# Home owner's insurance expensive for anyone? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 28, 2016, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-insurance-expensive-for-anyone/747355 "2016-02-28T02:13:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![edwardcoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cab0a1/32.png) [@edwardcoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwardcoast)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-insurance-expensive-for-anyone/747355/1 "2016-02-28T02:13:12Z")
I’ve heard people complain about home owner’s insurance costs, and I guess we have always lived in places where the cost wasn’t much. Currently ours is $50.00 a month. Are there places in the US where these costs are really very much higher? ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-insurance-expensive-for-anyone/747355/2 "2016-02-28T02:53:51Z")
> [@edwardcoast](#): > > I’ve heard people complain about home owner’s insurance costs, and I guess we have always lived in places where the cost wasn’t much. Currently ours is $50.00 a month. Are there places in the US where these costs are really very much higher? Mine is about $3K/yr. I consider it high. OTOH, when I needed them, they were there. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-insurance-expensive-for-anyone/747355/3 "2016-02-28T03:49:34Z")
> [@edwardcoast](#): > > I’ve heard people complain about home owner’s insurance costs, and I guess we have always lived in places where the cost wasn’t much. Currently ours is $50.00 a month. Are there places in the US where these costs are really very much higher? That’s about what mine costs also, but I don’t really think about it much since its factored in as part of the house payment, so I don’t pay it directly to the ins. company. For some reason complaining about the cost of home owner’s insurance seems weird to me. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-insurance-expensive-for-anyone/747355/4 "2016-02-28T03:53:49Z")
> [@guestchaz](#): > > That’s about what mine costs also, but I don’t really think about it much since its factored in as part of the house payment, so I don’t pay it directly to the ins. company. For some reason complaining about the cost of home owner’s insurance seems weird to me. Mine’s about that too ($558/yr), but when it goes up or down, my mortgage does as well, so I try to stay on top of it just like I do with my car insurance. ---
**Author:** ![edwardcoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cab0a1/32.png) [@edwardcoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwardcoast)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-insurance-expensive-for-anyone/747355/5 "2016-02-28T04:20:42Z")
> [@rbroome](#): > > Mine is about $3K/yr. I consider it high. OTOH, when I needed them, they were there. That is high. It’s five times what I’m paying. I gather this is in Louisiana? Just trying to understand why it might be so much more expensive there. I guess it has more to do with the amount of insurance claims in Louisiana? Could it be the cost of the home to replace is much more expensive than the average home? I read a news story, years ago about a guy’s house that burned to the ground. He explained that the mortgage company required him to carry home owner’s insurance, but since he had paid off the mortgage he no longer carried the home owner’s policy since it was no longer a requirement. It was a complete loss including his business which was in the basement. The story said the home was valued at $750K, and the home owner had no insurance coverage. So when the topic of home insurance comes up as being expensive I wondered what was considered expensive which would cause someone to take that risk and not have insurance coverage. $3K a year is expensive compared to my $600.00 a year, but even at $3K I would still carry it! ---
**Author:** ![edwardcoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cab0a1/32.png) [@edwardcoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwardcoast)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-insurance-expensive-for-anyone/747355/6 "2016-02-28T04:28:26Z")
> [@guestchaz](#): > > That’s about what mine costs also, but I don’t really think about it much since its factored in as part of the house payment, so I don’t pay it directly to the ins. company. For some reason complaining about the cost of home owner’s insurance seems weird to me. That has been my experience, but I figured there might be some situations where it gets very high I wasn’t aware of. I wondered if areas of the US that are at risk for terrible storms like the hurricanes in Florida might have unusually high compare to the rest of the US. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-insurance-expensive-for-anyone/747355/7 "2016-02-28T04:28:55Z")
We pay about $1000/year and a like amount for earthquake coverage (PacNW). This is for a rather typical 3-bedroom. Never had a claim - but my sister had 2 claims (both water damage from AC & fridge) and one inquiry in two years and had insurance cancelled. No one else would then write a standard policy for three years. Turns out that even calling to ask if something is covered can count against you - even if no claim is filed! ---
**Author:** ![edwardcoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cab0a1/32.png) [@edwardcoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwardcoast)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-insurance-expensive-for-anyone/747355/8 "2016-02-28T04:38:23Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > We pay about $1000/year and a like amount for earthquake coverage (PacNW). This is for a rather typical 3-bedroom. > > Never had a claim - but my sister had 2 claims (both water damage from AC & fridge) and one inquiry in two years and had insurance cancelled. No one else would then write a standard policy for three years. Turns out that even calling to ask if something is covered can count against you - even if no claim is filed! Wow, I didn’t consider they could cancel the policy for anything else other than non-payment and fraud. So she went without home owner’s coverage entirely for those three years? That’s pretty frightening because if they don’t want to take the risk, it would make me feel they highly suspect something bad is going to happen to the house and they don’t want to be responsible. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-insurance-expensive-for-anyone/747355/9 "2016-02-28T05:11:12Z")
I pay about $1400/year in the bay area. I do not elect earthquake or flood coverage. In CA, most carriers will base everything off of a percentage of your Coverage A amount. You can get riders for scheduled property, or for full replacement rather than depreciated value (market value) which I recommend to avoid the hassle if you do have a claim. ---
