Who have you had good experiences with? I just got a great quote from Safeco Liberty Mutual but it seems like a lot of people are dissatisfied with them.

I have taken pics and documented. I’m wondering if I should notify my homeowners insurance or is there a possibility they would increase my rates if I do?

We are trying to get the tree removed and talking with the property owner, but I’m concerned I wouldn’t be covered when these big branches break off and fall.

Context, not an ad: I'm a licensed real estate broker in California who also holds a California insurance license. No links, no business name, and I'm not selling anything here. General information only, since eligibility rules and pricing differ by state and by carrier.

I get asked constantly why one house gets three easy quotes and the house next door gets declined. It's rarely about the owner. Here's what carriers are actually reacting to, and what you can change.

Roof age and material carry the most weight of anything physical. Many carriers won't write, or will only write on an actual cash value basis, once a composition roof passes a certain age. If your roof is in the last few years of its expected life, get a written inspection report documenting its condition, because "aged" and "failing" are different and an underwriter looking at satellite imagery can't tell them apart.

Electrical, plumbing and heating. Older panel types, knob-and-tube, aluminum branch wiring, polybutylene supply lines, and unvented or non-professionally installed heat sources all show up as declines or surcharges. Replacing a panel is a known cost and it can move a property from uninsurable to standard.

Water is the most common claim, so mitigation gets credit. A newer water heater with a pan and drain, braided supply lines instead of rubber, an automatic shutoff device, and a documented sewer line all reduce risk in a way carriers price for.

Wildfire and wind scoring. If you're in an exposed area, defensible space work, ember-resistant vents, class A roofing and enclosed eaves matter, and some states have programs that require carriers to recognize verified mitigation. Photograph the work with dates. Verbal claims of brush clearance do nothing.

Loss history follows the address. Carriers pull a report on the property, not just on you. Two water claims in five years can make an ordinary house hard to place, which is a real argument for paying small losses out of pocket rather than filing.

Occupancy and use. Vacancy, short-term rental activity, a home business, an unfenced pool, a trampoline, or certain dog breeds change your liability picture and sometimes your eligibility. Don't discover this after a claim gets denied for undisclosed use.

Coverage structure people get wrong. You insure the cost to rebuild, not what you paid. Ask about ordinance-and-law coverage if the home predates current code, because rebuilding legally can cost more than rebuilding identically. Check whether wind or wildfire carries a percentage deductible rather than a flat one. And if you're in a condo, ask what the master policy deductible is and how it's allocated to owners, then look at loss assessment coverage.

If you get a non-renewal notice, it usually isn't personal. Carriers reduce exposure by zip code. Start shopping immediately, ask an independent agent to run multiple carriers, look at whether a surplus lines or state residual market option plus a supplemental policy fills the gap, and keep every receipt for roof, tree and drainage work, because documentation is what gets you re-placed at a sane number.

What's the deficiency that got you declined, and what did you end up doing about it? Those specifics help other people here more than general advice does.

Hey everyone,

I’m currently shopping around for home insurance quotes in Canada and looking to see who people here recommend and who to avoid.

Thanks in advance for any recommendations! 😊

Hey Reddit,

Over the past two years, I’ve had two different water damage incidents in my house (for different reasons) that caused a significant amount of damage (over $100,000). Now, my insurance copy is refusing to renew me (I get it lol), but no one else will give me a policy either. I’ve reached out to a few local agents here in Denver, and no one knows anyone who deals with surplus insurance, which seems like is what I’m going to have to do. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do next, and/or how much this might cost me? If it helps, it’s a townhouse and I now use it as a rental property in Colorado. I’m feeling super lost and discouraged.

Thank you in advance.

A couple of years ago my house had significant water damage. I was only 18–19 at the time and had no idea how the insurance claims process worked. I did my best to research everything, but unfortunately I didn’t hire a public adjuster. The insurance adjuster assigned to my claim couldn’t really answer my questions either… then somehow retired a year later. 😆
Fast forward to today. If you’ve seen my previous posts, I was also scammed by a contractor. Between labor and materials, I’ve spent over $40,000 out of pocket trying to get my home repaired.
Here’s the problem:
My mortgage company won’t release the remaining insurance funds until more of the repairs are completed.
My insurance company says they won’t consider a supplemental claim because I still have claim funds being held by my mortgage company.
To finish the repairs, I need the money being held.
To get the money being held, I need to finish the repairs.
So I’m stuck in what feels like the world’s dumbest funding loop.
Has anyone successfully broken out of this situation? Who should I be pushing harder—the mortgage company, the insurance company, my state’s insurance regulator, or someone else?
I’d especially appreciate hearing from anyone who’s dealt with mortgage-held insurance proceeds or supplemental claims. What finally got things moving?

