I haven't had a chance to review it, but mine decreased...$3,050 vs. $3,246 last year! That said, it increased approximately 30% a couple of years ago due to the wildfires in our state. And the deductible is $11K. Our personal property amount is ridiculously high and that will be reduced.
Another thread on homeowner's insurance increases
- Thread starter SecondCor521
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wrigley
Full time employment: Posting here.
Hi all.
I think I've seen several threads here recently on large increases in homeowner's insurance policies.
I just got my renewal from USAA and they're increasing my rates by about 25%. I haven't had any recent changes to my policy that would have caused such an increase; I suspect it's just a market adjustment by USAA.
I've already reviewed my coverage with them recently and everything is accurate and my coverage levels and deductibles are what I want. I just want to pay less for it.
I'm obviously considering shopping around, but historically USAA has been unbeatable so I'm not optimistic.
What have others done to successfully combat this development? Are there ideas I'm not thinking about?
Thanks.
Funny....I live in Florida and my wife and I are both retired military. I have shopped around and have found USAA to be one of the highest. One thing I will give them koodos for is that they WOULD insure my home if I wanted them to unlike so many other insurance companies that say "NO" right off the bat as soon as you tell them you want to insure your home in Florida! I have used a couple independent brokers and have had limited success. I have been with my current company for about 4 years now and although I'd like to pay less, I am really happy that I actually have homeowner's insurance. On a weekly basis I hear from neighbors, co-workers, and friends that live in Florida who tell me their policies have been cancelled!
Mike
aja8888
Moderator Emeritus
I moved into my brand new (built this summer) 1,497 sq. ft. house in September. I got home insurance quoted from several companies and USAA was one of the highest. I am an Air Force veteran too.
I am roughly 60 miles from the Gulf, north of Houston. My final price was $980/yr with the usual deductibles.
I am roughly 60 miles from the Gulf, north of Houston. My final price was $980/yr with the usual deductibles.
wrigley
Full time employment: Posting here.
I'm currently paying 3X that and USAA was even higher.
Like I said though....I'm happy to have insurance.
Mike
Where are tou located? I have similar car insurance but my home is like tripple yours in nj. Not in a flood zone, etc, same insurance compony. Do you have replacement value on the home or just insurance?
FloridaJim57
Recycles dryer sheets
If you folks think you got it bad, check out flood insurance in my state of Florida.
Global Wizzo
Recycles dryer sheets
Interesting. I had USAA quote a HO policy in FL. Compared to State Farm. The quote was nearly 1K more than SF policy. Very high deductible. My current policy has a minimal flat deductible including hurricane damage. USAA would also not recognize the hurricane damage mitigation for a discount.
They really aren’t the company they were in the 70s.
They really aren’t the company they were in the 70s.
2retireearly
Recycles dryer sheets
Homeowners Insurance
Rate increases need to be approved by each state's SCC. They need claim data to prove why it's needed. It can't be arbitrary. Of course there could be mistakes, etc, and I guess a class action lawsuit could be looked it. But, where I live, the house values, in my area are astronomical. Therefore, of course, the insurance premiums will need to go up, as will Real Estate taxes, too. You can thank your neighbors who have sold, at huge prices, for increasing your assessed value. If your value has not gone way up, and there is no claims data to show a reason for an increase to each homeowner, then you've got a case.
I have State Farm, and when I got a USAA quote, it quoted the exact same premium.
Rate increases need to be approved by each state's SCC. They need claim data to prove why it's needed. It can't be arbitrary. Of course there could be mistakes, etc, and I guess a class action lawsuit could be looked it. But, where I live, the house values, in my area are astronomical. Therefore, of course, the insurance premiums will need to go up, as will Real Estate taxes, too. You can thank your neighbors who have sold, at huge prices, for increasing your assessed value. If your value has not gone way up, and there is no claims data to show a reason for an increase to each homeowner, then you've got a case.
I have State Farm, and when I got a USAA quote, it quoted the exact same premium.
Be thankful they even insured you in Florida. A lot of people are insured by companies you've never heard of.
I just checked with DW, who pays our annual premiums. She says that our premiums for homeowner, auto, & rental property have not gone up by a single penny, for the past 3 years. Honolulu is consistently rated as #2 or #3 for COL, so I'm not sure why our premiums have stayed flat. She pointed out that four years ago, all policies got bumped upwards by about 3%, but she says that's the first increase in a decade. I glanced at her detailed spreadsheet, & she's correct.
Of course, I've been a USAA member since 1970, so that may have something to do with it. I haven't run their coverage tool for a few years, so I'll be doing that today. I definitely don't want to be underinsured! We have what might be the only red brick home on the island, & I have no idea how that could be rebuilt. I also haven't thought about what we're paying for contents, so I'll check if the break-out is granular enough to be changed.
Of course, I've been a USAA member since 1970, so that may have something to do with it. I haven't run their coverage tool for a few years, so I'll be doing that today. I definitely don't want to be underinsured! We have what might be the only red brick home on the island, & I have no idea how that could be rebuilt. I also haven't thought about what we're paying for contents, so I'll check if the break-out is granular enough to be changed.
