I went yesterday to renew my car insurance and my homeowners insurance. I was just going to insure the daily driver for now as it is all I drive anymore (working out of state still). It was actually cheaper (by a considerable amount) to have full coverage on my DD AND keep liability on my old beater '86 truck :confused: The good thing is that my rates have only went up about $30 in the last 7 years.

On my home insurance, the cost has almost doubled since I bought this place in '99. They keep raising the appraised (and covered) value of my place every year. Right now they have my appraised value at almost double of what it was in '99...and the rates are following suit. Is this normal??? They said it would actually be more expensive for me to start a new policy than to keep going with the policy I have. Maybe I should be happy that my property value has went up so much...although it sure hurts when its time to renew (I pay my own insurance and taxes...they are not included on the mortgage).

I've been with this insurance company for nearly 20 years, and get all kinds of discounts...and have never had a claim, ever. I shouldn't really complain about the prices because nobody else can touch what I am paying now. What is kind of irritating though is that if I moved 1 mile north (different county), then my homeowners and car insurance would be about 1/2 of what I am paying now.

I went yesterday to renew my car insurance and my homeowners insurance. I was just going to insure the daily driver for now as it is all I drive anymore (working out of state still). It was actually cheaper (by a considerable amount) to have full coverage on my DD AND keep liability on my old beater '86 truck :confused: The good thing is that my rates have only went up about $30 in the last 7 years.

On my home insurance, the cost has almost doubled since I bought this place in '99. They keep raising the appraised (and covered) value of my place every year. Right now they have my appraised value at almost double of what it was in '99...and the rates are following suit. Is this normal??? They said it would actually be more expensive for me to start a new policy than to keep going with the policy I have. Maybe I should be happy that my property value has went up so much...although it sure hurts when its time to renew (I pay my own insurance and taxes...they are not included on the mortgage).

I've been with this insurance company for nearly 20 years, and get all kinds of discounts...and have never had a claim, ever. I shouldn't really complain about the prices because nobody else can touch what I am paying now. What is kind of irritating though is that if I moved 1 mile north (different county), then my homeowners and car insurance would be about 1/2 of what I am paying now.


Sadly, your experience and mine are about the same. I have everything I own (cars, bikes, house, business, camper) with the same company. My rates had only increased slightly over the first ten years of ownership, but have doubled in the last five years. Never a claim on my house insurance, and only one claim on my car (uninsured motorist coverage). My rates are not horrible, but the increase is basically unwarranted imo. My appraised value has doubled, even though nothing has really been done to the house. Last year we siede/roofed it, but no appraisal has been done since that was completed. Can only imagine what might happen to us now. :)

BTW, when I added my 16 year old daughter to my policy (two years ago), my overall premiums went down. She had the good grade discount, and adding her car qualified me for a reduction in rates (multiple vehicle rate, something or another). Only went down by 15.00 a month, but I was pleased.

Ya that second car discount is nice. My experience has been thats its almost cheaper to insure two cars instead of one. I guess they discount the insurance on both vehicles becuase your splitting the driving between two vehicles.

Now on my second car, I get an additional discount b/c I claim (and I do) drive it less than 7,500 miles a year (basically, less than the national average). I don't know if it is a state farm thing, but might be worth looking into.

Greg

That's pretty much normal for the premiums on house insurance to go up every couple of years, because of higher appraisal values and over all inflation. I'm paying about 30-40% more on house insurance, than I did 6 years ago. Also, the older the house is, the more likely there is for it to need repairs, which is also factored in the cost. The insurance companies consider any home over 5 years old to be more likely to have problems than a newer home. Mold and plumbing issues are some of the problems insurance companies are paying out claims to homeowners that live in a home, that is 5 years and older. After that 5th year, you'll see a substantial rate increase.

Its Very common what you are seeing. They have to insure the 'replacement' cost of your home which goes up each year with labor and material costs. The last 5 years were the worst with national shortages of materials at times, and housing boom too. Your insurance company had to play with the rates to be sure they could cover a huge loss in a region such as hurricane, tornadoes, floods, fires etc. Imagine 100 homes lost in a bad fire like in Calif. and they have to rebuild each home to replacement condition. 100 homes x's gazillion of dollars of materials and labor.
Some companies are regional in their rates. State Farm is and their losses in hurricane areas dont affect my rates in Minnesota. Thank goodness. I just got a refund check from SF for all my cars policies and house policy due to lower loses than they expected. As a 'mutual' company, they return the excess back to policy holders. I like that.
Its all risk based computations and replacement cost analysis that brings their rates up. Now Allstate is pulling out of Calif. totally, think what that will do for remaining insurance companies. They have to cover those people and start new policies for them. If the 'biggie' earthquake hits and they all have coverage for it, that will be a huge hit on those remaining companies. Think what that will do to premiums the following year of a disaster..
Oh well, my buddy is my agent and I hear the horror stories.

What is your deductable? I raised mine from 250.00 to 1,000.00. It has helped keep the rates down.

I would like to add that home insurance is going to cover replacement cost to the extent of your coverage. It replacement is more than your policy they are only going to pay the policy limits and the rest is up to you. Most people are under insured.

Time to shop around. I have Traveler's which has great rates. I hear Auto Owners is coming down as well. State Farm, Allstate, and those a$$h**es at Nationwide are the most expensive in the market.