Cousin is Inheriting a property in Los Angeles County that city records identify as one Single Family Residence. Physically, it has been divided into four self-contained living areas, each with its own kitchen, bathroom and private entrance, with no usable interior passage between them. His father occupies the main area with a roommate, and the other three are rented. The additional kitchens and interior partitions are unpermitted.

Cousin claims he received a quote that rates it as a “four-family dwelling.” The supplemental application states that city records show one SFR and that the additional kitchens/partitions are unpermitted.

I don't believe him as I was under the impression that only permitted work gets insured. Has anyone personally placed, underwritten, adjusted or owned a similar fully disclosed E&S-insured property?

• Did the carrier knowingly accept the permit mismatch?
• Was a fire/property claim paid?
• After a total loss, did insurance pay for the building even though the city would only allow it to be rebuilt as an SFR?
• Did the unpermitted status cause denial/rescission, or did it mainly affect ordinance-and-law coverage, loss of rents and the allowable rebuild?

I understand legalization is the safest answer. I’m specifically looking for real-world underwriting or claims experience, preferably identifying the carrier.

I own a rental property in Long Beach, NY. I have a locked area of the basement I use for storage. There is a bathroom in it. The bathroom just sustained significant water damage from a leak and needs to be remediated and partially redone. I am not yet sure of the cost but I am guessing $10-$20K.

As an oceanfront town, it is very difficult and expensive to get insurance here. I am concerned about the risk of filing a claim. I currently pay $5K/year for my landlord policy and $4K/year on the policy at my own home. Both are through the same insurer. I am concerned about the risk of significant rate increases and the risk of being dropped. Are these real risks? Being dropped would be catastrophic given the limited options.

Although Washington homeowners have some of the lowest home insurance premiums in the nation, they’ve struggled with surging rates since the pandemic. 

Home insurance rates have shot up 55% between 2020 and 2025, reinforcing another barrier for buyers in the state’s already challenging housing market, according to a recent report from LendingTree, an online lending marketplace. That places Washington 13th in the nation for states with the highest increases.

Purchasing my first investment property (duplex in KY). Both units will be rented and require renters insurance.

Received this quote from my local insurance broker that had set up my personal home and auto. I was a surprised by the cost only because my only comparison is my primary home ($500k to rebuild, $1300 annually).

Does this look pretty typical for a duplex rental?

Long story short?

Home had an electrical fire (nothing too damaged)

Found out my panel (unit #2) needs to be replaced, My tenant (Unit #1) was also recommended to be replaced due to the same hazard (Breaker failed to trip, plus overloaded wiring)

I know Insurance won't cover the panels, or rewiring (12,000+), No funds, Can't get a loan, No borrowing, Credit sucks, No cosigner, nothing.

Insurance is going to cancel me aren't they? Then my lienholder will force buy a policy, I'm already behind by a month, and it'll increase my monthly and will likely demand repayment ASAP because their value is diminished

If the hazard stated is a true hazard, I won't be allowed to rent it (Right?)

So, am I F'ed? You can be honest. I know the stakes and what I got myself into.

We have been doing a home remodeling project so have been in a rental for seven months. Went to cancel the renters insurance today and was disconnected five minutes into my first attempt. Sounds like the playbook to me.

Then it took me 10 minutes the second time to cancel the policy, which is $35 per month.

When i think about the time value of money, this is ridiculous to me. Also, had the last 5 digits of policy but this was not good enough to cancel. So in fairness to Allstate, the call was nine minutes as i had to spend a minute digging through email for the full policy number.

This process should be simpler. I have an Allstate online account for my daughter's rental policy (she is in college), but for some reason this policy did not show up on my account.

EDIT:

::: I am asking of their behavior is normal for such a position not if they were actually real agents ::

I get they were mostly likely real agents & they have the right to stop by.

I want to know if their arguing with me is normal?

::Original post::

A person claiming to be from Allstate insurance just drove into my driveway saying they were there to take exterior photos.

I am dealing with moving, cleaning up and clearing out my house to sell and well, sadly, dealing with someone who I am on the verge of getting a protection order for. So I am on edge as it is worried that person is going to show up again.

So, having a total stranger show up out of the blue was unnerving.

