Couple upset after insurance company won’t insure home

Searching for new home insurance can be stressful when you find out your current company refuses to cover your new house. It’s happening to a Fruitland couple.

“It's the gray house right behind me over here with the three car garage is what we purchased,” said Don Briggs, Fruitland Volunteer Fire Chief. “So actually we are just moving almost across the street,”

Fruitland Volunteer Fire Chief Don Briggs has been looking forward to calling the three car garage his new home. He says the space will allow him to expand his home shop.

“It's got a more open concept on the inside, less sidewalk to maintain and we're not getting any younger, but I can build a bigger shop,” said Fire Chief Briggs.

He made the offer on the home last year and put his current house, just across the street, up for sale. After getting the keys last week, he was hoping Liberty Mutual his home insurance would transfer over, but that's not the case.

“He (Agent) calls us back and says that when you get that new policy for that new house. You will not be covered because you're in a volunteer fire department fire district,” said Fire Chief Briggs.

Chief Briggs says he doesn't understand.

“It was kind of shocking at first, the more you thought about it, the more upset I was getting. We've been with this company for so long we've had everything with them,” said Fire Chief Briggs.

The policy is something Rock Island Fire Marshal Greg Marty has never heard.

“When someone's denied coverage typically there's another very large underlying factor,” said Greg Marty, Rock Island Fire Marshal. We’ve never heard of somebody being denied coverage because of an insurance rate. Whether in a city or even in the most rural areas,”

Marty says insurance companies use data from Insurance Services Office or ISO to determine how much a particular homeowner will pay. A higher ISO rate means a higher premium.

“If you had that higher ISO rate, which would be expected if you're in a rural area. It would cause your insurance rates to be a little higher potentially,” said Marty.

Chief Briggs says he accepts having to pay a higher premium but doesn't understand a company refusing coverage at all. He says he's moving into his new home no matter what.

“I got to make sure I got insurance and if they're not going to ensure me. I got to go someplace else to get it,” said Fire Chief Briggs.

TV6 reached out to Liberty Mutual to get their side of the story. They say Briggs has been misinformed. They acknowledge they're not able to provide coverage on the home but say it has nothing to do with the fire department and won't go into more details. Briggs tells me Liberty Mutual also won't give him any more details. TV6 reached out to Liberty Mutual again to ask about that and they repeated that they don't comment on customers' policies.

Chief Briggs and his wife have since gotten a new insurance company and say their goal is to make people aware of their situation.