Navigating homeowners and renters insurance claims can be a daunting task, especially in light of the recent wildfires in Southern California and hurricanes on the East Coast. Galen Hair, owner of Insurance Claim HQ, joins us to shed light on the complexities of the insurance process and how homeowners can protect themselves. We delve into the common pitfalls that many face, such as misunderstanding coverage details and the implications of underinsurance. Galen emphasizes the importance of being proactive and educated about your policy, as well as documenting your home’s condition regularly. Tune in for valuable insights that can help ensure you’re prepared when disaster strikes, so you can confidently manage your claims and get the support you need.

With the recent surge of natural disasters from wildfires in Southern California to hurricanes along the East Coast, homeowners and renters are left grappling with the complexities of insurance claims. Galen Hair, the owner of Insurance Claim HQ, joins the conversation to shed light on this often daunting process. The discussion navigates the murky waters of homeowners and renters insurance, particularly how to effectively manage claims when disaster strikes. It's highlighted that many individuals are unaware of their rights and the necessity of properly documenting damages. Galen emphasizes the importance of understanding your policy and knowing what you are entitled to, which can prevent significant financial loss.

The episode dives into the common pitfalls homeowners fall into, such as relying solely on their insurance agents for information without fully comprehending their policies. Galen provides practical advice on how to advocate for oneself when dealing with insurance companies, including the importance of getting a public adjuster involved for larger claims. The conversation also touches on the crucial need for homeowners to reassess their insurance coverage regularly, especially after major renovations or increases in property value, to ensure they are adequately protected against losses.

Listeners are encouraged to take proactive steps by recording the condition of their properties and keeping an updated inventory of their belongings, which can be invaluable during the claims process. This episode serves as a wake-up call for homeowners to take charge of their insurance situations, equipping them with the knowledge to navigate the complexities of claims with confidence and clarity.

Takeaways:

• Understanding your homeowners insurance policy is crucial; many homeowners don't know their coverage well.
• Homeowners should document their property and improvements regularly to support future claims.
• If you feel offended by your insurance claim check, consider hiring a public adjuster.
• Insurance claims often involve complex language; always ask your agent for clarification.
• Navigating insurance claims can be overwhelming; having a knowledgeable advocate is essential.
• Don't rely solely on your mortgage company's insurance; ensure your personal coverage is adequate.

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• Monument Grills
• Insurance HQ
• State Farm
• Home Depot

To get your questions answered by Eric G give us a call in the studio at 833-239-4144 24/7 and Eric G will get back to you and answer your question and you might end up in a future episode of Around the House.

Thanks for listening to Around the house if you want to hear more please subscribe so you get notified of the latest episode as it posts at https://around-the-house-with-e.captivate.fm/listen

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Information given on the Around the House Show should not be considered construction or design advice for your specific project, nor is it intended to replace consulting at your home or jobsite by a building professional. The views and opinions expressed by those interviewed on the podcast are those of the guests and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Around the House Show.

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The house brought to you by our friends@montymcgrills.com to check out the best barbecue for under 900 bucks.

Check them out at montymcgrills.com well, this week I wanted to give out some great information to all of our homeowners and renters in the United States.

We've had wildfires, we've had hurricanes, we've had floods, all the stuff happening in the Carolinas, east Tennessee in the south.

And we have tons of damage for many homeowners across the U.S.

so today we're going to be talking with Galen Ayre from Insurance hq.

This played last year but all the information is so relevant for the topics today.

When it comes to remodeling and renovating.

Your home, there is a lot to know but we've got you covered.

This is around the House.

Welcome to the around the House show.

This is where we help you with your home through information and education.

Location We've got a great guest in the studio here that I'm looking forward to.

Galen Ayer from insurance claim headquarters.com insurance claim hq.com thanks for coming on today man.

Yeah, no, thanks for having me, man.

It's gonna be a lot of fun.

You help a lot of people these days, especially with all the craziness that we see with hurricanes and everything else.

Homeowners just don't know how to navigate, it seems.

Insurance CLAIMS yeah, I mean I don't.

Think, you know, we educate homeowners on anything anymore but at least like you're like a first time home buyer.

The bank might give you like a flyer like here's some things you need to know about getting financing or here's what you, you know, or you got a real estate agent walking you through like, you know, so we're going to do inspections and here's what they're going to look for.

But unfortunately like there's just no one set up.

There's just no system set up for new or even old homeowners to kind of know what to do when they have something happen to their house.

And you know, it's just a nightmare.

It's a, it's obviously like a hole in our system.

So we're really lucky that aside from helping people, we also do a ton of education.

Amen, man.

It's crazy.

It, I get so many questions in the show from time to time for people that are just, I had this disaster and of course the insurance company is always generally motivated to reduce that claim as much as they can.

And the homeowner is trying to figure out how to navigate that.

Yeah.

So it's kind of interesting the way it works, right?

If you get in a car accident because it's the other person's insurance company, usually, I think, you know, or like you at least have this like deep intuitive sense, to use a muscism, that at the end of the day that insurance company is not really interested in treating you well, right.

They're, they're looking out for the other person.

They don't care.

But that's not really the case for homeowners insurance because we pay them, sometimes we pay them for decades, right.

I'll get clients who will be like, I've been a customer, insert name here for like 40 years.

So you pay them, you have a good relationship with maybe your insurance agent.

You like them in small towns, you might see them at the grocery store, right?

They're always nice guys.

So you kind of have like the exact opposite.

You have this deep intuitive sense that you're going to call your carrier, they're going to send someone out and they're going to treat you fairly.

And what's the problem with that is like twofold.

Number one, insurance claims are a zero sum game.

Like if they don't have a dollar, then you, you have a dollar.

