Home Owner Insurance Rant

[modhatter]

$570 in Nevada, 1700 sq. ft. house. No natural disasters here either.
Sounds like yours is reasonable, but you need to check other companies in your area. As you see, prices are all over the map depending on where you live, age of house, etc. My house in Florida would cost between $3,500 and $4,000 depending on close to the water I was.

 

[martyb]

We're in the process of buying a 6 year old 1636 sq. ft. house in NW Louisiana. I got quotes from USAA & Allstate. Allstate beat USAA for identical coverage by nearly $500 per year. I had coverage by Allstate for a bunch of years till they pissed me off in 2008 when I tried to make my only homeowner's claim in around 20 yrs of doing business. I fought with them for a year before they finally caved & replaced the roof. I swore I'd never do business with them again, but.........I guess I'll eat crow now to save the money.

 

[brewer12345]

We're in the process of buying a 6 year old 1636 sq. ft. house in NW Louisiana. I got quotes from USAA & Allstate. Allstate beat USAA for identical coverage by nearly $500 per year. I had coverage by Allstate for a bunch of years till they pissed me off in 2008 when I tried to make my only homeowner's claim in around 20 yrs of doing business. I fought with them for a year before they finally caved & replaced the roof. I swore I'd never do business with them again, but.........I guess I'll eat crow now to save the money.

I don't understand this. Aren't you just setting yourself up for a headache down the road? Not all insurers are created equal.

 

[REWahoo]

I don't understand this. Aren't you just setting yourself up for a headache down the road? Not all insurers are created equal.

+1

"They won't pay my claim, but their rates are a real bargain!"

 

[2soon2tell]

How about $2050 for just homeowners on a 2700 sq. ft. home in a Houston suburb. This does not include flood insurance on our home.
This is through USAA and I have been told that Texans pay the highest HO rates in the country.

 

[martyb]

+1

"They won't pay my claim, but their rates are a real bargain!"

Of course, you guys are 100% right. I was in a hurry when I posted that earlier. What I should have also added (but didn't) is that I'm going to be checking with other insurance companies before I settle on any one outfit. I still have time to shop around. I really don't want to do business with Allstate again, so hopefully I'll find a better alternative. Who knows, I may even end up with USAA anyway.

 

[REWahoo]

Who knows, I may even end up with USAA anyway.

Remember you'll get a chunk of your USAA premium returned to you at the end of the year, so the actual difference could be substantially less than the $500 hit you may see up front.

 

[brewer12345]

Of course, you guys are 100% right. I was in a hurry when I posted that earlier. What I should have also added (but didn't) is that I'm going to be checking with other insurance companies before I settle on any one outfit. I still have time to shop around. I really don't want to do business with Allstate again, so hopefully I'll find a better alternative. Who knows, I may even end up with USAA anyway.

I've been real happy with Amica and they are perennial winners of claims handling/customer satisfaction awards.

 

[Lucantes]

For a 3400 sq. ft. waterfront in Cocoa Beach FL we pay:
$3000/yr Homeowners
$400/yr Flood (wasn't required at our location).
$560/yr Liability (to protect our retirement assets)

 

[jollystomper]

I paid $1200 this year for a 3300 square foot home, replacement cost level insurance. I just received the bill for next year (which I pay at the end of this year), it has gone up almost 7%. I have never filed a claim.

 

[akck]

We were with Allstate. The premiums crept up over the years, but we kept it fairly level by changing the deductible over the years. Well, we ran out of changes and finally shopped around when it went to $1.009 with a $1,000 deductible. We ended up going with our independent agent who switched us to Safeco for $565 for our 2,200 sf house.

Actually, auto insurance is what prompted the change. Rates for 6 months were going up to $1,500 for 3 cars. Safeco quoted $1,568 for one year. Safeco also covered more things, but I haven't seen a full Allstate policy in years so it could've covered the same things.

 

[brett]

We have two cars. I have had the same insurance company for 12 years. I compare the rates every two years or so. I remain with the same company (State Farm) because their rates are competitive and the service has been excellent.

But, when my spouse bought a new (to us) car, their price was out of line-way out of line. Forty percent higher for the same coverage.

So, the cost of coverage may also depend on the type of house, type of car, your postal code, and the claims-yours and other people's claims.

 

[Andre1969]

I'm with Erie Insurance, and I think my homeowner's insurance is around $900 per year. That's for a ~1500 square foot house with a detached 4 car garage and a couple of other outbuildings. I think they put a replacement value of around $287,000 on the house, which seems awfully high to me, and about $56,000 on the outbuildings. I'm in Maryland, just east of DC.

 

[imoldernu]

When the Florida insurance on my manufactured home rose to 30% of it's current real value, and the insurer requred a minimum insured value of $50K... we decided to self insure.

 

[Dimsumkid]

We have Erie Insurance, paying around $700 w/$1000 deductible on a 2800 sq ft house in Chicago burbs. When we bought the house, the details Erie initially quoted were incorrect. The percentage of brick made a huge difference vs. non brick. The price was almost double if brick % was < 50%. I was able to prove the house was more than 70% brick since the 1st floor is all brick and the 2nd floor is wood w/aluminum siding.

We recently shopped for quotes in last 2 months and Allstate was about $100 cheaper, but I had a claim with them (first ever) 5 years ago and they were so bad I'd never use them again. The agent wasn't helpful and the adjuster was clueless and really young (early 20's). The adjuster didn't seem the know the difference between an exterior and interior door.

