by Guest » Wed Mar 31, 2010 01:02 am
We have a claim going through our homeowner policy with our insurance for a burglary They have already paid in full for the damage to the house to be fixed. Now we are working on the personal property part and we have Full replacement value for the personal items stolen. They have named a settlement, minus our deductible of course.
There a hold back on the settlement for the personal property we would get the hold back only after filling out MORE paper work and presenting them with receipts , the hold back is about 10% of what would have been the final amount.
both of us (the ones filing this claim) have anxiety disorders and at this point we'd just like to let them keep that 10% and just take the initial 90% disbursement if it means we don't have to fill out more paper work or track down receipt for small things we replaced already. If it was house repair or a big chunk of money I'd fight but I'm really tired.
the check is in the mail from them now.
would they let us do this or is this going to be an even bigger hassle?
and on a side note, will it look bad on my insurance report thing if I change homeowner's insurance companies this year after having had this claim? There has been some them messing with us and surprising us with policy changes we are unhappy with.
There a hold back on the settlement for the personal property we would get the hold back only after filling out MORE paper work and presenting them with receipts , the hold back is about 10% of what would have been the final amount.
both of us (the ones filing this claim) have anxiety disorders and at this point we'd just like to let them keep that 10% and just take the initial 90% disbursement if it means we don't have to fill out more paper work or track down receipt for small things we replaced already. If it was house repair or a big chunk of money I'd fight but I'm really tired.
the check is in the mail from them now.
would they let us do this or is this going to be an even bigger hassle?
and on a side note, will it look bad on my insurance report thing if I change homeowner's insurance companies this year after having had this claim? There has been some them messing with us and surprising us with policy changes we are unhappy with.
Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2010 04:12 am Post Subject:
What a lot of people, including some agents, don't know is that homeowner's insurance policies that contain replacement cost provisions have language that allows exactly what your insurer is doing.
There is language within the contract that says that the insurer doesn't actually have to pay the replacement value until the repairs or replacement has actually been completed. In other words, coverage is on an ACV (replacement cost minus depreciation) basis until the repairs or replacement has actually been completed. There's a simple reason for this which is the basis for property insurance; this thing called "indemnification." The principle of indemnification states that an insured can, at best, be placed back into the approximate financial position he was in before the loss occurred, and the insured cannot profit due to the loss.
So, let's say that someone stole your 3-yr. old TV. It doesn't matter what you paid for it, what matters is what like kind and quality cost today. Let's say the cost to replace the TV is $749. Remember that TVs get cheaper by the month and depreciate quickly. The ACV at the time of the loss is the value of the TV today as established by many sources, let's say it's worth $500 at the time of the loss and that's what the insurer pays you. $500 would be considered the ACV in our example.
Now, there's nothing in the policy that actually REQUIRES you to replace the TV. Now, if the insurer paid you the $749 replacement cost up-front and you didn't actually replace the TV, you "profited" by about $250. Remember- the TV was only worth $500 when it was stolen! Hopefully, this makes sense.
It appears as if the insurer has paid for the house repairs fully and you are waiting for the balance of the personal property settlement. I would suggest that the carrier paid you for the depreciated value of your contents that were stolen and have held back some depreciation money. Normally, you're given 180 days to actually replace the property and be reimbursed for the amount withheld due to depreciation. It also sounds like they barely deducted any depreciation from the initial settlement.
If you read the policy, you'll see the language under the replacement cost endorsement that deals with this. So...read your policy.
As far as you being interested in replacing your insurance company, that's gonna be a rough road right now. You just had a burglary loss and it's unlikely that another insurer will take you right now. In fact, I would doubt it. There are higher-risk carriers that would accept you, but typically at a much higher premium and lesser coverage.
InsTeacher 8)
Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2010 07:05 am Post Subject:
would they let us do this or is this going to be an even bigger hassle?