If you don't have a dollar, they have a dollar, right?

So like someone is losing in every situation, right?

And they're of course in it to get profits, so they want you to lose.

But the other issue is like, insurance is one of the only industries in the world, in the world where the system is, you tell me how much you owe me and I'm under the impression, under the impression that I have no right to question that, right.

You know, it's crazy, right?

Like if you and I make a business deal and you're going to pay me some portion of like your profits from your business or something, right?

I'm going to ask you to like, show me the books, let me look at it, let me figure out what you owe me, right?

I mean, geez, you're doing a new driveway for me and you mess it up, I'm going to get another contractor to give me a quote to fix it, right?

But in insurance, they come out and say, okay, we looked at it and here's what we owe you.

Oh yeah, great example.

My little brother had, and this was a little bit more on the homeowners dealing with a contractor side.

So it's not really homeowners, but he had a guy come out and paint some trim on his house.

And he decided to get up there, license bond insured, and the guy got paint all over his beautiful new roof.

And then when my brother got home, the contractor was sitting there grinding off his three tab shingles, all of the paint.

And this is a green historical roof, you know, so it's nice.

He had to battle that insurance company on a different way, but it's still insurance.

But they had to put a whole new roof on his house over this guy not putting tarps out.

But it's the same battle that you have to deal with.

Yeah.

And that's the biggest thing is, like, you have to be aware, like, you have to be really aware that no matter what they tell you, it's really your job to figure out what you're owed.

And if you've got to, you've got to get someone to help you with that.

Unless you really do know these things, and most homeowners don't.

I mean, how can you, like, even if you know how much two by fours cost at Lowe's or, you know, what the average price of a roof is today, you also don't know how to figure out what was harmed.

You know, you get hail come through.

That's cool.

Like, you can probably guess you need some shingles.

But what about the sheathing underneath?

You know, has water been getting in that roof for a while?

Do we have any rotting in the attic?

Is it a tornado or the joist Twisted like.

So there's so many levels, like, of what you have to figure out, because it's not just a dollar figure.

You have to figure out what you need to do to fix your house.

And then it's worse if you have an older house because, oh, wait a minute, I have damaged asbestos siding.

Yeah, there's so much of that right now, Especially because the hurricanes have been hitting these, like, older, kind of more southern regions lately where there's just a lot of houses that haven't really been touched in a couple of decades in terms of, like, natural disaster.

So it's like asbestos.

Every day it's like, I hear about a new asbestos roof that we're dealing with.

And, you know, you don't want to obviously poison those kids down the street and stuff by just throwing that stuff in a dumpster.

So you want to take care of it the right way.

It's like the responsible thing to do.

So.

But you got to figure out what that costs, because I promise you, most of those carriers will just write for you to throw it in a trash bag and call it A day.

And you really should not do that.

100%.

100%.

Now, what are the biggest confusions I see out there with homeowners that I get questions on?

And I'm by no means an expert on this like you are, but I tell you what, water is the biggest confusing thing for homeowners.

Yeah.

Yeah.

In a ton of different ways.

Right?

Where it came from, what it did, what damage it caused.

You know, someone called me the other day and they said, well, so here's what happened.

The hurricane hit my house, it tore off my roof, and my house flooded.

And I was like, back up.

Because I think we.

I think you and I say things differently.

Your house flooded?

And he goes, yeah, my house.

I said, where did the water come from?

He goes, well, you know.

Yeah, you could tell.

He's like, okay, so hydrogen and oxygen combined, and.

And I'm like, no, I.

I was like.

I was like, look, I mean, how did the water get in your house?

Did it come up from the ground and come in through the door and stuff?

Or did it rain in because your roof was gone?

He's like, oh, it all rained in.

I was like, then you didn't flood.

Like, flood means water comes from the ground.

Water damage, that.

Water damage.

Right.

And then people are like, oh, you can't say the mold word.

You have to say water damage.

Well, that's not always true.

I mean, in most states, the rule is, like, what damage did the water cause?

And if the water caused the mold, you probably are okay, but it's going to depend on your policy and stuff.

And then in the last area, people go.

It gets crazy.

Is like, sewage backups, water overflows, things like that.

Like, the average homeowner cannot navigate that because your policy probably has language in it that makes it sound like it's not covered.

But, like, one of our attorneys I consider to be, like, the nation's expert in this one super detailed, super weird issue.

Right?

He could look at a policy, and he will explain.

It'll take him, like, 15 minutes to talk to you.

Okay, so here's what this policy is trying to cover.

Here's what it's trying not to cover.

And based on your situation, you either do have coverage or not.

And he's always right.

But, like, that stuff's complicated.

Like, it's amazing how many homeowners.

And I was guilty of it, too, before I really started doing this.

You know, they.

They, like, look at the policy.

They kind of read it.

They take the insurance company's word for it.

So they think, okay, I don't really have a claim.

And then, you know, they find out later that their friend with the exact same policy got paid and didn't have to be out of pocket thousands and thousands of dollars.

Well, great example.

My neighbor just had their water line break going back to their house, and they filed an insurance claim on it.

And I was like, how did that happen?

I know the tree roots caused it, and the trees are protected in the neighborhood.

But I was like, that's an interesting thing that you got covered there.

And they didn't pay the whole thing by any means, but they got a few thousand bucks out of the 30,000 bucks.

But I was like, wow, it's weird that that even got covered.

Yeah, I mean, every policy is different.

I mean, you know, some are the same, obviously, but you should not just assume from that one page that you're looking at, that declaration page that you know what that thing says.

I mean, some of these policies are hundreds of pages, and they, like, contradict each other through the whole thing, right?

So you got to figure out, like, which provision controls, but it's a com.