**Author:** ![pidgeon92](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/50afbb/32.png) [@pidgeon92](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pidgeon92)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-insurance-expensive-for-anyone/747355/10 "2016-02-28T05:37:34Z")
We’re paying just over $1000 per year in Chicago, for a 1700sq ft bungalow. We’ve never had a claim [knock on wood]. ---
**Author:** ![edwardcoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cab0a1/32.png) [@edwardcoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwardcoast)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-insurance-expensive-for-anyone/747355/11 "2016-02-28T06:31:14Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > I pay about $1400/year in the bay area. I do not elect earthquake or flood coverage. In CA, most carriers will base everything off of a percentage of your Coverage A amount. You can get riders for scheduled property, or for full replacement rather than depreciated value (market value) which I recommend to avoid the hassle if you do have a claim. I’m curious. What might the total cost be if you elected to include at least earthquake coverage? ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-insurance-expensive-for-anyone/747355/12 "2016-02-28T06:36:29Z")
> [@edwardcoast](#): > > I’m curious. What might the total cost be if you elected to include at least earthquake coverage? I don’t recall the last time I got an estimate. [Here is a recent article:](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/why-do-so-few-california-homeowners-have-earthquake-insurance-n227711) > [@](#): > > Premiums for earthquake insurance range from $800 to $5,000 annually, and deductibles are typically 15 percent of the total value of the home. California houses aren’t cheap –- the current median sale price is just under $400,000, and is higher in many of the counties most at risk. For a $400,000 home, the deductible would be $60,000. $400K in my area would be pretty cheap. So you pay a lot each year, and even if there is major damage, the damage has to be very high to overcome the deductible. Not a great deal. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-insurance-expensive-for-anyone/747355/13 "2016-02-28T17:59:16Z")
> [@edwardcoast](#): > > I wondered if areas of the US that are at risk for terrible storms like the hurricanes in Florida might have unusually high compare to the rest of the US. Florida does, in fact, have very high home insurance rates. Up until a few years ago, there were not many reputable companies writing policies. I was cancelled by Tower Hill after Hurricane Wilma, even though I’m one of the very small minority in Broward County what didn’t file a claim. I ended up with Citizens, which is a state run program. It started as the insurer of last resort, for people who couldn’t get policies otherwise. It’s grown to be one of the largest in the state. I was paying on the order of $5000/yr for my house, and I’m half an hour away from the coast. Last year I finally found a company with reasonable financial ratings that was willing to write a policy for me, and I’m back down around the $2000 range. People near the coast have even higher costs. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-insurance-expensive-for-anyone/747355/14 "2016-02-28T19:27:08Z")
Raw dollar values can be a bit misleading. It’d probably be more revealing to express it as a percentage of your house’s value. Here in New Zealand my annual premium for home and contents insurance is about 0.7% of my house’s valuation. ETA: Which leads me to suspect that my insurance company calculates there’s about a 1 in 200 chance of my house getting destroyed next year (based on a 0.5% probability plus a profit margin). ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-insurance-expensive-for-anyone/747355/15 "2016-02-28T19:33:22Z")
**Home owner’s insurance expensive for anyone?** Yes. Mine is $4,400 per year. ☹ My earthquake and flood insurance is extra. A lot extra. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-insurance-expensive-for-anyone/747355/16 "2016-02-28T19:49:35Z")
Wow, I didn’t realize mine were so low. I only pay about $30 a month, which is about 0.15% of the house’s value annually. I guess a pretty new house in a boring neighborhood in a region with no particular natural disaster risk will do that. ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-insurance-expensive-for-anyone/747355/17 "2016-02-28T19:51:33Z")
FL resident, 1700 sq. ft. house, $4,500 a year. Those pesky hurricanes… ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-insurance-expensive-for-anyone/747355/18 "2016-02-28T23:00:33Z")
I (temporarily) have two homes. The one near Atlanta costs $1,070 to insure; the one in coastal Georgia is $3,200 plus $1,600 flood insurance. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-insurance-expensive-for-anyone/747355/19 "2016-02-28T23:37:58Z")
Wow, glad I live in cheap house country. I thought 1000 a year was bad. Part of my cost is because I live in an older house, brick wall, lath and plaster etc. The replacement cost of the place is 2.5 times the actual value of the house because of the premium it would take to get somebody to rebuild the place the way it is now really jacks it up over the square footage + yard value. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2016, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-insurance-expensive-for-anyone/747355/20 "2016-02-29T00:25:15Z")
I’m over $100 month here, I’d have to look it up because it’s rolled in with the mortgage and taxes. It was higher than typical when I bought the house because the mortgage company required me to take out replacement cost for the house. Now with the prices around here it’s probably typical. The fire insurance and general liability insurance give me peace of mind, so I’m not complaining. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/home-owners-insurance-expensive-for-anyone/747355.md?page=2)