Do you have Forced Place Insurance and have a Claim?
In the event that you have Forced Place Insurance on your property, understanding what will happen in the event of a loss or claim leaves most with several questions. First, lets start by explaining what Forced Place Insurance is: In the event that homeowners fail to maintain proper insurance on a mortgaged property many times they will end up with Force Place Insurance. This type of insurance is purchased by your mortgage company to protect their interest in your property. This insurance is extremely pricey and limited on what is covered. They will typically charge you much more than regular insurance and basically all they are going to cover is the actual property, not your contents, liability or additional living expenses. This is basically insurance for the Mortgage Company and not for you. The unfortunate thing is that typically you are going to pay 2-3x more for that policy that has much less coverage meaning that if you have a Forced Place Insurance Claim you may not be able to recover from all of your losses. In the event that you suffer a loss to a property with Forced Place Insurance, we can still help to ensure that you recover the maximum benefits under this type of policy.
Below is an article we found on Reuters discussing the Forced Place Insurance Policy and what they are doing to protect the consumers from this practice.
(Reuters) – The practice of banks forcing expensive homeowners insurance on borrowers could come to an end after Fannie Mae told lenders it would seek to
Forced place insurance claims happen when you least expect it. You do not have to settle for less than you deserve just because you have forced place insurance, we can help!
oversee such policies itself.
For many homeowners who are required to buy insurance as a condition of getting or keeping a mortgage, there is no choice as to insurer, terms or price. They end up with “force-placed insurance,” controversial policies that are purchased by the bank or mortgage servicer on the homeowners’ behalf.
Government-controlled Fannie Mae, the biggest source of money for U.S. home loans, notified lenders of the planned policy change in a Tuesday bulletin, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters.
“Fannie Mae will soon implement changes to its Lender-Placed Insurance (LPI) requirements to significantly reduce costs to homeowners, taxpayers, and Fannie Mae,” it said, adding that it has issued a request for proposals to insurance companies to compete for the business.
“The (proposal) is structured to ensure that insurance costs are significantly reduced,” Fannie said. Fannie Mae also said it would issue guidelines to mortgage servicers on when and how to obtain what are often called “force-placed” policies, and on what costs would be reimbursable.
In many cases, existing force-placed insurance policies are sold by insurance companies owned by the lenders, or by insurers with which the lenders have a financial relationship. Prices are usually substantially higher than they would be normally.
“Our goal is to reduce costs for Fannie Mae and thereby taxpayers, and to reduce a barrier for homeowners becoming current on their loans,” said Andrew Wilson, a spokesman for Fannie Mae.
New York financial regulators have been investigating the practice, issuing subpoenas in January to roughly two dozen insurers and mortgage servicers.
New York’s Department of Financial Services said it would continue its probe, even with Fannie’s move.
“Force placed insurance has been and will continue to be one of our top initiatives,” the department’s superintendent, Ben Lawsky, said in a statement.
American Banker first reported the details of the Fannie bulletin.
(Reporting By Ben Berkowitz in Boston; Additional reporting by Karen Freifeld in New York and Margaret Chadbourn in Washington; Editing by Mark Porter and Steve Orlofsky)
For more information on how we may be able to assist you in the event that you suffer damage to your property even if you have a forced place insurance claim, please call 800-801-2099 and speak with a Public Adjuster today.
