Home insurance - 27% increase

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  • Grumps21

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    I have Geico for auto and home and Progressive for the bikes. Mine is almost due to renew, so I guess I’ll know in another month or so if mine has increased any
    Whelp, just got my renewal in the mail yesterday. 25.3% increase. I called them to see why and was told replacement cost went up due to the sky high cost of lumber. Oh, and also because my older roof is now another year older. I asked if my premium will go down when lumber prices return to normal and was told “it’s possible”. Time to shop around for another insurance company I guess.
     

    avvidclif

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    Mine went from 2100 to 2500 and I went to Farm Bureau for 1400 and got a bonus. Guns are considered "Personal Property" and covered up to your PP limits. Mine is $120k.
     

    TexasRedneck

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    Mine went from 2100 to 2500 and I went to Farm Bureau for 1400 and got a bonus. Guns are considered "Personal Property" and covered up to your PP limits. Mine is $120k.

    Yessir - Germania is the same way. Sounds like they MIGHT be just a tad less expensive than FB - but if you've got a good agent, stick w/'em. Ours is outstanding.
     

    Lumberjack98

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    Are you eligible for USAA? Nobody better.
    I've been with Texas Farm Bureau for 23 years now. I looked at switching to USAA for all of our coverages (Home, Auto, Umbrella, additional riders) and it was about $1,500 more per year than Texas Farm Bureau.
     

    Grumps21

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    Whelp, just got my renewal in the mail yesterday. 25.3% increase. I called them to see why and was told replacement cost went up due to the sky high cost of lumber. Oh, and also because my older roof is now another year older. I asked if my premium will go down when lumber prices return to normal and was told “it’s possible”. Time to shop around for another insurance company I guess.
    Ended up with Hippo insurance. Never heard of them and wasn’t sure at first. Did a search and they are legit. Best quote by a large margin. My premiums are back to where they were 5 or 6 years ago. Then again, I did put on a new roof two weeks ago, but they were still $375 cheaper than the next best with new roof and $1k cheaper if I had kept the old roof.
     

    tonelar

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    I’m with Farmer’s for home & cars. Geico for the motorcycles. I’ll check to see if Germania and/or Texas Farm Bureau cover home, cars & motos.
    Our policies renew in September.
     
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    OutlawStar

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    I’m with Farmer’s for home & cars. Geico for the motorcycles. I’ll check to see if Germania and/or Texas Farm Bureau cover home, cars & motos.
    Our policies renew in September.
    I can already tell you Farmers is seeing homeowners increases of 25-40%. Just about everyone is raising rates. I've heard everything from inflation, to lumber and building materials, etc. Truth is its a mix of everything and why its not a simple 10% increase. Cost of doing business as an insurance company has gone way up because of workers wages, more litigation and regulations tacked on. Additionally, during the coof people started switching to discount insurance companies, stopped driving as much and sold spare vehicles because they weren't driving anywhere, insurance lost a bunch of policies. With so many first time home buyers through panic buying, a ton of people were buying their first policies. Insurance carriers lose money the first couple years because of the labor cost just to bind the policy. Then if a claim is put in, just to make a claim number costs something like $400.

    Houses are increasingly "open floor plan" so when a pipe breaks in the laundry room, the policy is covering replacement of that floor for the other un-damaged 2000 square feet. And I can't tell you how many times I've heard "my daughter has asthma I can't be in this house while they're replacing the floor like when I was paying for it!" so the hotel is covered. Then the contractor wants to paint the walls because the latex paint tore while taking off the baseboards. Yadda yadda yadda. Plus theres a thing in some places like Dallas that if your roof is over 2 years old a home inspector and roofer will find hail damage and recommend a new roof. Your plain variety roof can easily be $18,000 now. Even if you're paying $2000 a year for an average house in the burbs, thats 9 years to break even on the roof. Most people are replacing their roof every 7-9 years. Thats just not profitable for insurance companies.
     

    Fishkiller

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    Blame Brandon. Most of the increase to the cost of building materials due to not being obtainable. OSB was $11 a sheet on 2019 now it is around $20. Same for all the other stuff
     

    tonelar

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    maybe it’s cause our place was bought for 130k (now valued at 175k) but our homeowners used to be under $400 per year

    the latest quote is $510
     

    OutlawStar

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    Blame Brandon. Most of the increase to the cost of building materials due to not being obtainable. OSB was $11 a sheet on 2019 now it is around $20. Same for all the other stuff
    Price of materials went up. Cost of doing business went up (gas, insurance, employees), general inflation, etc. On top of that think of modern houses being built in the last 10 years. Everything is open floor plan. If your dishwasher fails and damages the wood floor in the kitchen, many insurance companies are forced by the policy to pay for the floor in the kitchen, laundry room, dining room, bathroom, living room, 4 bedrooms, mud room, bonus room, 6 closets, plus baseboards, paint the walls, move the furniture out, pay for a hotel for 2 weeks, and meals for a family of 5. Oh and then its found out the floors go under the kitchen and bathroom cabinets, so those too have to be replaced. A simple failed dishwasher turns into a $50,000 claim. I work as an insurance adjuster and I've paid for so many claims just like that scenario. On top of that there are companies like ServPro and Servicemaster that charge $5000 and up to "dry" these damaged materials, ward off mold, and mess up your house for a couple weeks before repairs begin.

