Public Service Announcement #2

READ your insurance policy!

If your policy doesn't have all the specific coverages right in front, go through the policy and mark the pages with post-it notes that show specific coverages. Are they what you wanted/expected? Do they need to be changed?

JBMat said it right: REPLACEMENT COST (RC) replaces like kind and quality with the same, with no depreciation. ACTUAL CASH VALUE (ACV) is what you get after they deduct age and depreciation. And there's a world of difference between the two. And it's separate, the building is one entity, and the contents are another. You might have RC on the building and ACV on the contents. Is that what you want?

Then read the policy. Yes, it's very dry. Yes, it's boring. Take a pencil and underline everything you specifically think is important, everything you don't understand, everything you would like your insurance company to explain. A different color pencil for each type is good.

There are generally two kinds of insurance customers:
1) The ones who take the insurance company's word on everything (the ins. co. LOVES people like this)
2) The ones that read the policy, ask questions, and know what their options are.

INSURANCE COMPANIES ARE IN THE PREMIUM-COLLECTING BUSINESS, NOT IN THE CLAIM-PAYING BUSINESS.

If your ins. co. adjuster is snotty, stiff-necked, or a jerk, call the company and say you want a different adjuster. You can do this.

Match what the ins. company is telling you against what your ins. policy says. Is it different? Do there seem to be gray areas?

If it appears that they're not living up to the terms of the contract, don't rush to call your attorney. He costs money. Your State Insurance Commission (IC) works for you, for free, and a decision is usually made quite quickly (here in WA, w/in two wks). Without the approval of the IC, your ins co doesn't operate in your state. They tiptoe around the IC and say, "Yes, Sir" a lot. If they PO the IC, they lose their rights to sell insurance in your state, and believe me, this has happened more times than you may think.

If you think your ins. co. isn't playing fair, call the IC. You'll just get a receptionist, so give her the problem within two or three sentences. She will send you a form where you put all the tiny details.

Document EVERYTHING: who you speak to, date/time, the gist of the conversations, etc. Put all this in your complaint to the IC.

THIRDPIG is also correct about ins. co. trying to cut corners at your expense. If they want you to rebuild with damaged parts, your State Building Code will usually forbid it for structural materials. "Let me talk to my attorney about that," is a good stall. Call the Building Code people.

Nothing is engraved in stone until you sign the papers. READ THEM, don't take a verbal explanation and just sign them! Do you see any surprises? Don't sign!

An old friend once said, "Before the Good Faith Laws were put in place, the only difference between an insurance company and the Mafia was that you could trust the Mafia to do as they said, but not the insurance company."

Sue