Home Owner Insurance 13% Increase ?

[frayne]

Just got my bill from State Farm for my house insurance. I see it has gone up over 13% as compared to last year. No reason given as to why the increase, no change in coverage amounts, etc., so I fired off an email to my local agent. Anybody else seeing this increase, or have an explanation as to why. Have been with SFI for over 30 years and never had a claim.

One would think with property values decreasing, one would see a similar decrease in insurance costs. Silly me !

[DoingHomework]

Quote:

Originally Posted by frayne Just got my bill from State Farm for my house insurance. I see it has gone up over 13% as compared to last year. No reason given as to why the increase, no change in coverage amounts, etc., so I fired off an email to my local agent. Anybody else seeing this increase, or have an explanation as to why. Have been with SFI for over 30 years and never had a claim. One would think with property values decreasing, one would see a similar decrease in insurance costs. Silly me !

Ours (with State Farm) stayed the same, on two different properties.

[brewer12345]

Time to shop the policy to see if you can do better.

[Texas Proud]

Quote:

Originally Posted by frayne Just got my bill from State Farm for my house insurance. I see it has gone up over 13% as compared to last year. No reason given as to why the increase, no change in coverage amounts, etc., so I fired off an email to my local agent. Anybody else seeing this increase, or have an explanation as to why. Have been with SFI for over 30 years and never had a claim. One would think with property values decreasing, one would see a similar decrease in insurance costs. Silly me !

Two things....

Mine went up a lot... first, they did increase my coverage by a LOT... got that back down... they also said that my roof was 20 or more years old and the rate went up with that (this did not happen with my old insurance company... and I do not have State Farm)...

Second... it really does not matter how much you can sell the house for... it matters how much it will cost if the whole place burns down to scrap the old house off... maybe do a new slab and then rebuild... and replace all the furniture and appliances etc.

There was a house in my sister's neighborhood that was a complete loss... I was surprised how long it took to get the old one removed. They built a fence around the lot, had to remove a couple of burned cars, the whole house, some trees... I think the neighbors also got some damage from the heat...

[Payin-the-Toll]

Ugh--don't get me started on State Farm. Started with them in 1975 when we bought the house. Insurance payment was included in mortgage. Paid off house in 1992. By 1997, $400/yr. By 2007, $600/yr. In Jan. 2008, tornado ripped off 50' x 20' slanted flat roof that was on the addition I had built (they coughed up $7k on that one). Bill went to $800/yr. Late 2008, big windstorm caused weird power line damage and killed my coumputer power supply, modem, TV, VCR/DVD recorder, etc. They coughed up about $2k on full replacement costs on everything, but wouldn't pay $2k+ for meter repair and replacement (big fight over that one, but I lost). 2009, bill went to $1K. 2010, still at $1k. In their defense, they have raised the coverages every year, which is now at $185k on the dwelling and $125k on personal property, with $1k deductible. This is a 50 yr.-old ranch which I figure would sell for $130k in today's market. Reason I stay with them---I have a 48 yr-old in-ground pool that I've kept working, and I'm afraid with the age of the house and the pool, that nobody would even quote me, after 2 claims in 1 year (even though I never had a claim until then).

[sheehs1]

I have been with the same company for 18 years(Encompass thru an insurance broker). I currently pay $2,200 a year for homeowners and 2 vehicles. Homeowners is $1,056 of that. Have shopped other carriers the last 2 or 3 years. Tried State Farm and their quote was no better than what I was currently paying (not even to get the business). This year, my agent told me prices would go up. So I started price shopping again. Progressive gave me a quote of $752.00 for the homeowners portion. Yes...they now have home owners. Their quote included moving my car insurance to them as well as that is how you get the discound on the homeowners. Armed with that quote (they sent it via email so I had it in writing), I called my company again...telling them I hated to move my policy after being with them for 18 plus years but I had received a quote far cheaper. Amazingly, the agent started doing some shopping as well....and came back with a company that beat Progressives quote by a few dollars. Since I have only 3 months left on current policy, am waiting until Nov/Dec time frame to make the change. Gets a little complicated to compare apples to apples since I am moving my daughters vehicle off my policy which is why I detailed only the homeowners portion for you here.

[rescueme]

Quote:

Originally Posted by frayne ..have an explanation as to why. Have been with SFI for over 30 years and never had a claim.

Simple - reinsurance:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinsurance

Insurance companies do not plan on paying all claims. They buy reinsurance to ensure that a major problem (usually caused by weather) does not wipe them out, such as several hurricanes over one season.

Even if you never put in a claim, your neighbors within a several mile radius of your home could have had a situation (example - hailstorm) that required them to submit their claim, to many different insurance companies.

However, if those different insurance companies used the same set of "reinsurers" to cover a "claims hotspot", their premium will go up, and therefore yours will also.

Everything is interconnected so you could just sit in your own little corner of the world, never submit a claim, and still be affected.

BTW, as to the reduction in housing value? It still costs as much (sometimes more) to repair a home. Even an older home that has "unique features" (and assuming you had full replacement value insurance) would cost much more to replace than the normal run-of-the-mill cookie cutter home...

