I am attempting to apply for home insurance for the new house, and I am so frustrated. I just put all that frustration on Twitter so let’s just use that as a summary:
Anyway it’s not going well. Do MOST people know the year their 200-year-old home’s heating system was converted from fireplace to oil? And why are they asking if we have at least 60 feet of perimeter fencing? And why do they want to know how many rooms have crown molding? And why do they set up an online-quote form if you CANNOT GET AN ONLINE QUOTE FROM IT??
Also, in order to fill out parts of the form, I had to consult the inspection report. There is nothing that gets me quite so wound up as an inspection report. “Here are the ONE THOUSAND PAPER CUTS you will die of if you buy this house!” But I remember feeling the same way when we bought this house, and I remember we fixed the major things and the rest of it just became the house we lived in. Like, yes, we should probably touch up the paint on that step. But we haven’t, and it’s fine.
I would like to express appreciation for what appears to be a shift to the term “home insurance.” I never knew where to put the apostrophe in homeowners/homeowner’s/homeowners’ insurance. Plus, “home insurance” is parallel to “car insurance”.
Ugh, so frustrating. I hate the whole online quote thing because, as you pointed out, they really are not going to give you a quote. Or they ask for a phone number and then spam you until the end of time.
I know you hate phone calling (me too), but I would call the agent (maybe the agent you have for your current home insurance?) and let them deal with it. It’s what you pay them for. Or, if you’re shopping, then call an insurance broker and let them sort it out. They get paid by the insurance company, so it’s their job to figure it out for you.
My thoughts exactly! When I purchased my home a few years ago, I decided to let my current insurance agent take on this task to avoid the added stress and frustration. I told myself I could review the coverage and make any needed updates when it came up for renewal in a year.
Push this task on to your agent’s plate, I say!
So. What I do is call, then the insurance person pulls up the listing and answers most of the questions themselves. Also, they don’t really need an exact year.
I would guess they don’t care about a normal number of cats. Cats are unlikely to lead to insurance claims, but a dog could bite someone on the property, I guess.
I think more people have cats than farm animals in their houses. Just saying. Good luck. It sounds very frustrating.
How absolutely MADDENING. And then you have to call anyway? I am requiring deep breathing just to deal with reading about it. Here’s hoping you find some happy ending to the insanity.
So I know you hate the phone, but calling a broker is the way to go. When we moved, our contact person at the broker asked some questions, I gave the explanation type answers that drop down boxes wouldn’t allow, them she completed a lot of the paperwork herself based on the home inspection. I gave her, listing information, etc. There was a virtual tour of our home online from the real estate agent, and the broker even watched that to get information for our home. Then the broker shops around to get the best deal. Brokers are wonderful! (Our broker is Zander…I think they can cover anyone in the country so you might want to check! But there are lots of brokers out there.) (And yes, we’ve had 2 homeowners claims on insurance from a broker and have had zero issues for either claim so it is legit!)
Thirding the comment about calling a broker. That money and the money we pay an accountant to do our taxes is money I will GLADLY spend…my sanity is worth more. Your frustration is completely understandable. We have a few rental properties, and the insurance policies on those fluctuate wildly for absolutely no reason from year to year and I just want to barf and scream thinking about how stupid it all is.
Selfishly, this post reminds me that my husband, who is DRIVING ME TO DRINK lately in so many infuriatingly male ways, takes on SO MANY of these tasks that stress/frustrate me. So, you know, if I were to murder him in his sleep, I would not only have to dispose of the body, but I’d have to start making even more phone calls…hmm. So, thank you for this post.
Time for a soothing cup of coffee at just the right temperature, with your very favorite flavored creamer.
Ha! I simultaneously love and hate my husband for such similar reasons. Have recently thought the same thoughts
Haha yes I was thinking the same thing! My husband does all this type of stuff too.
Hahaha! There must be something going around, I, too, am ready to murder my husband. As are several of my friends.
I think I might hate actually speaking to people on the telephone as much as you do, but either calling your current insurance agent and getting them to do the paperwork, or calling an insurance broker and having them do the paperwork is the fastest and least frustrating way I found to deal with this issue.
Yes – we called our current company.
I know you are not a phone person, but this sort of thing brings out the Oppositional Defiant in me. So my tactic would be to get on the phone, call the customer service number, and completely play dumb. Force them to hold your hand and walk you through a complete explanation of every single question. But that’s just me.
