Our insurance company sent someone out to take photos of our home. They then sent us a letter stating we must fix cracked windows and remove any foliage that is near or hangs over house and out-building. Nothing specific or we would be cancelled. All foliage is living, nothing dead. Can they do this? We live in Michigan.
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19
Can they do this?
Yes.
They're trying to identify potential hazards/liability and have you mitigate that before problems happen for which they'd have to pay. Cracked windows and seemingly neglected yard seem to suggest that you're not maintaining the property (that's how the insurance company sees it, even if it disagrees with the actual reality).
Insurance companies are having a lot of losses due to the various weather events (wildfires, wind damage, floods), and in many States regulators resist their push to allow them to raise premiums to cover those losses. Harassing homeowners in this way is a way to put pressure on the politicians to allow them to charge more.
In California, for example, not only do they have these proactive inspections and cancellations, but some insurers leave the State altogether since the increasing risk of wildfires and the regulatory resistance to allow increasing premiums makes it much less profitable for them to operate in the State.
littleadv
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Can they do this?
If your insurance contract says they are allowed to cancel the insurance if you don't make certain maintenance work they identified as possible hazards, then they can do this.
If your insurance contract says that they have to insure you no matter what you do with your house, they can't.
So you will have to dig out the copy of your insurance policy and read it.
Philipp
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