Our LCD tv was accidentally broken by a neighbor kid dropping a game
controller. Should our homeowner's insurance cover any of the replacement?

"Hank" wrote in message
communications...
Our LCD tv was accidentally broken by a neighbor kid dropping a game
controller. Should our homeowner's insurance cover any of the
replacement?

I can't read your policy through the internet. Why not call up your
insurance company/agent and ask them?


** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

On Wed, 28 May 2008 14:04:16 -0400, "Hank" wrote:

Our LCD tv was accidentally broken by a neighbor kid dropping a game
controller. Should our homeowner's insurance cover any of the replacement?

Yep. Unfortunately there is the deductible, and they'll likely raise
your rates if you make the claim. I would just buy a new one.

That's great in theory but not practical in this case. The kid lives with
only the mom and she's very irresponsible and clearly broke. She's a renter
and undoubtedly has no insurance.

"user" wrote in message
om...
On Wed, 28 May 2008 14:04:16 -0400, Hank wrote:
Our LCD tv was accidentally broken by a neighbor kid dropping a game
controller. Should our homeowner's insurance cover any of the
replacement?



Possibly... but why in the world would you pay the deductable, not to
mention the hit on your rates and the effect it will have on your
future coverage?

This is something the kid's parents should be covering. It doesn't
benefit you at all to bring the insurance company into the matter.

- Rich

"Hank" wrote in
communications:

Our LCD tv was accidentally broken by a neighbor kid dropping a
game controller. Should our homeowner's insurance cover any of
the replacement?



That will depend on the insurance policy and the size of the TV.
Most large ticket electronic items are considered 'luxury' by most
policies and they will not be covered for full value without an
itemized rider on the policy. It wouldn't surprise me to find that
most policies would still consider any LCD tv to be a luxury item
that would fall into that category. Check your policy first before
doing anything else.
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

Why ask such a question in a newsgroup before asking my insurance agent? I
may get a more 'practical' answer in the newsgroup whereas my insurance
agent has a business interest. If I have a clearer perspective before
talking to the insurance agent, I'm more likely to do what is in *my* best
interest and not necessarily filtered through his.

Example: From the reponses on this subject it appears very likely that if I
made a claim my rates will go up. Would my agent make this clear to me? I
don't know but this is extremely important to my decision. The newsgroup
gives me this different perspective.


"terrable" wrote in message
...

"Hank" wrote in message
communications...
Our LCD tv was accidentally broken by a neighbor kid dropping a game
controller. Should our homeowner's insurance cover any of the
replacement?

I can't read your policy through the internet. Why not call up your
insurance company/agent and ask them?


** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

In article unications, Hank
says...

Why ask such a question in a newsgroup before asking my insurance agent? I
may get a more 'practical' answer in the newsgroup whereas my insurance
agent has a business interest. If I have a clearer perspective before
talking to the insurance agent, I'm more likely to do what is in *my* best
interest and not necessarily filtered through his.

Example: From the reponses on this subject it appears very likely that if I
made a claim my rates will go up. Would my agent make this clear to me? I
don't know but this is extremely important to my decision. The newsgroup
gives me this different perspective.

I've had it happen where I call my insurance company with a question, they state
that I'm not covered (which would be fine...) then immediately proceed to write
it up as a denied claim (which isnt so great). A highly-rated insurance
company too.

Banty

Very interesting and worth keeping an eye on. Thanks.

"Banty" wrote in message
...

I've had it happen where I call my insurance company with a question, they
state
that I'm not covered (which would be fine...) then immediately proceed to
write
it up as a denied claim (which isnt so great). A highly-rated insurance
company too.

Banty

This is also very interesting stuff to look out for...thanks.

"Steve" wrote in message
.128...
"Hank" wrote in
communications:

From the reponses on this subject it appears very likely that if I
made a claim my rates will go up.

Filing a claim isn't the only thing that will make your rate go up. Just
calling your agent to ask about the _possibility_ of filing a claim can
cost you.

There's a third-party database that's shared by all the insurance
companies to keep people from filing multiple claims on the same loss.
Inquiries like, "I have a dent in my fender. How much will I get if I file
a claim?", are logged there as well as actual claims. Some insurance
companies don't draw a distinction between the two.
--
Steve B.
New Life Home Improvement

In article , SteveB says...

