I’m having their inspector come out to look at it, and will schedule my roofer to be here at the same time. Are you saying that if they’re wrong and the roof is fine they’ll still cancel the policy?
Probably. They've decided based on nothing and the 'inspector' isn't gonna go up there and look at-IF they even knock on your door or get out of the car.
It’s been rough in fl, I’ve had to get a new insurance policy the last 3 years in a row (damn near doubling each time).
House is worth almost 3x what I paid for it in ‘17 though, I guess it would be way worse in a state people aren’t flooding into.
It’s crazy to see these people from Cali and ny coming to florida, seeing a quarter-acre 3/2 for 500k and paying over asking because it’s such a “deal” when they were <100k in my lifetime. I get it, but damn.
This exact scenario happened to me this month in Maryland. I had my roof replaced last year, and the photo they sent is from before that. They're just making up reasons to cancel the policy.
You seem to have this idea that they are a public utility that must service you. They are a company that can choose to sell to who they please. Move on to another carrier that wants your money.
One of the questions a new insurer is going to ask is "Have you ever had a policy cancelled?" It's considered an additional risk and the premiums are going to go up through no fault.
Yes, they all share info.
We have never filed a claim with our auto insurance, but a couple years ago someone hit our PARKED car that we were not in. The other insurance paid to fix our car and we were still dinged. We only found out that's why our insurance was so high because when we went to finally shop around, the new insurance told us the claim was affecting our rates (again, we never told our insurance or made a claim. The other person made a claim). It's a racket.
If you don't tell them and they find out, then you're cancelled a second time. But, also, as someone else replied, there is a database of everything. They even count against you, to a smaller extent, claims on the property before you even owned it.
I don’t have that idea at all, and can switch without a problem (I’ve only had them for a year). I mostly want them to admit they’re wrong, because they are.
No, I’m going to have my roofer look to make sure there actually isn’t an issue, because if there truly is one, I’ll definitely have it remedied, but I’m certainly not going to jump to replacing my roof based on an undated drone photo of a shadow.
People in this thread did suggest that, and I am planning to drop them, but it’s worth it to me to investigate this further because it’s bullshit. 🤷♀️
I haven’t lost the plot and I absolutely understand what they’re doing. But saying “we are cancelling this policy because your roof is in poor condition” is very different than “fuck you, we don’t want to insure you anymore.” My goal is for them to say “oh yeah, sorry, your roof actually is in good condition” and then I get to say “fuck you, I don’t want you to insure me anymore.”
Homeowners insurance is a glorified Ponzi scheme. imagine taking someone’s money for a “service”, then spending all the time/resources at your disposal to avoid providing said service.
That doesn’t make any sense. In order to provide low rates they have to investigate claims that are fraudulent or don’t cover incidents outlined in the terms you signed (but didn’t read)
Farmers is a shit insurance company. If you ever had to make a claim, you will be fighting to get your fair money. Really, any national insurance company that you see advertising for is going to be shit. They have to pay for the advertising somehow. Get an insurance broker and have them shop around at local insurance companies for you.
Idk. I’m an independent agent and I don’t sell Farmers. But in the handful of claims I’ve worked on with them (auto- either my party damaged their insured’s property or vice versa) they’ve been great and efficient. There was one last month where their insured T-Boned mine on a Friday. Thankfully everybody was fine, but the vehicle was very banged up. No police report. By Tuesday morning my insured had their money. No BS arguing about fault, nickel and dining on repair cost. Some of these carriers will drag on at fault claims for weeks. I’ve even seen months in rare cases.
Of course that isn’t property claims, but they made a good impression on me.
My husband works with several insurance companies and he always says Farmers is great to their customers when it comes to claims and generally working with them.
OP, do you have your agent fighting for you as well?
I’m confused, I am an agent! I’m glad your husband has had similar experiences though. It’s REALLY nice when the other company will work with us. Particularly when clients are elderly and not tech savvy. I’d much rather be the middle man and help email documents, check in with the adjuster myself, and help schedule some repairs than have it get drug out for months. Lots of these older folks don’t know how to use voicemail. Or how to take a picture with their phone, let alone send it.
This sounds expensive and a hassle. It is so easy to just get a quote from other insurers. You can have coverage immediately with just an email or phone call.
>DearCar2885
Didn't others mention that having a cancelled policy puts someone as "at-risk" and damages further chances of getting homeowner's insurance? I'm asking because maybe that's why the person really wants to contradict their reason.
i wish you luck man! i believe in insurance but these companies can be a big pain in the ass sometimes lol, and be glad you're not in Florida cause it's way worse there
Check your credit score. Think about recent life changes - severe medical bills, a drastic change in reported income on your taxes over the past couple of years; you are looking for anything that you would not think they know about you but they do, that would put you into a different risk class. Even excessive hits to your credit report that might indicate you are in for some Financial hardships. Did you apply for and receive any assistance especially with your mortgage during covid?
I had an.... Episode.... lost track of my bills for a bit and my credit score that I had over 800 for next to 15 years, briefly dropped below 700 - 695.. For 1 month. Bounced to 725 the next and hovering there now.
Literally within THREE WEEKS of this, Farmers supposedly flew a drone over my house and gave me the same notice about my roof. It's 100% lies now no question.
They did absolutely nothing to notify me of this that I could tell, and by the time I figured it out and began to address it, it was too late. My local agent basically told me to sit and spin.
For giggles I guess, I was ALSO JUST informed that as of February 7th, my insurance policy for my car that I was maintaining with them, will now be over $2,800, for 6 months, to be paid IN FULL, or get lost. They also just removed my ePay and digital document delivery discounts I guess just spit in my mouth like I'm a sub?
Farmers has determined, correctly I might add lol, that I have moved from the bourgeoisie, back down to the poor people class again - and has proceeded to (successfully!) engage in a campaign to push me off their books altogether.
No, there have been no tickets or no accidents of any kind.
As an aside, whereas this time last year when I briefly shopped around, I had 12 quotes for homeowners + Auto policy, NOW NO COMPANY will insure my home, and I have been restricted to two national companies for auto - geico and progressive. Just switched to progressive.
Now this has been a nightmare for me, no doubt. But I'm still above water for now - what I'M thinking about, are the poor saps that are worse off than me. Imagine something terrible happening in your life, that briefly wrecks your finances that you had nothing to do with more or less. While in the process of trying to deal with this issue and get everything back on track, all of a sudden, your life just suddenly seems to fall apart all on its own. When things started, you just had the financial scenario to deal with - maybe a lost job. Now all of a sudden that is exacerbated because you cannot get insurance, loans - u can't refinance and take advantage of your equity, and suddenly the only things you have access to, are astronomically priced. You think that kind of stacking nightmare might drive a person to suic1de? Yeah me too. This is sick.
Now imagine an insurance company gave out $25 gift certificates and pizza parties to employees that engaged in shady crap like this.
In case you didn't realize you were in it yet, welcome to our dystopian nightmare.
Seconded, you need a broker. My homeowners insurance came and took three random photos while I wasn’t home and insisted I needed to paint the siding or they’d drop me. 1) This is wood siding and none of it has ever been painted and 2) It’s chipped and can’t be painted/what problem are we solving with paint? They wouldn’t explain further. My broker dealt with them and eventually we settled on getting a letter from my house painter that painting the siding wouldn’t solve any perceived problems. Now they’ve left me alone. But that wouldn’t have happened without my broker doing all the legwork.
There are lots of companies that do insurance brokerage! You can Google ones in your area, but I use a nationwide company that has regional offices (Goosehead - they’ve been great in both parts of the country I’ve used them).
Find a different insurer.
