home insurance companies

which home insurance companies offer a full replacement policy instead of the usual actual cash value policy?

this is for home insurance in New York

Most companies offer an endorsement for extended replacment cost which will cover for replacment up to a certain percentage above the stated amount for the dwelling. Erie offers a "Guaranteed" replacement cost. The key to any of these policies is to make sure your stated amount on the policy is a close estimate to current replacement cost (it changes with inflation, labor and materials cost). Most policies include a co-insurance clause which states they will only pay full replacement if the policy holder has insured their home within a certain percentage (80 or 90%) of the actual replacement cost. Remember too that replacement cost does not include the value of your land. If something happens to your home, the land will still be there.

Is there a law in NYS that says all health insurance companies are obligated to pay for a home birth?

I am having a home birth and want to find out if my health insurance company is obligated to pay. When I call them, they give me no answers. (Empire Blue Cross) Someone told me there was a law that in NY all insurance companies were obligated to pay for home birth.

Nope. And here in TX, they aren't, either. I looked into it – wanting a home birth with my last baby.

See, they have "in network" providers. My insurance company – Cigna – just doesn't HAVE any in network midwives (in HOUSTON, TX, the 4th largest city in the USA!). They WOULD pay for a midwife in a birthing center – just not in a home. Unfortunately, here in TX, birthing centers are not allowed to do vbacs.

It's a racket. They COULD have paid $3000 for all my prenatal and delivery – instead, they've got bills for over $15,000 for a C-section again, as the hospitals don't like to wait for women to labor (time is money!).

Are there any legitimate insurance companies out there that you can work from home w/o paying big $$ to do it.

Looking to work at home as an insurance agent – I have a liscense but I don't want to do any MLM thingie or spend a ton of money buying crappy leads for a company that promises the moon and the stars. I want to do my part but I want a company that keeps their word (integrity)

"If a company requires initial payment from you in order to work for them, they are not legitimate."

There are a few legitimate data entry companies but are not hiring and have large waiting lists (1-2yrs). The majority of data entry jobs you seen online are scams. A real company will want you to have skills inc fast typing, may want you to know MS Excel, and will usually ask that you have high speed internet. Once in a long while you may found one online on a job website but thats rare.

If you do an advanced search on yahoo, you will find previous answers, sometimes the info on these is good as the info they gave is likely to have been verified if the answer was voted as 'Best'.

http://dataentry-jobsearch.blogspot.com/

has some good information on how to search recruitment websites for work at home positions.

Insurance Underwriting: Anybody know of any companies that would underwrite and brand a home insurance policy?

I am with a home improvement magazine which specializes in advertisements and we are interested in finding an underwriter that would be willing to brand a product – a home insurance policy. The underwriter will handle all daily operations regarding the insurance in itself, and in turn, we would divert all applicable traffic to you via our publications. Our magazine has an extremely large following, and is trusted and well respected. I am interested in names and phone numbers from probable companies which may be able to assist us. Please, valid answers only. Thanks!
We distribute to over 4 million homes per month, with franchises in 26 cities and growing. The people who recieve our magazine are pre-screened and meet certain qualifications and all own their own homes. We have been in business for the past 6 years.

LOTS of companies underwrite and brand homeowners insurance policies.

You can't start your own company, though, without permission of the insurance commissioner in every state you want to write business.

What you REALLY want to do, I think, is do "program insurance" kinda like AARP and AAA do. They have arrangements with carriers, to write business with them.

What you CAN'T do, is make any money off of referrals. See, that's heavily regulated in each state, and if you're not licensed to sell insurance, you can't receive "kickbacks" or "finders fees" or "commissions" on policies.

Keep in mind, homeowners insurance is a loss leader. A PROFITABLE company pays out about $1.10 in homeowners claims, for every $1 they take in, in premium. Policies are underwritten in a very cookie cutter manner.

So, I'm not sure what you're really looking for here, or how large a "book of business" you're willing to offer. Or, the QUALITY of the book of business. Can you promise 100,000 owner occupied, single family homes without pitt bulls, that have been completely updated within the past 25 years, and have owners with credit scores over 650? Or are you trying to find a market for substandard business?

You need to be A LOT more specific.

Will an insurance company insure our home if there is a unpermitted cottage?

I'm in the process of buying a foreclosure home (Saratoga,CA, can't transfer the insurance since it has already lapsed) that has a detached unpermitted cottage (2 bedrooms, kitchen, bathroom and living room total of 900 sq ft), the main home also has a unpermitted converted garage that is used as a in law quarter (separate entrance and full bathroom), it also has a unpermitted sun room too. I really love the home and tried looking for home insurance but it looks like no one will insure me. Is there anyway I can get insured for this property without having to lie about these unpermitted additions to the insurance company? Any advice would be appreciated and any suggestions which insurance company would insure me for a reasonable price. Thank you in advance.

