Complaint Review: Residence Mutual - Western Mutual Insurance Company - Agoura Hills California

In 2003, I filed a claim due to water damage from an under foundation leak in my home. My homeowner's insurance did cover the problem. Shortly after the repair, the insurance company wrote to me to inform me that excessive usage or reporting of claims could cause my homeowner's insurance to be cancelled. I knew that this was the case with homeowner's insurance, so I was very careful not make any minor repairs to my home myself.

In 2007, I reported water damage from my bathtub valve overflowing onto my downstairs kitchen ceiling. My insurance took care of this claim as well. While refinincing my home a few months later, I needed the declaration page of my homeowner's insurance policy, and it was at this time that the webpage from the insurance company said that i was not allowed to view this information due to upcoming nonrenewal of my policy.

I called the company immediately, to inquire why my insurance was being terminated. The representative said that she didn't know why it was being terminated, but that I would have to wait until October of 2007 to get a letter in the mail from the insurance company. I did not take this as an accurate answer, so I contacted the company directly on their website.

I expalined the situation and asked if there was anything I could do to prevent this from happening. a couple of weeks later I got an email from the company that said they would like to speak to me about the situation, and for me to call them at my earliest convenience.

When I called Western Mutual, I was directed to the underwriter of my policy, sho told me that 2 claims within a 7 year period was considered to be excessive. I told her that I was never given anything in writing which said what their definition of excessive was, and had i known that submitting this claim, 4 years after my first claim, would cause my insurance to be cancelled, I would have investigated finding some other way to pay for the repairs.

No one at any time told me, or was it written, that 2 claims in a 7 year period is considered to be excessive. I told the underwriter that it was almost like fraud, since the consumers were never informed of their guidelines. I said it is unfair for the consumer to have to guess at what their definition of excessive is, and that information should be disclosed to the policy holders. She said that no insurance company divulge that information, not even auto insurance companies.

I told her that wasn't true and also told her exactly how many accidents I can have with my auto insurance before I am cancelled. I think this practice of not informing the policyholders of the insurance company's guidelines is misleading, unfair, and withholding of important information that we, as consumers, need to know, if we are to make intelligent decisions about the repairs that occur in our homes.

It almost seems as though this information is being withheld in order for the consumer to not know, file a couple of claims, and then all your years of paying into the insurance is gone down the drain, just like my 15 years of payments were.

Anonymous

Lake Elsinore, California

U.S.A.