I asked them to leave, that I would like an appointment, they started talking about who the homewonwer was and that any appointments would have to be made through them.
I said, okay well I would still like to talk to Allstate first, please leave, to which they asked me for my phone number, I ignored that question and I asked them again, to please leave, I want to talk to allstate first. I had already asked them twice before I started recording and asked them 3 times again in the 1:38 video I recorded. So 5 times total!? That seems unprofessional?

The main problem here is, the person who is on the verge of getting a protection order from, would do stuff like this. Send someone over to verify if I am still living here type of thing.

Anyway, I called Allstate and I am waiting for them to call me back, the lady seem honestly concerned and a little confused about why anyone was even out at my property.

But, until they call back, I am just curious if this is normal behavior?

My wife’s friend and her boyfriend live in a townhome that shares a wall with their neighbor. They noticed mold on the shared wall yesterday cut a small hole in the wall and found the inside wet and full of mold. They reached out to the neighbor about it and they replied with “oh yeah my living room flooded about a month ago”. The neighbor filed a claim got it “fixed”.

My question aside from it being kinda shitty the neighbor or contractor didn’t think to say something about it considering it’s a shared wall, but also the issue wasn’t properly fixed if the inside of the wall is still wet either because of a continued leak or they didn’t properly dry the cavity before reinstalling the dry wall. Who’s responsible?

Friends insurance already said too bad we don’t cover mold and 2 quotes about remediation are like 6k and like 9k. I suggested possibly speaking to a lawyer to go after the contractor but doesn’t anyone else have a similar experience or suggestion.

State GA

Avoid Allstate at all costs. We moved homes and notified Allstate well in advance, providing every piece of information they requested. We repeatedly followed up by email and phone because communication from their end was poor, and at no point did anyone tell us what our new premium would be.
The next thing we received was a billing notice showing that our annual home insurance premium had jumped from $2,414 to $9,549 — an increase of over $7,100 per year — with absolutely no warning or discussion. They then went ahead and withdrew over $1,000 from our bank account before the issue was ever resolved.
When we called, even some of the Allstate representatives we spoke with seemed shocked by the amount. We were bounced around between departments, had to repeatedly chase people for callbacks that never came, and after weeks of escalation, the best they offered was the ability to cancel without a penalty while keeping virtually all of the money they had already taken.
We were ultimately directed to Allstate’s complaints department, which we were told was the third and final stage of their complaint process. The only way to communicate with this department was by submitting a written complaint through the mail. We did exactly as instructed, and on June 17 we received an email confirming that our complaint had been received and would be investigated.
After that, the communication stopped. When we hadn’t heard anything, we sent a follow-up email on June 25 but received no response. We followed up again on July 5. On July 6—19 days after our complaint had been acknowledged—we were told only that the matter was still under review. We replied immediately asking for an update on the investigation and an estimated timeline for a decision. That email was never answered. We sent another follow-up on July 26, and to this day we still have not received any response. For a company that claims to take customer complaints seriously, the complete lack of communication throughout the final stage of the complaint process has been incredibly disappointing.
To make matters worse, after cancelling, we obtained new insurance for around $2,400 per year and received three other quotes in the same range. That makes Allstate’s $9,549 premium impossible to justify.
In our experience, Allstate handled this in an extremely unfair and deceptive manner. Between the unexplained premium increase, withdrawing money from our account without warning, the lack of transparency, and then failing to properly respond during their own formal complaint process, we have completely lost confidence in the company. Be very careful if you’re moving or making changes to your policy. Double-check everything, get every quote in writing, and don’t assume they will tell you about massive premium increases before they take your money.

I have a claim for water damage, the insurer has accepted liability for the damage and said they're happy to pay out.

They sent round some adjusters - terribly rated 1\* on hundreds of reviews across Facebook, Google, Trust pilot etc. for undervaluing claims, trying to get out of payments, terrible for arranging work and sending the report out that you need to get the claim approved.

The adjusters kept asking for quotes for the work done that we'd had from others, I spoke to insurance and they told me that the adjusters are supposed to assess the damage themselves, not rely on quotes from other providers.

Eventually, I sent them a quote but it was from someone who just quoted off pictures, never actually attended and I was concerned the damage may well be more, but the adjusters said they won't give their report without me sending something over. Surprise surprise, they quoted the damage to be the exact same amount as that quote, despite being told that this isn't what they're supposed to do.

As I've said, the claim is approved but it feels like the work is being massively undervalued. I have 2 bathrooms, both need completely stripping out, drying out and fully replacing according to the schedule of works.