I think you should go to the local building department (city or county) and apply for as built permits for these unpermitted structures. Although costly, it's better than Code Enforcement coming by, realizing that those additions/properties are unpermitted and going to court, seeking an injunction to have you (1) obtain as-built permits or (2) having them torn down.

It is more expensive to have Code Enforcement come in and seek relief from the courts (assuming you don't comply and apply for as built permits) because you may have to pay their attorneys' fees when they win.

I believe you apply for as built permits from the Building Department in the city. Make sure you're in the incorporated portion of the city, otherwise you'll have to go to the County Building Department.

Also, if the bank didn't know that these additions were unpermitted, you wouldn't have an recourse. Most foreclosures are sold as is and requires buyer's diligence. A title insurance policy may or may not disclose unpermitted additions (depends on the wording of the policy). As I recall, a title insurance policy only guarantees that you have marketable title to the property.

In your experience, who are the best and worst insurance companies for home and auto?

I used to have The Hartford. They were the worst ever. Now I have Nationwide, and I'm happy with them.

If you are fortunate enough to either have been in the military or have been a dependent of someone who was, you can get USAA coverage. They are, without question, the best. Lowest rates, best customer service, most variety of products.

Everything I've heard from friends bears this out. Unfortunately, you have to have that US military affiliation to get their coverage.

In order of largest to smallest (customer wise) 10-20 home owners insurance companies in california? ?

Does anybody know where i can find a list of the largest (customer size) home owners insurance companies in california? How can i get a list of all the carriers?
thanks

ondreforsure, Home insurance covers lots of different things. I'm not familiar with the California regulations, so I recommend you call a local homeowners insurance agent. http://www.americaschoicetoday.com/Home-Insurance.html They should be able to assist you.

Can home insurance companies completely deny you because you have a dog that attacked someone at one point?

I'm going to try to keep this short.. just know that, this is for my dog and I'm trying to save him… he's a 10 year old Akita.
A year ago, our family dog bit someone. They sued for an insane amount of money, but it wasn't our fault completely, so our home insurance and their health insurance settled out of court for a lot less. Still, the settlement was expensive, and our home insurance didn't like covering a 6-digit figure claim because of the dog so they dropped us.
Since then, all home insurance companies don't want to cover us, "even if we don't have a dog", this information is by my father who doesn't like the dog already.
There is only one house insurance that will cover us, according to my father, but they will only cover us if we don't have a dog, and even then they will charge 4 times as much.
I'm not old enough to completely understand how insurance and claims and contracts work, but I'm just trying to save my dog, because my father is going to put him to sleep by the end of this month. I just need a good starting point or phone numbers that could maybe discredit what my father has been saying, or anything that could help. We live in Southern California. Apparently Akitas are listed as vicious, but at the age of 10, he's old enough to be mellow, but still too young to put to sleep. Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you all very much for the quick responses, although not the greatest news :-\
I guess I've just heard from others that insurance companies can offer a liability waiver, sort of like car insurance companies do. In that way, owners and insurance companies agree that the animal will not be covered.
He's a nice dog, we refuse to put him to sleep, worst case scenario is that he will live with someone else. Thank you all again.

Sorry but yes they can justifiably deny coverage to you due to the previous bite. He now has a ''history". He's also considered one of the ''potentially dangerous breeds'' by most insurance companies, so he now has two strikes against him. I know not fair I suffer the same problem with my pit/chow mix.

Are there any home-owners insurance companies left for new home owners in south Florida?

every company we've checked with says they are no longer insuring homes in south florida.

There are 475 home owner insurance firms in Florida ( http://www.fldfs.com/Data/CompanySearch/index.asp ). If you are having difficulty find one providing coverage in your area, I would recommend contacting the Florida Department of Financial Services (which oversees the companies) toll-free at 1-800-342-2762.

Hope this helps!

How do Insurance companies determine quotes for home owners insurance?

They all do it different ways.

They have the rates calculated by actuaries, and filed with each state insurance commissioner.

As an example, one company (that I used to manually rate for, tells you how long ago that was, LOL), first you figure out how much coverage they need. You go to the tables for that amount (preferred at that time was $125,000 to $200,000, those were the lowest rates). Then you pick the construction type (frame, masonry veneer, masonry), then you pick the protection class code (ISO standard). Then you get the base rate. Then you add the premiums for any endorsements. You then apply credits and debits – for unupdated houses, or fully updated, for claims or no claims, for credit score, for deductibles, etc.

That gives you your final rate. It's a bit more complicated than that, as some endorsements get added before credits/debits, and some after.