Games Insurers Play

[Collin Hays]

I've had a property insured with American Modern for a number of years.  In fact, most of my properties are insured by American Modern.

At a recent renewal for one of my properties, I got a cancellation notice from American Modern due to "insufficient funds".  Seems they were attempting to draft from an old bank account.  That should be an easy fix - just give them the correct account number, right?  Nope.  They would not renew unless the roof is replaced, and liability limits were cut in half.  

So, this wasn't about "insufficient funds", but about an insurance company deploying a trip wire to cancel me. This is an old trick in the insurance industry:  If you have a risk that you no longer feel good about, find an opportunity to cancel.  Life and long term care insurance are typically where you see this.

After a lot of wrangling, the agent was able to get the policy renewed with the correct bank account number for the auto draft.  

I guess the point of this post is, be watchful and don't give an insurer an easy opportunity to cancel you.  Don't fall for the "like a good neighbor" or "You're in good hands with Jake" bit.  Jake works for the insurance company, and he ain't your neighbor.