Otherwise, call a broker and deal with them directly. That seems to be what those “online quote” things want anyway, just to drag you to them on the phone.
Broker is the way to go. You may wind up paying a touch more, but it’s one of those things where having a person to talk to is better in the long run.
Yup, broker. I remember doing something, not insurance, online and getting very frustrated. Then I called the office. I almost cried when the woman said about one item I questioned, “Oh, that doesn’t affect anything! I don’t know why they even put stupid stuff like that on the form. We NEVER look at that.” Then she just skipped it. SKIPPED IT. The online form didn’t give me that option. For a few seconds she was a god to me. Sometimes the phone call is worth it.
Whoa. I don’t think I had to answer any questions like that when I got my homeowner’s insurance at this house, nor did I have to do so for my previous house. Maybe find a different insurer? I did all of my home insurance stuff on the phone, and it was pretty easy. But I don’t have phone issues.
If you’re stuck answering those questions, you may be able to find some of the answers by looking at the seller’s disclosure form and also accessing the house’s permit records online at your county’s website. For our house sale, we had to put in the best dates we could on the disclosure form. And we looked up permit info for a house we were considering when we were buying, so it may be public info in your area, too.
I came here to sympathize (which is still true because that suuuuuuucks) but then I learned there is a thing called an insurance broker! What?! I hate hate hate our current insurance guy/company but haven’t made a move to leave because I fear what you described on Twitter. Now I will try a broker!
Also, love and hugs and extra love to you for dealing with all this. It’s still fresh in my mind from our move. Ugh, the paperwork!
I will echo the idea of a broker. Our mortgage broker recommended a good one and it was easy, plus going forward after we closed I continued to deal directly with the broker for renewals etc and it made everything much easier.
UGH insurance is the kind of thing where I know I’m going to actually have to call someone, which I hate, because the online forms are trash and they never give me a friggin’ quote anyway and I’m left hostile and uninformed. In darker hours I wonder if they make the online forms garbage on purpose so everyone has to call anyway. TINFOIL HAT TIME. Usually the end result is that I make H do it because I hate HATE talking to strangers on the phone. BAH
Aaaagh forms. When my hair ignites, that’s when I start making shit up.
Oh, definitely it was converted to oil heating in 1972. Definitely. I know that for sure.
You deserve a really nice lunch for all your trouble.
I feel your pain but in minor form. This goes back to your post about responding in the way you were reaching out (text to my text, email me if I email you, etc). I went to a site to get an online quote where it clearly said “Get a quote online!” It was for a small plumbing issue – very straight forward request. It did not provide said quote, but I did receive an email about an hour later saying “call our office to set up a time to review your request!” NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Just NO. Noooo.
You should definitely choose “exotic” for your cats.
I wonder if you could skip the stupid automated type forms and find some agents who will work with you via normal email. Like I’m pretty sure if I emailed my current insurance agent and asked them to figure out a quote for me they could email all those questions and we could go back and forth that way. Or maybe start with a phone call and then when they get to the detailed questions ask if they could switch to email to make it easier for you to gather info.
That is terribly frustrating. I was going to see a new doctor recently and their website said “schedule an appointment online!” Fantastic! Except it was the same bait and switch – fill out some stuff and then call the office. It also had me fill out all my pre-appointment forms online, which when I arrived at the office, they had not received, and the lady did not listen when I said I had done it. She kept handing me the same forms to complete. ARGH
Would you care for some styling tips for singed hair? If it helps at all, I feel your pain.
As the wife of an independent insurance agent I have to say, consider going that route. You will be covered so much better and have excellent customer service – especially in the event that you DO have a claim. Plus, you’d be supporting a local business. Might be worth a phone call (which I also hate) to get a quote from an agent in town – you can always go back online if it’s not competitive. Good luck!
I am going to ditto calling your current home insurance company and letting them handle it. Less opportunity for your head exploding
DItto, ditto, ditto. Filling this stuff online never works for me. There is zero flexibility and they ask so many questions. Then when you get to the end they want to call you…and you have to go through the questions with a live person anyway because of the exceptions and flexibility. I got a couple recommendations from people and called a couple of agents. 15 minutes later it was all done! An insurance broker sounds awesome too, probably get you some good options.