Like it's a contract.

That's your agreement with them, even if you didn't really get to negotiate it.

And that language controls.

And then, of course, in, like, individual states, there's laws that say, well, here's how we interpret this or that.

So it really is kind of like this whole winding, weaving road just to figure out what you even are entitled to.

Like, then you got to fight to go get it.

Right?

But just to figure out, like, it's a process and, you know, we love it.

Maybe we don't like ourselves very much now that I think about that, because it's really time consuming and detailed, but we, like, we like that process of, like, okay, Eric, here's your policy.

Thank you.

Like, tell me what happened now.

Let me go into a room for, you know, a couple hours and read this entire policy and tell you, hey, that sucks.

You don't have any coverage or you really do, so let's go fight and try to get you what you need.

Yep.

Yeah, it's amazing.

And.

And it's one of those things that I think is even more now that homes have gone up so far across the country in many places, like, their value has gone by a third to half to even double in places.

And I'm getting ready to deal with my insurance company on this now because I realized that, wow, my house has doubled in three years.

I know I'm not insured for what the value of the house is.

Yeah.

So it's the matchstick test is what I tell people.

Again, there's just not enough information out there.

Most people buy insurance for their house based on a number the agent arbitrarily chose.

The agents have some ways of getting those numbers, which usually has to do with whatever you bought it for.

Some of them even have softwares that find that so they don't have to look it up.

And then usually they will move it up some small percentage every year based on what they think are reasonable.

But that's not keeping track with the market.

Right.

Problem with that is a few things.

In most states, it's your responsibility to figure out how much coverage you have.

So even if your agent did it, unless you, like, told him, I am trusting you to figure out the number.

And you bet, like, unless you can prove all that, that's on you, not them.

And you know, and then the other thing that happens a lot, which is really unfortunate, is there's things.

It's called CO insurance.

And basically what it means is if you didn't purchase enough insurance, you actually get penalized a second time.

Not just you're underinsured, but like, it'll say something like, for instance, if you're not insured to, value will figure out what you are insured to, and that's the percentage of your claim you'll get.

So even if you had enough coverage for the whole claim, let's say you had 100,000 in insurance, but your house is 500,000.

Right.

And you only have 20,000 of damage.

You're like, I'm good.

I got 100,000 in insurance.

We're fine with the.

They might come back and say, no, no, no coinsurance penalty.

You had to be insured at full value, so you had to be insured at 500.

So you were 20% insured.

So we're actually just going to pay you four grand for that $20,000 claim because that's 20%.

So, like, and Galen, this is why I have you on the show today.

Well, and no one tells them that.

That's the problem.

Like, the agents don't even bring it up.

So the test is this.

It's really simple.

And even though it's morbid, you stand outside and you stare at your house and you think, if I just decided today I wanted to live in a van down by the river and I wanted to burn this down, and then the next day I had buyer's remorse, right?

I'm all about the van down by the River.

But next day I get buyer's remorse.

And I want to rebuild this house from the ground up.

And I want to replace all my stuff inside.

What is the number that I need for each?

One number to build and one number to replace all your stuff.

That sucks.

To pay an extra 400, 500, 600 a year, really not that much when you think about it, in extra coverage that you think you don't need.

But that is the test.

That is how you know that you were covered.

And you need to do that every year.

When you get the renewal paperwork from your agent, go back outside and think about it.

What is it really going to cost?

My brother's house is a perfect example of this.

Three stories, basement, almost 5,000 square feet.

If you jump on Zillow, it says it's worth on the acre, $800,000.

I'm gonna guess it's 1.6 to replace it.

Yeah, I mean, look, I even have them like roofs.

So there's a lot of weird roof claims.

Asbestos is a great example.

Right.

But there's clay, tile and all these things.

And I'll see people that have like 300,000 in coverage.

And at first you just look at that house and you're like, yeah, it's like a three hundred thousand dollar house.

And then you find out that roof is out of production.

They don't make it anymore.

It's not a cheap architectural shingle.

And so you get one of the few contractors in the country, they're like really, really certified to install from that manufacturer.

They come down, they give you a quote and they quote you for like 280 for the roof.

And you're like, what in the actual world, like, that is a $300,000 house all day.

You know it, I know it.

We would not pay more than 300 to buy that house.

And the actual cost, like no one's inflating anyone listening is like, yeah, the contractor is a crooked, not a crook.

Like, because I'll go get the same bid from five others, right?

That roof is like worth just as much as that house.

And maybe they're in a historical district, so maybe they can't even put something cheaper on.

So you really have to think through it.

I know you don't have the expertise to do it, but you can kind of figure it out.

And you can even ask a contractor, like, hey, if I wanted you to build this house for me, what would.

You charge well, and even on top of that, let's take it even one more level.

They have to pull a building permit to put that new roof on.

And the permit department goes, hey, that roof isn't framed to hold that.

It won't pass today's engineering stuff.

So we need new engineering drawings and we need you to rebuild that roof system up there before you even put that $280,000 roof on.

Yeah.

And again, something a lot of people don't know is there's actually a provision for that in a lot of policies called law and ordinance, which basically says, hey, you know, if you're doing a lot of work, you're probably gonna have to upgrade just to meet the codes.

Not because you're trying to get away with, you know, going from laminate countertops to marble, you know, but there may be code things you gotta deal with.

So that's a law and ordinance coverage.

Really good coverage to have.

Really important.

I can't tell you how often I see it come up.

It also is one of the most frequently waived policy provisions.

And like, I have seen crazy, crazy stuff where that would have helped a homeowner, like, save a hundred grand.

And I'm like, how much did you get a discount on to get rid of that?

Like, that's a weird issue to me.

And what happened?

Less.

