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August 19, 2008
Liberty Mutual Hurricane Deductible?
I received several recommendations for Liberty Mutual for homeowner's insurance but when I called to inquire about rates, I was informed that they require a 5% hurricane deductible. Has this been anyone else's experience? That's a significant amount of money we would have to come up with and I'm not sure it's worth it. Thoughts?
Comments
USAA (my home insurer) sent me a letter last month raising my hurricane deductible to $8600+. Some insurers, like Allstate, have dropped home owners policies for thousands of Brooklyn customers, allegedly because of the hurricane threat, even though NYC hasn't experienced a serious hurricane since 1938, and even that was mostly Long Island.
After insurance companies took a bath (so to speak) in Katrina I think they're just looking for an excuse to reduce their future liability on the flimsiest pretext, or by cutting their potential liability altogether. Only a relatively small piece of Brooklyn is within FEMA's "100 year hurricane flood zone". It wouldn't surprise me if this is a move on the part of insurance companies to persuade the fed to underwrite their future hurricane losses.
Posted by: Steve at August 19, 2008 2:58 PM
Steve, the record of hurricanes in the past is not as relevant to insurers as the forecast for hurricanes in the future.
Unlike our government and energy companies, insurance companies are taking climate change data really seriously.
Warmer waters = more hurricanes.
Posted by: vanburenproud at August 19, 2008 4:55 PM
USAA does not insure in the metro area anymore. I called them for a home owner's quote a few months back, and they told me they aren't issuing new policies NYC, LI, NJ and Westchester. Sucks, as they're a great company.
(I've had all my insurance and other financial services with them for decades. We couldn't use them when we bought the house because they didn't do construction policies; now that its time to switch to a regular plan, they're not offering them anymore.)
Posted by: WBer at August 20, 2008 3:31 PM
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