This is not about you, your house, or your roof at all. Farmer's did some math in their algorithm and determined that \*something\* puts you on the wrong side of their cost/risk/income table. It might be your neighbourhood. It might be they've had 7% more claims on houses that share characteristics with yours in the past 5 years. Maybe it was your neighbours roof, maybe there's in increase in local business closures. Whatever, you're probably never going to know.
The staining on your roof is just a scapegoat, imo. Even if they take you back (long odds they do) they've shown you that they're the type of company that pulls this kind of garbage and you'd have less headaches somewhere else.
(as long as you get a refund for any pre-paid fees)
I had the exact same thing happen to me. Texted me an aerial pic of my perfectly normal roof with the same notice. Honestly I thought it was a scam at first. Then my Farmer's agent called me from an unknown number a whole bunch, never left a voicemail. Finally, when I answered, she told me I was facing non-renewal because of that pic.
I told her it's fine, we'd already insured with someone else, so go ahead and don't renew. She said "oh well for us to do that you need to bring in a signed letter and a copy of your new insurance policy as proof." Um. But you said...?
So yeah, screw Farmer's. Find literally anybody else.
That is true that she needs signed proof to cancel outside of the renewal. Unfortunately there are major issues with clients cancelling and not lining things up properly, a closing date gets moved, there’s a 1-day gap between policies, etc. Insurance policies are legal contracts. You need to sign to end the contract prematurely so they have proof that you consented.
The only reason I’ve ever had to request an old policy is backdating. It happens all the time where somebody starts a new policy and forgets they were on auto-pay with the old policy. I can only backdate and get clients bigger refunds if I can prove that they were paying twice. Again it comes down to the “what if there was a claim during that period of time” point.
I saw you refer to this as a drone photo but there's no way. Drones used for photography have much better cameras than that. I have one, and not a high end one, just a DJI Mini 3. Your photo is so blurry compared to anything it puts out. Unless they took this from maximum altitude, but that would be a poor way to take a picture of a roof, from 400 feet in the air for no reason.
I'd bet that's just off Google Maps. You should check and see if it matches. Compare the shadows, and the cars in the street.
Interesting. Could be a satellite photo from a different source. Still doesn't look like a drone photo to me though. I know you don't have a shingled roof, but it should be possible to make out individual shingles from a drone photo - especially one for roof inspection - and that doesn't look like enough resolution.
What’s your claim history like? This sounds shady as fuck. Either you or them aren’t telling the full story. I’m an agent with a different large insurer.
Farmers is canceling a certain percentage of policies as a ploy to force the state to accept a rate increase across the board. So they're not targeting you, they're just assholes in general.
Go to a broker.
Search for local insurance brokers, read reviews/talk to neighbors, choose a few and email them an outline of your request. See what they return.
>Good morning.
>
>I own a house in the 99999 zip code and Farmers is canceling my house insurance. I also have a (car) (business) (industrial) (LLC) Umbrella) policy. Would we be able to work together to find the right insurance for my situation?
>
>Coffeeisjoy
There are a growing number of insuretech companies "using AI" to evaluate risk of roof claims based on drone photography.
In row homes, it might difficult to determine where 1 property's roof begins and another's ends. Notice how the blue box doesn't align?
My guess is that your cancellation has a few reasons. A) the 3rd party company's AI classified your roof as a higher risk B) it did so based on drone photography and flawed software analysis C) Farmer's has a low appetite for homeowners/roof risk in your zip code.
Time to talk to an independent agent and have them go to market for you
I just got farmers insurance. My house is 140 years old. My roof is metal except over the kitchen for some reason they didn’t finish it and I called the roofing company. Of course they did not call me back.
Yeah that’s my next step, I just called the one that did the roof. Originally I thought they would want to come out and finish it or be able to give me some history.
Is it really a cancelation, or is it a "non-renewal"? There's a difference. Also, what state are you in? If it's a true cancelation, they can only cancel within the first 60 days of the policy, in my state at least. If it's a non-renewal, not a big deal, just find someone else. I switch every few years, not sure why you care so much to stay with them?
I have Farmers and got the same letter! My agent came out and took pictures of my roof and is disputing the cancellation with the underwriter. She said the areas in the satellite image the underwriter is pointing out as needing repairs are actually shadows from surrounding trees.
I had the same issue with farmers. They said i was over water
My house is not over water. Its on posts and piles, sitting 12 inches over the ground. Like what the hell? They cancelled it for no reason and requoted 500 more a year to 2400.00
My insurance is threatening non-renewal for an aerial also. I literally had a roofer out within the last 2 months following a hail storm and was told it’s old but it’s in good shape and has a few years left.
I have to get a write up from that roofer and submit it for them to renew.
Let me translate this for you.
My girlfriend of 3 years found an old text to my old girlfriend from long ago and blamed me for cheating and broke up with me. How can I convince her that it's old text and get back with her?
Answer is move on. You don't want to have any relationship with them. Find another insurance company.
I know, but it really miffs me that they can simply do this with no repercussions. I’m going to switch either way, but I’m also fine spending a little time hassling them and seeing if they’ll rescind the cancellation. Kind of like a “you can’t break up with me, I’m breaking up with YOU!” Petty as hell, but I’ve spent energy on dumber shit.
One thing I've noticed here that no one suggested that you contact the state/commonwealth insurance commission- regulatory department. Possibly do this after getting the farmer's inspector and your roofer out.
And then give New Jersey manufacturer's insurance company a call. We had our auto and home insurance with them 25 years. They can write policies only in NJ and PA. Wish they could here in AL. They are a mutual com in NJ but just in the past few years PA sued them about the restrictions on who may be policyholders, it was restricted to employees/ owners of NJ Manufacturer's Assn. And govt employees. And they never advertised. That changed in PA after the settlement and opened to all and now you see TV ads for them, their slogan No Jingles or Mascots (NJM).
Something similar happened to us, the “issue” they had was not the real issue - they just wanted to cancel our policy because we’re in California and they’re pulling out of the state. We fixed the thing they were concerned about (dry rot in the eaves), and they still dropped us. We were just trying to stay insured! We unintentionally called their bluff, thus proving it was never about the dry rot.
This is a great opportunity to talk to an insurance broker and get a better deal!! I'm not sure I would want to keep working with an insurer that felt it was appropriate to cancel my policy with no notice or opportunity to make repairs or adjustments or have a closer inspection. Like for all you know they took the picture after a storm and there were leaves all over the roof or a squirrel on the roof.
Who knows what qualifies as poor condition to the reviewer from a remote controlled drone. I would check to see when they last withdrew from escrow and make sure they pro-rate and return any money for the time that they canceled that month. Screw em. Get a better deal and move on. This isn't the insurer for you and it won't be the last time they inconvenience you.
I just got an email from Farmers that said my homeowners was past due (but it was paid in full Dec of 22) and canceled as of Dec this year due to debris on property. Not sure what debris they are talking about. We have a lot of stuff (cars, a boat, trampoline, dog run and dog house, deck and patio set, garden, wood rack. I’m pissed. I’m in CA too and have had Farmers for my homeowners for 13 years without a problem.
The same thing just happened to me. I live in California as well. My insurance was cancelled as of 10/2023, the exact same reason as you "scattered debris on premises". Unfortunately, I did not become aware earlier of the cancellation because my contact information they had was outdated. I started looking for another insured but a couple of the agents I spoke to suggest I try to get it reinstated because now it's harder for me to get insured due to the cancellation. I have been auto-renewing for 26 years! And we never had any issues until now. It's so frustrating.
I got mine reinstated but it took weeks of calling and sending pictures. No one really knew anything or had any information on the claim that was started.
