floridacoast
Junior Member
What is the name of your state? FL
Hello and thank you in advance for your advice. Any advice and/or comments will be appreciated.
Before 10/30/06, my original Homeowner's Insurance (HOI) raised their rates to a ridiculous amount. I called my agent and he told me it was the best they could do. So I kindly told him I would NOT be renewing the policy and that I would be going with a different insurance company. I never signed a renewal agreement.
My HOI and Taxes are in escrow. I contacted my mortgage company to inform them of the change, I had the new HOI (with a much better rate) send them the paperwork and I verified that they took over the HOI on 10/30/06 with no lag time.
So, here I thought everything was fine UNTIL I received my monthly bill from my mortgage company for April ... The escrow had gone up $200. I subsequently found out that my original HOI company (the one I did NOT want) billed my mortgage company and my mortgage company idiotically paid them the $2250 for the premium. So, I was carrying TWO HOIs on my property without even knowing it!
I contacted the original HOI and spoke to a representative who, at first, apologized for the mix up and told me to sing some papers -- I would receive a full refund in 4 weeks according to her. Recently, I received a Cancellation Declaration Page that states I would NOT receive a full refund. They want to charge me $600 in fees ($500 underwriter fee and $100 fee).
I called the original HOI company and they told me the insurance company (USF&G) had recently changed its cancellation policy and she would do her best to talk to them and try to waive the fees. I am still awaiting her reply.
But, just in case, i am writing this post pro-actively. If they do decide to charge me fees, how can I fight this? What is an underwriting fee? Isn't that basically the commission? What regulation, US Department/office or complaints group can I say I will go to if this is not resolved (maybe to make them realize I will not stay quiet if they chose to charge me)? Also, don't I have to SIGN the renewal notice every year with my HOI? How can they charge me for insurance I did NOT accept (especially after the increase). Any ideas or professional advice would be appreciated.
Thank you.
Hello and thank you in advance for your advice. Any advice and/or comments will be appreciated.
Before 10/30/06, my original Homeowner's Insurance (HOI) raised their rates to a ridiculous amount. I called my agent and he told me it was the best they could do. So I kindly told him I would NOT be renewing the policy and that I would be going with a different insurance company. I never signed a renewal agreement.
My HOI and Taxes are in escrow. I contacted my mortgage company to inform them of the change, I had the new HOI (with a much better rate) send them the paperwork and I verified that they took over the HOI on 10/30/06 with no lag time.
So, here I thought everything was fine UNTIL I received my monthly bill from my mortgage company for April ... The escrow had gone up $200. I subsequently found out that my original HOI company (the one I did NOT want) billed my mortgage company and my mortgage company idiotically paid them the $2250 for the premium. So, I was carrying TWO HOIs on my property without even knowing it!
I contacted the original HOI and spoke to a representative who, at first, apologized for the mix up and told me to sing some papers -- I would receive a full refund in 4 weeks according to her. Recently, I received a Cancellation Declaration Page that states I would NOT receive a full refund. They want to charge me $600 in fees ($500 underwriter fee and $100 fee).
I called the original HOI company and they told me the insurance company (USF&G) had recently changed its cancellation policy and she would do her best to talk to them and try to waive the fees. I am still awaiting her reply.
But, just in case, i am writing this post pro-actively. If they do decide to charge me fees, how can I fight this? What is an underwriting fee? Isn't that basically the commission? What regulation, US Department/office or complaints group can I say I will go to if this is not resolved (maybe to make them realize I will not stay quiet if they chose to charge me)? Also, don't I have to SIGN the renewal notice every year with my HOI? How can they charge me for insurance I did NOT accept (especially after the increase). Any ideas or professional advice would be appreciated.
Thank you.