2025 Insurance Premiums 40% Increase -- WTH ?

[WhenIsItTime]

My private health insurance is going up 25%.

 

[JoeWras]

Just got our Amica auto insurance renewal. Up 22%. Yikes.

 

[rembrandt]

By Emma W. Thorne, Editor at LinkedIn News

As wildfires continue to blaze through Los Angeles, the state of California has banned insurers from canceling or not renewing residential property policies in the affected areas. The one-year moratorium applies whether or not residents lost their homes, and it could be expanded to additional ZIP codes if the fires grow. The total economic impact of the fires could hit $150 billion, and even drive up insurance rates thousands of miles away.

 

[Koolau]

By Emma W. Thorne, Editor at LinkedIn News

As wildfires continue to blaze through Los Angeles, the state of California has banned insurers from canceling or not renewing residential property policies in the affected areas. The one-year moratorium applies whether or not residents lost their homes, and it could be expanded to additional ZIP. codes if the fires grow. The total economic impact of the fires could hit $150 billion, and even drive up insurance rates thousands of miles away.

Easy to be generous with other people's money. Of course, guess who actually pays? Following the Lahaina fires, rates have gone through the roof for everyone - if they can get insurance. YMMV

 

[Dtail]

Just got notice yesterday of our new home insurance renewal. It went up 13% for a total of $2,493 yearly.
Living in Florida, I consider this a win.

 

[Dawg52]

Just got notice yesterday of our new home insurance renewal. It went up 13% for a total of $2,493 yearly.
Living in Florida, I consider this a win.

That is a win. Last year my bundle package went up 27% so I raised my ded again. I think of insurance as catastrophic protection now. I’m willing to self insure for a good chunk of a loss. That’s not so easy for young people.

 

[Closet_Gamer]

We have Allstate and have had (2) 28% increases in the past 2 years. We up'd the deductible to $5k to bring it back to earth.

A neighbor had 2 back to back water claims (pipes in different locations) and was increased 3x... $2k to $6k. She's also has no chance to be picked up by another company because of this. She's branded for a couple years according to her.

We have been aggressive about increasing deductibles on every insurance front. We’re in a position where we can take a pretty punch financially and roll with it. No sense paying for insurance coverage you don’t really need.

We also just canceled some term life policies. No needed. Saved $1800/year by getting rid of them.

I’m still waiting to see what the insurance increase will be for this year…

 

[Dtail]

We have been aggressive about increasing deductibles on every insurance front. We’re in a position where we can take a pretty punch financially and roll with it. No sense paying for insurance coverage you don’t really need.

We also just canceled some term life policies. No needed. Saved $1800/year by getting rid of them.

I’m still waiting to see what the insurance increase will be for this year…

Yeah got rid of the term life policy when I retired, plus the accidental death policy. Didn't see the need for it anymore.

 

[aja8888]

Just got our Amica auto insurance renewal. Up 22%. Yikes.

No problem! You should be glad it didn't go up 25%! The market is happy today with rising inflation! All is good....

 

[Dtail]

No problem! You should be glad it didn't go up 25%! The market is happy today with rising inflation! All is good....

The market frequently appears to be more concerned vs expectation rather than the raw number.

 

[GenXguy]

Home insurance is next April. Can hardly wait, although car insurance increase was minimal.

In May for me, and car insurance 6 month payment went up $0 this month after massive increases in my two previous 6 months payments.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

I'm in So Cal so I know mine will be going up big time, I think renewal is in May. While the current fires aren't affecting me, I'm pretty sure a lot of them will turn out to be arson. I got a scare \ last night, I let the dogs out about 10 pm to go potty and I see a large fire very close to my house.. It was in a neighboring tract and directly in line with my house. They got it out quickly but definitely a call to action. I have a couple of huge Palm Trees that need to be removed immediately. I got a quote last week and held off to get a couple more and then never did so I'll work on that today. I'm pretty sure the insurance companies will start sending people to get photos of properties to see if there are any obvious fire hazards and my trees definitely are, they haven't been trimmed in years because I kept meaning to have them removed. Someone else got a notice recently from their insurance company saying they have to install the Moen water shutoff device or they will be cancelled. The problem is these don't seem to get great reviews.

 

[VanWinkle]

I'm in So Cal so I know mine will be going up big time, I think renewal is in May. While the current fires aren't affecting me, I'm pretty sure a lot of them will turn out to be arson. I got a scare \ last night, I let the dogs out about 10 pm to go potty and I see a large fire very close to my house.. It was in a neighboring tract and directly in line with my house. They got it out quickly but definitely a call to action. I have a couple of huge Palm Trees that need to be removed immediately. I got a quote last week and held off to get a couple more and then never did so I'll work on that today. I'm pretty sure the insurance companies will start sending people to get photos of properties to see if there are any obvious fire hazards and my trees definitely are, they haven't been trimmed in years because I kept meaning to have them removed. Someone else got a notice recently from their insurance company saying they have to install the Moen water shutoff device or they will be cancelled. The problem is these don't seem to get great reviews.

I have the Moen water shut off and it has worked seamlessly for 2 years in my new home.

 

[Pluperfect]

When people talk about auto insurance, in particular, going up, they almost never say which part of their premium went up, even though that's what can tell the story.

About ten years ago, the total premium for my motorhome insurance went up by 40%. But I looked at the various coverages, and realized that the comprehensive portion had more than doubled (from $493 to $1,064). My liability coverage premiums had actually gone down a bit. So my total increase of 40% didn't really tell the story.

