Homeowners Insurance…

[dr]

My homeowners ins just went up 40% over the previous year….Its State Farm, had it 25 plus years, 1 claim for hail damage 4 years ago, denied and dropped, no payout, have autos as well, no claims in 10 years…I was told by agent it was because of my ZIP CODE(?)…no further explanation….

Any thoughts or feedback would be appreciated….

[zelatore]

Well, it's not particularly helpful but my first thought was the same one I've had since I was 16 and first started dealing with insurance.

Insurance companies are the worst kind of scum.









OK, I know better than to paint with such a broad bush. I even have a friend who is an agent. But really, how many people do you know who were screwed by an insurance company vs how many that were treated well?

[RedDog]

Acuity

I recently went through a complete review of all of my insurance coverage other than the boat. I worked with a young just beginning agent - son of some friends.

We ended up re-writing everything and got more coverage for less money - even included a liability umbrella policy I didn't have before. Are you in TN? I could send you his name / number

[Marlin275]

I have USAA
they are a great insurance company.
They give rebate checks most years!
To qualify you have to have served in the military or government.

[Ghost]

My homeowners ins just went up 40% over the previous year….Its State Farm, had it 25 plus years, 1 claim for hail damage 4 years ago, denied and dropped, no payout, have autos as well, no claims in 10 years…I was told by agent it was because of my ZIP CODE(?)…no further explanation….

Any thoughts or feedback would be appreciated….

Bizarre. I have had great service with them. I'm in Maryland. Can I ask where are you, roughly? This hike you are seeing sounds like a complete crock. (I know they split up the company somehow a few years back, so that a regional incident would not bankrupt the whole works. FL has its own regional State Farm I think, for hurricane reasons.)

Regards,

Mike

[BUIZILLA]

Amica

[BUIZILLA]

broad bush. spelling po-po

[Ghost]

...broad bush...


spelling po-po

LOL, how did I miss THAT?? :)

[Ed Donnelly]

My renewal came in last month.. 15% increase.. I called them and told them
I was cancelling as I got a better rate elsewhere..

Oh you are turning 65 in Jan? 10 % discount
Oh you have been with us 15 yrs 5% discount
non smoker house and you replaced all your fencing with 5' instead of 6' slats
10% discount

If you don't complain they will keep on sticking it too you.......Ed

[Conquistador_del_mar]

My homeowners ins just went up 40% over the previous year….Its State Farm, had it 25 plus years, 1 claim for hail damage 4 years ago, denied and dropped, no payout, have autos as well, no claims in 10 years…I was told by agent it was because of my ZIP CODE(?)…no further explanation….

Any thoughts or feedback would be appreciated….

Do you live in a bad storm area with lots of hail claims or hurricane prone location? Another possible cause is a lack of fast response time by your local fire stations or a big drop in your credit rating. I personally also have State Farm with a $7800 hail payout 3 years ago but no appreciable increase in my rates after the claim. I should admit that my agent told me that I have the highest rating of any clients he insures which probably explains my good rates. Offhand, it sounds like your area must be considered a higher risk area now for some reason. Your agent should be able to find out for you by calling the State Farm actuaries. Bill

I wanted to add that I also started a $1M umbrella policy a few years ago with State Farm - very inexpensive extra coverage.

[dfunde01]

It is part of the underwriting risk analysis. It also is a factor in you auto rates. Areas with higher risk and loss risks will have a higher premium. It will be different from company depending on there loss experiences in a specific area and the number of insured in a specific area. State Farm is paranoid right now about their loss exposure on home home owners.

[Ghost]

It is part of the underwriting risk analysis. It also is a factor in you auto rates. Areas with higher risk and loss risks will have a higher premium. It will be different from company depending on there loss experiences in a specific area and the number of insured in a specific area. State Farm is paranoid right now about their loss exposure on home home owners.

