[ad_1]
Insurance coverage corporations have more and more used aerial imaging to evaluate the situation of roofs on insured properties for underwriting functions. Native and nationwide media have begun to spotlight the observe as some shoppers have complained about insurers terminating their property insurance policies for underwriting causes based mostly on roofs recognized in poor situation by drone or satellite tv for pc imaging.
On March 8, 2024, the Division of Insurance coverage responded to questions and complaints from insureds about insurers utilizing aerial inspections. It issued on its web site a Q&A submit entitled “The Reality about Your Roof: Understanding How Insurance coverage Corporations Use Aerial Imaging to Assess Roof Situation.” Within the submit, the Division advises shoppers about insurers having the precise to make use of aerial imaging in Massachusetts and the underwriting penalties from the insured constructing having observable roof points found by aerial imaging.
The Division’s submit on: “The Reality about Your Roof: Understanding How Insurance coverage Corporations Use Aerial Imaging to Assess Roof Situation”
The Division of Insurance coverage is conscious of client issues relating to insurance coverage corporations utilizing aerial imaging to view their house’s roof. The Division has developed the next Q&A to assist shoppers perceive their rights, and the rights of the insurance coverage firm, in utilizing aerial imaging.
Can my insurance coverage firm take photos of my house? That looks as if an invasion of privateness.
Sure. In Massachusetts, insurance coverage corporations have a proper to view and/or examine the property that they’re insuring. Historically, the insurance coverage firm despatched a chosen particular person to your own home to examine the property in individual. Throughout the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, some insurance coverage corporations have been performing digital inspections. As expertise has created extra choices, some insurance coverage corporations are actually utilizing aerial imaging, by way of drone or satellite tv for pc, for instance, to seize photos of the properties they insure.
Can my insurance coverage firm determine to non-renew or cancel my insurance coverage due to these aerial photos?
Insurance coverage corporations use inside guidelines, referred to as underwriting pointers, to determine whether or not they need to insure your property. In case your roof is at a sure age, has a major quantity of moss and/or cracked shingles, or has too many timber hanging over it, and so on., they will determine that they don’t need to insure your own home.
In case your insurer decides to non-renew your coverage, they need to present written discover to you or your agent 45 days previous to the coverage expiration date. This discover should additionally embody the particular causes for such choice.
As soon as a coverage has been in impact for 60 days, underneath Massachusetts regulation (M.G.L. c. 175, §99), it may be solely cancelled throughout the time period of the contract for the next causes:
- nonpayment of premium;
- conviction of against the law which will increase hazard underneath the coverage;
- fraud or misrepresentation by the insured in acquiring the coverage;
- willful or reckless acts or omissions by the insured rising the hazard of injury;
- bodily modifications within the property making property uninsurable; or
- a dedication by the commissioner that continuation of the coverage would violate or place the insurer in violation of the regulation.
Cancellation of a coverage requires the corporate to offer 5 days written discover to the insured (10 days written discover for non-payment of premium) and 20 days written discover to lender or mortgage firm previous to the cancellation of a coverage. You, nonetheless, can determine to cancel your coverage anytime and for any cause.
Insurance coverage corporations licensed to jot down householders insurance coverage in Massachusetts are prohibited from utilizing race, shade, non secular creed, nationwide origin, intercourse, age, ancestry, sexual orientation, kids, marital standing, veteran standing, the receipt of public help or incapacity of the applicant or insured, when deciding whether or not to concern, renew, or cancel householders insurance coverage.
Do I’ve any rights to attraction the non-renewal?
There is no such thing as a formal attraction course of in your insurance coverage contract or underneath state regulation. Nevertheless, you continue to have the precise to ask your insurance coverage firm for an evidence as to why they’re non-renewing your coverage and supply documentation, in case you have it, to assist assist your argument for why you have to be renewed. For instance, if the insurance coverage firm decides to non-renew your coverage as a result of the aerial imaging exhibits indicators of “put on and tear” on the roof, and you’ve got the receipt from a roofing firm displaying that your roof was changed two years in the past, you will have the precise to offer them with that data.
The insurance coverage firm in the end reserves the precise to non-renew your coverage however state regulation, M.G.L Ch. 176D, protects shoppers from unfair insurance coverage practices. Most insurance coverage corporations ought to be receptive to reviewing your documentation to grasp if the picture they’re utilizing is probably not present.
What if I’m keen to exchange my roof however I can’t get it performed earlier than the coverage expires?
It’s best to focus on together with your insurance coverage firm. For those who can show that you’ve a signed contract for the work to start, they might be keen to resume the coverage.
How can I discover a new insurance coverage firm if mine decides to non-renew my coverage?
You will get quotes from different insurers and change to a distinct insurance coverage firm. This observe is known as “buying round” and might be performed all year long, not simply on the coverage renewal. We encourage shoppers to buy round, as in our aggressive market, insurers compete for his or her enterprise. Simply because one service won’t write your coverage doesn’t imply one other won’t. Lastly, the Massachusetts Property Insurance coverage Underwriting Affiliation (MPIUA), also called the FAIR Plan, is the insurer of final resort if you happen to can’t discover any firm keen to jot down your coverage.
[ad_2]