If you want to take the ACV amount and be done with it, you can and there is nothing you need to do.....just don't send them any receipts or replace the items or whatever. They may contact you once the 180 days gets close. Just tell them you aren't sending any receipt in or you can just tell them now and be done with it. They really won't care.
Posted: Sat Oct 09, 2010 06:34 pm Post Subject: Full Value Contents provision
What happens when you replace the item with a different brand at a cheaper price than what the insurance compaany has for replacement value? Do they just give you the difference between what you paid for versus what your true depreciated value is? Or, do they pay you the full replacement value when you send them the receipt?
Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 07:36 am Post Subject:
Replacement cost value - $100.00
You get ACV - $80.00
You purchase item for $90.00
You get $10.00 more dollars for that item.
It can happen the other way as well allthough this doesn't normally happen. When it happens, it is usually for a special item. You also have to replace apples for apples.
RCV - $100.00
You get ACV - $80.00
You purchase exact same item which is now $110.00
You get $30.00
Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2010 01:53 am Post Subject:
The only thing that may not be clearly stated in Dasfuk's response above is that you cannot replace with something other than "like kind and quality" (his words are "apples for apples").
If you have a 21" CRT color TV lost by fire or theft, for example, although the insurance company may offer ACV of $200, you cannot replace the TV with a 42" LCD flat panel display that costs $1000 and chalk that up to "I replaced a TV with another TV."
That would only be true if no other true replacement was available (as, for example, a B&W TV cannot be replaced with another B&W TV, so replacing with a "same size" color TV would be acceptable).
The whole purpose of insurance is to INDEMNIFY, not to create a profit. Indemnify means "to restore [financially]", that is, cover the value of the financial loss in whole or in part, in view of the contract language.
Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 09:08 pm Post Subject: replacment cost
I understand if only loss a few items , but were are you
to get funds if you have total loss. Was told by insurance co would have over $50,000.If replace I DO NOT HV FUNDS OR THIS AMOUNT OF CREDIT
Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2011 05:11 am Post Subject:
Your insurance company will pay "Actual Cash Value" for the property loss, and will pay additional money for items replaced under "replacement cost" coverage, if you have that on your policy, and the replaced item is more costly than what the ACV was.
So here's the process, if you are able to recover under "replacement cost", you'll have at least six months to replace the property (possibly longer by mutual agreement with the insurance company). With the ACV payment, use that money to replace all of the items that will cost more than the ACV you receive. Then you submit those receipts to the insurance company, they will pay you the difference, and then you use that money (plus any of the leftover ACV funds) to replace as much of the other stuff as possible. If, in that process, you discover that some items cannot be replaced for the ACV amount you received, then when you replace them, you send in another claim to your insurance company, and get another check for the replacement cost differential.
You can also try to find merchants willing to advance you a small line of credit to use to purchase replacement property, knowing that you will be receiving a reimbursement check from an insurance company. There's nothing in your policy that prevents you from replacing the property with the most expensive LIKE FOR LIKE items you can find. Just don't try for something called "BETTERMENT" -- you could end up having a problem with the legal system.
Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 03:04 am Post Subject: replaced & returned
we were paid out ACV of $500 for a tv that was stolen during a burglary, however, $250 was held back in "depreciation". we replaced the tv with one that cost 650 and sent the receipt to our insurance company. After a couple of days the tv was acting up so we returned it and got another one but it was only $600. Should i send them the updated receipt?
Posted: Sun May 08, 2011 05:10 am Post Subject:
That would be the appropriate thing to do.
Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 05:48 pm Post Subject: Roof replacement with replacement value insurance
What if, for example, the replacement value of a roof is determined to be $100,000 and the deduction is $5,000 and the holdback is $20,000 and the insurance company pays $75,000 but holds back the $20,000 until repairs are made. If the homeowner, bids out the work and does much of the tear off and removal himself and can get a contractor to replace the roof the original value for $75,000, can the homeowner still get the holdback? What about any derivation of this is if the actual dollar outlay by the homeowner is less than the total RV paid?
Add your comment