Watch out for Homeowners Insurance Scams

Did you buy your homeowners insurance online from a company you had never heard of?

Chances are likely that if you did, and you ever try to collect for damages done to your house, that you will never see a dime of that money.

Online insurance scams are a dime a dozen - and there are so many companies out there that are just fronts for insurance scams. They wow you with low prices and stylish websites, but the company is based overseas - which means they have no legal requirement to give you any money should anything happen to your home.

Next, what about a company where you meet the insurance agent in person - and you've heard about the company?

Well many times insurance companies don't like to pay out to homeowners. They use every trick in the book to reduce how much they need to pay you and/or increase how much money they can dig out of you.

Tricks like:

1. The company’s adjuster doesn’t give you the best estimate.

2. You are forced to buy extra policies because you live in a high-risk area - and then they refuse to pay up because you live in a high-risk area.

3. A bad credit report increases your premiums - and then they refuse to pay up because they think you are trying to scam them with fraudulent claims.

4. They jack up their prices afterwards, even though you had nothing to do with the cause of the damage.

5. You end up paying twice when you cancel your policy - because they keep charging your bank account or credit card.

6. The company encourages you to use its mechanic - and then skimps on the repairs. (You are entitled to use your own mechanic to make sure the repairs are done properly.)

7. You are encouraged to take supplemental policies.

8. They don't actually give you the best price, but instead jack up the price because they think you are a sucker.

9. You are led to believe you aren’t covered after you lose your job - so instead they sell you a joblessness supplement.

10. You are led to believe the insurance company’s decision is final - but this is not legally the case. You can take your insurance company to court if you want to, and make them pay your legal bills, if they refuse to pay up on a legitimate claim.

11. A very long list of exceptions in the fine print for things that the company refuses to provide coverage for.