KeithAS wrote:
AJBert wrote:
I almost went with them until I found out how great their "customer service" was around 2004/2005. USAA cancelled home owners insurance for everyone in FL and along the Gulf Coast after the hurricanes did all the damage. Didn't matter if one's home was damaged or not, come renewal time...well, there was no renewal.
My daughter and SIL have been with them for a number of years and love them. I almost thought about calling them when we moved but remembered FL and the GC. I suppose if you live in a place that has almost zero chance of damage due to Mother Nature then they might be a good choice. I just know they left thousands of good folks high and dry with no notice.
Were the cancellations after they paid the claims? If they denied covered claims, then bad on them. If cancellations were after they paid claims, then they met their contractual obligations. I would expect that persons who build in flood prone areas or along the areas subject to wind (hurricane) damage, would be a greater financial risk to any insurance company. Insurance companies are businesses, like any other, and have to manage costs.
I remember the vast sums of money that were paid out during that time.
As far as I know, all claims were paid by USAA and other insurance companies with the exception of those who lost everything due to storm surge. All insurance companies claimed that storm surge was flooding. I don't quite agree with that but that is neither nor there.
I can tell you that Allstate didn't leave their customers as we lived in Gulfport, MS during Katrina. We did have a small increase after about a year in the wind damage area, as did everyone else who lived along the gulf coast. We had minor damage compared to other and Allstate even paid for lost food due to no power for two weeks.
I know other companies wouldn't renew policies but from what I recall, USAA was the largest of the insurers to back out. A number of smaller ones did but I can't think of another major insurer that did.
Being that they wouldn't renew left a LOT of service members scrambling for insurance with no heads up. I was in the Navy at the time and many of my shipmates were more than upset.
I now live in the mountains in CO very close to where the Hayman Fire came through a few years back and not terribly far from the Black Forest fire a couple of years ago. Just remembering what happened in FL and the Gulf Coast was enough for me to not even think about USAA. I never called just for them to tell me they wouldn't insure us due to we live in the middle of a forest.
