Whether or not to file an insurance claim

[disneysteve]

How do you decide whether or not to file a claim on your home owners or auto insurance? What's your threshold?

We had some wind damage to our siding yesterday. The siding guy came out this morning and we need tor replace the whole wall or else it won't match. I'm waiting for a formal estimate (based on material prices) but he gave me a rough estimate of 3K. I think our deductible is $500. The question is if it is worth it to put in a claim for the $2,500. Years ago, we ran into a problem when we had 2 claims within a 5-year period and our carrier dropped us. We had to scramble to find new reasonably priced coverage. It's been 20 years since the last claim, but I know the same thing could happen if another issue arises in the near future. Is it worth taking the chance for a couple thousand dollars. We can comfortably afford to cover it out of pocket so that's not a deciding factor.

WWYD?

[rennigade]

How old is your siding? If it's really old, you can just replace it with similar pieces whether it's a perfect match or not. In a couple years, you may want to replace all your siding on the whole house.

Either way, it's not going to match the other sides of your home. It'll just be less noticable if you replace the entire side.

As for when to file, hard to say. You don't know how much your insurance will increase if you file. For $2k, I probably wouldn't.

[Thrif-t]

Our home insurance deductible is $2500 so I wouldn't file a claim. In fact in 27 years living in our house we've never filed a claim. They'll just raise your rates if you do. I have the mindset my home insurance is for a disaster not anything I could pay for on my own.

[disneysteve]

Our home insurance deductible is $2500

I have to check on ours. We're not home right now. Of course this happened while we were out of town.

[Fishindude77]

If I had a $500 deductible and $3000 worth of damage, I'd file a claim. Otherwise, what's the point of carrying insurance if you don't use it for a legit claim?
If you've not had a claim in 20 years and they jack you around on rates, shop them out and find a new vendor.

[Like2Plan]

That must have been a heck of a storm! We live in VA--just got back home from FL yesterday night. I could tell we dropped power. There were branches down in the driveway. There had been a Cardinal's nest in a bush close to our house-- the nest was gone! (I hope the babies made it).

I don't think I would file a claim for $2500 (but, I think our deductible is 2k). I don't know--maybe above 10-15k might be my threshold...

[Jluke]

How much to replace all the siding?

I know you aren’t interested in keeping your house looking brand new but for a few grand more you can get some curb appeal.

don’t file a claim.

this is pocket change for you.

[kork13]

I think a $500 deductible on home insurance is rather abnormally low... Mostly I see $1k minimum, typically $2.5k or more.

In either case, even if just $500 deductible, I wouldn't make a claim on $3k of damage. However, I did make a claim about 10 years ago when my home was burglarized. The front door was kicked in, a bunch of stuff stolen (mostly electronics + my USAFA class ring ..... still bitter about that .... I didn't care about the electronics & damage to the house... that can be fixed/replaced. But the ring was irreplaceable -- it had a gemstone from my deceased mother, not to mention the memories it represents. In all, I think the claim was valued around $10k-$15k, including board-up services, door repair, and the value of the stolen items. I was also still relatively early in my career at the time, and would have been scraping for the cash to pay for all of that (it was also within 6 months of buying the house, which had consumed most of my available funds). So the insurance claim was worth it for me in that instance.

In your circumstances.... I'd just pay for it out of pocket. Also, bump up your deductible to save some money on the premiums!

[disneysteve]

I think a $500 deductible on home insurance is rather abnormally low... Mostly I see $1k minimum, typically $2.5k or more.

You may be right. When we get home, I'll check our policy. Other than paying the premium every year, I honestly haven't reviewed the coverage for a long time.

[HundredK]

I only have auto insurance as a personal example, but I now always carry the highest deductible they'll let me and plan to pay out of pocket for most things. Several years back, I let the insurance company talk me into filing a claim for about $1,800 of damage with the promise that I had accident forgiveness and that there would be no premium increase. Turns out accident forgiveness isn't even allowed in CA, and my rates tripled for 3 years. So for something like $3k in your case, no way I'd personally file a claim. And I'd raise your deductible.

[ua_guy]

If you're waffling about filing a $3k claim against a policy with a $500 deductible, might as well raise that deductible way up there. Home insurers have scared us all into believing a minor claim isn't worth filing anyway, for fear of being dropped. That fear isn't unfounded because apparently it happens all the time. In 15 years of home ownership, we've never had to file a claim, knock on unburned, dry wood. Then again, we know people who have had dishwashers destroy kitchen floors, bathtubs leak, basically netting a studs-out remodel and they weren't dropped. You just never know.

I say file it. Let the insurer hold up their end of the bargain when something happens. Just be ready to switch companies when the claim is done.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Raise deductible. and pay out of pocket