The insurance industry is changing fast and it is impacting all of us; so, we wanted to take the time to acknowledge what is happening.
There are a few struggles the insurance industry is facing currently. They are losing money at a rapid pace due to economic factors including the increased cost of labor, materials, and difficulty in finding services to repair homes, autos etc. at the time of a claim. As we’ve all experienced in our lives, everything simply costs more these days. These factors are causing the following common experiences:
- Majority of personal insurance have taken a 10% – 200% increase depending on the insurance carrier, client’s credit and claims experience, the line of business, or location.
- Insurance carriers are pausing taking new business in certain states due to increased claims activity for inclement weather, wildfire etc. that have driven claims costs way over expectation.
- Insurance carriers who are still accepting new business are tightening up their underwriting guidelines, and are heavily scrutinizing the amount of previous claims a client can have when offering new policies. This includes, but not limited to: at fault accidents, theft, not at fault accidents, comprehensive claims, glass claims, speeding tickets, water claims, weather claims, and the list goes on.
- Clients are experiencing more and more non-renewals as well. This is not just for clients with recent or older claims experience, but also certain zip codes, age of home, age of roof, or other factors they feel have potential for loss in the near future.
- Carriers are demanding higher deductibles, new clients / previous clients to remove glass coverage, or even exclude roofs just to keep an existing policy, or even to get a new one!
That said, insurance has always been cyclical and we’ve experienced rate increases, tighter underwriting, etc., but nothing like what is happening now. A few tips and tricks to avoid being non-renewed while this is going on…
- Don’t file small claims if you don’t have to – try to fix everything you can on your own if you are capable of doing so.
- Keep your home free from debris on the outside – if the insurance company does a random audit or drive by, they don’t have a reason to cancel or non-renew.
- Increase deductibles to what is affordable on all lines of business – this deters small claims while also lowering the premium.
- Do not call in to make a claim directly to the carrier until you know for certain it will be a claim.
- Make sure you are transparent – all drivers in your household, cars you own, and other risk factors. Everything is electronically filed now, and if the insurance carriers find out there are undisclosed cars, or drivers on auto insurance, they reserve the right to cancel and/or not follow through on a claim.
As in most instances, an ounce in prevention is better than a pound of cure.
If you have any questions, please reach out and I’ll be happy to assist!
Stay well and in touch,
Drew (& Team)