2retireearly
Recycles dryer sheets
My parents live(d) in VaBeach, Virginia. 2 blocks from the ocean. StateFarm had been their insurer for decades, but then they dropped them. As they lived too close to ocean, for StateFarm. So Dad called USAA, and they insured them and were wonderful. I loved USAA. I also have StateFarm, also in Virginia, but not at ocean, so I excitedly called USAA (as their customer service was so wonderful, too, as I dealt with them for my Dad), and as I said in a prior post, I was quoted the same premium price as StateFarm. This was 2 years ago. Things do change. But in my dealings with USAA (for my parents) I was also so impressed with their customer service.
1) Get mad. Complain here. This didn't help.
2) Call company and reduce my "Contents and Possessions" number. This helped a lot.
In my state, the default practice is to value your possessions on the value of the house. Since all we have is a bunch of crap in the house, there's no way it has tripled in value since 2008 like they estimate. I reduced it to a still generous number not based on percentage, which is allowed. This made a significant difference.
We always have to reduce Contents and Possessions. Also, checking your deductible to determine the sensitivity of the premium to the deductible is always good to do. Our deductible was lower when we weren't paying as much and increasing it didn't materially change the premium. Last renewal, I increased the deductible to $5,000 because it made a material difference in the premium. I wouldn't make a claim under $5,000 so I just raised it to my pain tolerance level because it dropped the premium by more than just a few dollars.
Also, the OP might want to ask USAA to shop their policy with USAA's other providers. We have USAA as our 'agent' and our insurance is with Tower Hill. I had USAA quote their price at my last renewal but they would have been at least $1,000 more, IIRC. I am paying about $2,000 for $460,000 in coverage in Central Florida.
The auto policy increases have been painful! No tickets or accidents and I believe our auto policy is up 40% in the last 3-4 years with some coverages deleted. We are required to keep high limits because we have an umbrella policy. Seriously considering downsizing to one car.
We have USAA as our 'agent' but our insurance is from Tower Hill. You might ask them to shop your policy to their other providers. USAA was at least $1,000 more than Tower Hill because they quoted at my 2023-2024 renewal. When we first moved into this house in Central FL, USAA wasn't writing any policies in our area and 'sent' us to one of their partner providers.
wrigley
Full time employment: Posting here.
I had Tower Hill for about 7 years. The first 3-4 years they were consistent with what I thought were fair premiums and annual increases. The last 3 years were this:
2019 = $1530.00
2020 = $1785.00
2021 = $2416.00
2022 = $3001.00
Hope I didn't jinx you!
Mike
Catawba Chuck
Dryer sheet wannabe
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I purchase the insurance for our condo complex in FL (Gulf Side). Our rate has TRIPLED in the last three years. And we escaped most of the Ian damage.
OldGuy
Recycles dryer sheets
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Another USAA member (53 yrs & counting)...
USAA effectively left Florida 3-4 years' ago after IRMA, so they now broker our HO-6 coverage to Progressive and act as the agent of record. Progressive is much more likely to modify coverages than USAA was when they actually underwrote homeowners' insurance.
We've greatly reduced our furnishings coverage, increased deductibles and leveraged the age of our building (10+ years) and the fact that post-Andrew everything is built like a brick outhouse. Hurricane coverage is bundled with P&C coverage, so we're seeing an 18.5% increase this year. MUCH BETTER than what our COA was able to negotiate for their parts of the buildings, which is going up 40%+ in 2024. Can't wait for 2-25, post-IAN and -IDALIA!
All in, better than a sharp stick in the eye, but we've played with deductibles, add-ons, etc. to keep premiums within reason (whatever that is these days).
YMMV.
USAA effectively left Florida 3-4 years' ago after IRMA, so they now broker our HO-6 coverage to Progressive and act as the agent of record. Progressive is much more likely to modify coverages than USAA was when they actually underwrote homeowners' insurance.
We've greatly reduced our furnishings coverage, increased deductibles and leveraged the age of our building (10+ years) and the fact that post-Andrew everything is built like a brick outhouse. Hurricane coverage is bundled with P&C coverage, so we're seeing an 18.5% increase this year. MUCH BETTER than what our COA was able to negotiate for their parts of the buildings, which is going up 40%+ in 2024. Can't wait for 2-25, post-IAN and -IDALIA!
All in, better than a sharp stick in the eye, but we've played with deductibles, add-ons, etc. to keep premiums within reason (whatever that is these days).
YMMV.
Or they are they are actually correctly pricing the risk and taking care of the owners of the company...us!
I had Tower Hill for about 7 years. The first 3-4 years they were consistent with what I thought were fair premiums and annual increases. The last 3 years were this:
2019 = $1530.00
2020 = $1785.00
2021 = $2416.00
2022 = $3001.00
Hope I didn't jinx you!
Mike
We're just all happy to have a policy we can pay a premium on, right!
2019: $1,410 $344,000 dwelling coverage, $1,000 deductible
2021: $1,698 $387,000 dwelling coverage, $1,000 deductible
2023: $2,019 $460,000 dwelling coverage, $5,000 deductible
The extra bonus that comes at 40 years is nice. I think it was double or triple the regular bonus last year, my first year of the senior bonus.
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