San leandro, CA Oakland, CA Can One Insurance Company Offer Different Terms on the Same Type of Policy?

Believe it or not, we see many different types of policies from the same insurance company. And this is not just for one or two insurance companies, we see this quite a bit. How can it be?  Insurance is a little bit like tomatoes – yes all of these are tomatoes, but they can be very different!

One Homeowners policy that our agents were reviewing this morning has a replacement cost cap of 124%.   First of all this is a very unusual replacement cost Percentage. Normally insurance companies will offer 110%, 120%, 125%, 150% or 200%! We like to place coverage with insurance companies that offer 200% replacement cap.   This gives you the most amount of coverage, and when you have a fire especially the types of fires that have been happening in California recently where multiple structures are burned, having twice the amount of insurance as what’s listed on the policy as much better than having 110% or even 124%!  But what made this case so weird is that we know this particular insurance company offers 150% replacement for very little premium difference if at all! Why didn’t the agent just give them the 150% replacement Instead of 124%?  Ironically, the insured was looking for a new agent but not necessarily a new company! Now we know why. The very first thing that our office advised was to change the policy to get the 150% replacement cap.

The reason that you see different types of coverage forms for the same insurance company is because many insurance companies are built by acquisition.  This means that a large insurance company that goes and buys a regional carrier may initially adopt the regional carrier’s policies and terms.   Updating and changing rate filings within states like California and others can be time-consuming and challenging. So the insurance company just issues different types of policies based on what’s being requested by the agent.  So what you get is a plate of apples and oranges!!

At the end of the day buying the best insurance for your needs means having a conversation with a trusted agent so that they can direct you to the right policy that meet your needs. Cheaper is not always better, and believe it or not, more expensive is not always better either! Our goal is to help you get it right.