Saturday evening, while our tenants were out, someone kicked in the back door of their house and went through all of their stuff, stealing their laptops and a digital camera (all they had of "value") (also, on a weird note, this was their second break in in 2 months, the other one might have been a teensy bit their fault since they had left a window open a crack. Fortunately for this break-in, they had renter's insurance).
After confirming that the tenant and their dogs were okay, we called the insurance company to see what we should do about getting the back door fixed.
Jason, the guy my husband talked to initially told him that our deductible was $1000. My husband says "that means, we have to pay the first $1000, right?"
"Oh, no," says Jason, "We'll cover anything up to $1000."
"Are you sure?" my husband asked. "We really won't have to pay anything out of pocket unless it's over $1000?"
It didn't sound right to us, but Jason confirmed it several times. And it was kind of a relief, to be able to get our tenants back in a secure house without taking too much of a hit to the wallet for us.
Today, after getting an $800+(!) quote for the new door and repair of the frame, we called the insurance company to find out what to do next.
Guess what?
Everything Jason said was incorrect. The $1000 deductible? Is a $1000 deductible. Which means we're out of pocket $800+.
Here's my thing - no one calls an insurance claims rep to chat. People call them because they've something significant happen in their lives; car accident, house fire, break-in. These events tend to shake people up. It would seem that a claims representative should understand and be able to clearly explain the salient points of an insurance policy, if for nothing else, than to make the whole process as painless as possible.
Thanks a heap, Jason.
(and before anyone asks, I'm sure we have our policy around here somewhere, but we're in the process of moving AGAIN, which is why we were relying on the insurance guy for info.)
