Oakland – Quoting a Homeowners Policy in the East Bay can be Challenging.

My name is Aaron Hichman with Brignole and Ghiri Insurance Insurance, and we are an independent insurance agency based in Oakland, California, since 1925 today.
I will be talking today about our process of getting you a homeowners insurance quote. Over the past couple of years in California, insurance companies have been getting off risk due to wildfire concerns. It is becoming harder and harder to place business with admitted insurance carriers in some areas, such as Oakland Hills. Here’s our process when we get a call or an email regarding getting a homeowners quote. The very first thing we do is brush map the location with our admitted carriers. What is an admitted carrier? Let’s stop right there. An admitted carrier is an insurance company that is licensed to do business in California. They have to file rates with the Department of Insurance. They have to participate in the California Insurance Guarantee Association and usually take on low-risk policies, unlike wildfire areas, which is a high-risk policy.
Here are examples of our admitted carriers; Safeco, Hartford, Nationwide Mercury, Travelers, and Stillwater. The admitted carriers typically give better coverage and better rates than the non-admitted Market. Once we do a brush map with our admitted carriers, and we get declined, which is often in wildfire concern areas, we move to step 2, which we call a wraparound policy. A wraparound policy is when the California Fair Plan writes the home and an admitted carrier such as Safeco writes the liability and everything around the house to have a complete homeowner policy. It is not as good as a full insurance policy with an admitted carrier, but it’s a lot better than going to the non-admitted Market. If we cannot quote wraparound policy for some reason, we must go to the Non-Admitted Market to find coverage, and that’s going to cost you some money.
This is the process of how we start a homeowners quote, and if you have any questions or if you know anybody needing a homeowners policy, please give me a call Aaron Heisman at Brignole and Ghiri Insurance Insurance, serving the Bay Area since 1925.
Brignole and Ghiri Insurance is a full line insurance agency that writes personal lines; Home, Auto, Renters, Floaters, Umbrella, Earthquake. And commercial lines; Business Owners Policy (BOP), Property & Liability, Workers’ Compensation, Commercial Auto, Professional Liability, and Umbrella. Office hours are Monday – Friday 8:30 am to 5:00 pm, and our phone is 510-653-0685.