Home Insurance? (Erie, Scranton, Dunmore: homeowners insurance, appliances, how much)

[thric]

Any recs on home insurance for a home in Wayne county? I currently use Small and Son, but it's gone up every year quite a bit, so I want to get some quotes from others, thanks.

[Wells5]

Homeowners insurance goes up every year. You might try reducing coverage for household contents, liability, basement leakages, temporary housing, etc.

I have Erie Insurance for home, auto and umbrella. The Erie agency in Honesdale is Olsommer-Clarke Insurance.

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by Wells5

You might try reducing coverage for household contents.....

I've had a house fire and if you don't have replacement cost insurance you are going to be in for a shock if you ever have a fire. As the inventory specialist pointed out to me consider your spice rack, how much is that going to cost too replace? $50? $100 $200? Even if it's small fire that smoke stink gets into everything, if it's not solid like glass it hard if not impossible to clean. If it's not in a sealed box it's going to stink, I mean everything including the socks in your drawer even if the fire was on the other side of the house.

We had replacement cost and they made out inventory sheet that took about 3 or 4 days to compile. That was the first thing they did. The lady and her assistant counted everything. She had tape recorder and would open a desk drawer for example... "Box of rubber bands, 50 count, next item. Box of pencils, 20 count, next item....." They sent that back to us a few weeks later that had the value of the items listed and reference to where they found the value. The cash value of those items was also listed and was anywhere form 10 to perhaps 25% at most. If the TV cost $200 to replace you're going to get maybe $40 for it with cash value. Most people don't realize how much they have, the policy we had was substantial and it still didn't cover everything on paper.

As far as Erie goes that is who we had. You often hear complaints about insurance companies but they were outstanding throughout the entire process. We had a small check and the house was still smoldering.

That said I would I would discuss with your agent what is going to happen if you do have such an emergency. I was talking to someone else about this that had a house fire and their insurance company was requiring them to get receipt for everything they bought to obtain the insurance money. That's outrageous and you don't have the time for doing something like that.

[jimazee]

Per Coalman...

We've never had a house fire or theft. We had a minor car accident and an even more minor towing claim (coupled with AAA). Erie handled both well. Their rates on home and auto have been OK...probably not the cheapest but insurance is an area we think service and safety as top priority. Our agent is in Dunmore.

Consider Erie when you shop.

[charmed hour]

Originally Posted by thecoalman

I've had a house fire and if you don't have replacement cost insurance you are going to be in for a shock if you ever have a fire. As the inventory specialist pointed out to me consider your spice rack, how much is that going to cost too replace? $50? $100 $200? Even if it's small fire that smoke stink gets into everything, if it's not solid like glass it hard if not impossible to clean. If it's not in a sealed box it's going to stink, I mean everything including the socks in your drawer even if the fire was on the other side of the house.

We had replacement cost and they made out inventory sheet that took about 3 or 4 days to compile. That was the first thing they did. The lady and her assistant counted everything. She had tape recorder and would open a desk drawer for example... "Box of rubber bands, 50 count, next item. Box of pencils, 20 count, next item....." They sent that back to us a few weeks later that had the value of the items listed and reference to where they found the value. The cash value of those items was also listed and was anywhere form 10 to perhaps 25% at most. If the TV cost $200 to replace you're going to get maybe $40 for it with cash value. Most people don't realize how much they have, the policy we had was substantial and it still didn't cover everything on paper.

As far as Erie goes that is who we had. You often hear complaints about insurance companies but they were outstanding throughout the entire process. We had a small check and the house was still smoldering.

That said I would I would discuss with your agent what is going to happen if you do have such an emergency. I was talking to someone else about this that had a house fire and their insurance company was requiring them to get receipt for everything they bought to obtain the insurance money. That's outrageous and you don't have the time for doing something like that.

I totally agree with you on this. My grandfather had a devastating house fire, complete loss. He was well insured and rebuilt (himself) and replaced and was left with a significant sum. The only things he couldn't replace were his poor cats that passed away.

I'm way over insured as well, better safe than sorry.

We use State Farm. My suggestion is to not go thru a broker, as they have a small fee tacked on. I did ours online and paid in full for a pretty decent discount. It auto renews each year and full payment is direct debited. We do receive an email 2 weeks before renewal that I look over for accuracy.

[Simons]

Our family has used CC Young Insurance (Scanton), for years!! They are a great quality insurance company..


C.C. Young & Henkelman Insurance Agency, Scranton, PA :: Home, Auto, Business, Personal, Insurance

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by charmed hour

I'm way over insured as well, better safe than sorry.

I wouldn't suggest being over insured, they are only going to pay the value of what you have anyway AFAIK. Just make sure you are not underinsured.

[charmed hour]

Originally Posted by thecoalman

I wouldn't suggest being over insured, they are only going to pay the value of what you have anyway AFAIK. Just make sure you are not underinsured.

We're insured for market value, not just cost to rebuild. We have an HO-3 policy.

Most policies cover, if you're lucky, what it would cost to rebuild only. We have optional replacement cost coverage for the contents of the household, such as the tvs, appliances, etc. It will pay full cost of the items when purchased not today's value on the item. I keep all receipts and such outside of the home. A friend ran into that issue last year when his burned, he lost all paperwork pertaining to items in the home and had to settle on today's value.

Honestly, with how much cheaper HOI is out in the PA than what we were paying in NYC, I'm still coming out ahead.

[mr.magoo]

^
My HOI and car insurance is steep because of my location...
Insurance Companies will lie like the thieves they are and tell you they don't 'redline'

buncha Bull s h I T...

I have had NO claims on my Auto or my HOI...last accident I was in was in 1985 when I was T-Boned by a drunk in my Ford Prowler at 3am. while on the job.

My cousin lives in the 'boonies' NJ Pines...he and his wife have had sooo many DUI and accidents over the years and their car insurance is 340 dollars less a month than mine...
I have had Allstate for 30 + plus years, even with all my ' preferred' discounts gold this, platinum that, I am still getting hosed.

If I moved 100 ft. to the North, I would be in a Twp. instead of the City of Trenton and I would be paying close to 550 dollars yr. less for both...

However, there is a house that is very similiar to mine, built in same year, same lot size, improvements, etc. about a 1/2 mile away in the twp. and the property taxes are $2200 more a year than mine..

[PAhippo]

There's a difference between insurance company and insurance agent and both matter.

The people I bought my current house from had a house burn (their primary residence). They have Erie insurance and were very pleased with the way their claim was handled. They were out of town at the time; their son called them and told them. Their agent lived near enough to have seen it and was waiting with a check to cover a motel room when they got back.

After all was settled, they still have the same insurance company and the same insurance agent.