    I'm not myopic for the companies I have personally worked for, and I always tell people to disregard those who have never had an actual claim for damages to their home because "every time I call them to chat about my policy they're just so nice!" doesn't count. Just about everyone in North Texas will have a claim for roof damage some time during their homeowner experience. Adjusters have bad days just like everyone else, but whats important is having a decent carrier that will generally take care of you, admit fault and correct mistakes when they happen, and get you on your way again. Shopping around thinking you're saving $400 a year only to find out when you have a claim their adjusters are poorly trained and over worked, and the policy is kinda crap for getting you covered. Even the company I work for is doing some unfavorable stuff with some covered perils, but the stories I hear from contractors say its much worse at the "I saved a bunch of money with xyz" carrier. Theres usually a reason they're priced lower, and not because they want you to have more spending cash.
     

    TexasRedneck

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    Price of materials went up. Cost of doing business went up (gas, insurance, employees), general inflation, etc. On top of that think of modern houses being built in the last 10 years. Everything is open floor plan.

    We hate the OFP concept - people all too often forget that their furnishings, pictures, etc NEED those walls that they just took down. That, and the idiots that paint their brick.....and never consider the long term consequences of stopping the brick being able to breathe.


    I'm not myopic for the companies I have personally worked for, and I always tell people to disregard those who have never had an actual claim for damages to their home because "every time I call them to chat about my policy they're just so nice!" doesn't count.


    When we fired USAA and switched to Germania, folks said we were crazy....yet our rates dropped about 20% - and I now have a rep here in town I can call and talk to. He modified our policy a couple of years ago - I'm now covered if I accidentally shoot/run over livestock at the lease, the UTV is covered - and it somehow lowered our deductible AND reduced the overall policy cost. He explained it all to me...but now I know how customers feel when I try to explain something to then in detail....lol


    Even the company I work for is doing some unfavorable stuff with some covered perils, but the stories I hear from contractors say its much worse at the "I saved a bunch of money with xyz" carrier. Theres usually a reason they're priced lower, and not because they want you to have more spending cash.


    I always get a kick out of folks with the "discount" insurance as they whine about poor service, etc. How's that working out for ya, scooter?? When the wife's car (2020 Aviator) was rear-ended, the adjuster put her in an econbox rental - even though it was being claimed under "uninsured motorist". I lit up my agent, who turned around and lit up the adjuster's boss. I had told him that I would not speak with that adjuster again - period. Got a very nice, apologetic email AND phone call from a VP, who assured me that the adjuster had been assigned to retrain immediately, and had his secretary take care of the rest of our claim. I didn't really care who/how it was handled, I just wanted it taken care of - and they did so. But, yeah - there's several of those "discount" insurance houses that need to just go away.
     

    karlac

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    Good story.
    The rubber meets the road in the claims process.
    Sounds like they did you right.
    After 52 years I’m getting fed up with USAA.
     

    lightflyer1

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    Price of materials went up. Cost of doing business went up (gas, insurance, employees), general inflation, etc. On top of that think of modern houses being built in the last 10 years. Everything is open floor plan. If your dishwasher fails and damages the wood floor in the kitchen, many insurance companies are forced by the policy to pay for the floor in the kitchen, laundry room, dining room, bathroom, living room, 4 bedrooms, mud room, bonus room, 6 closets, plus baseboards, paint the walls, move the furniture out, pay for a hotel for 2 weeks, and meals for a family of 5. Oh and then its found out the floors go under the kitchen and bathroom cabinets, so those too have to be replaced. A simple failed dishwasher turns into a $50,000 claim. I work as an insurance adjuster and I've paid for so many claims just like that scenario. On top of that there are companies like ServPro and Servicemaster that charge $5000 and up to "dry" these damaged materials, ward off mold, and mess up your house for a couple weeks before repairs begin.

    I'm not myopic for the companies I have personally worked for, and I always tell people to disregard those who have never had an actual claim for damages to their home because "every time I call them to chat about my policy they're just so nice!" doesn't count. Just about everyone in North Texas will have a claim for roof damage some time during their homeowner experience. Adjusters have bad days just like everyone else, but whats important is having a decent carrier that will generally take care of you, admit fault and correct mistakes when they happen, and get you on your way again. Shopping around thinking you're saving $400 a year only to find out when you have a claim their adjusters are poorly trained and over worked, and the policy is kinda crap for getting you covered. Even the company I work for is doing some unfavorable stuff with some covered perils, but the stories I hear from contractors say its much worse at the "I saved a bunch of money with xyz" carrier. Theres usually a reason they're priced lower, and not because they want you to have more spending cash.
    Just went through this exact scenario. Came out well though as I redid the whole house while they were at it. Last October through Feb of this year.
     
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