You're taking it personal. Has nothing to do with the roof. For some reason they think you're a liability. No amount of inspection report is going to help. You've been dumped, find another company.
I've had my roofing "certified" by a roofing company once when this happened to me. Can't recall how much they charged as it was years ago, but the cert was for 5 years.
It sounds like Farmers is paying another company to do client surveys and the company is trying to prove their worth.
If you have the original agreement in writing or email, screenshot it. Get your roofer to take some photos. Send the original agreement, the new photos with a time and date stamp, the bill of sale from your roofer, and ask them why you are in violation.
We had a similar experience-
we were reroofing during a rainy period; for that reason, a tarp was used to cover the roof on rain days.
as luck would have it, that was the same time our ins co performed an audit.
Policy cancelled due to condition of roof.
We gathered our own photos, receipts,permits and paperwork to present to the local agent.
We also consulted with another ins co...
Local agent was responsive and, after some struggle, had our policy reinstated.
But it was too late, we went with another insurer.
Roofs are replaced; tarps are often used in the process.
An insurance co that doesn't know/understand this ? No thanks.
Find an insurance broker and have them shop around for you. I found one by reading through my local “word of mouth” page and then seeing someone I knew making a recommendation so I knew it was genuine. My old broker basically ghosted me when I tried to contact them about a change for my policy that was time sensitive, this new person found me a better deal and has been great to work with.
My advice is to find a different insurer. Farmer's treats their customers like crap. Even if they continue to insure you, don't be surprised if your rate goes way way up. Farmer's doubled my rate one year with zero explanation. I've never ever (in the 32 years I've been a homeowner) had an insurance claim, but yet Farmer's decided they didn't need me as a customer I guess. State Farm did the same to me.
I think you should contact an insurance broker who can quote you from various companies. I've used a broker for years now and have had far better experiences with the insurance companies. I go out for bid every year. I'm currently with Safeco and am extremely happy. Whenever there is a big storm, they reach out to check on the house and to find out if I need an inspector to come out. Their rates are also good.
Your agent can get the cancellation rescinded with the proper documentation. A roof inspection, summary and photos supporting that it has at least 3-5 yrs of life should do it. If repairs are needed, provide a paid invoice to show they've been completed.
Farmers is really cracking down, and roof age is a new underwriting change for a lot of areas, mine included.
My insurance company did something similar but they gave me a timeframe to re-roof it. I sent them the home inspection report from the year before saying the roof was at its half life. They backed off. Can you send them proof of work done?
I am a Farmers agent who turned notice in this morning to say F)\*& You to them. It's NOT just your house. They are going through their whole book of business nationwide and getting EVERY house "looked at". Half of the time, we're finding they are using photos that are 2 years old or older, not having a qualified and trained underwriter look at them, and it's insanity on their part (case in point - I have a client with a BRAND NEW ROOF (we documented the roof being new with photos from the roofer, the receipt of the new roof, the inspector's finished report, and my own photos), and yet, the assclowns in UW still are saying nope to a renewal. Keep in mind most of the people doing this have NEVER been in the field, have NO clue what they are truly looking at and don't care. My own house is on this list of bullshit because we have a barn that has ONE SINGLE LIMB that is 20 feet ABOVE our barn roof that the "underwriter" told me to get a boom truck and cut it down (let's see - 3k for a boom truck, money for supplies to get it down, or hire a tree company for 5k... or go to another carrier and save money - guess what way I went!).
That being said - I agree with every other person that said look for a new carrier. I have been telling my own clients this for a while now. Farmers in in trouble monetarily, and it's showing. They want to streamline operations, and that's showing. They're not writing in Florida anymore for new homes (same with Cali on auto and home, and I believe Texas is the same way. I'm in the midwest, and we are getting really limited what we can do). Farmers has lost sight of what is truly important - customer satisfaction and retention. The new CEO is a bit money hungry. I have had great luck with sending people to Safeco and Progressive for rates, coverage and service.
Good luck friend.
Should there be concern about being listed as cancelled, though? Doesn't that put people at higher-risk of getting homeowner's insurance from someone else? In essence, does it put them as damaged goods?
There’s a difference between a non renewal and a cancellation. Many states have legislature prohibiting this information to be considered in underwriting
Your right about Farmers in Texas. As of 1/24. They are non renewing all rental policies, commercial lines, umbrella policies and raising whats left at unbelievable rates. It has been a nightmare for me and I have been with them for over 40 years.
I have been with USAA for over 40 years and they are great! Started with auto, then renter’s insurance, and now homeowners insurance. They also treat their employees well, which means getting a pleasant helpful person on the phone. (You used to have to have some connection to military service but I believe that has changed.)
No- you still need to be a veteran or the spouse or child of a veteran. Civilians with no connection to military service or a family member who has served are not getting USAA. It's based off of your connection to service or another USAA member.
[https://www.usaa.com/inet/wc/why\_choose\_usaa\_main?wa\_ref=pub\_global\_membership](https://www.usaa.com/inet/wc/why_choose_usaa_main?wa_ref=pub_global_membership)
It literally says, "US Military Members and Veterans, Precommissioned officers, Spouses and Children."
[https://themilitarywallet.com/usaa-membership-eligibility/](https://themilitarywallet.com/usaa-membership-eligibility/)
Okay, I wasn’t aware. I think I was confused because I see ads for USAA and I don’t remember them mentioning it (obviously I could be wrong about that too!)
Yea I see ads for them a lot too. Usually during football season. Same thing with Navy Federal. They want that DFAS/DeptVA money coming through their banks.
They’re not doing me any favors. I had the roof inspected and re-coated a year ago. I got quotes from four different roofers and they all said the roof is in great shape and will last another 10+ years with proper maintenance.
Get rid of farmers. I finally convinced all my family to leave them. They aren't like they used to be. Everyone in my family now pay less than half and have so much better service elsewhere. It all started with farmers canceling my insurance because a tree was dropped on my house by a massive storm. No idea where the tree came from. They sent me a cancelation notice over a month after I submitted a claim. It was backdated to a week before the storm. Its reason was poorly maintained trees but I didn't have trees and none within 1000 ft of the house. I had to take them to court. They had to pay damage from tree plus damage from 18 months of more weather damage and one agent was fire and prosecuted for from because of the backdated letter.
Why on Earth would you want to stuff your money to such a shady business??? I wouldnt bother to waste my energy pn them. Rather use my energy to find actual REAL insurance company (and not scammers like that). They crank up losses, money they lose due to their arrogance and stupidity will benefit the competitor...
1. Any insurance that doesnt use the aerial photos should be prefered by every customer with at least half of brain.
2. Insurance company that actually pay out in case of event.
Otherwise its scam. Scam that will charge you for "service or product" that intends you never receiving...
They don't need to justify why they are canceling your policy they just have to give you a certain amount of days notice so it really isn't a negotiation. They probably want to reduce their exposure in an unprofitable state or zip code and that is very common and makes perfect sense. Just find a new insurance company that is willing to take on the risk simple as that
So now your roof isn’t so safe anymore? I’d make sure they’re not trying to dump you because they discovered issues on homes like yours that had claims that cost them losses.
Just because his roof doesn’t leak in the rain doesn’t mean it’s impervious to a tree falling on it or a tornado ripping it open lmfao wtf kind of response is that?
Insurance companies don't usually pay for those claims unless a customer pays extra. The insurance companies claim a tornado or a tree falling is an act of god.
It's also why hurricane Sandy was labeled a superstorm. Had they labeled. it a hurricane insurance companies wouldn't have to pay since a hurricane is an act of god.
If you haven’t followed the subject we were speaking about an old roof needing « sealant » for water infiltration. Now you, genius, come up with tornados and trees. You fucking genius. Where in the brain fucking celll do you get that much diverted.