Like, less.

Right.

Because they're just checking off all these boxes to get their premium down by 50 bucks and they're waiving like 17 different types of coverage.

I saw one the other day.

There's no way it's legal.

Like we're going to challenge it.

There's no way it's legal.

Where in Exchange for a $32 a year savings, they agree not to hire anyone to help them with their insurance claim.

How can that be legal?

Yeah, there's no way it is.

We're going to challenge it, but I guess our client will owe them 32 bucks back.

But.

But literally to save $32, our client agreed not to hire a public adjuster to help them figure out what they're owed, just to accept whatever number the carrier said, well, you tell me when, because they know what the policy says when they come out.

You tell me what they're going to do when they get out there.

They're going to be like, yeah, I don't see anything.

Here's a dollar.

Exactly.

That's crazy.

At what level?

I want to get your opinion on this because I always say if you've got anything over just a small claim that you could almost pay out of pocket versus claiming on your.

On your homeowners.

At what point do you recommend getting that public adjuster or somebody in to help you with that claim?

Because it is so hard to navigate.

Yeah.

So I think those are two things there, and they're both really important.

And I'm not the typical lawyer that's like, no, hire a lawyer for everything, because it doesn't always make sense.

So the first thing is you do have to kind of get a rough idea of the magnitude of the damage.

Right.

So if you're talking to some contractor, your deductible is like two grand, and you're talking to some contractor, he's like, I can fix that for, like, 700 bucks.

I don't see a reason to open a claim.

I'm a.

I'm a prac.

Like, I'm pragmatic.

Right.

It's not that having it on there is going to hurt you a lot.

In most states, if it's not your fault, it's not really changing the metrics as far as your premiums and getting dropped and stuff.

But there's just no reason to deal with the hassle.

Like, it's just one more thing they're going to look at in a.

In a later claim.

They're going to want to see if you fix that.

Right.

Like, it's just not worth it.

It's not worth the hassle.

If it's cheap, it's easy.

However, do not just take that contractor's word for it.

Like, be investigative, be inquisitive.

Look around.

Okay, cool.

I asked a roofer, and he said he could just do a quick spot repair for seven bucks, you know, for 70 bucks.

But, you know, did I look in the attic or did I pay someone to look in the attic?

Is there water in there?

What does that mean?

Like, don't just stop at the number.

Like, really look at everything.

You know, ask a contractor, not a handyman.

Handyman's looking for the quick fix they can charge some bucks for.

Right.

And I don't mind that.

Like, I love doing stuff around the house myself.

I'll help people.

Like, I mean, I actually love your podcast because it's got so much great info.

Right.

But contractor is going to have an eye towards spotting everything.

Right.

Because they want to make money.

Yeah.

So, so ask them to help you spot things.

True.

And then if you get to a point where that claim is likely to be above your deductible, what I suggest is this.

Personally, unless it's like a crazy, crazy situation and, you know, it's going to be wild.

Let them come out.

Do not say ridiculous things to them because people love to, because they're trying to make friends, right?

Just tell them what happened.

Don't even point them to the areas that are affected.

Like, you can say, hey, the leak came in the kitchen.

But do not say, only check the kitchen.

Ask them to check everything.

Right?

Like you want them working on actually paying the claim, not creating a file that makes you sound like you told them what to do and exactly get that check.

And here's what you do next.

They're going to tell you, oh, just take that money.

It's just going to get you started.

Hire a contractor, do whatever.

That's terrible advice.

They usually don't even mean it.

They will leave you hanging with a bill and then they will try to negotiate and extort you and be like, well, this contractor is going to sue you for 20 grand, but I'll give you 14 if you agree to walk away.

You know it's terrible, right?

Instead, what I suggest is do this.

It's called the offensive check.

If you get that check and you're holding it and you feel offended by what is in that check, if you feel like it's close but not quite there, maybe try to work on it with your adjuster a little bit.

But if you were offended by that check, hire a public adjuster or hire a property casualty lawyer.

Got it?

That makes sense.

And that's different advice I've given.

So you see, I'm even learning something here.

So that's, that's great.

Let them get through the process.

And, and it's almost like when you're going to traffic court right now.

You don't, you don't want to say too much when you're in traffic court.

You just answer the questions as best you can and don't dig yourself in a bigger hole.

Yeah, and look, all my colleagues and competitors will tell you, even people within my office, like, get someone immediately.

And that's not bad advice.

It's just like not the most prudent, frugal economic advice.

Right?

Like we get brought in all the time on what we call large losses, like big commercial buildings.

Sometimes we'll get the call before the agent will.

Right, because they want us there.

Well, and the reason is actually not because they don't trust their insurance company.

It's because for them it's worth the little bit we charge at the beginning to make sure we're helping guide them.

Like, okay, you don't have a 40 page homeowner state farm policy.

You have a 1,000 page Lloyd's of London policy.

It's going to take us three weeks just to understand what it says.

And you have all these duties, like, right after a loss, all these things you have to do.

So before you just go hiring random people to start closing things and, you know, preventing the carrier from like actually adjusting the claim, we can kind of interface with that insurance adjuster, help move things smoothly.

But it's not necessary.

In your average, like, I had a pipe burst and there was a little bit of damage.

Like, we'll help you if you want to bring us in early, but it's not.

It's not usually worth it.

Got it.

So it's smart to bring in when the Home Depot burns to the ground, but maybe not when you have the small kitchen fire to start.

Yeah.

The more complicated, like the more complicated the structure is, the more complicated the damage is, the more likely you want to bring someone in early.

But on an average situation like you, you have a good gut.

Right.

So you want to trust your insurance company.

But when you.

When you get that check, if you're like, you know, they actually did pretty good.

