Insurance shock

[Amrita]

The deductible should be in big print.  Thereʻs a deductible on all kinds of insurance-- home, auto, medical.  Your agent should be able to tell you what it is very quickly.


You were right, I had not looked at the first page as I tried to read through all the weeds trying to find out what was covered.
  So the deductabe turns out to be $2500 with this new policy it was $500 on previous policy $585 verses $1343 now annual premium. That's shocking (to me) high.  I think the idea of negotiation is toast.  I contacted Atlas and they are checking around.  Other thing Atlas says:  Most carriers want 10K or more catchment.  Mine is 7500.  I'm now fearful of rocking the boat.  One cannot win in this inflatable world.  And I blame corporate greed for almost all problems of the world.  Oh well, perhaps it's time to just give up and forget the world I used to know.

[leilanidude]

Most carriers want 10K or more catchment.
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This is such a worthless thing and needs to be brought up to the Council or state level insurance commissioner. In the event of a fire, the Hawaii County Fire Department will not hook up to your catchment tank. I even saw this happen at a fire that a neighbor had. The firemen stated that they won't do it "do to liability reasons".

[Durian Fiend]

 I even saw this happen at a fire that a neighbor had. The firemen stated that they won't do it "do to liability reasons".

WTH!  Won't save someone's house due to legal worries?  That's ridiculous-doesn't make any sense.

[ChunksterK]

The county refrains from doing a lot of thing due to legal issues, so I'm not surprised by the fire department's policy. They probably damaged someone's catchment tank trying to save their house and got sued for their efforts. People are like that.

I've been going through the insurance shopping process, and I will post a detailed description of what I have experienced when things fall into place, hopefully in the next few days. In the meantime, I have spoken to a multi-company independent broker and directly to four insurance companies, and not one asked me our catchment size. It may be because we are less than a mile from the HPP fire station, something they can quickly ascertain from online databases.

[Punatang]

So they want a 10,000 gallon tank that the Fire Department will not use anyway?

What if you have a well?  Is that better or worse, in terms of insurance?

How does the fire department hook up to a well?

[terracore]

There is no rhyme or reason to the catchment/insurance thing. We knew somebody that was turned down for insurance for having a 7500 gallon tank, so we gave them the number for an agent on Oahu and they didn't ask/care if they even had a catchment tank. From a liability standpoint, a full 10,000 gallon catchment tank that fails is going to be more dangerous than a 7,500 tank. Let's say that a 10,000 gallon tank has 5,000 gallons in it (it hasn't rained in awhile). That gives it about 4,000 gallons of useable water (at most) before the fire pump is sucking sediment and the liner off the bottom. That's only minutes worth of water for a typical fire truck. That's not going to save a structure. 2500 extra gallons of water in a 10,000 gallon tank compared to a 7,500 (literally just seconds worth) offers little to no added protection against fires, but a smaller tanks creates a smaller hazard if a tank fails.

[Punatang]

There is no rhyme or reason to the catchment/insurance thing.  We knew somebody that was turned down for insurance for having a 7500 gallon tank, so we gave them the number for an agent on Oahu and they didn't ask/care if they even had a catchment tank.  From a liability standpoint, a full 10,000 gallon catchment tank that fails is going to be more dangerous than a 7,500 tank.  Let's say that a 10,000 gallon tank has 5,000 gallons in it (it hasn't rained in awhile).  That gives it about 4,000 gallons of useable water (at most) before the fire pump is sucking sediment and the liner off the bottom.  That's only minutes worth of water for a typical fire truck.  That's not going to save a structure.  2500 extra gallons of water in a 10,000 gallon tank compared to a 7,500 (literally just seconds worth) offers little to no added protection against fires, but a smaller tanks creates a smaller hazard if a tank fails.

Tanks for clarifying that terracore.  Any thoughts on properties that have water wells?  Seems like there are a lot of those in lower HPP.

[leilanidude]

What if you have a well? Is that better or worse, in terms of insurance?

How does the fire department hook up to a well?
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Exactly. If you don't have a catchment tank, it doesn't matter and the fire department would never hook up to a well either. This kind of absurdity needs to get before the state insurance commissioner.

[MyManao]

How does the fire department hook up to a well?

My brother's home in the hills above Sonoma barely survived a major fire (Tubbs/Sonoma Complex fire) that swept through the area a few years ago, and since then the insurance industry took some serious notice and most of the homes in the area are uninsurable now.

My sister in law is a swim coach, she created a swim club and a major fund raising push to build a multi pool facility for the community. She has a large pool, serviced by their own private well, in the backyard of their home. The well is operated with solar power. Before the insurance company came by my brother installed a fire hydrant in front of his house, connected directly to the pool. His home owner's policy was renewed.

As I have noted before, I think the insurance industry as we have known it, is in jeopardy of collapse. Historically they have depended on a large pool of participants to realize the profits they are used to, and their shareholders expect. And now, with global warming effecting more and more of their base, they can not expect the same returns, and in fact in many instances can't sustain a profit. With this in mind lenders have to find an alternative, or they too will be pinched, and the end user, the home owner, will find their options severally limited. As we are experiencing here.

Our's is a different risk, but we're only a small slice of the pie, and have always been subsidized by the larger group of insured across the country. But that's going away. And with the Lahaina fire we have to assume we're front and center in the industries concerns. I imagine it's going to get harder.. with places like Waikoloa on the chopping block next..

[AinaAKai]

I would be really nervous about using a foreign company for homeowners insurance. Pretty easy to close if there is a big hit.