[2good]

Quote:

Originally Posted by frayne Just got my bill from State Farm for my house insurance. I see it has gone up over 13% as compared to last year. No reason given as to why the increase, no change in coverage amounts, etc., so I fired off an email to my local agent. Anybody else seeing this increase, or have an explanation as to why. Have been with SFI for over 30 years and never had a claim. One would think with property values decreasing, one would see a similar decrease in insurance costs. Silly me !

I have the same issue currently. My insurance with Liberty Mutual went up from $660 to $880 this year. I called them and we discovered some discounts (Alumni of local university, Member of SAE) and got that lowered to $793; this includes reevaluation of house value.

I have a quote from State Farm for the same coverage for $680. I plan to switch.

[jayc]

Mine also went up with State Farm. 22% for the rental property. You can raise the deductable with them by $500 increments to lower the premium.

[Livin Large in MT]

Mine went from $765 last year to over $1000. My agent was FANTASTIC, was on it before I contacted him because he noticed the increase right away. My auto insurance (we have teenage drivers) was $188 a month alone.
Now my homeowners AND auto insurance is running $182 a month. Am I happy? I am thrilled with my agent: have had him for two years now and he is great!
They don't ever explain why the rates go up, they just go up and up and up...

[Moemg]

I was just cancelled for the forth time . The reason is always the same . We did not realize your house was waterfront . What did they think that huge body of water in the backyard was an infinity pool ? I'm sure I'll be sent back to Citizen's . Insurance in Florida is like playing shoots & ladders .

[Emeritus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moemg Insurance in Florida is like playing shoots & ladders .

Wow that sounds like a rough game. Do they use pistols or rifles?

[DoingHomework]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moemg I was just cancelled for the forth time . The reason is always the same . We did not realize your house was waterfront . What did they think that huge body of water in the backyard was an infinity pool ? I'm sure I'll be sent back to Citizen's . Insurance in Florida is like playing shoots & ladders .

I can't blame the insurance companies too much. I would never want to insure property in Florida! I like Florida but the risks are just too high!

[dm]

My home owners insurance went up 11%. They raised my coverage 3.6%, said it was due to the cost to rebuild. I'd love to have someone give me that much for my house. I would be out pronto! Ive also never had a claim.

[REWahoo]

USAA completely re-wrote their HO policies in Texas. They changed a lot of coverage, improving some things and, of course, reducing coverage in other areas. They did a pretty good job of summarizing each of the changes and very few of the reductions have any impact to our situation - I don't mind the coverage on trading cards and comic books being reduced to $2,500, etc.

I'd posted in another thread that they also were changing deductible options and requiring the same percentage for both wind/hail and all other perils. I had 3% and 2% respectively and they changed both deductibles to 2% with the new policy. I was expecting the worst when I got the new premium but was pleasantly surprised to see a 25% reduction!

My only complaint is why didn't they do this years ago...

[W2R]

My homeowners' insurance went up from $1487 to $1507 this year, which is a pretty trivial increase.

I am so lucky to have a policy at all. Even five years after Hurricane Katrina, new policies including wind and hail are not being written here in New Orleans. My Allstate policy was "grandfathered in" due to state regulations, since I had had it more than a year when the storm hit. Those who hadn't, had their policies dropped and have to go through the state insurance pool which costs over twice as much.

I am really looking forward to living in a location where I can actually CHOOSE insurance companies and where there is some competition for my business. Here, I cannot switch my home or car insurance because of the homeowners' insurance situation.

Even back in 2002 when I first got this policy, I called every insurance company in the yellow pages and none would write a new homeowners' insurance policy to anybody, regardless of who they are. I had to have it done sort of under the table, with somebody knowing somebody knowing somebody who owed somebody a favor, and so on. If this seems like dealing with the mob, in New Orleans there are real reasons for that apparent similarity.

I have made no claims, even for hurricane damage. I have a required 5% deductible for wind and hail but again, I am lucky to have any wind and hail coverage at all for any price. My deductible for other things is pretty high too, by my own choice this time to keep the payments down.

[Emeritus]

Just to note that you personally making no claims may be relevant for car insurance, but is simply irrelevant to major environmental disasters. What is it the bible says "for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust"

Etc

[dex]

Don't forget that there may be fewer people paying into the insurance pools, and maybe more (undetected fraud) claims.

[aaronc879]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R My homeowners' insurance went up from $1487 to $1507 this year, which is a pretty trivial increase.

At least your property taxes are low. Aren't they something like .7% of your home value? That's about the same as they'll be in Sringfield. Mine are over 2% but H.O. insurance is very cheap at well under half what you pay.

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaronc879 At least your property taxes are low. Aren't they something like .7% of your home value? That's about the same as they'll be in Sringfield. Mine are over 2% but H.O. insurance is very cheap at well under half what you pay.

Last year they were about 0.4% of what my realtor wants to sell my house for (which is substantially more than I think it is worth, so we are discussing).

We are thinking that the sum of property taxes plus insurance will probably be about the same in Springfield. Taxes will be higher, but insurance is much lower. I guess it all comes down to what the traffic will bear.