 

[Texas Proud]

No doubt this has been covered before but just got my HO insurance statement for the coming year. Currently paying about $550 for covering an average 1800 sq. ft home, basic coverage, no flood insurance and have the highest deductible allowed. That said I still think it is too darn much. Have been with the same insurance company (autos too) for 35+ year and never had a claim. Why do I feel like I am paying mob protection money and getting screwed at the same time ? BTW State Farm is my carrier.

Am I being unreasonable, what is everyone else paying ?

Yes, you are being unreasonable....

I remember reading somewhere that your chance of a big loss is around 1%.... so, every 100 years.... (did a lookup and it looks like from the best I can find the chance of a complete loss due to fire is 1/16,000)..

Even if you had paid that amount for the last 35 years, your total premium was less than $20K... If you had one major loss you would get more than all your premiums you ever paid....

 

[FANOFJESUS]

When the Florida insurance on my manufactured home rose to 30% of it's current real value, and the insurer requred a minimum insured value of $50K... we decided to self insure.

Wow that is really wild.

 

[MRG]

Reshop your rates evey few years. I combine home, auto and umbrella to get the best overall rate.

Some great advice. We stayed with AmFam for 30 years. When we shopped around saved 20% for same coverage.

We also learned what our local agency had been doing. Had been rear-ended twice, not my fault. Agency practice was to not let information out of their door. Was quite shocked when we discovered those 2 accidents were considered my fault by Nexis Lexis. Took several months but finally disputed, and my insurance records changed.

If I had the emotional energy, after all the crap with LN, the State Insurance commission would have been contacted.

MRG

 

[Amethyst]

Did you find out by searching Lexis-Nexis yourself? What kind of search criteria? We reported a hit-and-run and our premiums rose, although we were assured it had nothing to do with our claim and "everybody's premiums are going up." I believe in trust but verify - and I like to do the verification on my own.

Amethyst

We also learned what our local agency had been doing. Had been rear-ended twice, not my fault. Agency practice was to not let information out of their door. Was quite shocked when we discovered those 2 accidents were considered my fault by Nexis Lexis. Took several months but finally disputed, and my insurance records changed.

 

[MRG]

Did you find out by searching Lexis-Nexis yourself? What kind of search criteria? We reported a hit-and-run and our premiums rose, although we were assured it had nothing to do with our claim and "everybody's premiums are going up." I believe in trust but verify - and I like to do the verification on my own.

No, we found that out through our new broker what Lexis-Nexis had one file. Then we contacted them to dispute. After the dispute was final they did send us a report, our premiums dropped accordingly.

I'm not sure how many agencys play the game ours did. Their refusal to provide my information to L-N caused L-N to default our accident as 'your at fault'. The police in this state just document the facts, the at fault information came from the agency. The way we got it fixed was to go back to the AmFam adjuster who sent us his determination.

FYI, our old agency used to feed us the same story you got.

MRG

 

[Carlos2]

Compared prices in California

I am surprised at some of the prices for insurance that I am hearing. I have a 2500 sf home and pay AAA $1045 for the year. I don't have flood insurance nor do I carry earthquake insurance. I have a $3000 deductible.

I know people move away from CA because of taxes, but what I notice is that states get their money one way or another. I know Florida has no state income tax, but their property taxes are very high and I can see from this thread so are the homeowners' insurance rates. The same can be said for Texas with their high property taxes.

 

[Gatordoc50]

I am surprised at some of the prices for insurance that I am hearing. I have a 2500 sf home and pay AAA $1045 for the year. I don't have flood insurance nor do I carry earthquake insurance. I have a $3000 deductible.

I know people move away from CA because of taxes, but what I notice is that states get their money one way or another. I know Florida has no state income tax, but their property taxes are very high and I can see from this thread so are the homeowners' insurance rates. The same can be said for Texas with their high property taxes.

Florida's property taxes are not high. Below the national average plus there are homestead exemptions that make them even lower. Insurance is costly especially if you are near the coast or in a floodplain. (much of Florida is).

 

[Carlos2]

Florida property taxes are among the highest in the country, but have exemptions.

Florida's property taxes are not high. Below the national average plus there are homestead exemptions that make them even lower. Insurance is costly especially if you are near the coast or in a floodplain. (much of Florida is).

Read the part under property taxes.


State of Florida.com - Florida Tax Guide

 

[Gatordoc50]

Read the part under property taxes.

State of Florida.com - Florida Tax Guide

That is a private site, not a State site. While Florida is ranked 23 out of 50 in the property tax rate, there are homestead exemptions that lessen the value of your home. The standard homestead exemption is 50 thousand dollars. So a rate of 1% on a 200 thousand dollar home is actually a .75% rate. Additionally, there is great disparity between counties.. Some as low as .50%. We also have a Save our Homes clause that doesn't allow valuations to rise more than 3% a year. My home has an assessed value for tax purposes 1/2 of its actual value. Florida as a whole is quite rural with low average income. The idea that we pay higher property taxes as a whole is simply wrong.

 

[Gatordoc50]

http://taxfoundation.org/sites/taxf...s/proptax_county_taxpaid-2007-2009av-20110225
Here is an interesting chart showing property taxes by county. Louisiana is going to be cheap as is Kentucky, Alabama or other states with limited services. As you can see, Florida counties are pretty widely dispersed among the set. Sorry to hijack the thread. Florida has high insurance, heat, bugs, humidity, sink holes, hurricanes, and gators. But we don't have high property taxes.