Back in 1984 I accepted a rate increase from Geico that allowed me the pleasure of paying them $400 for my Homeowners Insurance. Since that time they have had to pay out only one claim and that was for a lightning strike to the side of my house. This freak incident did not cost the company much and they handled it with professionalism and speed.
As a result I have stayed with Geico for all my insurance needs.
But several years later Geico sold my policy to the wonderful people at Travelers Insurance. You may know them from their rather stupid commercial featuring a British sounding idiot and a huge red umbrella.
During the years since Geico gave away my policy I have endured yearly absurd increases while Travelers has endured no claims from my property. In fact the only time Travelers spends any money with regards to my policy is when they send me the yearly notice of appreciation for paying the new higher rape amount on time.
However this year's letter held a slightly different message. My policy is being canceled due to losses incurred by the assholes elsewhere. They seem to have had a great many claims up and down the Eastern Seaboard due to hurricanes. Obviously those claims were mostly down but they cannot take any chances, after all they are not in business to lose money and pay out any claims.
So as a result of having lost some money on those Southern claims they may not be able to afford AIG type parties and hookers for the executive on weekends.
They just woke up to a scary reality - when you sell insurance you may, MAY have to pay back some of that money once in awhile.
I know, I know. It was quite a shock to me as well.
Anyway they have given me the right to allow them to offer me a new policy at a much higher rate that will have similar coverage to the older less expensive policy. Similar is a cute word, no? I am certain the new policy will cover anything up to but not including the actual house itself.
The increase will be around 8% and bring my premiums up to $3,000. If I choose to accept this fraud they will send me a new bill and a soft mat with instructions on how to kneel properly. IF however I opt out they will wipe off my incredibly expensive account from their system.
Naturally I had to accept the new terms but only for as long as it takes to find a new company to cover my home. And I shall do so, even if they are merely one penny lower. In fact I may switch even if they are the same price!
If anyone is reading this would you please send me your thoughts on a good replacement for the bastards at Travelers. You may also choose to have your favorite agent contact me by way of this blog.
Obviously we must all have homeowners insurance because we need the peace of mind that comes from knowing we have a large company behind us that will be able to step up to the plate when and if the terrible time comes and say, "Sorry, that's not covered,"
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