The District's Mirel said most complaints to his agency come from policyholders who say they are not being reimbursed quickly enough after a loss or "who claim a certain loss, and the insurance adjuster says it's not as much as they thought."
Underinsurance, however, has drawn big headlines on the West Coast, where several hundred Southern Californians who lost homes to wildfires last fall have protested that their coverage was inadequate.
For More Information
Some useful Web sites on homeowners insurance:
• www.mdinsurance.state.md.us from the Maryland Insurance Administration. Click on "Consumer Information" for a consumer's guide and a comparison guide of rates in 10 different Zip codes in the state.
• www.state.va.us/scc/division/boi from the Virginia Bureau of Insurance, a division of the Virginia State Corporation Commission. Click on "Consumer," then under "How can we help you?", click "Want one of our publications?" for a guide to homeowners/renters insurance.
• www.disr.washingtondc.gov from the D.C. Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking. Click on "Insurance Industry" for consumer information.
• www.iii.orgfrom the Insurance Information Institute. Click on the left side on "home." The site also has information in Spanish.
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How to Keep Premiums Low
The Insurance Information Institute and the Consumer Federation of America offer these suggestions on how to keep premiums low:
• Shop around. Check at least three to five reputable companies for comparable coverage. "People can save $100 on average if they spend an hour" shopping around, said J. Robert Hunter of the Consumer Federation. The savings are based on focus groups.
• Make sure your credit report is accurate . In most states, insurance companies can use your credit score to deny coverage, set rates or offer discounts. Maryland bans the use of credit scores in denying insurance.
• Increase the deductible. If the deductible is increased from $250 to $1,000, you could save at least 25 percent in annual premiums.
• Ask companies if you will get a discount if you buy auto and life insurance from them, too. But check both the combined costs of the premiums and the costs of individual products from different companies.
• Add security devices, sprinkler systems and fire alarms. Insurers offer discounts for such items.
• Check whether your insurer charges more if you have a dog or a particular breed of dog. Because dog bites now account for almost a quarter of all homeowners insurance liability claims -- about $345.5 million annually -- some insurers are clamping down. Some require dog owners to sign liability waivers for dog bites, while others charge more for owners of breeds such as pit bulls and Rottweilers. Others won't write insurance for dog owners at all.)
Here are the three most important questions to ask your agent, said Carolyn Gorman, vice president of the Insurance Information Institute:
• If my house is destroyed, do I have enough insurance to rebuild it?
• If my house is destroyed, do I have enough insurance to replace my personal property?
• Do I have enough insurance to protect my assets if I'm sued?
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The fires destroyed more than 3,600 homes. At least 219 families filed complaints about being underinsured.
While the Washington area isn't prone to the kinds of disasters that lead to widespread destruction of homes, industry officials say homeowners here should still make sure they have the appropriate coverage.
Insurers recommend annual reviews of coverage, and updates whenever needed. It costs $4 to $5 for each additional $1,000 in coverage, experts said.
"I do believe there are people who are underinsured here because the market is so hot here, construction costs are so high and so many people are updating their homes," said Carolyn Gorman, vice president of the Insurance Information Institute, a research group of the insurance industry.
"If they add on to their house, they probably have told their insurer, but if they're upgrading or renovating existing spaces, they probably have not," she said.
Gorman noted that when a mortgage loan is refinanced, insurers are notified of the new appraisal and the new loan value. That may prompt discussions of whether it's time to increase coverage. If a homeowner uses a home equity line for renovations, however, the insurance agent doesn't have to be called.
The institute recommends that homeowners contact their agent before or shortly after a renovation begins rather than waiting until it is complete. If the new addition is destroyed or damaged before the coverage has been increased, the policyholder may be responsible for the cost of repairing or rebuilding the addition.
Gorman stressed how important it is for homeowners to tell agents about their particular homes. "The insurance company can tell you what they think your house is worth, but they don't know your house as well as you do," she said. "If you have hardwood floors, nice tile work and top-of-the-line appliances and artworks, you need to be sure that this is part of your policy and that you are insured for them. Insurance companies use models to estimate value."
She added that policyholders should get policy endorsements, or extra coverage, if they own fine jewelry, furs, artwork, or family heirlooms that exceed the standard coverage in their policy.
Consumer advocates caution that homeowners don't want to be overinsured, either.
"Actually being a little underinsured is good if you're a consumer" because most homes aren't in disaster-prone areas, where they could be demolished, said J. Robert Hunter, director of insurance for the Consumer Federation of America and former Texas insurance commissioner.
"If I lived in Arlington, I'd rather be insured between 90 and 100 percent because the chance of a total loss is almost nonexistent," Hunter said. Not only are such disasters rare in the Washington area, he said, "but the fire departments here are very good."
