Do you remember last winter? The icebergs hanging off our homes, ice dams, water coming in your…read morewindows, and gutters being pulled down? Well I certainly won't forget. My insurance agent assured me that if I filed a claim for this "Catastrophic event" which was declared in the state of Rhode Island at the time, that it would be exempt from being a chargeable claim on my policy, as well as any other Rhode Islander who had also been a victim of this specific event. Sure the claim does show up on your policy, but you should not be charged for it at all. THINK AGAIN. I noticed that my monthly payment had increased considerably, and when I called my Agent, I was told, it was due to the fact that I had filed a claim and that I was going to have to pay more for the next 3 years, every month. When I brought up my conversation, with this same woman from a year ago. She interrupted me (always a bad sign) saying, "No. I never said that. You didn't hear that from me." Of course...
I also had an auto plan with them. Whoever heard of a clean driving record, 48 year old divorced woman, 9 year old Volkswagen paying $85 a month for liability? They raised it from $65 a year ago adding $10 after the first 6 months, then another $10 this month. When I asked her why, she told me all of RI's Insurance went up, and there was nothing she could do about it. Hmm. I began to smell a rat. So I called another company. A company that does not involve commissions with their associates, and guess what? My car insurance went down almost $500 a year, and I got the same home coverage for $59 dollars less as well. I even added collision to my car insurance which I didn't have in the past. I called my old agency this morning to cancel my plan with them, and after he punched it all in, he asked pleasantly, why I was canceling. Fist I told him how much I am saving with my car insurance. He didn't act surprised at all, in fact he was very understanding and said, he understood why I would change. Then I brought up the "Cat Claim" from last year, and he was still calm and understanding, actually agreeing with me about it's intent, until I mentioned how his wife, (who is vacationing in Florida on all of our dimes) told me that I had to pay an increase in my premium. I added that my new agency had explained how it really worked, and that by no means should I be paying for that specific claim. His understanding turned into nervous laughter, and he now became a condescending twit, just as his wife was in my last conversation with her. These people are crooked as all hell, and I am sick and tired of being ripped off. If you were one of these people and there were many, who filed a claim for what they call in the insurance world, a Cat Claim, don't let them charge you one dime more. They are stealing from you with a smile on their happy faces, and I am sure sleep just fine every night. Well, now that I dumped them, they will have to find another sucker to rob blind. Check your policies!