[TowerTalk] INSURANCE

[Jim Lux]

Lots of interesting discussion about insurance.  However, bear in mind that 
calling your agent to ask about coverage often triggers your name, address, 
and subject of the inquiry being put into CLUE, a credit reporting agency 
like database.  Even if it's just a hypothetical "what if XYZ had happened, 
would I be covered" winds up in there, and can trigger (depending on the 
company) increased rates, cancellation, etc. They know, full well, that 
hypothetical inquiries may, in fact, be real ones, and they've gotten quite 
paranoid with respect to certain types of claims.  Here in California, land 
of speculative litigation, mere idle musing about the possibility of water 
damage or flooding raises the specter of mold, and though theres actually 
not very much actual historical loss for mold problems, the speculative 
costs of a full on mold remediation are extreme enough to make the insurers 
very nervous.

Even if YOU dodge the insurance bullet from CLUE, the CLUE database ties to 
the property address, and if you want to sell your house, a future buyer 
might find it very hard to get homeowner's insurance, at any price.

By the way, since CLUE isn't a credit reporting agency, they have no legal 
obligation to tell you what's in the database, how it got there, etc.  No 
Fair Credit Reporting Act here. There is legislation in the works to stem 
the most egregious abuses, but for now, it's something to think about. I 
wouldn't be paranoid, but I'd also be careful.

Choicepoint, the company that runs CLUE is trying to be a bit more consumer 
friendly, but, if you read carefully, they don't make many promises. They, 
of course, encourage folks to spend $12.95 to get a copy of their report, 
or a report for a property they are contemplating purchasing.

More info:
LA Times article: 
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-montalk24aug24,1,1862539.column
California Department of Insurance fact sheet/press release:
http://www.insurance.ca.gov/PRS/PRS2003/fs057-03.htm
Talks about emergency rules and cites some examples of spurious denials of 
coverage.

some more coverage on the issue from Liz Pulliam Weston (columnist CNBC/MSN 
Money, etc.)
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Insurance/Insureyourhome/P35345.asp


At 06:54 PM 12/22/2003 -0500, Robert Shohet wrote:
>Hi Guys,
>
>WITH ANY FORM OF INSURANCE, NOTHING SHOULD BE ASSUMED - EVER!!!!
>
>Policies vary by company, by state, by rider and by elected coverage.