There is a decent chance you may be paying too much for homeowners insurance.
Insurance experts point to a Florida inspection program earlier this year that found 56% of homeowners weren’t receiving discounts they were entitled to from their insurance company.
While the results were confined to one state, the problem is widespread, says former Texas Insurance Commissioner Robert Hunter.
‘’Homeowners often end up paying more for insurance than they should,’’ said Hunter, who serves as Insurance Director of the Consumer Federation of America.
Related Articles
In Florida, officials found that owners of 56% of the 391,000 homes inspected were entitled to savings averaging $220 a year from their insurer—but weren’t receiving anything.
“During these difficult economic times an extra $220 in your pocket can go a long way, ‘’ says Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink.
Savings would be helpful for many hard-pressed home owners. The average homeowner insurance premium in the U.S. was $802 in 2006, the last year for which statistics were available, but it’s not uncommon for coastal residents to pay thousands of dollars a year for insurance.
Florida homeowners were undergoing the state-authorized inspections to get recommendations on how to harden their homes from hurricanes and qualify for insurance discounts. But Sink said the majority houses inspected already had features such as a more wind-resistant hip roof (shaped on all sides like a pyramid) that should have resulted in premium breaks.
Unfortunately insurance agents don’t always tell consumers about discounts, Hunter says. “They can be lazy or incompetent,” he says. ‘’It’s up to the home owner to question the agent about discounts.’’
