# Rook leaking vs. insurance company!



## carllecat (Aug 3, 2010)

Hey, 

Our roof was leaking last week as there was a lot of snow on the roof. The Adjuster of the insurance company (TD) came over and told us that it would approximately cost $1,500 to fix the damages and since our deductible is $1,000, we should not even bother looking into filing a claim. He did not have a look in the attic to see if the humidity level was too high and perfect for mold to grow...

He said that if we decide to claim, our premium would go up by $200 a year. If my calculations are good, TD would recoup its money ($500) it had to pay should we file a claim in roughly 2 years... 

I also assume that after the two years our premium would not go back to its original level. Should I investigate a bit more on the reasons of such a raise of the premium? Give a call the TD Ombudsman? Or simply just shut up and let go?

I should get into that business... You get paid for nothing and when a claim comes to you, you penalize the customer by raising its premium and make sure you recoup your revenue loss in the short term...! That is so frustrating!!!


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

Have you investigated the attic yourself? How old is the house? I had a claim with State Farm about 15 years ago and rather than get the roof patched they gave us a settlement and we got a new roof done.If our insurance went up it may have been $30 for the year at most.
I would be switching insurance companies ....


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## Dana (Nov 17, 2009)

carllecat said:


> He did not have a look in the attic to see if the humidity level was too high and perfect for mold to grow...


He should have at least assessed if there was any damage in the attic. I would call and ask them to send out another adjuster. 

How do you know the roof was leaking? I mean, where did you find evidence of water damage. We had a roof issue in 2007 and by the time the adjuster traced the leak from where we discovered it to where it had originated he had a crew remove ceilings, walls and part of one of our bathrooms. It resulted in a $15k claim, two weeks of work on our home, industrial fans to dry out the damaged areas and a company that came in to ensure we didn't have a mould issue resulting from the leak. The leak was caused by a combination of weather (ice damming) and step flashings that were installed incorrectly when our roof was replaced a year earlier. Our insurance also went up. I can't remember the amount, but it was significant enough that we switched insurers. We were insured at the time through Bel Air Direct.


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## OptsyEagle (Nov 29, 2009)

Dana said:


> He should have at least assessed if there was any damage in the attic. I would call and ask them to send out another adjuster.


Why would the insurance company want to find more damages. I am pretty sure they figure that if the homeowner is not motivated to find the total damage, then there probably isn't any.

Just so you know. The reason your premium goes up when you put in a claim is not a method to recoup the payment the insurance company makes, it is do to their regrouping. Once you put in a certain type of claim, you are preceived a higher risk and the premium rates for your new group are higher. You will find this the same wherever you go, since one of the questions asked is how many claims you have put in.

Knowing this, your adjuster did you a favour. It just feels like you are wasting your money, but we need to understand that the insurance premiums you pay are not for the $1,500 roof problem. It is for the $250,000 fire, with the $1,000,000 liability payment because you were making moonshine in the basement and your cousin Leroy had his face blown off when you lit his cigarette while he was chugging from the happy jug.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

OptsyEagle said:


> Why would the insurance company want to find more damages. I am pretty sure they figure that if the homeowner is not motivated to find the total damage, then there probably isn't any.
> 
> Just so you know. The reason your premium goes up when you put in a claim is not a method to recoup the payment the insurance company makes, it is do to their regrouping. Once you put in a certain type of claim, you are preceived a higher risk and the premium rates for your new group are higher. You will find this the same wherever you go, since one of the questions asked is how many claims you have put in.
> 
> Knowing this, your adjuster did you a favour. It just feels like you are wasting your money, but we need to understand that the insurance premiums you pay are not for the $1,500 roof problem. It is for the $250,000 fire, with the $1,000,000 liability payment because you were making moonshine in the basement and your cousin Leroy had his face blown off when you lit his cigarette while he was chugging from the happy jug.


LOL OMG that is priceless!


