Give me a break. I would say maybe 2% of my clients think they have any responsibility at all for maintaining their coverages. I could count on one hand in the last 18 years that I have gotten calls from clients worried about their insured value on their homes. I lose more business because I won’t underinsure them so they go to Allstate, State Farm, or Farmers who will gladly underinsure them just so they can get a commission.
I find this interesting. While I cannot help but agree that it is the insured’s responsibility, ultimately, I find the communications from the insurers and many times, their agents, very misleading to the insureds. Often they will get their renewal with some percentage increase in the coverage “A” and an explination that the increase is based on statistics that show that as a realistic increase in their area. I think a reasonable insured would accept that as “keeping their property insured to value” but we all know that is a lot of bunk. I think that the insurers and their agents owe it to their insureds to provide them with, or at least assist them as to how to establish a proper replacement cost … Let us face it, most insureds are not in the construction industry and are not experts in this area.
Mayber insureds are not “..in the construction industry and are not experts in this area” but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t responsible for ensuring that they have adequate levels of insurance.
As Compman indicated, they don’t contact their agents in any great numbers to make sure they have enough coverage.
And, yes, agents do lose clients when they try to keep insurance levels close to replacement costs. In some areas of the country you can buy a home for 1/2 the replacement value. Now try to sell that person on getting full replacement coverage.
Occasionally we have seen clients buy homes in high-cost areas for amounts well above the replacement value and then we have to battle the banks (and sometimes even the client) to keep the coverage down to the replacement cost.
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Give me a break. I would say maybe 2% of my clients think they have any responsibility at all for maintaining their coverages. I could count on one hand in the last 18 years that I have gotten calls from clients worried about their insured value on their homes. I lose more business because I won’t underinsure them so they go to Allstate, State Farm, or Farmers who will gladly underinsure them just so they can get a commission.
I find this interesting. While I cannot help but agree that it is the insured’s responsibility, ultimately, I find the communications from the insurers and many times, their agents, very misleading to the insureds. Often they will get their renewal with some percentage increase in the coverage “A” and an explination that the increase is based on statistics that show that as a realistic increase in their area. I think a reasonable insured would accept that as “keeping their property insured to value” but we all know that is a lot of bunk. I think that the insurers and their agents owe it to their insureds to provide them with, or at least assist them as to how to establish a proper replacement cost … Let us face it, most insureds are not in the construction industry and are not experts in this area.
Mayber insureds are not “..in the construction industry and are not experts in this area” but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t responsible for ensuring that they have adequate levels of insurance.
As Compman indicated, they don’t contact their agents in any great numbers to make sure they have enough coverage.
And, yes, agents do lose clients when they try to keep insurance levels close to replacement costs. In some areas of the country you can buy a home for 1/2 the replacement value. Now try to sell that person on getting full replacement coverage.
Occasionally we have seen clients buy homes in high-cost areas for amounts well above the replacement value and then we have to battle the banks (and sometimes even the client) to keep the coverage down to the replacement cost.
Just no winning!