Shawn Hirn wrote:

In article ,
Steve wrote:

"Hank" wrote in
communications:

From the reponses on this subject it appears very likely that if
I made a claim my rates will go up.

Filing a claim isn't the only thing that will make your rate go up.
Just calling your agent to ask about the possibility of filing a
claim can cost you.

There's a third-party database that's shared by all the insurance
companies to keep people from filing multiple claims on the same
loss. Inquiries like, "I have a dent in my fender. How much will I
get if I file a claim?", are logged there as well as actual claims.
Some insurance companies don't draw a distinction between the two.

Which insurance companies would those be?

That I don't know. I'm recounting a newspaper or magazine article I
read several years ago. I learned not to call my agent unless I really
need to. You'll have to research this one yourself.

I can say I've long been with a highly rated insurance company, and have been
mostly happy, sometimes *very* happy with them.

However, they did write up a mere question of mine as a denied claim. Woke me
up to be careful.

So I'd recommend everyone be careful about calling about this sort of thing -
the insurance companies are highly motivated to discourage petty claims, and
people probing to see how they can get max return. Consider it a cost of the
abuses on the part of some of our neighbors.

Banty

On May 28, 1:04*pm, "Hank" wrote:
Our LCD tv was accidentally broken by a neighbor kid dropping a game
controller. *Should our homeowner's insurance cover any of the replacement?

Probably not, vandalism, wind damage, earth quakes might be covered,
but not ordinary use.

Can you supply more details, so that we can avoid that problem?

--
Ron

On 06 Jun 2008 03:04:08 GMT, Steve wrote:

"Hank" wrote in
xcommunications:

From the reponses on this subject it appears very likely that if I
made a claim my rates will go up.

Filing a claim isn't the only thing that will make your rate go up. Just
calling your agent to ask about the _possibility_ of filing a claim can
cost you.

There's a third-party database that's shared by all the insurance
companies to keep people from filing multiple claims on the same loss.
Inquiries like, "I have a dent in my fender. How much will I get if I file
a claim?", are logged there as well as actual claims. Some insurance
companies don't draw a distinction between the two.

Do a google search on CLUE, Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange
and see some of the horror stories.

Here's a news article on it:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/...n1779882.shtml

I've come to the conclusion that insurance should be used only in
catastrophic situations and that you should up your deductable to
several thousands of dollars to save money, because you certainly
arent going to be saving money making any small claims on your
insurance. A busted TV is not catastrophic.

-dickm

In article , Shawn Hirn
says...

In article ,
Banty wrote:

In article , SteveB says...

Shawn Hirn wrote:

In article ,
Steve wrote:

"Hank" wrote in
communications:

From the reponses on this subject it appears very likely that if
I made a claim my rates will go up.

Filing a claim isn't the only thing that will make your rate go up.
Just calling your agent to ask about the possibility of filing a
claim can cost you.

There's a third-party database that's shared by all the insurance
companies to keep people from filing multiple claims on the same
loss. Inquiries like, "I have a dent in my fender. How much will I
get if I file a claim?", are logged there as well as actual claims.
Some insurance companies don't draw a distinction between the two.

Which insurance companies would those be?

That I don't know. I'm recounting a newspaper or magazine article I
read several years ago. I learned not to call my agent unless I really
need to. You'll have to research this one yourself.

I can say I've long been with a highly rated insurance company, and have been
mostly happy, sometimes *very* happy with them.

However, they did write up a mere question of mine as a denied claim. Woke me
up to be careful.

So I'd recommend everyone be careful about calling about this sort of thing -
the insurance companies are highly motivated to discourage petty claims, and
people probing to see how they can get max return. Consider it a cost of the
abuses on the part of some of our neighbors.

Banty

It is all in how you word it, I suppose. What would happen if you call
and ask as a hypothetical and clearly say "you are not making a claim?"


That's pretty much what I did.

It was the first year I was a homeowner, and I asked if some wet carpet that had
gotten that way due to wind-blown rain under a door, is the kind of thing that
would be covered, although I was pretty sure it would be under the deductible.
They said "we need to write this as a claim". Then they denied it right there
during the phone call.

Curiousity killed the cat, I guess. Never did anything like that again.

Banty