrive. So nobody has insurance. We don't suffer from some idea that we are entitled to have insurance.

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Then everyone in your neck of the woods must have a paid-off home. For in another world... if you carry a mortgage... insurace is kinda required.

Suffer? ffs