Of course you are mindful of the price you pay for any goods or services these days. Your insurance coverage should be no exception. When making insurance decisions based on price you need to consider what you’re getting, or more importantly, what you’re giving up.
Consider this
- Are you sure the carrier is not just providing an introductory premium which will be raised at renewal? This is often a tactic used by companies new to the real estate insurance market or companies trying to meet new business premium goals.
- Is the insurance program experienced at handling real estate errors and omissions coverage? If the carrier’s claims staff and attorneys are not experienced in handling real estate claims, your claims cost may be excessive. This can eat away at your insurance limits and increase your loss ratio.
- Is the insurance carrier stable and highly rated? It is important that you are insured by a financially stable company so they are around if you have claims.
- Are you changing insurance carriers year after year in search of the cheapest price? Not all policies offer the same coverages so you may not be covered in all the same areas from policy to policy. For example, if prior acts coverage is dropped during any changes of insurance programs, you will be left with a significant gap in coverage. Therefore, you may not have coverage for services you provided prior to the effective date of your policy, even if a claim comes in during your policy period.
- Does the carrier offer pre-claims assistance and risk management? Established insurance programs can help you solve a problem before it becomes a claim, saving you time and hassle in the process.
*Please keep in mind lower priced coverage often comes with exceptions.