I'm impressed.

But you have to have done your homework and already looked at everything and figured out what you're owed.

If you're pretty impressed, you're probably going to be fine.

That makes sense.

If you're offended, it doesn't usually get better.

Right.

Yeah.

Okay, I'm following you.

That makes sense.

So what happens, like down in the south, kind of where you're at hurricane season?

Right.

And I know there have been some huge stories that I've seen from people about insurance, people that had coverage, people that are getting dropped.

What are you seeing right now is kind of an update in the industry out there with that because it's a big deal.

Yeah.

So there's kind of.

There's a few things happening at once.

Some of them make a lot of sense, and some of them, in my opinion, are just inappropriate.

So the first thing that's going on, which is normal after any big loss, is these insurance companies have actuarial tables that basically say, based on the average rate of, like, when bad things happen and what your exposure is, if you charge X, you know, and you bring in Y, you will still make money even after paying all your claims fairly.

Right.

Man, a bunch of big hurricanes in a row really mess up that table and make that table a little inaccurate.

So some carriers are having problems because, you know, they get their own insurance, they actually purchase their own insurance.

So if they ever have to pay you, they have an insurance company to pay them.

But it's expensive.

It's a line item they don't want.

They want that money for bonuses and profits and salaries and all that fun stuff.

So there has been a trend over the last, like, decade to buy less and less and less what we call reinsurance.

And the state regulators have been letting them get away with that because they keep saying, oh, you know, if you want us in your state, you need to lower your reinsurance requirements.

So we kind of reached this really nasty place a couple of years ago where most of these smaller carriers, like the big, big carriers, they weren't in that position, but the smaller carriers didn't have enough insurance to cover their prospective losses, and they didn't keep cash reserves to really pay what they needed to pay.

So suddenly they're getting sued everywhere.

They're, you know, they're getting all these demands and they just kind of cave.

Wow, now there's a little substory to that, which is really sad.

So, first of all, usually when that happens, the state will pick that up and take care of that for you.

You know, they have different, what we call guarantee associations designed to make sure their citizens don't go homeless as a result of, you know, a carrier going under.

There are some penalties and consequences of that, but nevertheless, you'll probably be okay.

But, you know, the sad part of this story, and it's starting to come out, is bonuses paid to these people right before they went under, subsidiaries being created to funnel money out of the company.

So there's been a number of these small carriers that have gone under where, you know, at least on my side of the industry, we kind of feel like they didn't have to go under, they chose to go under and they kind of funneled money out on purpose.

That's.

I think you're going to see a lot of that over the next two years.

You're going to see a lot of investigations.

Some of the articles are already coming out.

And then the final thing that's going on is this is normal.

Like, when you hear about insurance companies going under, you just need to take a deep breath.

This happens anytime there's a bunch of big events like, go back, look at Katrina years, this happens.

It just does.

And Mother Nature is not getting better.

Not going to get political about why, but it's not, you know, almost like the climate might be changing.

So anyway, it's not getting better, it's going to get worse.

So just breathe but, you know, also don't buy into the hype.

So the other thing going on is keep in mind, like legislating government, it's all big business.

Right.

And, and that's not, not pointing the finger at them unfairly.

Every industry pays lobbyists to get things passed that help them.

And one of the things that insurance companies do not like is the ability of private citizens to really sue them on underpaid claims.

True.

And because it doesn't make economic sense, if so, one of the things they really want to do is pass laws that keep the public adjusters and the attorneys away from being able to help.

So we have what we call bad faith states.

In states where there's bad faith, even if you have a little $15,000 roof claim from your double wide, and you, and let's face it, you are then the most susceptible population because you do not have money to replace that double wide.

You don't, you know, usually an attorney will still take your case and they'll still take your case because if they can prove the carrier was inappropriate, depending on the standard, they can get all their attorney fees paid so they can go get you your 15 grand.

And even if the carrier makes them fight for six years, they can go get their hourly like amount to take care of that.

So it creates an environment where the carrier has no real incentive to screw you over if you hire an attorney.

Right.

That's not.

I.

Because they, you have a $15,000 claim, but you got $150,000 in insurance.

They're, they're better to pay 20 and get that done.

It's really simple, 100%.

But the highest profit margin is really in screwing over those small claims.

If you're in a state where there's no attorneys, no public adjusters that'll get involved because those people won't hire an attorney on an hourly basis to fight you because they can't afford it.

And no attorney is going to take it on contingency because they'll say, well, if I charge a third, I'll fight for six years, work my rear end off and make five grand, and then I'll be homeless.

Right.

Yeah.

So makes no sense.

So they just can't do it.

So that's the other thing going on is there's a lot of pressure on the legislatures to say, oh, you know, these carriers are going under.

So that what we really need to do to stop that is we need to get rid of all the protections for the consumer.

So like Florida is a great example.

Florida just eliminated almost Every single consumer protection out there for homeowners going forward, like, there's no bad faith, there's no attorney fees.

It was cute the way they did it because they added all these requirements for insurance companies to behave better, but they took away the ability for the private citizens to enforce it.

And most insurance commissioners are from the insurance industry.

They're not from the consumer industry.

So that's where they learned.

Yeah, that's where they learned, and that's who they are.

And a lot of them are elected and the insurance companies are funding those campaigns.

If I ran for insurance commissioner in Louisiana right now, I guarantee you every insurance company would put millions behind stopping me because.

Because they know I'll hold them all accountable.

Right.

I don't think I'd ever be able to raise.

Right.

Yeah.

I mean, well, they just.

They know that I won't be on their side.

I won't be against them.

But if I see consumers getting screwed over, I'm going to enforce the laws.

Right.

So they make sure they have someone that they think is going to be friendly there.

