What is the insurance company's role in home repairs?

It’s common for consumers to call us with their concerns about their home repair or home rebuild claims and the insurer's involvement in oversight of the work. The insurer’s duty is to pay according to the terms laid out in the policy. Unless your insurance policy contains a provision, or unless your insurer has given you assurances, that obligates them to manage a covered home repair or rebuild, it is your responsibility to oversee the project with your contractor, and when applicable, your lender.


However, if you using an insurer’s recommended (sometimes called “preferred”) contractor, then you should expect assistance from the insurer in answering your questions about the contractor’s actions and performance.

Read more about homeowner insurance.

Questions? You can contact our consumer advocates online or at 1-800-562-6900.

Year-end LinkFest

Sliding in just under the wire:

■ Given this:

"According to the Obama administration, more than two million people have enrolled in health insurance plans through the federal and state exchanges"

Here's the $64,000 question: How many have actually, you know, paid for their coverage?

Here's a hint:

"[O]fficials could not say how many Americans had actually paid for such coverage."

■ So you say you want a revolution? Best not tick off one of your core constituencies:

"A video advertisement released shortly before Christmas by Out2Enroll, which features four young buff men wearing tight underwear and not much else ... This cynical ad betrays the depths Obamacare advocates will sink to in order to pad their pathetic enrollment numbers”

Ooops.

■ And something else about the ObamaTax really bites:

"Within a few years, private dental care with a trusted and known practitioner may be limited ... The [ObamaTax] requires dental-care coverage for children through age 18. This expansion appears to be a good device for improving healthcare generally. Yet, as private health plans move in this direction, the cost of dental insurance for adults will increase"

Smile!

And all of us at InsureBlog wish you and yours a very Happy New Year!

New car? Call your insurance agent

If you take advantage of a good end-of-the-year deal on a new vehicle, be sure to report it to your insurance company right away, and don’t forget to ask them for a quote for Debt Payoff Coverage. This coverage will pay off the outstanding loan balance if your vehicle is destroyed in a covered claim and its current market value is less than your outstanding loan. Your agent and insurer can answer your questions and provide more detail on how the coverage works.

Learn more about auto insurance in Washington state.

Insurance statistics in Washington state

Each year, the Insurance Information Institute, an industry-backed research group, compiles data on the insurance industry in each state.

From this year's Washington edition:

• Number of people working in the insurance industry in Washington state: 49,445.
• Their payroll: $3.2 billion.
• Premium taxes paid: $406 million
• Premiums: About $19 billion.

The report includes a lot of other information, including details about which companies write the most insurance, losses incurred, etc.

FSCO Releases Standard Benefit Statement Form

Another anti-fraud measure is being introduced by FSCO effective September 1, 2014.  

Recommendation #17 of the Anti-Fraud Task Force recommended that insurers itemize the list of invoices they have received when they provide a benefit statement to a claimant every two months.  Ontario Regulation 14/13 amended the SABS to include a number of changes recommended by the Task Force including providing the Superintendent with authority to issue a standard form that insurers must use when issuing bi-monthly benefit statements.

The Superintendent has now released the Standard Benefit Statement form that insurers must use. 

Insurers have eight months to perform the necessary system and operational changes in order to begin producing Statements beginning September 1, 2014. 

 

 Subsection 64 (2) of the SABS authorizes delivery of Statements by multiple methods, e.g., by ordinary mail, or by email if the claimant has agreed to delivery by email.

 

The new form can  be found here.

Insurance News - Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Here are the leading auto insurance headlines from ONTARIO AUTO INSURANCE TOPICS ON TWITTER for Tuesday, December 31, 2013:

• The NAIC reports that New Jersey had the highest auto insurance rates in 2011 with average premium of $1,302.  FSCO reports that the average premium in Ontario in 2012 was $1,551.
• OSFI releases new draft Minimum Capital Test guideline for property and casualty insurers.
• Manitoba Public Insurance says its fraud investigations saved ratepayers $8 million last year.
• Michigan becomes the 4th state to approve self-driving car research on public roads after California, Nevada and Florida. 
• New Hampshire increases speed limit on interstate highway to 70 mph.

Important change may affect business owners’ insurance

Business owners carry commercial insurance policies to protect their financial interests in their property and to cover their liability arising out their business operations. One of the important liabilities that is covered is in the event that a business is sued. The typical commercial insurance policy includes a clause called “duty to defend,” which means the insurance company is required to defend the business if it is sued and it will pay the associated legal costs. However, some commercial policies are being changed to require businesses to repay legal defense costs if the insurer later determines a claim is not covered.

How will you know if your insurance company will require you to repay legal costs? Read your policy or talk to your agent , broker, or with the insurer. Insurers may be adding the clause to new policies or to renewing policies, so it’s important to know what your policy says.

It’s also important that you promptly report lawsuits to your insurance company. Reporting this information to the insurer too late can impede the insurer’s ability to defend your business against the lawsuit. 

More information:

• Read more about the duty to defend and repaying legal costs.
• Who needs business insurance?  
• Things to consider before buying business insurance.

Questions? Contact our consumer advocates online or at 1-800-562-6900.