A California couple was dropped from their home insurance plan last month due to a satellite photo of “moss” on their roof, but the homeowners said they were just solar panels.
The Colemans, who live in the Bay Area suburb of Fairfield, received a letter in the mail from Liberty Mutual telling them their policy would not be renewed after September 5, 2024.
The reason given was the “state of the property.” The 112-year-old insurer claimed the roof had algae, mold and/or moss “that negatively impacts” its structural integrity.
Liberty Mutual provided a satellite photo in its message to the Colemans, and the couple was surprised to learn that their insurer of 20 years seemed to confuse the moss with the solar panels on their roof.
“I wasn’t sure from the picture they sent what specific area they were talking about,” Janice Coleman said. CBS 13before explaining that the three rectangular black dots on its roof were actually solar panels.
Janice Coleman, pictured, and her husband were shocked to learn that Liberty Mutual refused to renew their home insurance last month.
Pictured: A satellite view of the Colemans’ home, which has solar panels on the roof.
“For being customers for 20 years, this is a really bad deal,” Janice added.
Liberty Mutual told CBS that it does not “publicly discuss the details of an individual underwriting decision.”
Anthony Coleman, Janice’s husband, said he believed the company canceled her policy to save money.
“I feel like they made a technology-based decision just to reduce their portfolio and get rid of our property like they are doing with thousands of others in the state of California,” he said.
The Colemans have since found another company to cover them, but at a higher cost, CBS 13 reported.
Karl Susman, an insurance broker for the past 30 years, said insurers should give their clients the option to fix the problem and allow them to defend their case if a mistake is made.
The Colemans said they hired a roofer to prove their roof was in good condition, but Liberty Mutual still refused to reverse their decision.
“They don’t want the Department of Insurance to criticize them,” Susman explained to CBS 13. “And believe me, they will if they don’t renew them for a reason that doesn’t exist.”
Susman added that insurance companies across California are looking for reasons to lose customers because it’s hard to make a profit in the state.
Liberty Mutual, a company that has been around for 112 years, canceled the Colemans’ insurance policy and allegedly refused to reverse their decision after they provided documentation that their roof was structurally sound.
“Oh, they are indeed losing money,” he said. ‘Packet.’
An investigation of data from the 10 largest home insurers carried out by the San Francisco Chronicle revealed that more than 100,000 Californians lost their home insurance between 2019 and 2024.
Californians who receive nonrenewal notices, as the Colemans did, have rights and options they can exercise.
For example, California passed a law in 2018 that established a one-year moratorium on companies canceling home insurance policies for customers affected by wildfires.
With this toolResidents can check if their zip code qualifies.
If this is not an option, homeowners can also file a complaint with the California Department of Insurance if they believe their insurer has violated the law.
Both residents and businesses can also apply for insurance through the FAIR Plan if they cannot find coverage through traditional brokers.
As of 2020, the FAIR Plan, a private entity created by the government but operated by insurance companies, covers less than 3 percent of Californians.