So that's kind of the other thing that's going on.

And I think that's unfortunate.

You can expect to see that in a bunch of states this year.

Louisiana will be next.

That's happening in a couple of months.

I think you can expect to see Louisiana propose a bill package that will eradicate all consumer protections for them.

They even want to add bills that say if you lose against your insurance company, you owe them money, which has never been like that.

And once Louisiana and a couple other Southern states pick it up, I think you'll see national legislation packages just in every state.

So that's the current thing that consumers are dealing with that they don't really realize they're dealing with.

So everybody out there, pay attention to what's going on in your local legislature, because if you have a claim, they could be pulling some serious money out of your pocket that you would legitimately be owed and tie your hands behind your back where you couldn't fight for it.

Yeah.

You know, and it doesn't have to be us versus them.

Like I'm not telling you.

You should love, love trial lawyers.

Lots of people hate lawyers.

That's not a big deal to me.

It doesn't hurt my feelings.

But, you know, I will say just general advice.

If you see a bill come up, ask yourself what it's about.

Don't just trust whoever's putting it forward.

And if you.

This is a great thing to do.

It's actually fun I, I promise you'll enjoy it.

You know, figure out who your local reps are for your state legislature, not just your federal.

Everyone knows who their congressman and their senator is.

Who's your state congressperson.

Right.

Figure that out.

Call them, email them.

You'll be amazed at how much more responsive they are than the feds.

Like way more responsive.

They'll actually write you, call you.

Thank you.

Have a real conversation with you.

And if you see something about insurance, just be like, hey, you know, my number one fear is that I pay for insurance, I don't get paid fairly, and then I have no way to get paid fairly because no one will take my case.

What can you do to help me?

And we found that those kind of, we call them grassroots campaigns are way more effective.

Because I'll tell you what I hear.

If I go meet with your legislator in your state, even if it's a state, I don't practice.

And I do this all over the country just to help.

Right.

They tell me my constituents don't care about that.

They've never once come to me about that.

And I'm like, well, crap, now I got to go knock on doors and see if I can get some people to call.

Right.

It's so true.

And to be honest, and this isn't any kind of political show, we try to steer away from it.

But you can get more done dealing with your local legislature than you can, you know, with your state than you can federal because that one person has usually way more power and change than you calling up your senator, you know.

And they're usually, again, because, because it's not political.

Like I don't care where you sit on the spectrum of like politics.

They're usually pretty cool people.

Like, especially at the state level, they're not getting paid, like, they're not making bank, so they're working a full time job.

They might live down the street from you, you might not like them, you might hate them, you might have a personal issue with them.

But generally speaking, they're just like us.

You know, they're, they're no one special when they're at that level.

Yeah.

And they want to, and they want to do something because they're, they're, like you said, not making banks.

So they're there to do change and to make things better.

So you handing them something to run with is not a bad thing.

Yeah, for sure.

And you never know.

And it doesn't just apply to this stuff.

Like you see a problem.

I'm not saying become the annoying neighbor like harassing your, your representative so they have to take out a restraining order.

Right.

But like it's amazing what gets accomplished just by shooting an email or making a phone call.

Amen.

What are you seeing out there with earthquake insurance?

I know I've got it here in my area just because I'm west coast.

But what do you see in that?

It's.

There's been earthquakes popping up in weird spots recently.

Yeah.

So I mean they haven't really pulled back much yet, but I think that's coming.

The problem with that is in order for them to really want to pull back, they will have to get comfortable philosophically that there just are more earthquakes than there have been.

Like, I don't really care what it is, but something's going on.

Like we're not all going to fall in the ice age in three years.

Right.

But like all of a sudden volcanoes are becoming active, earthquakes are happening.

Like that doesn't mean the world's going to end tomorrow.

But like the world changes, it always has.

Right.

At one point in time we were like one big continent, you know, so.

So the world is moving and changing and like we seem to be in.

A pretty weather and all that other stuff.

Yeah, I mean it's always, it always happens.

Like it's not a big deal, but we definitely seem to be in a weather heavy change at the moment.

You know, where natural disasters are just kind of happening.

You know, that may be cool.

Maybe in 100 years like some flower will pop up that will cure cancer.

I don't know.

But bottom line, like things are changing and the carriers are going to keep an eye out for that because that hurts.

That's not because they're bad.

Honestly, no one runs a business for free.

You know what I mean?

If I have a pizza shop and all of a sudden dough goes up 5x, don't get mad at me that I raise the price of my pizzas.

Correct.

Yeah.

That's the one thing you got to remember is these guys are not a state run public service place.

This is an actual business that has shareholders.

And this is one big corporation that is sitting there trying to navigate the, the profitability spectrum to helping its consumers.

And even the ones like some people listen to you say that and they'll be like, no, I have citizens.

Right.

Because citizens like the government run in your state.

But most citizens organizations are organized.

Like people don't know this.

Number one, in some states you have to prove that you tried to get other insurance and couldn't.

And they try to keep Their rates about equal to the commercial market.

Because carriers are not going to come to a state if the government is literally underbidding them on every single policy.

Right, sure.

So even honestly, the government funded insurance, it's not going to be a different price at all.

Makes sense.

And I'll be honest, I don't want to deal with the government to get my insurance claim either.

No, there is, trust me, there is that.

It's hard enough to get my license renewed to go to the dmv.

I don't need to make it worse.

Yeah, it's like the height of efficiency when you combine government and insurance.

Trust me, it's a, it's a crazy, crazy scary world.

I can imagine.

So what if you're a brand new homeowner out there, you just bought your first home, you moved in.

I know you probably have that homeowner's insurance coming out of your mortgage.

So you looked at your insurance once and set it and forget it.

