Who would be foolish enough to shell out several thousand dollars for an overpriced product that they knew little about and would most likely never really need?

Just about everyone who has ever bought a house. Home buyers can spend days haggling with sellers over a few thousand dollars on the purchase price or whether the chandelier conveys. But once the deal is done they don't bat an eyelash at spending another 0.5% to 1% of the mortgage amount as a one-time premium for title insurance. What's more, they don't bother to look for the best deal and probably can't even name their insurer.

Home buyers are in this fix because you can't get a mortgage without title insurance. Lenders require it to protect themselves against any title problems that may surface after the property changes hands. But while it's the lender that benefits, it's generally the homeowner who pays the bill. Home buyers generally funnel all that money directly to the title insurer their real estate agent or settlement company recommends.

So this is title insurance in a nutshell: You, the homeowner, pay a premium to the title company to protect your lender from mistakes made by the company when it does a title search. Are you a sucker, or what?

To make matters worse, even though you're paying the bill, the title company's client is the real estate agent, lender, lawyer or homebuilder who brought in your business. Part of your premium likely goes toward rebates or other rewards for the referral (critics call them kickbacks), which many title insurers consider a cost of doing business.

"At one time, title companies would take entire real estate firms on ski trips," says Erin Toll, director of consumer affairs for the Colorado Division of Insurance, one of several state insurance departments that have been taking more aggressive action against insurers for their cozy business practices.

"It's a very creative industry, and they are extremely competitive with each other," says Toll. But it's the middlemen, not consumers, who benefit, because companies don't compete on price. "The consumer isn't in a position to exert market pressure to drive down the price of title insurance," says Birny Birnbaum, an economic consultant who has served as an expert witness at title-insurance-rate hearings.

Claims are rare

Most title problems are discovered and corrected during the title search at the time a property is sold. If a discrepancy comes up after the property has changed hands, the insurer will most likely pay to clear up the problem. In a worst-case scenario -- some long-lost cousin of a former owner resurfaces and lays a legitimate claim to the property, for instance -- you would lose the house but the insurance would kick in to pay off the mortgage and protect the lender from any loss.

Most claims occur within the first three years of a mortgage, before your equity has built up and while the lender is bearing the lion's share of the risk. If there's a claim, it's the lender, not the policyholder, who collects. Lenders hardly ever collect either, because claims are extremely rare.

Claims are so rare, in fact, that insurers spend as little as 5 cents to 10 cents of every premium dollar to pay them. In Texas, only 2 cents of every premium dollar goes to pay claims. The rest of the money goes toward expenses -- including the high fixed cost of maintaining a large database of title information (not to mention the cost of ski trips) -- or is retained by the company as profit. By contrast, companies that sell auto or health insurance typically spend 90 cents or more of every premium dollar on claims.

Industry sources say that the most common claims involve a forged signature somewhere in the title chain, which even the most diligent title searcher can't always discern at the time of sale. A classic example is a divorcing couple who own a piece of property jointly. The husband decides to sell it without his wife's knowledge and forges her signature. When she discovers the fraud and demands her half of the proceeds, the title insurer will most likely negotiate a settlement.

But data from title-company filings with the insurance department in New Mexico, for instance, show that over the past three years, forgeries accounted for an average of only 1% of losses. Errors made by the title company during its search, such as failing to unearth a tax lien or a judgment lien, accounted for more than half of losses, so home buyers end up paying for the company's mistakes.

Despite the combination of infrequent claims and lack of competition, industry profit margins from 1992 to 1996 were in line with other types of insurance, says Charles Nyce, professor of risk management and insurance at the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business. Nyce speculates that strong housing markets since the mid '90s have changed the picture, allowing companies to spread their expenses over more policies and increase their return. "In Texas, title companies have had rates of return in excess of 25% for eight to nine years running," says Birnbaum, well above other lines of insurance, such as auto or homeowners.

Coverage for homeowners

Once in a blue moon, title insurance pays off for homeowners -- but only for those who buy a separate policy for themselves. As you pay down your mortgage, the lender's exposure to a title defect declines and yours increases. For an additional one-time premium of as little as $30, you can buy an owner's policy (as opposed to the required lender's coverage) to protect your equity.

That's a relatively cheap price for peace of mind. "Without an owner's policy, there's no protection at all for the consumer," says Birnbaum. "Then you're just paying a substantial premium to protect the bank's interest."

In some states you may not have to pay more for owner's coverage. In fact, you may have purchased owner's insurance without realizing it (check your settlement sheet). You'll certainly want an owner's policy if you're paying cash or making a substantial down payment.

Cut your costs

You may not have a choice about whether to buy title insurance, but you can choose your insurer and you don't have to overpay for coverage. A Kiplinger's survey of title-insurance rates in Alexandria, Va., St. Louis, Mo., and Walnut Creek, Cal., showed that a couple of phone calls could save you $250 to $400 on a policy for a $350,000 house. (In Florida, Texas and a few other states, the insurance department sets uniform rates. Iowa uses a different system, described below).

When you purchase title insurance, you're generally also buying escrow and other services related to the closing. To compare prices, find out the total cost of doing business with each company for all services. In New Mexico, for instance, title-insurance premiums are set by the state, but closing and escrow fees are not.

Start shopping around as soon as you've received a good-faith estimate of your loan costs, which the lender is required by law to provide within three days of the loan application. First American has a title-fee calculator at its Web site, and Stewart Title, another large insurer, has a search engine to help you find a title agent in your area.

Ask the current owners which insurer holds the existing policy on their house. If a company can save time by updating the original search, you can get a lower reissue rate, says David Cox, a consulting actuary who specializes in title insurance. Similarly, ask for a discount if you're refinancing. You could save half the cost of a new policy.

If you're a first-time buyer struggling to raise enough cash to pay closing costs, ask the seller to pay for title insurance. That's common practice in California, New Mexico and Washington.

State insurance departments say they get very few complaints about title insurance. Caught up in the heady process of buying a home, consumers will do whatever it takes to get the house.

But if you weren't informed about what you were buying or weren't given adequate opportunity to select your title insurer, speak up. If there are enough complaints, state insurance departments will investigate.

Many departments are waiting to see whether the recent dismantling of barriers among providers of financial services will hurt consumers. For instance, a bank could set up its own title-insurance company to handle all the mortgages written by the bank. While efficient for the lender, it makes it dicier for borrowers to compare rates and could lead to higher prices.

Regulators in Colorado are also cracking down on companies that fail to file their rates or use rates other than those on file. "Companies might be charging a homeowner in a certain neighborhood one price and a builder another price, which could be illegal," says Toll of the Colorado Division of Insurance.

Iowans Get a Bargain

Home buyers in Iowa can be reasonably certain that they aren't paying too much for title protection. In that state, homeowners typically purchase a title-guaranty certificate from a division of the Iowa Finance Authority that provides the same coverage as title insurance at a fraction of the cost: $1 per $1,000 of the mortgage amount, plus an additional $150 to $300 for a lawyer to prepare a summary of the property's transaction history. For example, on a house with a $150,000 mortgage, that would mean a maximum of $450, versus as much as $1,500 for title insurance in any other state.

"Iowa titles are considered to be the cleanest in the nation," says Matthew White, deputy director of the finance authority's title-guaranty division. Last year the agency generated more than $1 million in profits, which are earmarked for low- to moderate-income housing programs.

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