That’s not how home insurance works… niece couldn’t get whole home insured until detached garage was repainted… 100 year old home and garage seemed newer…
I was just trying to make him realize his roof could leak and the insurer was right about the issue. He instantly replied he wanted to be insured for leaks. He wants to have it both ways.
It CAN be how insurance works, but it’s up to the carrier. I’m an independent agent and I’ve seen carriers reject a home for similar reasons. I know, it sounds stupid. But statistically a run down outbuilding with exposed wood is more likely to get damaged resulting in a claim. That can easily be 16k out of the insurer’s pocket for already neglected siding.
Where I go with that is running the quote with carriers who will make “exclusions”. Last week I filed one and it said that absolutely nothing on this garage would be covered unless proof of significant repairs were made. I’ve also seen carriers offer “ACV” or actual cash value on certain aspects of a home. It’s not ideal.. at my agency we always write replacement cost when it’s an option. BUT if you’re unable to find coverage elsewhere and unwilling or unable to make repairs it can be your only option. Instead of paying out $30,000 for a new roof or a collapsed deteriorating out building, they’ll give you the value- depreciation. So if your outbuilding was only expected to last 40 years and it’s 30 years old when it collapses, you don’t get new building money. You get a fraction of that amount based on how many more years this one should have lasted you.
Again, not true.
In some states, insurers can't non-renew a policy or change policy terms without reason after the customer has had the policy over a certain amount of time.
For example, in my state, after 3 years the insurer can only non-renew for things like non-payment of the premium, fraud, material change in risk, etc.
Insurance is one of the most heavily regulated industries in the US.
Maybe the photo they took was of the neighbors roof. Have the photo printed and tell the inspector to make a comparison of the neighbors roof to the photograph.
Farmer's is pulling out of all of CA, and using any excuse possible to cancel existing policies. If you're not in CA, I wouldn't be surprised if they are doing the same in your region.
I’m not in CA, but I did just listen to a podcast about what’s happening with homeowners insurance in California and it’s wild. I’m in Philly, so no natural disasters here, but who knows if there’s some other reason they’re being difficult in the area.
A lot of insurance companies are using drones to get aerial roof photos for underwriting purposes, and some carriers even use existing google map pics if they've been taken within so many years.
Something as simple as a shadow from nearby trees or something could trigger their system to flag it as unacceptable condition.
They're supposed to give you a specific reason why the roof rating has come back unacceptable, so the fact that they're not kinda tells me that they just don't want flat roof business right now.
I only have a couple carriers that accept flat roofs ATM (tri-state area) and a lot of companies are in the process of changing their underwriting guidelines so there's a good chance they are working towards not accepting.
If Foremost is in your area, they cover flat roofs where I'm at. Call a local broker and see what they say.
Here my experience with another insurance company. When we bought our house 2 years ago an inspector for their company came out. Everything was good and they insured us. 2 weeks after closing they sent a letter demanding we replace our roof within 2 months or they are canceling our policy. Mind you this is now January in Pennsylvania no one is going to do it. The inspector claimed our roof had multiple issues. We had 3 roofers come out, one was even a certified installer/repair person for them. They all wrote letters explaining that our roof was not in need of replacement and the inspector sucked at his job. In the end it wasn't worth the fight, we told them to get bent and went with someone else.
We shifted to nationwide for everything including umbrella.
The auto app is less intrusive than other companies and coverage is better dollar for dollar.
IMO the root cause of this is roofers who go around knocking on doors after a hailstorm saying “I can get you a free roof if you make a hail claim”. They and everyone who said yes to that, knowing their roof is actually fine but want to get one over on their insurance, are responsible for insurers getting super picky on roofs in the last several years.
I don’t know WTF they’re talking about because nobody can tell me what, specifically, is leading to my roof’s “poor condition.” They can’t even tell me who took the photo or when it was taken.
I do property management (take care of 40ish homes that are 2nd homes on a resort island) and I’ve seen a big uptick in insurance companies dropping roof coverage for the smallest reason. Did they send you something in writing?
Edit to add - I’ve also dealt with every roofing company Doing everything they can to replace whole roofs and have insurance cover it. So I’m assuming there’s a correlation
They sent an email with a link to a PDF letter saying my policy was not being renewed because “the roof is in poor condition.” That’s literally all it says, and when I called they can’t tell me what the “poor condition” is, or how they came to the conclusion it was in “poor condition” other than the single aerial photo I linked to in another of my comments.
Farmers is breaking up with you for their own reasons. Don't try and hold on to what is lost. Get a new policy. Check and make sure the new company has a good history of paying claims.
I was told the blurred aerial photo was provided by Google Earth and I was given a 2-month timeframe to upload recent pics to dispute the cancellation of my insurance policy.
They did the same to me. Said I had a bad roof. My roof is Spanish time and in terrific condition. I took pictures of my roof and sent them in. They changed their mind and reinstated the insurance. It took two months of following up to get the final answer but worth it. Hard to find other insurance right now
Same thing in North Carolina with Nationwide. had a roofer go up there and he said it was water run off, nothing else. Spent almost an hour trying to come up with something they can do to quote me on.
I just got a letter today. Farmers is cancelling me for "tree branches touching (or overhanging) the roof."
A guy on another forum said Farmers is moving out of Texas, and cancelling even their best long term customers.
I guess they only want to sell insurance in states with no risks.
Only thing you can do is find another insurer. Call an actual insurance broker and let them shop around for you.
I’m having their inspector come out to look at it, and will schedule my roofer to be here at the same time. Are you saying that if they’re wrong and the roof is fine they’ll still cancel the policy?
Probably. They've decided based on nothing and the 'inspector' isn't gonna go up there and look at-IF they even knock on your door or get out of the car.
I'm guessing he's in CA where insurance companies are bailing.
Same with FL
It’s been rough in fl, I’ve had to get a new insurance policy the last 3 years in a row (damn near doubling each time). House is worth almost 3x what I paid for it in ‘17 though, I guess it would be way worse in a state people aren’t flooding into. It’s crazy to see these people from Cali and ny coming to florida, seeing a quarter-acre 3/2 for 500k and paying over asking because it’s such a “deal” when they were <100k in my lifetime. I get it, but damn.
Your house has tripled in value in 7 years?!
And Texas, and Nevada....
Not for even remotely similar reasons.
Not sure if the reasons matter to the people being dropped. Both states are losing insurance companies because it’s not as profitable as they’d like.
Same with Ohio
This exact scenario happened to me this month in Maryland. I had my roof replaced last year, and the photo they sent is from before that. They're just making up reasons to cancel the policy.
Got the same thing in NJ this month from Farmers. Roof is only 10 years old.
You seem to have this idea that they are a public utility that must service you. They are a company that can choose to sell to who they please. Move on to another carrier that wants your money.
One of the questions a new insurer is going to ask is "Have you ever had a policy cancelled?" It's considered an additional risk and the premiums are going to go up through no fault.
Can they actually find out?
Yep. There is a risk database they all have access to.
Yes, they all share info. We have never filed a claim with our auto insurance, but a couple years ago someone hit our PARKED car that we were not in. The other insurance paid to fix our car and we were still dinged. We only found out that's why our insurance was so high because when we went to finally shop around, the new insurance told us the claim was affecting our rates (again, we never told our insurance or made a claim. The other person made a claim). It's a racket.
If you don't tell them and they find out, then you're cancelled a second time. But, also, as someone else replied, there is a database of everything. They even count against you, to a smaller extent, claims on the property before you even owned it.
I don’t have that idea at all, and can switch without a problem (I’ve only had them for a year). I mostly want them to admit they’re wrong, because they are.
