mrlion

So recently I took a tumble on my bicycle. Happily I got the opportunity to experience the ER up close and personal and it's pretty much exactly like it is on the TV.

My bike got trashed - I'm trying to understand whether my home policy covers it - in the UK I know it would have but I've read and re-read the terms and I can't really tell...

I'm assuming these things are somewhat standard and hopeful that other people have had similar experiences!

Clearly I should speak to my agent but I'm somewhat nervous about starting the claims process and getting dinged by premium increases in future...

Anyway - any and all experience most welcome!

TimFountain

Your deductible will probably be more than the bike was worth, if it was even covered....

md95065

The only thing remotely "standard" about US insurance policies is the extent to which they all contain as many "exclusions" as the law will let them get away with ...

Ask your agent if it is covered. Just because you ask doesn't mean that you have to make a claim.

kodokan

Your deductible should be fairly obvious on the paperwork. Mine is $5k - unless the house burns down, I'm never claiming anything.

hungryhorace

$5k?!? My deductible in the UK was 250 GBP.

Nutmegger

People maintain high deductibles because it isn't worth claiming for smaller losses -- it goes on your record and before you know it you are being dropped or your premiums are soaring. e.g. Currently we have winter storm related losses that we claimed for still on the record, but if we claim again within a certain period of time, we could get dropped, so have upped our deductible to $6,500 (and pay lower premiums, too). You pick the deductible that works for you.

hungryhorace

What's your premium, if you don't mind me asking?

Nutmegger

Around $2,600.

hungryhorace

****. I'm currently in the process of obtaining quotes for our home insurance. I paid a few hundred quid for building & contents in the UK. The prices here are extortionate.

kodokan

Yes, we have a very helpful local agent (State Farm) who's taken a lot of time to teach us how to navigate the US insurance arena. She very much stressed that if we thinking of making a claim on anything, DON'T call the customer service line, pop in and talk it over with her first, because she can run some hypotheticals to see what that might do to our future premiums. I got the impression even phoning with an enquiry about making a claim, and then deciding not to, or finding out it's for something not covered (like bike theft on school campuses) would be noted, and you'd be dinged accordingly as a 'higher risk' the next year.

We have all our insurances - health, car, house - set up so that we'd only ever be claiming for a catastrophic loss, and then have emergency pots for medical/ vehicle/ house expenses that at least equate to the deductible for each.

For info, my house insurance premium was $1,170 this year, on a $600k 4,200 sq ft house. It's going to be very regional, though - in AZ, we're never going to suffer any weather damage worse than the odd roof tile slipping off.

kodokan

I find that the price of anything here than can be monthly cashflowed rather than paid in a lump is always absurdly high, because the companies are relying on their customers' inability to do maths and feel the consequent shock and pain. I hang around on lots of financial forums as well as here; here is the only one I ever see people talking about the cost of their car insurance as anything other than a budgeted monthly amount.

Nutmegger

Precisely -- it is something of a futile exercise to make comparisons. Sounds as if your insurance would be much more expensive in the northeast. Also, if one has a rider for any artwork, jewelry, etc., that bumps it up.

kodokan

Luckily our eclectic collection of relatives' cast-off sofas and IKEA bookshelves and tables didn't jack the price too much

hungryhorace

That's because most average Americans are not financially smart. The same problem exists in the UK. It's only through people like Martin Lewis that citizens have become a little smarter. America is crying out for a person like him IMO.

Bob

Have you seen how expensive even a semi decent bicycle costs over here?

Even the shit ones are tapping a grand.

Unless we're talking Walmart specials, which are death traps.