I hate insurance!

[Snowman78]

Can I answer this? Or does my employment and knowledge make me ineligible?


Hail. One big hail storm that affects 5,000 houses is more expensive than a wildfire that affects 100 houses (assuming all 100 are total losses).

+1

[Irving]

A second question on the pop quiz, can anyone think of an insurance company that only sells home owners? There are several that only sell auto.

[BuffCyclist]

My health insurance just went up 20% and my employers contribution went DOWN 20%. My Educational Retirement Board deduction went up 3%, employers share went down 2%. Home Insurance went DOWN 10%, granted that was back in February/March. Vehicles will be up for renewal on Sept 1st, so we'll see how that goes, but it has been steadily going down too.

With that said, when I shopped around for home insurance when we bought our home, several insurance companies gave us ridiculously high rates. When I told them what I got quoted elsewhere, they said, oh, well its because the roof was just replaced. I said I don't own the house and it was the previous owner who had the roof replaced under insurance. Well, they stuck me with the consequences. Then I found Armed Forces Insurance and they gave me a lower rate than even USAA, and about $50k higher coverage across the board. Would have been nice to stick with USAA for the member rebate at the end of the year (which is higher the more products/services you have with them), but the difference between USAA and AFI was just too high.

Then again, I'm fortunate enough to qualify for these military businesses because of the 85yrs of combined service between my Dad and two Granddads.

[TFOGGER]

I was gonna say the California Asshat infestation...it's cost us billions; But there's no insurance company that will write a policy for that.

[Dave_L]

Average house premium is around 1500/year lets say. That person has a hail claim for 20k. Assuming no other claims, the insurance company has to retain that person for 13 years to break even on that policy now. Home insurance is a horrible, horrible business. I know it's frustrating to see rate hikes but paying $1500 a year to potentially get a 6 figure pay out is pretty fair.

[Ronin13]

Average house premium is around 1500/year lets say. That person has a hail claim for 20k. Assuming no other claims, the insurance company has to retain that person for 13 years to break even on that policy now. Home insurance is a horrible, horrible business. I know it's frustrating to see rate hikes but paying $1500 a year to potentially get a 6 figure pay out is pretty fair.

We tell customers all the time- "You have had a policy with us for 5 years, at about $2,000 per year- you've paid in $10,000 in those 5 years, and now you have a roof claim that pays out at 2x what you've paid in... congrats, you're winning in the insurance game." Yes, the business sucks, especially when most companies are operating at a loss (we have a pretty good loss ratio for Travelers agencies in this territory, but most don't)- but insurance is a necessity, as you know, Dave.

[jerrymrc]

Back from the dead. I mentioned a year ago that my home ins went up 55%. Well this year they tried to soften the blow by only raising it 15%. The new policy was going to be $2100 I switched to USAA and it is back to $1200. Same on most coverages but a little less on contents but I was OK with that.

After the discounts I am going to switch my cars as well. Overall between the 3 it looks like I will save about $900 per year on them. The third one is the policy on firearms so for right now I am happy. Doing a refi as well. Old loan = $740 New loan payoff date 2 months later is $650

[KevDen2005]

Back from the dead. I mentioned a year ago that my home ins went up 55%. Well this year they tried to soften the blow by only raising it 15%. The new policy was going to be $2100 I switched to USAA and it is back to $1200. Same on most coverages but a little less on contents but I was OK with that.

After the discounts I am going to switch my cars as well. Overall between the 3 it looks like I will save about $900 per year on them. The third one is the policy on firearms so for right now I am happy. Doing a refi as well. Old loan = $740 New loan payoff date 2 months later is $650

Love USAA. Thanks to my wife's poor driving record I was forced to leave the insurance company I had been with for my entire life. USAA brought me in and saved me a ton.

[Irving]

Be careful of your contents coverage. We've been seeing more and more people not having enough to cover their stuff in large losses.

[jerrymrc]

Be careful of your contents coverage. We've been seeing more and more people not having enough to cover their stuff in large losses.

I do understand but some of the things that one might try and insure is just not worth the replacement cost. The wife and me are not fashion types, the furniture I added up is $15K at AFW. The vintage audio stuff they are not going to give me anything for so in the end I look at risk VS cost.

Very proactive at mitigation and training. The hardest for me in a total loss would be some books and the Albums. I never left Vinyl but replacing 1700 records at the current $7-10 each is just not something I worry about. If there gone they are gone.

I live in a $125K house. Dwelling is $245K and contents is $115K. My old policy upped the Wind/Hail ded to $2500 last year and my new one is $2K. My old other perils was $1500 and my new one is $2k. Just not the person to call if the wind ripped the screen door off (happened twice)