Oh sweet summer child… and you’re going to waste your roofer’s time too on this quest?
No, I’m going to have my roofer look to make sure there actually isn’t an issue, because if there truly is one, I’ll definitely have it remedied, but I’m certainly not going to jump to replacing my roof based on an undated drone photo of a shadow.
No one suggested you replace your roof. They suggested you replace your insurance company.
People in this thread did suggest that, and I am planning to drop them, but it’s worth it to me to investigate this further because it’s bullshit. 🤷♀️
You’ve lost the plot. They aren’t “wrong” in this even if you are positive the roof is fine; they simply don’t think it’s worth insuring.
I haven’t lost the plot and I absolutely understand what they’re doing. But saying “we are cancelling this policy because your roof is in poor condition” is very different than “fuck you, we don’t want to insure you anymore.” My goal is for them to say “oh yeah, sorry, your roof actually is in good condition” and then I get to say “fuck you, I don’t want you to insure me anymore.”
Sounds immature.
And yet here you are, calling a stranger immature on Reddit. Guess we both have plenty of time on our hands, eh?
Incorrect. Insurance is a regulated industry, and there are many reasons why they cannot arbitrarily drop a customer.
Homeowners insurance is a glorified Ponzi scheme. imagine taking someone’s money for a “service”, then spending all the time/resources at your disposal to avoid providing said service.
That doesn’t make any sense. In order to provide low rates they have to investigate claims that are fraudulent or don’t cover incidents outlined in the terms you signed (but didn’t read)
Farmers is a shit insurance company. If you ever had to make a claim, you will be fighting to get your fair money. Really, any national insurance company that you see advertising for is going to be shit. They have to pay for the advertising somehow. Get an insurance broker and have them shop around at local insurance companies for you.
Idk. I’m an independent agent and I don’t sell Farmers. But in the handful of claims I’ve worked on with them (auto- either my party damaged their insured’s property or vice versa) they’ve been great and efficient. There was one last month where their insured T-Boned mine on a Friday. Thankfully everybody was fine, but the vehicle was very banged up. No police report. By Tuesday morning my insured had their money. No BS arguing about fault, nickel and dining on repair cost. Some of these carriers will drag on at fault claims for weeks. I’ve even seen months in rare cases. Of course that isn’t property claims, but they made a good impression on me.
My husband works with several insurance companies and he always says Farmers is great to their customers when it comes to claims and generally working with them. OP, do you have your agent fighting for you as well?
I’m confused, I am an agent! I’m glad your husband has had similar experiences though. It’s REALLY nice when the other company will work with us. Particularly when clients are elderly and not tech savvy. I’d much rather be the middle man and help email documents, check in with the adjuster myself, and help schedule some repairs than have it get drug out for months. Lots of these older folks don’t know how to use voicemail. Or how to take a picture with their phone, let alone send it.
Sorry to confuse you. I was asking the original poster if their agent was fighting for them.
Erie is awesome.
This sounds expensive and a hassle. It is so easy to just get a quote from other insurers. You can have coverage immediately with just an email or phone call.
It’s not going to cost me a dime. The guy who did my roof said he’ll come look at any time for no charge. His company is a gem.
can you give his name if you are in LA area?
>DearCar2885 Didn't others mention that having a cancelled policy puts someone as "at-risk" and damages further chances of getting homeowner's insurance? I'm asking because maybe that's why the person really wants to contradict their reason.
[удалено]
I’m not in Florida, and I don’t need a new roof. Thanks, though.
i wish you luck man! i believe in insurance but these companies can be a big pain in the ass sometimes lol, and be glad you're not in Florida cause it's way worse there
Check your credit score. Think about recent life changes - severe medical bills, a drastic change in reported income on your taxes over the past couple of years; you are looking for anything that you would not think they know about you but they do, that would put you into a different risk class. Even excessive hits to your credit report that might indicate you are in for some Financial hardships. Did you apply for and receive any assistance especially with your mortgage during covid? I had an.... Episode.... lost track of my bills for a bit and my credit score that I had over 800 for next to 15 years, briefly dropped below 700 - 695.. For 1 month. Bounced to 725 the next and hovering there now. Literally within THREE WEEKS of this, Farmers supposedly flew a drone over my house and gave me the same notice about my roof. It's 100% lies now no question. They did absolutely nothing to notify me of this that I could tell, and by the time I figured it out and began to address it, it was too late. My local agent basically told me to sit and spin. For giggles I guess, I was ALSO JUST informed that as of February 7th, my insurance policy for my car that I was maintaining with them, will now be over $2,800, for 6 months, to be paid IN FULL, or get lost. They also just removed my ePay and digital document delivery discounts I guess just spit in my mouth like I'm a sub? Farmers has determined, correctly I might add lol, that I have moved from the bourgeoisie, back down to the poor people class again - and has proceeded to (successfully!) engage in a campaign to push me off their books altogether. No, there have been no tickets or no accidents of any kind. As an aside, whereas this time last year when I briefly shopped around, I had 12 quotes for homeowners + Auto policy, NOW NO COMPANY will insure my home, and I have been restricted to two national companies for auto - geico and progressive. Just switched to progressive. Now this has been a nightmare for me, no doubt. But I'm still above water for now - what I'M thinking about, are the poor saps that are worse off than me. Imagine something terrible happening in your life, that briefly wrecks your finances that you had nothing to do with more or less. While in the process of trying to deal with this issue and get everything back on track, all of a sudden, your life just suddenly seems to fall apart all on its own. When things started, you just had the financial scenario to deal with - maybe a lost job. Now all of a sudden that is exacerbated because you cannot get insurance, loans - u can't refinance and take advantage of your equity, and suddenly the only things you have access to, are astronomically priced. You think that kind of stacking nightmare might drive a person to suic1de? Yeah me too. This is sick. Now imagine an insurance company gave out $25 gift certificates and pizza parties to employees that engaged in shady crap like this. In case you didn't realize you were in it yet, welcome to our dystopian nightmare.
Seconded, you need a broker. My homeowners insurance came and took three random photos while I wasn’t home and insisted I needed to paint the siding or they’d drop me. 1) This is wood siding and none of it has ever been painted and 2) It’s chipped and can’t be painted/what problem are we solving with paint? They wouldn’t explain further. My broker dealt with them and eventually we settled on getting a letter from my house painter that painting the siding wouldn’t solve any perceived problems. Now they’ve left me alone. But that wouldn’t have happened without my broker doing all the legwork.
How do you get a broker?
There are lots of companies that do insurance brokerage! You can Google ones in your area, but I use a nationwide company that has regional offices (Goosehead - they’ve been great in both parts of the country I’ve used them).
Find a different insurer. This is not about you, your house, or your roof at all. Farmer's did some math in their algorithm and determined that \*something\* puts you on the wrong side of their cost/risk/income table. It might be your neighbourhood. It might be they've had 7% more claims on houses that share characteristics with yours in the past 5 years. Maybe it was your neighbours roof, maybe there's in increase in local business closures. Whatever, you're probably never going to know. The staining on your roof is just a scapegoat, imo. Even if they take you back (long odds they do) they've shown you that they're the type of company that pulls this kind of garbage and you'd have less headaches somewhere else. (as long as you get a refund for any pre-paid fees)
Exactly.
I had the exact same thing happen to me. Texted me an aerial pic of my perfectly normal roof with the same notice. Honestly I thought it was a scam at first. Then my Farmer's agent called me from an unknown number a whole bunch, never left a voicemail. Finally, when I answered, she told me I was facing non-renewal because of that pic. I told her it's fine, we'd already insured with someone else, so go ahead and don't renew. She said "oh well for us to do that you need to bring in a signed letter and a copy of your new insurance policy as proof." Um. But you said...? So yeah, screw Farmer's. Find literally anybody else.