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## carllecat (Aug 3, 2010)

OptsyEagle said:


> Why would the insurance company want to find more damages. I am pretty sure they figure that if the homeowner is not motivated to find the total damage, then there probably isn't any.
> 
> Just so you know. The reason your premium goes up when you put in a claim is not a method to recoup the payment the insurance company makes, it is do to their regrouping. Once you put in a certain type of claim, you are preceived a higher risk and the premium rates for your new group are higher. You will find this the same wherever you go, since one of the questions asked is how many claims you have put in.
> 
> Knowing this, your adjuster did you a favour. It just feels like you are wasting your money, but we need to understand that the insurance premiums you pay are not for the $1,500 roof problem. It is for the $250,000 fire, with the $1,000,000 liability payment because you were making moonshine in the basement and your cousin Leroy had his face blown off when you lit his cigarette while he was chugging from the happy jug.


Only 1 claim for a hit and run 3 years ago and the repairs were of the amount of $3,500. 

I am surprised the adjuster did not bother looking in the attic to see if there were any damage or potential risks for mold. The adjuster told us mold is not even an issue, but he can he know when he did not look in the attic? I do not believe he can judge only by looking at the damaged ceilings.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

OptsyEagle said:


> Just so you know. The reason your premium goes up when you put in a claim is not a method to recoup the payment the insurance company makes, it is do to their regrouping. Once you put in a certain type of claim, you are preceived a higher risk and the premium rates for your new group are higher. You will find this the same wherever you go, since one of the questions asked is how many claims you have put in.


Are you defending this policy?

Seems completely pointless to me to claim something you'll have to pay back in 2.5 years, and then over and over and over

I keep my deductibles high and don't see a point to claiming anything I can afford myself.


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## OptsyEagle (Nov 29, 2009)

mode3sour said:


> Are you defending this policy?
> 
> Seems completely pointless to me to claim something you'll have to pay back in 2.5 years, and then over and over and over
> 
> I keep my deductibles high and don't see a point to claiming anything I can afford myself.


How else would they do it? It is a fact that a group of people who have had 1or more claims will put in more future claims, then a group of people who have not put in any claims.

Now if they did not adjust the premiums, then people who are lower risk would be paying part of the costs of the people who are higher risks. Even if you wanted to do this, some insurance company would inevitably figure it out and take your money and still restrict or exclude the higher risk.

I know we think that when a claim goes in that the issue could happen to anyone and going forward the risk is the same, but it is just not the case. Some people are more intelligent, responsible and forward thinking then others who are more carefree.

For example, I have a cottage with a neighbour who tells me that when he leaves it for the week, until he is back up the next weekend, that he leaves his water pump on. Said that he has never had a problem and he doesn't worry about it. With myself, I look at it differently, since it is only a switch and I am aware of the devastating result if a pipe burst when I am not there, I turn mine off until I am back up. It's jsut a difference in personality. The insurance companies would rather insure people that think pro-active to avoid claims then others who think everything will be fine, simply because it has. Claims is about the only way they have to differentiate between the two.

I don't make the rules. Is it fair to everyone. Absolutely not, but it is the way it is.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

I am the same as you, I try to avoid claims. Some people seem to think they can take more risk because "insurance will cover it anyways"

Based on this, I don't see a point of claiming anything I can afford, and therefore no point in lowering the deductible


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## carllecat (Aug 3, 2010)

OptsyEagle said:


> How else would they do it? It is a fact that a group of people who have had 1or more claims will put in more future claims, then a group of people who have not put in any claims.
> 
> Now if they did not adjust the premiums, then people who are lower risk would be paying part of the costs of the people who are higher risks. Even if you wanted to do this, some insurance company would inevitably figure it out and take your money and still restrict or exclude the higher risk.
> 
> ...


I must be unintelligent as 3 years ago, I claimed $3,500 damages on my car that was parked on the street as a drunk moron ran into my car and left the scene without telling anyone (hit and run). I should have been proactive and diligent and buy a smaller car that would not take as much space on the street. I now feel stupid and useless!


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## carllecat (Aug 3, 2010)

mode3sour said:


> I am the same as you, I try to avoid claims. Some people seem to think they can take more risk because "insurance will cover it anyways"
> 
> Based on this, I don't see a point of claiming anything I can afford, and therefore no point in lowering the deductible


Understand this... Therefore, insurance companies should have policies for people that just want to have basic coverage without having to pay what you can afford.


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