[TowerTalk] insurance

[Jim Jarvis]

This turns out to be a great topic.  In particular, the links
to MSN and LA Times articles, and the CA Dept. of Insurance were
informative.  Be careful, before you file a claim or report a
possible claim.  

After 30+ years with Aetna...sold to Travellers...with zero claims,
last year I had two.  One was a leak in my flat-roofed house.  The
other was a 100' tower.  Both were caused by falling trees.

While Travellers paid off in both cases, they refused to insure my
new home, when we moved to Maryland.  Curiously, the local agent
observed that in addition to the two claims, I had REPORTED wind
damage a couple of times over 8 years, which were vacated claims 
that I had resolved under my deductable.  THEY were held against me, too.

The MSN article points out that State Farm was the major loser
of money in the homeowner market.  KQ2M's positive experience may
be short-lived.  Mine with Travellers surely was.  

No industry can survive without profitability, to be sure.
One wonders if the actuaries and underwriters have been under-pricing
insurance, or if the industry's reported losses have manipulated
accounting, and are a simple attempt to improve profitability.

CLUE bears further investigation, in any case.  

Jim N2EA