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-   -   Insurance Costs (https://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24510)

LIforrelaxin 06-03-2019 03:39 PM

Insurance Costs
 
My family has a property that is in a trust, and has been in the family for many years. As my parents had paid for the Insurance until my mother's death this past winter, none of us children have ever even seen the bill. It seemed rather high at 1,500 dollars, but then again I have only ever owned and insured condominiums so, maybe that is a decent price I truly don't know. But some in-site from others would help. And if you pay less for a seasonal camp on the water I would be interested in hearing whom you use for an agent.

Additionally has anyone ever heard of plowing the driveway as being a condition of insure-ability on a seasonal property?

joey2665 06-03-2019 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LIforrelaxin (Post 312885)
My family has a property that is in a trust, and has been in the family for many years. As my parents had paid for the Insurance until my mother's death this past winter, none of us children have ever even seen the bill. It seemed rather high at 1,500 dollars, but then again I have only ever owned and insured condominiums so, maybe that is a decent price I truly don't know. But some in-site from others would help. And if you pay less for a seasonal camp on the water I would be interested in hearing whom you use for an agent.

Additionally has anyone ever heard of plowing the driveway as being a condition of insure-ability on a seasonal property?

$ 1500.00 depending on you coverage for a home valued around 500k is reasonable. I have never heard of plowing as a condition but I assume it is required in case emergency access in needed to get to the property in the off season when the home is unoccupied

fatlazyless 06-03-2019 03:57 PM

Allstate, Geico, Progressive and others all offer something like 10%-off car, and 25%-off home when you get both policies with them.

Competition is what makes this country soooooo great!:patriot:

MAXUM 06-03-2019 04:13 PM

The insurance company is just looking at what you got and assessing the risk and weighing that against the value of what's insured. Keep in mind they don't care about the value of the property as a package, most waterfront there is huge value in the land itself. They care about the building and contents.

For me being on an actual island my insurance co wrote me up a catastrophic policy essentially we put a price tag on the value of the building and contents, they weighted the fact it's seasonal, had me send a bunch of pics from the electrical service to the foundation piers, and underwrote the policy based on the risk which they rate as high all things considered. Was kind of funny to answer questions like I have no drive way, the nearest fire hydrant is right out front with an endless water supply, but in the end estimating response times and access I get why they gave me the policy they did.

FLL is right I insure EVERYTHING with one company and they give me steep discounts. Also pay attention to the actual coverage you carry as it can effect an umbrella policy if you carry one.

tummyman 06-03-2019 05:26 PM

Call Gail Dascoulias at Cross Insurance-Meredith. 603-279-8122. I think $1500 sounds very expensive for a seasonal cottage. We are half that amount. Look at the amount of the deductibles.....can really make a difference in premiums. We've been with Cross for a very very long time and never had any issues. Only insure the seasonal cottage....

Wifi-1 06-03-2019 06:35 PM

My (less than premium) full-time lakefront house with a $1M umbrella totals out to about that cost. Cross with Concord Mutual, and of course keep it in one company to max discounts..... lolol.

ishoot308 06-03-2019 06:41 PM

State Farm
 
$1000.00 for our seasonal island cottage. State Farm is our carrier.

TheProfessor 06-03-2019 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tummyman (Post 312892)
Call Gail Dascoulias at Cross Insurance-Meredith. 603-279-8122. I think $1500 sounds very expensive for a seasonal cottage. We are half that amount. Look at the amount of the deductibles.....can really make a difference in premiums. We've been with Cross for a very very long time and never had any issues. Only insure the seasonal cottage....

Oh yes. I called them all. Visited many.
As I was advised that my homeowners was too 'high'.

All agencies, all companies, the best anyone could do was an $8.00 annual savings. All others were MORE then what I was paying.

That is for the exact same coverage. Of course, if lower coverage, higher deductible, price does change a little.

If one does change companies be prepared for a visit to home from the new insurance company. Make sure home is in acceptable condition determined by new insurance company. Make sure that gas grille cooking grille is off the wood deck.

Once name of person on policy is given all agencies know exactly what the current annual cost is. Make sure to have a good credit report score also.

ApS 06-04-2019 01:40 AM

Also Been with Agency a Very, Very, Long Time...
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by tummyman (Post 312892)
Call Gail Dascoulias at Cross Insurance-Meredith. 603-279-8122. I think $1500 sounds very expensive for a seasonal cottage.
We are half that amount
. Look at the amount of the deductibles.....can really make a difference in premiums. We've been with Cross for a very very long time and never had any issues. Only insure the seasonal cottage....

We are LESS than one-third of that amount!

What are we doing wrong? :eek2:

swnoel 06-04-2019 05:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LIforrelaxin (Post 312885)
My family has a property that is in a trust, and has been in the family for many years. As my parents had paid for the Insurance until my mother's death this past winter, none of us children have ever even seen the bill. It seemed rather high at 1,500 dollars, but then again I have only ever owned and insured condominiums so, maybe that is a decent price I truly don't know. But some in-site from others would help. And if you pay less for a seasonal camp on the water I would be interested in hearing whom you use for an agent.