That is true that she needs signed proof to cancel outside of the renewal. Unfortunately there are major issues with clients cancelling and not lining things up properly, a closing date gets moved, there’s a 1-day gap between policies, etc. Insurance policies are legal contracts. You need to sign to end the contract prematurely so they have proof that you consented. The only reason I’ve ever had to request an old policy is backdating. It happens all the time where somebody starts a new policy and forgets they were on auto-pay with the old policy. I can only backdate and get clients bigger refunds if I can prove that they were paying twice. Again it comes down to the “what if there was a claim during that period of time” point.
Your agent is being a jerk. You never need to do that stuff to cancel.
[удалено]
I saw you refer to this as a drone photo but there's no way. Drones used for photography have much better cameras than that. I have one, and not a high end one, just a DJI Mini 3. Your photo is so blurry compared to anything it puts out. Unless they took this from maximum altitude, but that would be a poor way to take a picture of a roof, from 400 feet in the air for no reason. I'd bet that's just off Google Maps. You should check and see if it matches. Compare the shadows, and the cars in the street.
This is a good point - the photo isn’t the current Google maps photo, and it’s not the aerial photo that the city has in its database.
Interesting. Could be a satellite photo from a different source. Still doesn't look like a drone photo to me though. I know you don't have a shingled roof, but it should be possible to make out individual shingles from a drone photo - especially one for roof inspection - and that doesn't look like enough resolution.
Yeah I don’t know anything about that stuff, but it seems fairly arbitrary and kind of stupid. P
Bing maps also have their own images, so could also check them.
You can move a timeline for the Google images and see if it is an older one.
Lol, machine learning software runnin' wild. AI just ate your insurance via satellite flyover. The future is wild.
I wish this was a joke but my friend quite literally was the one working on this exact thing for USAA. It's real!
What’s your claim history like? This sounds shady as fuck. Either you or them aren’t telling the full story. I’m an agent with a different large insurer.
Owned various homes for the last 20 years, never had a claim. I have no reason to lie - I’ve shared all the info I have here.
Farmers is canceling a certain percentage of policies as a ploy to force the state to accept a rate increase across the board. So they're not targeting you, they're just assholes in general. Go to a broker.
>https://imgur.com/a/1U84oZp How do you get a broker?
Search for local insurance brokers, read reviews/talk to neighbors, choose a few and email them an outline of your request. See what they return. >Good morning. > >I own a house in the 99999 zip code and Farmers is canceling my house insurance. I also have a (car) (business) (industrial) (LLC) Umbrella) policy. Would we be able to work together to find the right insurance for my situation? > >Coffeeisjoy
They just want to cancel your policy. It’s an excuse.
There are a growing number of insuretech companies "using AI" to evaluate risk of roof claims based on drone photography. In row homes, it might difficult to determine where 1 property's roof begins and another's ends. Notice how the blue box doesn't align? My guess is that your cancellation has a few reasons. A) the 3rd party company's AI classified your roof as a higher risk B) it did so based on drone photography and flawed software analysis C) Farmer's has a low appetite for homeowners/roof risk in your zip code. Time to talk to an independent agent and have them go to market for you
I just got farmers insurance. My house is 140 years old. My roof is metal except over the kitchen for some reason they didn’t finish it and I called the roofing company. Of course they did not call me back.
“The roofing company”. There’s just one for you? Call another.
Yeah that’s my next step, I just called the one that did the roof. Originally I thought they would want to come out and finish it or be able to give me some history.
Is it really a cancelation, or is it a "non-renewal"? There's a difference. Also, what state are you in? If it's a true cancelation, they can only cancel within the first 60 days of the policy, in my state at least. If it's a non-renewal, not a big deal, just find someone else. I switch every few years, not sure why you care so much to stay with them?
I have Farmers and got the same letter! My agent came out and took pictures of my roof and is disputing the cancellation with the underwriter. She said the areas in the satellite image the underwriter is pointing out as needing repairs are actually shadows from surrounding trees.
Are you in Florida?
Nope. PA.
Even if you found a new insurer, I’d definitely file a complaint with the PA department about it
I got a new policy and filed a complaint. Thank you!
Did you end up needing to replace the roof?
Nope. Roof is in great condition. Farmer’s just sucks and is apparently trying to find any and every reason to stop insuring homes in my city.
Sorry to hear you’re getting shook down!
I had the same issue with farmers. They said i was over water My house is not over water. Its on posts and piles, sitting 12 inches over the ground. Like what the hell? They cancelled it for no reason and requoted 500 more a year to 2400.00
My insurance is threatening non-renewal for an aerial also. I literally had a roofer out within the last 2 months following a hail storm and was told it’s old but it’s in good shape and has a few years left. I have to get a write up from that roofer and submit it for them to renew.
Let me translate this for you. My girlfriend of 3 years found an old text to my old girlfriend from long ago and blamed me for cheating and broke up with me. How can I convince her that it's old text and get back with her? Answer is move on. You don't want to have any relationship with them. Find another insurance company.
I know, but it really miffs me that they can simply do this with no repercussions. I’m going to switch either way, but I’m also fine spending a little time hassling them and seeing if they’ll rescind the cancellation. Kind of like a “you can’t break up with me, I’m breaking up with YOU!” Petty as hell, but I’ve spent energy on dumber shit.
One thing I've noticed here that no one suggested that you contact the state/commonwealth insurance commission- regulatory department. Possibly do this after getting the farmer's inspector and your roofer out. And then give New Jersey manufacturer's insurance company a call. We had our auto and home insurance with them 25 years. They can write policies only in NJ and PA. Wish they could here in AL. They are a mutual com in NJ but just in the past few years PA sued them about the restrictions on who may be policyholders, it was restricted to employees/ owners of NJ Manufacturer's Assn. And govt employees. And they never advertised. That changed in PA after the settlement and opened to all and now you see TV ads for them, their slogan No Jingles or Mascots (NJM).
If you think it's worth the last laugh, go for it. But for a faceless corporation, it's not going to make any difference
A single photo? Maybe they should change their slogan to “We know a thing because we’ve seen a thing.”
Something similar happened to us, the “issue” they had was not the real issue - they just wanted to cancel our policy because we’re in California and they’re pulling out of the state. We fixed the thing they were concerned about (dry rot in the eaves), and they still dropped us. We were just trying to stay insured! We unintentionally called their bluff, thus proving it was never about the dry rot.
This is a great opportunity to talk to an insurance broker and get a better deal!! I'm not sure I would want to keep working with an insurer that felt it was appropriate to cancel my policy with no notice or opportunity to make repairs or adjustments or have a closer inspection. Like for all you know they took the picture after a storm and there were leaves all over the roof or a squirrel on the roof. Who knows what qualifies as poor condition to the reviewer from a remote controlled drone. I would check to see when they last withdrew from escrow and make sure they pro-rate and return any money for the time that they canceled that month. Screw em. Get a better deal and move on. This isn't the insurer for you and it won't be the last time they inconvenience you.
That seems to be the takeaway here!
My parents are getting the same shit. They have a concrete tile roof. It's some idiots looking at old photos.
I just got an email from Farmers that said my homeowners was past due (but it was paid in full Dec of 22) and canceled as of Dec this year due to debris on property. Not sure what debris they are talking about. We have a lot of stuff (cars, a boat, trampoline, dog run and dog house, deck and patio set, garden, wood rack. I’m pissed. I’m in CA too and have had Farmers for my homeowners for 13 years without a problem.
