Homeowners Insurance

[Genco]

I just received my renewal notice for our homeowners policy and it has increased over 18% from last year rates. The prior year's increase was 15%, has anybody else experienced this type of increase in insurance costs?

Some background information, same company for 5 years, no claims...

[Zansu]

May have more to do with:

1) rising housing assessments
2) recent agang activity
3) How much you company does business in Florida and other areas of mass destrcution

not just your record with them.

I can't say I pay that much attention since I don't directly pay the bill, mortgage escrow and all that. Now thas tyou ask you have me curious and I'll have to go see if I can figure it out.

[boomertsfx]

shop around... I'm in a Th and get mine from American express for ~ $240/yr

[vacliff]

Genc0
Ran into the same problem with my insurance company (Hartford) last year. I called and asked for an explanation. They said it was due to the large amount of claims in Virginia the previous year. They listed about 10 major incidents (all weather related) where they had large numbers of claims. They recoup that money by raising the rates on everybody.

[Wick]

Interesting. Our premium actually went down by a small amount.

[christinaandrob]

boomertsfx - How do you like Amex insurance? Have you used them for a while? Do you also use it for your car? Their rates are way lower than what we've been paying for Allstate, and I've been curious about them. Thanks!

[Genco]

Here is a little bit more information I was able to gather from Travelers. A coverage increase of 7% to reflect increase cost to rebuild house in NoVa area, the break down is $488K Dwelling, $48.8K Other Structures (10%), (with built-in option of 25% increase in coverage ($488K x 1.25 = $610). Also $300K personal liability and a $500 deductible. There are numerous discounts (new house, monitored burglar alarm... All in all the cost is $985.00

I got a quote from State Farm yesterday and it was $1,350.

Wick & Vacliff how does this compare?

[boomertsfx]

I've used them for over 3 years now. I've never had a claim with them other than a broken window in my car. A coworker has their auto insurance for his kids, and they've had a few claims with no problems. My auto insurance is still alot lower than progressive, etc. I check about every year with other providers to see if I'm still getting competitive pricing.

[vacliff]

Genco-
The insurance on my house is $630/yr. The house cost 400K when we built it in 2000. Even with the stiff increase, I haven't found anyone that beats their rates. I also insure my cars with them so I get a dscount.

[boomertsfx]

Give amex a try... https://home3.americanexpress.com/propertycasualty/quotehome.asp

Auto: https://www64.americanexpress.com/autohome/servlet/QuoteServlet

I've yet to find anyone that beats their rates. (for me and my wife at least)

[christinaandrob]

Costco also uses them as their insurance service they offer businesses/members. They even have special perks for Executive members. This page is what perked my interest in them to begin with.

http://www.costco.com/Service/FeaturePage.aspx?ProductNo=10045004

Thanks for the feedback, boomertsfx.

[Genco]

All,

Thanks for all that provided input and suggestions on other insurance alternatives and costs. I spoke to Travelers and told them of comparable prices that I received from other companies and they lowered my premium to $736 from $985. I still wish it was lower but since I don't want to spend all the time searching for a better price and then transferring all the policies (home, auto, umbrella) we decided to stay with Travelers. At least we saved $250.

Thanks Again

[Dwarflord]

Over the last 4 years we were seeing 50% hikes in home owners insurance every year (for no reason on our part). The first 3 hikes didnt bother us that much, then last year it went from about $600 to $900. I called again, as I did the previous 3 years and told them this is ridiculous. They told me it was due to the "Overall" claims they have had in the past year and their returns on investments have been down dramatically. I told them that is fine, but when your returns were high, I didnt see the 50% decrease in my payments....!!! Not to mention that I also had auto insurance with them as well to help lower my premiums. I searched around and found allstate at about $600/yr and left State Farm. Allstate told us they have had hundreds of new policies because of State Farm. I can see paying a higher premium if I mess up, but Im not paying more so others can live in a high risk area at my expense....LOL.
Im also seeing rate hikes every year in auto policies too. Mostly around 15-30% with no claims on my end. Unfortunately, it looks like this is across the board in this area.....:(

DwArFlOrD

[vacliff]

My auto rates have remained flat. It's just the Homeowners that went up a lot.

[snoopy]

My auto insurance has remained flat for last four years ... (I would think auto should go down since car value decreases over time if you have no tickets or accidents. But what do I know :)) Although home insurance went up about $200 in four years....