I have a question about accessing information about my own property on file with my home insurer.
As you know, home insurers require detailed info about a (residential) property in order to assess risk and calculate premiums. Things like age and type of roof, wiring, furnace, etc. It's a long list which may change over time due to upgrades and maintenance. For example, we added a small pergola and wood flooring in our backyard.
My question is do I have a right to inspect this information and to correct any material errors? I would expect the answer is "of course!" I don't want is to be charged excess premiums or have a claim denied because the info on file is outdated or inaccurate.
Note that my current insurer, TD Insurance, does not provide this info to me in their policy documents, nor make it available to me on their online dashboard. There isn't even a clear way to request access other than to make a "freedom of information access request". When I call the insurer to request access, they seem perplexed like they've never heard such a request before, or they simply can't understand why I want the info, I feel like I'm being treated with suspicion even after explaining myself calmly, over and over again to each person they pass me to. To be clear, I am not asking for business proprietary information – just my own property information on file that is used to calculate my premiums). After several calls, involving escalation, I finally received a small jpg screenshot showing very limited info about my property (including that I own a garage, which i do not)
I'd appreciate hearing the experience and views of members of this subreddit. For added context, I live in Ontario, Canada.
p.s. an added benefit to accessing info about your property on file is that you can share with another insurer and get a separate quote without having to put together all over again.
Right of access to own property information on file with home insurer?
byu/JuniorQ2000 inInsurance
Posted by JuniorQ2000
4 Comments
Most use info that is publicly available on your county auditors site. It shows square footage, bathroom count, construction year, dates permits were pulled for upgrades or renovations etc.
Generally your agent will go through the rough details when quoting the home. You can call your agent and request your RCE (replacement cost estimate).
You could call and see what the insurance company says. They may be able to do an estimator with you and make sure it’s all correct and go over roof/electrical/plumbing years with you. Worst they could do is tell you they can’t (at which point you can shop)
If you have an agent, make an appointment and request to see your file, paper & digital. This is the information the agent has, there maybe more at the company which he does not have access to. In California if you want a copy of the agent file, they can charge you for the time & expense to make a copy for you.
If you bought online, this request is above the CSRs pay grade. Maybe you’ll get a copy of the “replacement cost estimate” which should have some info on how the value of your house was determined. 80% is gleamed from city hall records which is incorrect about a quarter of the time.
Most of the information the insurance company has about you will be considered ‘work product’ and not be required to be shared. The exceptions will be the reports that fall under the Fair Credit Reporting Act like your CLUE report which is claims history by Lexisnexis. You can request a copy of your CLUE report from Lexisnexis and correct any data you find wrong by going following the steps at https://consumer.risk.lexisnexis.com/.
Honestly, the best way for you to see what info your insurer has is to read over the policy application you signed when you obtained the insurance policy. It should list all of the underwriting information they used. Other than that, they may be some inspection reports you wouldn’t have access to (work product).
Many insurers list basic risk info like year build, how many stories, exterior construction, year of updates, etc on their policy declarations pages too.