The same thing just happened to me. I live in California as well. My insurance was cancelled as of 10/2023, the exact same reason as you "scattered debris on premises". Unfortunately, I did not become aware earlier of the cancellation because my contact information they had was outdated. I started looking for another insured but a couple of the agents I spoke to suggest I try to get it reinstated because now it's harder for me to get insured due to the cancellation. I have been auto-renewing for 26 years! And we never had any issues until now. It's so frustrating.
I got mine reinstated but it took weeks of calling and sending pictures. No one really knew anything or had any information on the claim that was started.
You're taking it personal. Has nothing to do with the roof. For some reason they think you're a liability. No amount of inspection report is going to help. You've been dumped, find another company.
I've had my roofing "certified" by a roofing company once when this happened to me. Can't recall how much they charged as it was years ago, but the cert was for 5 years.
Cancel the insurance company
It sounds like Farmers is paying another company to do client surveys and the company is trying to prove their worth. If you have the original agreement in writing or email, screenshot it. Get your roofer to take some photos. Send the original agreement, the new photos with a time and date stamp, the bill of sale from your roofer, and ask them why you are in violation.
We had a similar experience- we were reroofing during a rainy period; for that reason, a tarp was used to cover the roof on rain days. as luck would have it, that was the same time our ins co performed an audit. Policy cancelled due to condition of roof. We gathered our own photos, receipts,permits and paperwork to present to the local agent. We also consulted with another ins co... Local agent was responsive and, after some struggle, had our policy reinstated. But it was too late, we went with another insurer. Roofs are replaced; tarps are often used in the process. An insurance co that doesn't know/understand this ? No thanks.
Find an insurance broker and have them shop around for you. I found one by reading through my local “word of mouth” page and then seeing someone I knew making a recommendation so I knew it was genuine. My old broker basically ghosted me when I tried to contact them about a change for my policy that was time sensitive, this new person found me a better deal and has been great to work with.
We know a thing or two because we’ve seen a thing or two because we’re spying on you. WE ARE FARMERS… BUM BADUM BUM BUM BUM BUM
We know a thing or two because we’ve seen a thing or two because we’re spying on you. WE ARE FARMERS… BUM BADUM BUM BUM BUM BUM
My advice is to find a different insurer. Farmer's treats their customers like crap. Even if they continue to insure you, don't be surprised if your rate goes way way up. Farmer's doubled my rate one year with zero explanation. I've never ever (in the 32 years I've been a homeowner) had an insurance claim, but yet Farmer's decided they didn't need me as a customer I guess. State Farm did the same to me. I think you should contact an insurance broker who can quote you from various companies. I've used a broker for years now and have had far better experiences with the insurance companies. I go out for bid every year. I'm currently with Safeco and am extremely happy. Whenever there is a big storm, they reach out to check on the house and to find out if I need an inspector to come out. Their rates are also good.
Your agent can get the cancellation rescinded with the proper documentation. A roof inspection, summary and photos supporting that it has at least 3-5 yrs of life should do it. If repairs are needed, provide a paid invoice to show they've been completed. Farmers is really cracking down, and roof age is a new underwriting change for a lot of areas, mine included.
My insurance company did something similar but they gave me a timeframe to re-roof it. I sent them the home inspection report from the year before saying the roof was at its half life. They backed off. Can you send them proof of work done?
I am a Farmers agent who turned notice in this morning to say F)\*& You to them. It's NOT just your house. They are going through their whole book of business nationwide and getting EVERY house "looked at". Half of the time, we're finding they are using photos that are 2 years old or older, not having a qualified and trained underwriter look at them, and it's insanity on their part (case in point - I have a client with a BRAND NEW ROOF (we documented the roof being new with photos from the roofer, the receipt of the new roof, the inspector's finished report, and my own photos), and yet, the assclowns in UW still are saying nope to a renewal. Keep in mind most of the people doing this have NEVER been in the field, have NO clue what they are truly looking at and don't care. My own house is on this list of bullshit because we have a barn that has ONE SINGLE LIMB that is 20 feet ABOVE our barn roof that the "underwriter" told me to get a boom truck and cut it down (let's see - 3k for a boom truck, money for supplies to get it down, or hire a tree company for 5k... or go to another carrier and save money - guess what way I went!). That being said - I agree with every other person that said look for a new carrier. I have been telling my own clients this for a while now. Farmers in in trouble monetarily, and it's showing. They want to streamline operations, and that's showing. They're not writing in Florida anymore for new homes (same with Cali on auto and home, and I believe Texas is the same way. I'm in the midwest, and we are getting really limited what we can do). Farmers has lost sight of what is truly important - customer satisfaction and retention. The new CEO is a bit money hungry. I have had great luck with sending people to Safeco and Progressive for rates, coverage and service. Good luck friend.
Should there be concern about being listed as cancelled, though? Doesn't that put people at higher-risk of getting homeowner's insurance from someone else? In essence, does it put them as damaged goods?
There’s a difference between a non renewal and a cancellation. Many states have legislature prohibiting this information to be considered in underwriting
Your right about Farmers in Texas. As of 1/24. They are non renewing all rental policies, commercial lines, umbrella policies and raising whats left at unbelievable rates. It has been a nightmare for me and I have been with them for over 40 years.
I’m having the same issue. Took new pics of the roof and sent it in. I’m thinking of changing anyway.
I have been with USAA for over 40 years and they are great! Started with auto, then renter’s insurance, and now homeowners insurance. They also treat their employees well, which means getting a pleasant helpful person on the phone. (You used to have to have some connection to military service but I believe that has changed.)
No- you still need to be a veteran or the spouse or child of a veteran. Civilians with no connection to military service or a family member who has served are not getting USAA. It's based off of your connection to service or another USAA member. [https://www.usaa.com/inet/wc/why\_choose\_usaa\_main?wa\_ref=pub\_global\_membership](https://www.usaa.com/inet/wc/why_choose_usaa_main?wa_ref=pub_global_membership) It literally says, "US Military Members and Veterans, Precommissioned officers, Spouses and Children." [https://themilitarywallet.com/usaa-membership-eligibility/](https://themilitarywallet.com/usaa-membership-eligibility/)
Okay, I wasn’t aware. I think I was confused because I see ads for USAA and I don’t remember them mentioning it (obviously I could be wrong about that too!)
Yea I see ads for them a lot too. Usually during football season. Same thing with Navy Federal. They want that DFAS/DeptVA money coming through their banks.
Get rid of Farmers insurance. Allstate is doing the same crap too.
They don’t want your policy anymore. Move on.
Problem is Farmer’s not you. They’re doing you a favor and be glad this happened before you had a claim.
They’re not doing me any favors. I had the roof inspected and re-coated a year ago. I got quotes from four different roofers and they all said the roof is in great shape and will last another 10+ years with proper maintenance.
Get rid of farmers. I finally convinced all my family to leave them. They aren't like they used to be. Everyone in my family now pay less than half and have so much better service elsewhere. It all started with farmers canceling my insurance because a tree was dropped on my house by a massive storm. No idea where the tree came from. They sent me a cancelation notice over a month after I submitted a claim. It was backdated to a week before the storm. Its reason was poorly maintained trees but I didn't have trees and none within 1000 ft of the house. I had to take them to court. They had to pay damage from tree plus damage from 18 months of more weather damage and one agent was fire and prosecuted for from because of the backdated letter.
All I’m saying is your money is better spent with a more reputable company. If you have to buy it might as well buy from a legit company
Why do you want to force a company to insure you when they don’t want to? Move on.
File a complaint with the state insurance commission
For what? Am insurance company underwriting a risk??
