As new homebuyers, people often go down the checklist of things to do before the close of escrow. One of these items is finding hazard insurance. I remember when buying my house, the most important thing we considered was price. How much will it cost to have hazard insurance and the insurance carrier who had the lowest premium was the winner.
Now that I am in the business of buying and selling homes, I have discovered how important it is to look further than price. Let me use an example: A fellow agent of mine was recently injured while showing property. I'm not just talking about getting a bruise or a scratch. She has endured surgery, physical therapy, time off work for herself and her husband and is looking at weeks of being unable to use her right arm, and may have further repercussions for the rest of her life. Her medical costs are astronomical already. Imagine when the big bills start arriving.
Where's the connection? She toiled with the idea of putting a claim on the owners hazard insurance. After all, isn't that what we pay for? So that if a thief were to break into our home and get injured, they couldn't turn around and sue us?
Now she is in the tangles web of the insurance claims nightmare. This agent, with one arm in a sling and Velcro-ed to her body, received a letter stating that the insurance on the home didn't cover the incident. When she further questioned, which many people would have stopped there, it appears as if not everyone is seeing things the same. Some people within the same insurance carrier are seeing that she is covered and others are saying no. This is where it is at this point... under investigation.
Moral of the story: When buying hazard insurance or anything else of major importance, be sure to research what you are paying for. Make sure that the agency supplying the service/product will actually follow through with what they promise. It will make everyone's life easier.
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