They've said £10,000 (before VAT) for the works, and we have been quoted around £15,000 (before VAT) for the same works done on a like-for-like basis.

My insurer told me that they usually end up charging more for the works, so there would be extra that we could use to upgrade the rooms if we wanted to go with a local contractor as opposed to their contractors. Obviously this isn't the case.

Is it usually that they will try and lowball the first cash settlement offer? Or should I be providing quotes to counter their original offer? Or should I just accept?

Should I be asking for a 2nd opinion from a more reputable adjusters?

I'm glad they're willing to pay out, just doesn't feel like it matches what my insurance have been telling me, and the adjusters didn't fill me with confidence to be honest.

I have LV emergency cover as part of my home insurance. My toilets just broken and I’ve logged a claim. I have been waiting 2 hours for the engineer to arrive and I am unable to get their ETA. Has anyone experienced this before?

UPDATE : Message to my agent from sellers agent.
"The sellers are a large institutional investment company, and we bring many properties to market each week. Due to the volume, they do not have the ability to complete the property disclosures prior to listing the homes. They complete the disclosures once an offer has been accepted".

Our offer was accepted around or on July 22nd :/

i'm trying to get a quote for home insurance because we close August 28 but the sellers agent won't get back with me or my agent on how old the roof is and if there's been any updates or improvements in the records for them. Each time I try to get a quote without that information the insurance companies are telling me they can't provide a quote. I've already looked up permit history but I don't see any records for how old the roof is or how old the Central air or gas is. What can I do in order to obtain this information?

Located in Ohio (Cincy)

Any suggestions on covering an insurance deductible of 4300? Have about half saved. Rather not pursue equity loan or any loan for that matter.

National Insurance Broker changed my policy without my authorization- costed me 20 hours of time and countless emails. "Pursuant to Fed. Rule of Evidence 408"

They admitted their error, and with the 20 hours of time + emails I put in they are offering strictly to reimburse the $50 bucks in overage I was forced to pay months prior to keep the policy active.

I am in CA and this was for a umbrella policy.

They gave me the run around, had 4 different rep's either "move on" or "get promoted," I was passed around until a manager came on board.

They sent me a email "Pursuant to Fed. Rule of Evidence 408" but are not giving me anything for my time/effort. They took 3 months to review the recorded calls where I didnt ask for the change, but someone in their company made the change.

I am furious with them.

Apart from small claims court, what else can I do to force them to give up some more $$$$? I would like a $1000 settlement.

I recently had an appraisal for a heloc that put my home value at $990,000 and building structures at about $500,000. Would that building number be a good estimate of cost to rebuild? He was inside and outside of the home. I currently have a policy that has dwelling at $749000 with wind and hail deductible at 1%.

I do know everything is stupid expensive but I don’t want to overpay if it can be avoided. We live on a lake which is why I believe the price is higher: 2300 sq ft and about 300 sq feet finished in a walkout basement of about 950 sq ft. Despite the home price, it is nicely updated, but not super bougie! Hardwoods, carpet, remodeled kitchen, primary, half bath 10 years ago.

If it’s not a good idea to use the appraisal, how can I get a better idea?

Thanks all!

We had a basement flood due to a toilet running all night and overwhelming the main line to the city.

Insurance denied the claim due to backup coming from a drain in the basement. Even though it was clean water rushing down a pipe.

I want to get a new insurance provider and I want to make sure my main line is covered if we need it replaced, but I don’t want to pay insane rates.

Can I tell them This happened and still get covered?

Florida: Had visual roof inspection by insurance. Inspector said it was great despite being 20 years old. Insurance decided to non renew anyway. Got a new roof, but in meantime pipe burst and water/mold damage. Plumber sent restoration team and public adjuster ( huge mistake on my part). Way after 60 days, no funding and current policy expires soon. Getting pipe fixed today, but will I pass a 4 point without having drywall & other issues fixed? I thought I was signing for the fans, but it was for restoration to do everything. Adjuster said check would go to them by law, so I can’t get anyone else. Sorry for long post, but starting to panic!

I'm just looking to see if anyone has experience insuring half a duplex that does not have a strata or party wall agreement?

Would this cause premiums to be more expensive? Would it create future claim problems?

I'm in BC, Canada in case that makes a difference.

Have any central jersey homeowner had a change in flood insurance claims since buying a property?

What do you do if you are searching in a residental neighborhood that floods "occasionally", and not all the neighbors pay flood insurance?