Received a bill for an additional $106, agent said the mortgage company failed to pay entire premium. But amount paid matched the amount of the renewal letter I had received. Person in office asked what was I doing with my bill. So I called the company and they just said the agent changed something and they couldn’t tell what. I said this is like getting groceries, and the store calls after you get home and tells you they can charge your CC additional for your groceries!!!!
Best reply by kja63:
An agent cannot change your insurance policy without your knowledge and consent.
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What to do when home owner insurance premium is raised after billed and paid, with no reason given by agent?
Call the company and if you don’t get satisfaction, call the State Insurance Commision in your state.
It’s time to change companies….Insurance companies are all rip offs…..
KJA is correct.
1. You need to speak with the agent regarding your policy and what “changed”. It may be that the change was necessary to comply with your mortgage company. However, he has to notify you of things like that. If it is not necessary and you don’t want it, they will need to take the charge off your bill.
2. Contact your mortgage company to see if there is any money left in escrow to cover the additional cost if it is necessary. They will also need to take that into account to properly collect your escrow.
Something isn’t right because if you called the company they would be able to tell you what changed on the policy. I would contact the agent again and ask them to show you what changed on your policy to increase the premium. Premiums do not just go up after the renewal. If you do not get an answer from your agent, try the company again, if nothing there call the insurance commisioners office in your state.
The company should be able to tell what was changed. If your agent won’t tell you (he should), call the company customer service back and ask again. If that person can’t tell you, ask to speak to their supervisor and if that person can’t tell you, ask to speak to the underwriter. You should be able to get an answer. That’s ridiculous. If I told one of my customers that, I’d be fired.
First of all, you can prevent these little surprises by taking your insurance premiums out of your mortgage escrow account and just paying your homeowner’s bill yourself.
After all, you are setting aside money each month to pay your annual homeowner’s premium and the escrow company is making money off your money that you are not using until the payment time.
You should do your own escrowing and enjoy the small interest proceeds for yourself.
What likely happened is that your home appreciated in value, the agent updated the value of the home and triggered a higher premium payment.
Despite what you might think…..THIS IS ACTUALLY GOOD FOR YOU!!!!!!
The alternative is that you paid your same premium and your home be underinsured. Then, if a total loss would have happened, you would not have been paid enough from the policy to rebuild your home exactly the way you had it and replace all your stuff.
Insurance is nothing like groceries. But to use your analogy….this is like you going to the grocery store each week but only paying for milk once a year.
You pay one price at the beginning of the year for your entire year’s worth of milk….but during the year a drought happens and the store starts having to pay more to the farmers for milk.
So instead of getting a full gallon each week, now you just get 3/4s of a gallon.
Insurance is a risk based enterprise…..if the risk goes up (your home value goes up)….you have to pay more for it.
Paying more means you are more protected, which is a good thing.
Well, you need to ask the agent what they changed! And then tell them to change it back.
Speak directly to the agent. Whoever you spoke to is either blowing smoke or is grossly incompetent.
Speak to the agent directly. The agent is NOT supposed to change any coverage without your authorization. Find out what the agent changed & have them change it back. They will be able to erase the original change they made so your bill is back to the amount that was on the renewal.
After you get all of that straightened out you may want to go somewhere else for insurance. It sounds like you have a very new and/or very incompetent agent. When you start looking for a home policy keep in mind that home policies vary greatly from company to company. Before you decide on a policy for your most important asset it would be a good idea to speak to a qualified agent. I would suggest going to http://www.insureme.com/landing.aspx?Refby=614502&Type=home. It’s a web site that offers insurance pricing and information on policies nationwide.
Once again, shop around, get multiple quotes, and learn all you can about a policy before you buy home insurance.
Take care – Ron at InsureMe
Premiums don’t increase just because. Call your agent and ask him if they endorsed your policy or maybe they collected an Agency Fee (Most agents do) And if that is the case, have them show you a signed Disclosure Agreement (by you). If they don’t have one you are entitled to a refund and you can even sue them.