Homeowners insurance is something you’ll have to have in order to get a mortgage on any Columbia SC area home you’re planning to buy. There are some things you need to know when buying homeowners insurance, as outlined in this video…
For more tips and information about Columbia SC homeowners insurance, just click over to our list of articles dealing specifically with Columbia SC insurance to the right under Columbia SC Real Estate Categories.
Here are a few tips to keep your Columbia SC home safe from thieves while you’re away enjoying your summer vacation, so you’re not having to file a claim on your homeowner’s insurance when you get back.
Taking a few steps to prepare your Columbia SC home to look like you’re home, even when you aren’t, could mean the difference in you discovering someone came to visit while you were away, or finding your home just the way you left it.
A new report details the cost and extent of one of the worst years for floods in recent history.
CoreLogic estimates flood losses in the U.S. this year at approximately $10.67 billion, three times the amount forecast for next year, based on various flooding and storm events recorded in the National Climate Data Center.
CoreLogic suggests that flood insurance coverage to be expanded to protect more territory. The floods of 2011 heightened awareness of the flood risk outside of the FEMA 100-year flood zones, the report states. There has also been an emphasized need to raise current flood protection standards for the critical and strategic infrastructures in the U.S.
Based on the trend pattern, 2012 should not be an extreme flood year – in fact, there should be several more years before the next extreme flood loss year. U.S. flood loss in 2012 is projected at approximately $3.53 billion.
Before the federal program was launched in 1968, few private carriers provided flood insurance because of the cost and destructive power of floods. Under the program, homeowners in FEMA flood zones are required to buy policies from insurance companies — about 90 provide it — and the government pays for flood damage with federal funds collected largely from homeowner premiums.
This year’s big losses could drive the program further into the red, or it could underscore the need to continue and possibly expand the program to protect property that does not qualify for coverage today.
Do you have flood insurance? We’d love to hear how you feel about the federally funded flood insurance program. Is it too costly for our government to continue funding, or do you think it’s something our government should offer at whatever the cost? Click the comment link below and tell us what you think.
Concierge doctors offer special treatment at a premium price.
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Do you know your insurance score? Most people don’t even realize they have one until they receive an “adverse-action” notice in the mail notifying them that, based on their insurance score, they don’t qualify for the lowest pricing available from their insurance provider.
The adventure begins by following the letter’s instructions to call the listed 1-800 number to receive a free copy of your credit report – which apparently has some effect on the score. You may wait several weeks for a reply, only to be sent a consent form that reads like an identity thief’s dream: the form will request detailed proof of identification, including photocopies of your driver’s license, in addition to your social security number and your insurance information.
If after gathering all of that information you are brave enough to send it off through the mail, the packet that you get back will simply summarize your credit rating, with absolutely no information about your insurance score.
If you persist and contact your insurance company, it will likely tell you that 99% of its clients do not qualify for the company’s lowest rate, and to qualify, your credit must be absolutely perfect. In other words, even if you carry no balances on your credit cards, own your home free and clear, are completely debt free and have a credit rating in the high 700s, you’re still unlikely to have an insurance score that qualifies you for the lowest available insurance rate. So what exactly is this mysterious insurance score, and what exactly is its reason and purpose?
A perfect insurance score, in the eyes of an insurance company, represents a client with the lowest possible risk of filing a claim, so – since the probability of filing a claim is based on credit – good credit is the key to a high score. A good credit report can have such a large impact on your insurance premium that you can, for example, have a flawed driving record but good credit and pay less for your car insurance than a driver who has a perfect driving record but bad credit. Do keep in mind, however, that your insurance score is not the only factor that determines your premium (you can ask your insurer for more details on what the other factors are).
Even after finding out about an imperfect insurance score, you may find the effort needed to perfect it is not worth what may amount to relatively small savings in premiums. (Remember, your insurance score is not the sole impact on your premium.)
The use of credit history to determine insurance premiums is quite alarming to many consumers, particularly to those who have never filed an insurance claim but still don’t qualify for the lowest available pricing. Unfortunately, insurance scoring is a standard practice among the ranks of the nation’s largest insurers.
With that in mind, the best way to help keep your insurance premium low is to keep your credit score high. Take the same amount of caution with your credit score as you would with your driving – being responsible with both can save you serious amounts of money in insurance premiums.