Additionally has anyone ever heard of plowing the driveway as being a condition of insure-ability on a seasonal property?

Everyone should on occasion compare their insurance with others. Most people never compare and when they do , many time realize they're paying way more than they have to. Seems like insurance companies slowly raise their premiums expecting the recipient not to compare... don't be one of them.

Biggd 06-04-2019 05:48 AM

In rural areas they take into account how far you are away from a fire station also. The farther away you are the more they charge.

joey2665 06-04-2019 06:03 AM

There are so many factors involved in insurance policies. Year built, construction type, value, location, limits, deductibles. Makes it very difficult to compare premiums apples and oranges.


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BroadHopper 06-04-2019 06:09 AM

Insurance Racket
 
Insurance companies take into account, nearest fire hydrant, volunteer or manned fire stations, water liability, seasonal, rental, etc. A big factor is history of claims to insurance companies in your past! It's quite complex.

Biggest factor to take in is the coverage, they all varies. You need to read the policy. The cheapest is most always the worst coverage!

I went to Melcher and Prescott in Laconia. They are very knowledgeable in covering lake front property. The agent will access you property and lifestyle, determine the best coverage and chose a few policies. Then you make the decision. The best visit I ever made. It's free and you learn a lot!
I went with another company not recommended by Melcher as the company I retired from has a big company discount from Met Life. I called them and with recommendations from Melcher, they 'customized' a package for me at a reasonable cost. I have auto, boat, and homeowner policy from one company!
I 'shop' around every 3 years. I'm amazed how companies become more competitive through the years. This spring I found out 'Good Sam's' Club insurance is pretty darn close to what I am paying now! ($1200 for assessed value of 800,000)

garysanfran 06-04-2019 07:02 AM

I was denied once...
 
because I only have one close neighbor.

I second Melcher & Prescott. They helped me a lot.

LIforrelaxin 06-04-2019 04:33 PM

Thanks everyone for your feedback.....
I know I need to look into all angles such as deductibles etc. and will likely do that when the policy comes up for renewal in the fall. My Mother had already paid for the current year policy. Going through her paperwork that particular bill jumped out at me as likely higher then it should be. But knowing my father he probably had the lowest possible deductible, etc.... I also need to find out from the current insurance company if the fact that the property is in a trust has any bearing on the rate.. Versus something that is individually owned.

It turns out that the fun is only just beginning when someone dies. Cleaning up the estate and figuring out everything that is going on is so much fun... Even when you are prepared. My mother had done a fair amount of estate planning but ultimate, things still change......

garysanfran 06-04-2019 05:08 PM

Thank your Mom...
 
She put her assets into Trusts and you didn't have to deal with probate. Been where you are...Not fun!

The Real BigGuy 06-05-2019 12:12 PM

We are on an island. A few years ago my wife went insurance shopping and called everyone, even USAA,although neither of us were in the military. The USAA rep was very nice and told her to try Liberty Mutual. We did and saved a couple hundred $. No hassles, no pictures, etc. We are now less than 1/3 of the $1500 that was mentioned


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The Real BigGuy 06-05-2019 12:14 PM

By the way, our property is also in a trust.


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mishman 06-05-2019 04:37 PM

AMICA all the way
 
We have been long time customers of AMICA for home, boat, cars and excess liability. They have multiple discounts and pay a dividend of around 25% on homeowners, about 20% on cars and somewhat less on boat etc. Their service is great and prices very competitive.

winni83 06-05-2019 04:54 PM

Ditto on Amica. Just got the dividend check for homeowner’s policy at 25%. We have all insurance with them. Home, auto, boats and umbrella. Have had a few claims, mostly auto. They have no agents so you deal directly with Amica and usually one person handles the claim from start to finish.

phoenix 06-06-2019 10:20 AM

The requirement to plow is based on getting a fire truck to the house in winter. Most seasonal homes are no where near a fire hydrant so i don't think it would do me any good. They also want to know if i shut down the house and do i use a professional. Final question was do i have anyone check out the house while it is vacant. Don't know if my answer affect my rate which is about 1k per year

ITD 06-07-2019 07:58 AM

There isn't just house insurance, there are many variables such as deductibles, (we have a $1,000 deductible), house condition, location of water for fire. Plus there is liability, higher liability costs more money, you may want to look at that.

Descant 06-10-2019 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Real BigGuy (Post 312988)
We are on an island. A few years ago my wife went insurance shopping and called everyone, even USAA,although neither of us were in the military. The USAA rep was very nice and told her to try Liberty Mutual. We did and saved a couple hundred $. No hassles, no pictures, etc. We are now less than 1/3 of the $1500 that was mentioned

.
Our island property is also in a trust. Liberty Mutual requested a copy of the trust back when we started in the 90's. I think trusts are more common now, so maybe not an issue anymore. My recollection is that they wanted primary home as well as the camp so that there were no/fewer hassles in the event of a claim as to which policy or company covered. Never had a claim. One of our neighbors had a fire claim with Liberty maybe 25 years ago. They were happy with the coverage and the service.


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