🚀 go-pugleaf

shen_martin (martins@loc201.tandem.com) wrote:

: I've not filed a single claim since I moved into this home 4 years ago,
: but my premium has gone up almost 40% for the last 3 years. And, I just
: got the premium notice for the next year which has another 25% hike.
: Well, I started shopping around for a new home insurance policy. 
: Guess what? All major California insurance companies stopped writing 
: new policy. Does that mean I have to accept the 25% rate hike for the next 
: year w/o any other recourse? 


     I recently made the same discovery when my insurance company 
dropped the agent I had been using and I had to shop around for a 
new policy.

     The best reading that I have on this is that we are seeing a 
confluence of two related conditions.  First, the insurance 
companies have decided that given the current rate structures and 
the recent risk experience (earthquakes, fires, mud slides, etc) 
they would rather reduce their financial exposure in California.  
Secondly, they are lobbying heavily in Sacramento to get the 
current rules changed, and wish to emphasize their point in a 
manner not unlike the baseball player strikers by inconveniencing 
the general public.

     If you wish to learn more about this (or simply wish to vent 
at someone who is paid to listen to you) you can call the 
Consumer Affairs people in Sacramento at (800) 927-4357.  I found 
them to be both sympathetic and realistic about letting you know 
what your alternatives are at this point.

---
Stan Goldring
Abbott Laboratories
Mountain View, CA