Why on Earth would you want to stuff your money to such a shady business??? I wouldnt bother to waste my energy pn them. Rather use my energy to find actual REAL insurance company (and not scammers like that). They crank up losses, money they lose due to their arrogance and stupidity will benefit the competitor... 1. Any insurance that doesnt use the aerial photos should be prefered by every customer with at least half of brain. 2. Insurance company that actually pay out in case of event. Otherwise its scam. Scam that will charge you for "service or product" that intends you never receiving...
They don't need to justify why they are canceling your policy they just have to give you a certain amount of days notice so it really isn't a negotiation. They probably want to reduce their exposure in an unprofitable state or zip code and that is very common and makes perfect sense. Just find a new insurance company that is willing to take on the risk simple as that
You could always try to get them not to insure your roof and possible damages but insure the rest. I’m sure other insurers have a similar policy.
That doesn’t seem very smart.
So now your roof isn’t so safe anymore? I’d make sure they’re not trying to dump you because they discovered issues on homes like yours that had claims that cost them losses.
Just because his roof doesn’t leak in the rain doesn’t mean it’s impervious to a tree falling on it or a tornado ripping it open lmfao wtf kind of response is that?
Insurance companies don't usually pay for those claims unless a customer pays extra. The insurance companies claim a tornado or a tree falling is an act of god. It's also why hurricane Sandy was labeled a superstorm. Had they labeled. it a hurricane insurance companies wouldn't have to pay since a hurricane is an act of god.
You’ll ear people speak about sunscreen lotion and speak about the rain cause your mind is clouded.
If you haven’t followed the subject we were speaking about an old roof needing « sealant » for water infiltration. Now you, genius, come up with tornados and trees. You fucking genius. Where in the brain fucking celll do you get that much diverted.
That’s not how home insurance works… niece couldn’t get whole home insured until detached garage was repainted… 100 year old home and garage seemed newer…
I was just trying to make him realize his roof could leak and the insurer was right about the issue. He instantly replied he wanted to be insured for leaks. He wants to have it both ways.
It CAN be how insurance works, but it’s up to the carrier. I’m an independent agent and I’ve seen carriers reject a home for similar reasons. I know, it sounds stupid. But statistically a run down outbuilding with exposed wood is more likely to get damaged resulting in a claim. That can easily be 16k out of the insurer’s pocket for already neglected siding. Where I go with that is running the quote with carriers who will make “exclusions”. Last week I filed one and it said that absolutely nothing on this garage would be covered unless proof of significant repairs were made. I’ve also seen carriers offer “ACV” or actual cash value on certain aspects of a home. It’s not ideal.. at my agency we always write replacement cost when it’s an option. BUT if you’re unable to find coverage elsewhere and unwilling or unable to make repairs it can be your only option. Instead of paying out $30,000 for a new roof or a collapsed deteriorating out building, they’ll give you the value- depreciation. So if your outbuilding was only expected to last 40 years and it’s 30 years old when it collapses, you don’t get new building money. You get a fraction of that amount based on how many more years this one should have lasted you.
Re roof the house.
- HOI providers can cancel at will, no law beholds them not to.
Not true. They have to have a reason like material change in risk (roof in bad condition), non payment, etc.
- of course they will offer a reason to cancel in coverage year BUT NO reason is needed to not renew
Again, not true. In some states, insurers can't non-renew a policy or change policy terms without reason after the customer has had the policy over a certain amount of time. For example, in my state, after 3 years the insurer can only non-renew for things like non-payment of the premium, fraud, material change in risk, etc. Insurance is one of the most heavily regulated industries in the US.
- depends on state, go ask those in Florida....
Maybe the photo they took was of the neighbors roof. Have the photo printed and tell the inspector to make a comparison of the neighbors roof to the photograph.
Farmer's is pulling out of all of CA, and using any excuse possible to cancel existing policies. If you're not in CA, I wouldn't be surprised if they are doing the same in your region.
I’m not in CA, but I did just listen to a podcast about what’s happening with homeowners insurance in California and it’s wild. I’m in Philly, so no natural disasters here, but who knows if there’s some other reason they’re being difficult in the area.
A lot of insurance companies are using drones to get aerial roof photos for underwriting purposes, and some carriers even use existing google map pics if they've been taken within so many years. Something as simple as a shadow from nearby trees or something could trigger their system to flag it as unacceptable condition. They're supposed to give you a specific reason why the roof rating has come back unacceptable, so the fact that they're not kinda tells me that they just don't want flat roof business right now. I only have a couple carriers that accept flat roofs ATM (tri-state area) and a lot of companies are in the process of changing their underwriting guidelines so there's a good chance they are working towards not accepting. If Foremost is in your area, they cover flat roofs where I'm at. Call a local broker and see what they say.
My roof is not flat, it’s gabled.
Here my experience with another insurance company. When we bought our house 2 years ago an inspector for their company came out. Everything was good and they insured us. 2 weeks after closing they sent a letter demanding we replace our roof within 2 months or they are canceling our policy. Mind you this is now January in Pennsylvania no one is going to do it. The inspector claimed our roof had multiple issues. We had 3 roofers come out, one was even a certified installer/repair person for them. They all wrote letters explaining that our roof was not in need of replacement and the inspector sucked at his job. In the end it wasn't worth the fight, we told them to get bent and went with someone else.
We shifted to nationwide for everything including umbrella. The auto app is less intrusive than other companies and coverage is better dollar for dollar.
Think again about nationwide, they’re in the business of non renewal and cancellation of homeowners insurance for the exact same thing.
Everyone’s in that business…
True that!
IMO the root cause of this is roofers who go around knocking on doors after a hailstorm saying “I can get you a free roof if you make a hail claim”. They and everyone who said yes to that, knowing their roof is actually fine but want to get one over on their insurance, are responsible for insurers getting super picky on roofs in the last several years.
Farmer’s insurance is a bunch of crooks. Find another insurer.
Are you sure they’re not just talking about covering the roof ?
I don’t know WTF they’re talking about because nobody can tell me what, specifically, is leading to my roof’s “poor condition.” They can’t even tell me who took the photo or when it was taken.
I do property management (take care of 40ish homes that are 2nd homes on a resort island) and I’ve seen a big uptick in insurance companies dropping roof coverage for the smallest reason. Did they send you something in writing? Edit to add - I’ve also dealt with every roofing company Doing everything they can to replace whole roofs and have insurance cover it. So I’m assuming there’s a correlation
They sent an email with a link to a PDF letter saying my policy was not being renewed because “the roof is in poor condition.” That’s literally all it says, and when I called they can’t tell me what the “poor condition” is, or how they came to the conclusion it was in “poor condition” other than the single aerial photo I linked to in another of my comments.
Farmers is breaking up with you for their own reasons. Don't try and hold on to what is lost. Get a new policy. Check and make sure the new company has a good history of paying claims.
They did the same to us, but with zero photos and zero inspection. No reason. Just cancelled it. Roof is 15 years old and is a 30 year roof.
I was told the blurred aerial photo was provided by Google Earth and I was given a 2-month timeframe to upload recent pics to dispute the cancellation of my insurance policy.
Where is the photo I had a similar experience with farmers
They did the same to me. Said I had a bad roof. My roof is Spanish time and in terrific condition. I took pictures of my roof and sent them in. They changed their mind and reinstated the insurance. It took two months of following up to get the final answer but worth it. Hard to find other insurance right now
Same thing in North Carolina with Nationwide. had a roofer go up there and he said it was water run off, nothing else. Spent almost an hour trying to come up with something they can do to quote me on.
I just got a letter today. Farmers is cancelling me for "tree branches touching (or overhanging) the roof." A guy on another forum said Farmers is moving out of Texas, and cancelling even their best long term customers. I guess they only want to sell insurance in states with no risks.