I called my agent and she explained/claimed that such a spike in comprehensive would/could be caused by the insurance company recouping losses from comprehensive-type events (like hail). Makes sense to me, but we're talking insurance rates, so all bets are off.

I changed to a different agent (unrelated to this increase) and got a policy where the comprehensive portion was $438. I asked why it would be so much cheaper and the agent explained/claimed that the insurance company might not have been hit as hard as my previous company was (like they didn't have a lot of insureds in an area that got a massive hailstorm), or it could be that they hadn't gotten around to adjusting their rates yet.

When my new policy renewed the next year, the comprehensive premium went up to $742, which is an increase of 70%, which would have most people blowing their tops. But the premiums for all the other coverages stayed the same, which lends credence to what the agents had said.

I think this explains a lot, but for some reason people don't like to (or don't even think to) look at what happened to individual elements. They just complain that they haven't even filed a claim yet their premium went up. Yeah, well, that's the nature of insurance--everybody pays for everybody else's claims (and corporate profits as well, of course). And they'll be mean to you if you yourself cause trouble (although when my friend got hit by an uninsured motorist who ran a red light and hit her, many many years ago, my friend's UIM went up by a lot, which I've never understood--she became MORE likely to be hit by uninsured motorists?).

Anyway, speaking of claims, I did file one, and here's what happened. During the years after that original spike, my comprehensive premium incrementally rose from $742 to $1,026 (including a switch to a different company), but other coverages were going down so it didn't hurt too much. Then in 2020, I filed a windshield replacement claim on the motorhome. I know comprehensive claims aren't supposed to raise your premiums because they're generally not the policyholder's fault, but you never know.

When I got the first annual renewal after they paid my windshield claim, the premium for comprehensive went from $1,026 to $440. And it stayed at $440 for three years, and then dropped to $367 for two years. (But the year of that first big drop, my liability coverage went up almost 50%, and the next year it dropped by 25% and has stayed there; I have no idea why.)

My annual renewal is imminent. I'm always eager to see what craziness I find when I look at the specifics instead of just the total.

 

[Purslane]

Easy to be generous with other people's money. Of course, guess who actually pays? Following the Lahaina fires, rates have gone through the roof for everyone - if they can get insurance. YMMV

I have the Moen water shut off and it has worked seamlessly for 2 years in my new home.

I would hate this. I want a dumb house, dumb car and dumb phone. I have only managed to keep one of these. It is getting harder to opt out.

As far as insurance increases--everyone is going to pay for the CA fires.

 

[statsman]

I'm in So Cal so I know mine will be going up big time, I think renewal is in May. While the current fires aren't affecting me ...

The impact of the So Cal fires will impact many insurance policies across the country, especially since California is instituting a mandatory one-year moratorium on insurance non-renewals and cancellations in the So Cal area.

Our insurance policies took a spike upward not long after the hurricane damage in recent years in Florida, and between the fires in So Cal and the storm damage in North Carolina, I expect a similar spike upward.

 

[Dtail]

The impact of the So Cal fires will impact many insurance policies across the country, especially since California is instituting a mandatory one-year moratorium on insurance non-renewals and cancellations in the So Cal area.

Our insurance policies took a spike upward not long after the hurricane damage in recent years in Florida, and between the fires in So Cal and the storm damage in North Carolina, I expect a similar spike upward.

Agree with you but not really fair. If one wishes to live in Florida for example by the beach in a larger type house, why should the non affected areas pay for his hurricane losses?
I understand it works this way, but not conceptually agreeing with it, although there are certainly more nuances to this concept.

 

[Dtail]

That is a win. Last year my bundle package went up 27% so I raised my ded again. I think of insurance as catastrophic protection now. I’m willing to self insure for a good chunk of a loss. That’s not so easy for young people.

Curious if you are willing to share, what is your deductible on the hurricane portion of your coverage?

 

[Koolau]

Just got notice yesterday of our new home insurance renewal. It went up 13% for a total of $2,493 yearly.
Living in Florida, I consider this a win.

Sounds pretty good. IIRC the HOA said our building insurance went up 40% (primarily due to the Lahaina Maui fire) but also due to a fire a few years back in another high rise that killed some folks. Insurance companies do not like to lose money (and always find a way to make it up when they actually have to pay out claims.). YMMV

 

[JoeWras]

When people talk about auto insurance, in particular, going up, they almost never say which part of their premium went up, even though that's what can tell the story.

In my case, the difference was in the weeds.

Liability, medical and uninsured motorist were up 22%.
Collision was up 12%, comprehensive 27%. Those kind of canceled each other.
So the total was still 22%.

Your point is well taken. Comprehensive was the biggest boost. For me, though, having such an old car, it was just $5, from $18 to $23.

We have 3 old cars (all older than 15 years), and I only have comprehensive and collision on one. From my tiny sample, and your observations, I'm realizing that when we get a new car, we are in for trouble.

Because of problems with windshields, I was going to have a much lower deductible on comprehensive on the new car. Right now, my deductible is $1000, which basically makes insurance useless for windshields since they are a $300 self-pay item on old cars. The new cars are a different story.

Also worth noting is that people frequently say that windshields are "no deductible." That is state specific. Not true in my state. I suspect in states where that is common or law, comprehensive really spiked.