Interesting. I had a long chat with my agent two years back about maximum costs to me if foreclosures had lots of people burning down houses. I was at least assured that that my losses would be limited to premiums (unlike an old-style mutual company, where a catastrophe could require policyholders to fork over a bunch of cash beyond their premiums).

I'm now VERY curious what specific types of losses State Farm is paranoid about right now--do you know?

Mike

[silverghost]

State Farm pulled the same with us on our auto & home owners ins.
We have been with them & same agent for 20+ years. O claims ! Credit is top shelf !
Went on Esurance website and got four quotes from four COs + esurance itself!
Esurance was third in line~
Went with another well known natioal co at 45 % of what State Farm wanted via this site !
45 % !!!
By cutting out the local agent and using the web you can also save money.
Did you know that some agents get up to 1/3 of your premium money each year !
Up to 1/3 !
If you automatically re-new each year the agent gets this money each year for little or NO work !
Cut out the middle an & shop + buy via the web!
You Will save big $$$ !

[Kirbyvv]

Jim's got it right. I've been with Amica for at least 25 years, houses, cars, boats. I've had a few claims too, and they have always treated me right.

[Marlin275]

Last I checked Consumer Reports rated Amica number one.

[VetteLT193]

I have USAA
they are a great insurance company.
They give rebate checks most years!
To qualify you have to have served in the military or government.

+100000000000

If you can get USAA get it and don't ever lose it.

[zelatore]

LOL, how did I miss THAT?? :)

oops - I'd correct it, but it's more, uh, interesting this way.

[onesubdrvr]

+100000000000

If you can get USAA get it and don't ever lose it.
AMEN,...

Been with USAA for 10 years, 3 hurricanes, etc. Have my home and autos insured with them, and bank with them

Outstanding institution IMO

Wayne

[dr]

I’m in Knoxville TN and the agent left a voice mail citing the age of my house (12 years) and the fact that there are typically a lot of claims with house’s of my ‘ilk’ and the economy was mentioned as well….I’m not certain what she means by that but the house is paid for and my credit is good..

I was divorced a little over a year ago and I know my former wife has a new house, car, and a investment house insured with State Farm and I hope this isn’t influencing the increase in some way…

I hope to talk to the agent today…I hate the thought of a ‘science project’ of finding a new carrier but I have some good information here to start the search with….thanks for the recomendations….

[tmh]

I just changed auto insurance from Safeco to 21st Century for a 50% reduction in premiums. I don't know if they have homeowners but I'm saving $1800 a year on the cars. Adding teenagers to the cars was crushing.
T.M. Hayes

[Schnook]

+100000000000
If you can get USAA get it and don't ever lose it.
We've had USAA for probably 15 years, and this year they sent us a notice that our deductible for our homeowners was doubling. I called and asked why and the answer finally came down to "we want to discourage frivolous claims". So now my USAA homeowners is pretty much only good for a total loss, I could replace my roof or fence and be right around what the deductible is be so why bother?
I don't want to sound elitist, but since they began relaxing their membership standards their qaulity of service has gone downhill.
One other pointer - don't put that USAA sticker on your bumper. My wife bumped a car in a parking lot once, didn't even leave a scratch on either. The other owner was saying "no problem, let's just go our separate ways", until his friends saw the sticker. Then he had all sorts of medical problems, long story short USAA settled his claim because they said that would be cheaper than fighting it, then passed that cost on to us via 3 years of higher premiums.

[Schnook]

But they're still one of the best out there. :smile:

[dfunde01]

We've had USAA for probably 15 years, and this year they sent us a notice that our deductible for our homeowners was doubling. I called and asked why and the answer finally came down to "we want to discourage frivolous claims". So now my USAA homeowners is pretty much only good for a total loss, I could replace my roof or fence and be right around what the deductible is be so why bother?


Raising the deductible is an industry wide trend. The companies were getting beat up with claims for a few thousand dollars. they want to move homeowners ins to more of a major medical footing with the deductible set at 5% to 10% of the replacement cost of the structures. The days of having a deductible that is lower than your premium are just about gone for ever.