And until you refinance your house, you might not look at it again.

What would you advise that new homeowner to do?

Yeah, a couple of things.

Right.

When you get your house, because you're super excited, because it's your house, walk through it, video it, record it, do whatever you got to do, do it again after you move your stuff in.

Just save those, do that once a year.

It's a really good idea to do, make it part of your spring cleaning.

Because everyone on this podcast is literally on this podcast because crap keeps breaking, right?

So you want to kind of document what keeps breaking.

We all know this is the, the nature of home ownership, you know, so do that.

Share it up on social media.

Oh, 100%.

Right.

The other thing is pick.

You just got a new policy when you closed on your house.

So back up two months and, and then fast forward a year so about 10 months from then put in a yearly recurring calendar.

Look at my insurance.

Right.

Reason you want to do that is twofold, like we talked about earlier.

You want to make sure you got the numbers right.

You want to just see who else is in the market, who's competitive.

The other thing you want to keep an eye on, and this is a big mistake homeowners make, is someone misses a premium payment, you miss it, they miss it, whoever.

You get some letter, hey, you know, bear in mind, you're supposed to have insurance.

If you don't get insurance, we'll buy insurance for you.

And you think, oh, cool, awesome.

I mean, I don't want to deal with this.

My mortgage Company, My mortgage company doesn't do crap for me.

It's about time they step up to the plate and do something.

Right.

They're buying insurance for them, not for you.

In most states, you can't even recover.

They will keep the money and you.

And if they underpay, you have no right to go after getting more money.

I have had so many conversations with, like, crying men and women who have lost everything and the carrier won't pay anything.

And they call me and say, can you help me?

And I'm like, yeah, send me your policy.

And I call them within five seconds of getting the policy, and I say, there's nothing I can do here.

And they're like, you didn't even look.

How do you know?

I said you had force place insurance from your mortgage company.

You are not insured.

You have no insurance.

This is all for your mortgage company.

They're just going to go cut a deal that they feel like cutting.

You still may even owe on the mortgage by the time they're done.

But you have to build this house out of your own pocket from the ground up.

Good luck.

And I'm sorry you lost everything.

That is eight.

And you're still going to be paying that mortgage payment because you still own the land.

Yeah, because they.

Well.

And they don't care.

Right.

So some of these, some of these mortgage companies actually get commissions for buying the policy.

So they're not even going to go back at the carrier and say, no, no, no.

You know, Eric owes 200 on this house, so we need at least 200 so we can wipe out his mortgage.

They couldn't care less.

They just want to capture the loss.

Yeah, they're fine.

They already made a commission.

They'll take whatever the carrier gives them.

And, you know, they'll just keep bilking Eric every month for his mortgage payment.

Oh, that is sad that that should not be happening to people out there.

Should not be happening.

So look, general rule, if your mortgage company wants to do something nice for you, it's probably not nice.

So take a look and figure out why.

Great advice.

You.

You need that on a coffee mug.

Yeah.

I mean, literally short of the mortgage company sending you a T shirt or a mug, like, turn down whatever they're offering you.

Go get.

Go get advice as to why.

Yeah, that makes good sense.

And like we were saying earlier, I mean, I know my house right now.

I got a.

I'm literally have it on my to do list for tomorrow is to go back and review because it's been 18 months since I looked at it and I know it's way wrong.

Yeah.

Just get it locked in.

Might cost you a couple extra hundred bucks this year.

But if, God forbid, anything were to ever happen, you would sleep soundly knowing you got what you need to get.

Well, and the problem that I have, and this is what happens to homeowners out there as well, is I've been putting in really nice stuff in my home because I do it for tv.

I've got really great stuff.

But a normal insurance isn't going to look at that and go, oh well, that's a normal bathroom.

They're not going to consider I have a steam shower in there or, you know, slab porcelain walls or whatever.

They're not looking at it that way.

No.

And that's the other advantage to doing the video and everything is once a year is.

It just really, really helps because let's say you go hire someone later like me or a public adjuster.

We also have not been living with you for the last several years.

Watching you put in your steam shower, it'd be creepy.

But now we know it's there and you can tell us, but we're going to save a lot of time by knowing what's there.

Yeah, that makes sense because yeah, that's a whole different realm.

You could take a, a $400,000 house and just change things on the inside and that's now an $800,000 house pretty quickly.

Yeah.

And for insurance, the value of the house is really what it's going to cost to fix it, not what you could sell it for.

And that number is.

Has nothing to do with this.

Oh yeah, 100%.

Right.

Zillow might think, ah, in this neighborhood that's a four hundred thousand dollar house.

But if you wanted to rebuild that house from the ground up, it'd be a lot more.

Yeah.

What are you seeing with historical homes as well?

Because you know, you'll get those up on the east coast where you've got this or even out where you're at where it's 150, 175 or 300 year old house.

The rules of reconstruction are completely different than if it was a 10 year old house.

Yeah.

So it's like I have a love hate.

So I love historic homes, love historic buildings, love historic architecture.

It's like it's a hobby and passion of mine.

I live in New Orleans, that's one of the reasons I live in New Orleans.

Right, Nice.

With that said, I hate historical societies and historic land commissions because like hos.

Yeah.

Look, I get it.

Like, let's keep the roof looking consistent.

And you had this beautiful ancient clay tile roof.

So we want to keep beautiful clay tile roofs.

But I do not exactly understand.

But that door better, better be made of wood.

What if I just make it look like it's wood?

It's wood.

You know, what if I want a metal door?

Like so Sometimes it just gets extreme.

But I will say this is one of the areas where you have to make sure you have the right insurance.

And that's that law and ordinance coverage I was talking about.

