What to expect when Switching Insurance

What to expect when  switching insurance carriers

This video is a review of what to expect when switching from one insurance carrier to the next.

• Property Inspections - When switching insurance carriers it is likely the insurance carrier will hire an inspection company to measure and photograph your property.  Most of the time this is exterior only, but if you have a high value home it may be required to do an internal inspection as well.  Inspections overall are a positive thing.  It is important to make sure your home is insured correctly.  An inspection can bring to light any issues with the property that would cause eligibility issues.  Some common examples we see are:

• Pools with diving boards or slides or without fences around them we were unaware of

• Ineligible breed dogs

• maintenance issues with the property like roof issues, cosmetic issues, existing damage, & maintenance problems

• Hand Rail issues
  
  

When eligibility issues arise we recommend calling us to put together a plan of attack so your property insurance will stay in force.

• Mortgage company and Escrow - When switching home insurance carriers it is important to make sure your mortgage company knows your home is insured.  The mortgagee clause and loan number is listed on all home insurance policies.  Make sure this mortgagee clause is correct along with the loan number.  Automatically the insurance carrier will send proof of insurance to the mortgage company, but if the address is wrong because the note has been sold this could cause a problem.  We highly recommend you contact your mortgage company to inform them of a change in insurance.  This is also a great time to check on your escrow account status and let the bank know you would like them to pay the new home insurance invoice out of escrow.  Sometimes the bank may decline to pay the invoice from escrow leaving you with the bill.  This is why it is important for you to contact your mortgage company to let them know.
  
  

• Documents - When switching insurance expect paperwork.  We may need to ask you for some or all of the following paperwork:

• New signed applications

• Alarm Certificates

• Driver Training Certificates

• Good Student Discount Transcripts

• Appraisals for Personal Articles

• Selection and rejection forms for recommended coverages
  
  

• Registering your Accounts - Now that you have new insurance policies it is a great idea to register with the new carrier on their website.  Create a user and register your new policy numbers.  Now you have access to billing information, policy documents, and claims information whenever you want.
  
  

• Cancelling prior policies - No need to sweat this.  We got you.  You will be signing during the application process a cancellation form for the prior policies and we will get this processed on the correct day so you do not have a gap or overlap of coverage.  Upon cancellation of your prior policies you may or may not get a refund depending on the timing of the cancellation.  This refund will come to you in a number of possible ways depending on your prior billing method.  One very important part to remember is if you receive a refund from your home insurance policy is make sure you refund your escrow account with this check.  Do not go out to dinner or finally put a new pair of shoes on your car.  By not refunding your escrow account it could cause your escrow account to fall short.  An out of balance escrow account is one way to cause your mortgage payment to go up.
  
  

• Department of Motor Vehicle -  Insurance carriers are required to report your status of insurance to the department of insurance.  Sometimes when switching insurance this notice does not get to the DMV in a timely manner.   When the DMV thinks you do not have insurance on a vehicle they will send you an FR4 or FR31 form which is a response to insurance notice.  We see this very often.  Do not be concerned.  Send this notice to us and we can login to the SC DMV Automobile Liability Insurance Reporting System (ALIR) to clear the issue with no penalty.

As you can see a lot does go into the process of switching potentially creating an experience leaving you with a bad taste in your mouth.  Knowing what to expect and how to handle the Cons will help this to be a smooth switch.   Always feel free to reach out to us by email (service@advisorsinsuranceagency.com) or call us 864-509-0009.  Thank you for your business.