Poll:Homeowners Insurance Deductible?

[Midpack]

For many in this crowd, a (much) higher deductible may make sense. I have had homeowners & auto insurance increase after increase (rants in other threads) so I am reviewing where I can make changes.

My homeowners deductible (general & wind/hail damage) is $2500. I have never had a claim in the 34 years we've owned homes. I am seriously thinking about increasing my deductible to $10,000. Even found an argument for raising it to $100,000, makes one think at least Forbes Welcome.

I am far more concerned about losing our "stuff" than the monetary loss, but insurance can't do anything about losing your stuff - it just gives you money to compensate. The "stuff" is still gone...and most of it has little $ value.

I just increased our auto deductibles from $250/500 to $1000 too, though I may increase it still further. Only 1 claim in 36 years.

Never had a claim on boat insurance over 20 years either.

But no, I am not thinking about dropping insurance altogether.

I know the poll is broad, but there don't seem to be standard deductibles, please pick what's most appropriate for you.

 

[RE2Boys]

May need to visit this. When added teen age son to auto raised collision to $1K on newest car, dropped collision entirely on two older cars. But have not looked at homeowner in a while. Had damage to a tree in a windstorm a couple of months ago but cost was $350 for clean-up so no claim. Only homeowners claim since purchased house was in 2007......lightning hit and fire. Cost them at least $150K for that incident.

 

[REWahoo]

Homeowners deductible is $5,300 (2% of home value) and auto deductible is $500/$1,000.

 

[Slow But Steady]

Ours is also 2%, which in our case puts it in the $5,000 to $10,000 category.

 

[Live And Learn]

I have $2500 for non - wind perils and $4000 on wind related (hurricane) damage. Even at $2500 I'd probably not make a claim since they drop you like a hot potato when you do. I've considered changing mine to $5000 since that's probably the level where I'd make a claim.

 

[rodi]

Nit-pick - poll is set up so that $2500 falls in 2 categories. That's my deductible. I had $5k - but when I got the umbrella policy they insisted it be changed to $2500.

 

[Midpack]

Nit-pick - poll is set up so that $2500 falls in 2 categories. That's my deductible. I had $5k - but when I got the umbrella policy they insisted it be changed to $2500.

Sorry, in a mood over insurance.

I can't see how to edit poll choices or I'd make it:

1. $1000 or less
2. $1001-$2500
3. $2501-$5000
4. $5001-$10,000
5. more than $10,000

Maybe a Mod will save me.

 

[MichaelB]

Sorry, in a mood over insurance.

I can't see how to edit poll choices or I'd make it:

1. $1000 or less
2. $1001-$2500
3. $2501-$5000
4. $5001-$10,000
5. more than $10,000

Maybe a Mod will save me.

Looking into it.
Edit: done

 

[Lakedog]

When I owned the lake house, I had a $5000 deductible. I recently bought a condo and have $1000 since there is very little savings to go any higher. I always go with $1000 on autos/RVs.

 

[aaronc879]

$500 deductible on my cheap condo insurance. Also have $500 deductible on car insurance.

 

[braumeister]

When we owned a house, I had $5,000 deductible.

Now that we're in a condo, the insurance is a small thing so I changed it to just $500.

$1,000 on the car insurance.

 

[soupcxan]

It is always more economical to self-insure small risks rather than pay someone else to bear the risk. If you have the financial strength to eat the small losses, you will come out ahead.

 

[NanoSour]

Mine is 1% of home replacement value. $2850.

As a side note, I dropped auto comprehension and collision when the value of my 10 & 9 year old vehicles dropped below 10K. IIRC, for the years I did carry comp/collision, I had a $2000 deductible on auto insurance since I was 20 years old. One at fault accident in the 31 years since. I believe insurance statistics show an at fault accident every 11 years for the average driver, whatever that is.

 

[REWahoo]

As a side note, I dropped auto comprehension...

Don't feel bad - I don't understand them either.

 

[NanoSour]

Don't feel bad - I don't understand them either.

More and more of those senior moments….

 

[thefinancebuff]

$10,000 deductible on home. No coverage for collision or comprehensive on cars.

 

[Sunset]

OP - switch ins companies.

As for deductible, I look at the difference in cost/savings. For example on my car say its at $500 and I can save $20/yr by making it $1,000
I simply wonder am I going to save money in the end by being accident free for 25 yrs?
Really it might be about 20 years to earn back the $500 difference since I can think I get interest on the savings each year.

So for me when the savings can be earned back in 10 years or less, I jump on it, otherwise its a slower decision.

 

[sheehs1]

Midpack…I never had claims either. So several years ago I started increasing my deductibles, treating it as catastrophic. It just seemed to make sense. I have a $10,000 deductible on my house. 2016 Premium is $701. House is 3400 sf. My auto premium is $469 for a 2010 Volkswagon Toureg. I maxed the deductible on this to the max allowed by the company. In addition to the coverages thru home and auto I added a 2 million dollar umbrella last year for $202 a year. All thru Central Insurance.

 

[Cobra9777]

Our home deductible is 1.5% of insured value, which puts us in the 5-10K range. In general, I'm a believer in high deductibles and self-insuring for small stuff. But as others have mentioned, you have to look at the payback period on the higher deductibles and assess the likelihood of a claim during that period. Last time I looked at this, 1.5% was the sweet spot. Roof claims due to hailstorms are fairly routine here.

 

[ziggy29]

We no longer own a home since we live in a parsonage now (so all we have is a renters/non-owned policy for contents coverage), but when we were homeowners we carried a 2% deductible.

 

[Sarah in SC]

I have $6k deductible on HO insurance. Liability only on cars.
I also nitpick the contents coverage on HO policy, considering we don't own much of value--thrift store finds, old computers, cheap tv. Sentimental value, mostly, and things that couldn't be bought.
Would only claim if loss was catastrophic--insurance is hard to get along the coast, and it would take a big loss to get me to get on their radar.

 

[Midpack]

Was tempted to go to 4% (just over $10K) but upped from $2500 to 2% (just over $5K in our case)...

But I may get bolder as time goes on, the money for a loss doesn't mean much, and we've never had any claims to speak of...

 

[pb4uski]

Ours is only $1,000. We have had two minor claims in over 30 years... one where our electric panel blew and another where our well was struck by lightning.

I seem to recall that I once inquired about the impact a higher deductible would have on our premium and it didn't make much of a difference... but our premium is only $725 to begin with.

 

[45th Birthday]

My policies have a feature where if the loss exceeds a certain amount, they waive the deductible. I don't recall the details (annual review coming very soon) but I think any loss over $50K is the trigger.

 

[jpjr]

We have increased our deductibles on both our HO and Auto. However, there is no reason to go to a high deductible if the premium savings is negligible. Going from $500 to $1,000 or even $2,500 may make sense, but the savings above those deductibles may not be worth it. I agree to cancelling collision on an older vehicle, but comprehensive damage coverage is usually dirt cheap. Replacing a window / windshield can be expensive!