by wilheldp » Mon Jan 04, 2010 04:40 pm
My house was broken into on New Year's Day, and I'm not sure if I should file a claim or not. My house is sold, but I have not closed on it yet. The burglers broke in through a rear sliding glass door that had been left unlocked by an appraiser, inspector, or realtor during the whole process. I had items stolen that totaled about $2800, and nothing was broken. I have a $500 deductible on my policy.
My question is will it be worth it in the long run to file a claim with my insurance company (Nationwide)? My agent explained to me that any claims are translated into "points" against my policy, and that the points increase the premiums, but he couldn't tell me even an order of magnitude of how much they would increase or how many points a theft would give me. I currently have 1 point from a roof replacement last year due to a wind storm. He also told me that claims stick around for 3 years, then drop off of the policy.
I am moving to a much safer zip code, so I'm thinking that I might get out of some of the increase for that. But I'm not sure that it's worth it to file this claim.
My question is will it be worth it in the long run to file a claim with my insurance company (Nationwide)? My agent explained to me that any claims are translated into "points" against my policy, and that the points increase the premiums, but he couldn't tell me even an order of magnitude of how much they would increase or how many points a theft would give me. I currently have 1 point from a roof replacement last year due to a wind storm. He also told me that claims stick around for 3 years, then drop off of the policy.
I am moving to a much safer zip code, so I'm thinking that I might get out of some of the increase for that. But I'm not sure that it's worth it to file this claim.
Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 07:16 pm Post Subject:
surcharge varies by state, in Pa you need two claims in a 60 month period to be surcharged and it is 40% to start
Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 07:26 pm Post Subject:
Well, this would be my 2nd claim in within 60 months (the roof was claimed in September 2008). But with a 40% surcharge for 36 months, I would only be looking at paying back $1080 of a $2300 payout.
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