Insurance Nightmares!!

Comments(8)

• 
  myfrogger19th March, 2004

  Call an agent that deals with commercial insurance.

• 
  DaveT19th March, 2004

  Quote:I own a property in another state and have been able to find tenants that are ready to lease the property. Now I need to swith my insurance policy from a homeowners policy to a rental policy and it is proving to be a nightmare.You own property in another state and you currently have a homeowner's policy on that property? Why not contact the (out-of-state) agent that wrote that policy and tell him/her to convert it to a landlord policy?
  
  If you are going to be a national investor, you will just have to accept dealing with out-of-area agents as a fact of life. For my out of state property, I contact an agent in the city where the property is located. I shop a couple of companies for rates. Insurance agencies representing a national brand are often franchises that are licensed for only the state they service.
  
  If the company will not write insurance for you (for example State Farm will not originate a new policy in my area of SC right now but will write a new landlord policy for me in MD), then contact an independent agent that services the area where your property is located.

• 
  smithj221st March, 2004

  Thanks for your replies.
  
  Myfrogger, could you please explain what you mean by a commercial agent? Is there a difference amongst agents?
  
  DaveT, I was wondering also what you meant by independent agents. I thought all agents were independent representatives of the national insurance comapany (State Farm, Farmers ..etc). If there are other independent agents, How would I go about identifying them? Yellow Pages?
  
  Thanks again for your help.
  
  JS

• 
  DaveT21st March, 2004

  A franchise agent will only write policies underwritten by his company. For example, a State Farm agent will only write a State Farm policy.
  
  An independent agent will represent several different underwriting companies and has more flexibility in meeting your needs. Different independent agencies may also represent different companies. Suggest you call more than one.
  
  There is a difference between an independently owned franchise, and an independent agency. Independent agents will often put the word "Independent" in their advertising. Look at the box ads in the yellow pages to see what I mean.[ Edited by DaveT on Date 03/21/2004 ]

• 
  ozzie21st March, 2004

  Hi SmithJ2
  Ypu just got some solid information. You need to find an ageny/brokerage that writes for multiple companies. Agents with Farmers, State Farm, Allstate and such are generally forbidden by the companies they represent to write other than for the one company, or one of its subsideries. Another thought put the property in another name, such as a corp, trust, LLC, and apply for insurance in that name. Or you can have the property in any business name and possibly circimvent the problem your having.

• 
  norrist22nd March, 2004

  Check with a local REIA group (where the property is) for an Agent that works in and ON REI. Check their newsletter, website, etc... or call athe group's officer(s). Good luck. Tim

• 
  InActive_Account22nd March, 2004

  I've had this problem before. My advice is call many agents and get quotes (I've called over 10 different companies before I found one that would work). Commercial policies will work, but ask the agent if they will do rental properties seperate from you home. I use Statefarm and Formost (they each had there advantages and disadvantages, based on location). Once you find one that work for you, the nexd property will be easy. REI requires lots of leg work, but it is worth it!

• 
  norrist24th March, 2004

  Just make sure you protect your entiity(ies) properly. I see many, many mistakes regarding this!
  
  Tim