Because they'll say, well, hold on, all it's going to really cost to fix it is this.

But you've got some pseudo governmental agency or HOA telling you, nope, you better fix it this way.

And it's going to cost more.

And they say, aha.

So that difference is on you.

Yeah, that makes sense.

Like in my area here, I have protected trees.

I've got 300 year old trees on my property, half acre.

And it would be really tough to reconstruct this house because some of the trees are so close that you can't have.

You couldn't put a house within 10ft of those trees.

I've got a sweet little lady, I've got a sweet little old lady in Ohio.

She's got a small, you know, modest house.

It's historic though.

It's this clay tile.

It's pretty nothing, honestly.

Great to look at.

It was kind of looking old.

Hailstorm comes through, thrashes it ruins it.

She could get for like 75 grand, she could get a new clay tile roof installed on that roof.

It's what we call in production by the same manufacturer, everything.

Problem is that historic commission doesn't want that.

They want a recreation of that exact tile, that profile, that everything.

So we have to, and this is how crazy it gets, right?

We have to take that tile, send that back to the manufacturer, have the manufacturer make a mold of that tile and they have to hand pore every single shingle on.

Oh, that's expensive roof.

Yeah, 380 grand.

And you know, the carrier's like, well, why is this my problem?

And I'm like, well why is it hers?

You know, and she had, she had ordinance and law coverage, thankfully.

And like, look, I don't want to be, I don't want anyone to hand pour a bunch of tiles for this house.

Seems silly to me, but has anyone ever tried to change a historic commission's mind?

That is crazier than just about anything you can do.

They do not Budge.

No, no.

I've watched plenty of TV shows and I've heard my friends over at this old house have told me some stories over there as well of just having to deal with those things of you can't put white curtains.

They have to be cream, you know.

Oh, yeah.

They were like, you need to match the color.

And I was like, which color is that?

The color it was 70 years ago or the old color?

You tell me you want it looking old in age now or you want it looking how it did when it was installed?

Because I don't even understand what you mean by it needs to color match.

Oh, crazy.

So what are some of the warning signs that you would give to people out there as well?

I know there's.

We're not going to talk brands here because I know there's some brands that I've worked with and homeowners insurance that I've on.

Oh, that was a nightmare.

But what are some of the warning signs you'd give for somebody out there shopping that they should pay attention to?

Yeah.

So insurance is weird.

The way it works is as any of you that have bought it, but for those of you that might be about to purchase your first house, get ready because it's crazy.

You talk to an agent, they basically tell you what kind of coverage they'll offer you.

Usually they just speak flat numbers.

You buy it, you pay them, and then you get this thick policy in the mail that's like, here's everything you've agreed to.

Thank you, Have a great day.

And you're like, no one ever reads.

It, told me any of this.

Right?

So feel free to ask to see the policy.

They will look at you like you just like spoken tongues or something.

But you can actually see the policy.

They have to give it to you.

You don't have to buy it and then find out what it says later.

I would do that.

I'd work with your agent.

Find an agent you actually like.

I so many people in my industry are like, hate agents.

I love agents.

I just think some of them are lazy, just like some of everyone is lazy.

They're lazy lawyers, lazy doctors, you know.

So find a good agent who's going to actually sit down with you, sitting, spend the time with you, explain the coverages to you.

Independent agents, we have like captive and independent.

A captive agent is one that look like, let's say they're a State Farm agent.

Right.

Independents will write for multiple companies.

I like independent agents because they also, if they're good, will be like, well, let me Tell you what I'm seeing in the market, this carrier has been riding really aggressively and dropping their costs lately.

This one, it keeps trending up and I keep hearing horror stories about the claims.

Like, so a really good agent will kind of walk you through all that.

And look, if you get in and it's just like the hustle.

Sign, sign, sign, walk away and find another one there.

These agents make commission.

And I promise you, the good agents, like, rise to the top by initially starting with really good, detailed customer service.

And they usually have a couple of, like, superstars in their office who are trying to become agents themselves.

So they also are picking up that, you know, that same mentality of, like, good, solid customer service.

They'll do that for you because they want you to be their customer for life, because they get residuals forever on the insurance you purchase.

And then eventually, when they want to retire, they can sell their entire business and that includes you.

So they will work with you.

But you have to have the guts to demand quality service.

And that's so much better than jumping online and, and filling out the form and getting the stuff in the mail.

Yeah, I mean, no one's really explaining this to you.

They're just, they're just sending you something.

And look, I'm big fan of Internet online forms, automation, but this is something you want to understand.

Amen.

Amen.

Galen, thanks for coming on today.

Is there anything that we didn't cover today that we should be talking about?

No, I think we hit it.

You know, I know especially when you're dealing with kind of fixing things, renovating, remodeling, just make sure that you keep an eye out for these types of things.

Like, you will find damage, you'll find old things, and, you know, make sure you're fixing things, documenting, repairing, documenting all that stuff.

And I mean, I promise you, if you keep your wits about you, use like just kind of these few tests that we walked through, like, you can navigate just about any situation.

Nice, man.

Where's the best place for people to track you down if they go, oh, my gosh, I just had a big, huge event and I need help?

Yeah, sure.

Insurance claim HQ.

So that's like insurance claim headquarters, insurance claim HQ.

And then you also can call 844-claim-84, like 24.

7.

We'll answer that phone.

And then we're on all the, you know, all the cool kids social media these days, but, but we actually respond.

So, you know, that's kind of fun.

Even better.

Even better.

Well, brother, thanks for coming on today.

And we'll bring you back in later and deal other stuff, because this is just the beginning of these topics because there's a lot for everybody to learn.

Thanks, man.

Thanks for having me.

It was great.

All right, guys.

And you've been listening to around the House.