My homeowner’s insurance last year was just over $700; this year it’s $1283. I live in a townhouse and the only claim I’ve ever was almost 4 years ago for some wind damage- I got a check from them for about $2000, which is way under what I’ve paid them over the years. To my knowledge there hasn’t been anything major in my zip code or surrounding zip codes in the past year, though parts of Alabama/Mississippi/Georgia/Tennessee of course got hit hard by tornadoes last year.
My sister’s insurance more than doubled on her beach properties, but of course flood insurance in hurricane areas has always been like a house payment. It also went way up on her non-beach properties.
Has anybody else’s homeowner’s insurance skyrocketed this year?
There was a period of time when my homeowners insurance increased a lot from year to year. Since I’ve never filed any claims of any sort I called my agent who assured me that the increases will abate. When it didn’t, I just switched to another carrier and got a lower rate. The rates stayed pretty steady for a few years and then also started to rise again. May be time for me to check for lower rates again. So my suggestion is to first call your insurance agent for an explanation, then check some other carriers for their rates for the same coverage.
We have renters insurance but that has stayed pretty steady overall. I think last year we saw a $26 increase. I’m having my biggest issues with my health insurance costs spiraling out of control.
Our health insurance has been going up about 20% a year for the past few years and we’ve been managing it by switching plans and increasing copays and stuff. This year on top of our usual 20% increase we are also adding a baby to the plan, which means that our insurance is going to cost $1400 a month out of pocket for us (that is after what my employer contributes to the premium cost) which is more than our monthly rent. I’m half considering building a raft and floating my ass over to Europe for the socialized healthcare!
Mine seems to be going up by about $100-$200/year. About 7 or 8 years ago, I got tired of my then-current company raising the rates every year so I got an “introductory” rate from the current company. The problem is that my mortgage/escrow company dropped the ball in transferring payments from one company to the next, so I got a letter from the insurance company one cold January day saying that my house insurance was canceled. Well, that was a sucky few days until I could get it re-instated. So even though my insurance is now almost twice the introductory rate, I’m reluctant to switch again and have to deal with the levels of incompetence that I’d have to cope with from both the insurance brokers and the mortgage company.
I used to have Progressive and they can really jack up the rates yearly. One time, they increased my rates by $80 and then I looked for other insurance companies. I have the same coverage at almost 25% lower home insurance cost. As lindsaybluth, shop around and choose the best offer
Mine doubled last year. I live in Florida, so they gave the hurricane excuse. I’m with State Farm. That’s the last insurance company (aside from the JUA/Citizens “high-risk” insurer) that underwrites HO policies in this state.
State Farm had been attempting to raise the rates considerably for several years. The state of Florida wasn’t having that, except the State’s hard-line stance caused most of the rest of the insurance companies to pull out of the state. Finally, State Farm threatened to pull out of the state, which would have left several million people in the lurch for HO insurance. We would have been forced to go to Citizens Property, which charges double the rates that State Farm does.
So my escrow payment went up by about $75 and I pay it without complaint because the alternative is essentially no insurance at all. I wouldn’t be able to afford the high risk policy. There are no other alternatives in this state. I have called every insurance company I can think of and even a few I’ve never heard of and only State Farm and Citizens underwrites in Florida.
Another complaint is that usually they send me the new premium notices at least a month before they’re due- this one they sent one week before it’s due, which I can’t help but believe is intentional. I spoke to the agent this morning and raised my deductible which takes the premium down significantly and I’ll pay it so as to give me breathing room while I find a better policy/premium.
Ha, that’s pretty shitty they sent it a week in advance. Unless your situation is like Dogzilla’s, I’m sure you’ll find something more affordable for very similar or identical coverage.
Right?! State Farm gave me like a year and a half to go looking for coverage, just in case the state forced them to pull out. I frantically made calls for about a year before I finally just gave up and waited for State Farm to give notice of cancellation. However, State Farm apparently called Florida’s bluff, Florida blinked, and State Farm got to keep their block of business and make money off us hand over fist.
Win-Win except for those of us whose premiums doubled.
