Did your 2023 homeowners insurance cost go way up? What are you paying?

[Andrew Joiner]

I've been with Amica for years. My homeowners increased 53% and my car 28%. No claims or changes in policy.
When I google "2023 homeowners insurance increase". Most info predicts 7-9% for inflation.

I guess it's time to shop for insurance.

[Tom M King]

Ours went up a lot, but the house value hadn't been changed in a long time. It went way up when adjusted for current value. I don't know what it cost. My Wife did the shopping an decision making. She did change companies.

[Jim Koepke]

In California some companies are no longer selling home owner's insurance. Fires and flooding have been devastating to their finances.

Parts of Oregon are suffering the same fate.

Some homes in the southeast have been hit by storms multiple times in a short period of time.

Weather patterns are changing and will be causing havoc for years to come.

jtk

[Edward Weber]

A lot has to do with where you live.
Here in CA, a couple of large insurance companies say that they will no longer offer home insurance. They claim they took too much of a hit due to wildfires in recent years.
I'm not sure how the other companies will respond but I'm sure it will be more expensive for some to acquire insurance.

[Patty Hann]

I've been with Amica for years. My homeowners increased 53% and my car 28%. No claims or changes in policy.
When I google "2023 homeowners insurance increase". Most info predicts 7-9% for inflation.

I guess it's time to shop for insurance.

I don't think you'll see much difference in premiums if you change companies (and keep the coverage the same).

I'm with USAA, just got my annual Premium notice for Homeowner's,...it jumped 47%.
The "coverage costs breakdown" showed increases of about 10% (which is typical because the house increases in value every year).
But this was the first year the premium increased so much.

I went online and got quotes from other companies. They were all close to the new premium, or a lot higher.
Which is why I say I don't think you'll see much difference if you change companies.
Get some quotes anyway, of course .... you might at least save a little.
(One of the quotes I got was from Amica....they wanted $200 more than USAA for the same coverage)

[Bruce Wrenn]

Here in NC, rates went up about 25%. Most policies went from $1k deductible to $2K deductible, in addition to premium increase, a double whammy. When rates go up like this, claims increase, as policy holders demand return on their investment. If I'm paying more, then I expect more syndrome. We have carried REPLACEMENT VALUE coverage for years, so due to inflation these cost have gone up, by as much as 100%. As an example, today in HD looked at a 20 amp breaker that two years ago sold for around $15. Today it's almost $40. Have friends who are waiting for apartment complex to be finished in SC, but they don't have ANY of the ELECTRIC BREAKER boxes for whole complex.

[Stan Calow]

It doesnt matter how good a customer you are, how few claims you've made, or how stable your area is. The insurance companies spread their costs among all policyholders, when they have big losses anywhere due to fires, storms, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, etc. We all pay for everyone else's claims. Thats how insurance works. Ours went up 25% last year.

[Andrew Joiner]

Thanks Patty, that's very helpful.

[Bill Dufour]

Most of California got extensions to file taxes for 2022 by October 2023 with no penalty. this was due to federal disaster areas declared because of wild fires. That tells you how bad the fires were last summer.
The federal government is still waiting on something like 100 million in tax payments from California from last year. That is one reason the possible federal default date was moved forward two weeks to a month from "normal."
Bill D

[Brian Runau]

My experience was similar to Patty's. Some were less expensive, but not enough to change.. We have used Erie for years. Brian

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I suspect that the incredible increases in the prices of houses has a lot to do with the increase in insurance premiums. Home prices have skyrocketing for the last couple of years.

[Brian Runau]

I suspect that the incredible increases in the prices of houses has a lot to do with the increase in insurance premiums. Home prices have skyrocketing for the last couple of years.

I am sure that's part of it, as well as replacement costs considering materials and labor also. Brian

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I asked my wife as she paid ours in March. Our homeowner's policy went up about 16%.

[Dave Zellers]

I am sure that's part of it, as well as replacement costs considering materials and labor also. Brian

Yes. So even if housing costs drop, as they are expected to do, as long as materials and labor costs hold steady, insurance costs will hold steady.

Materials and labor are rising so regardless of housing prices, replacement cost (insurance) will go up.

We are well into a rather difficult period. But it's not without precedent. We will ride it out and adjust. And then everything will cost more.

[Jack Frederick]

I had a meeting with my State Farm agent last year and bolstered coverage in a number of ways. We sold that property and SF will no longer write that policy. Living in Sonoma County now and with the Tubb’s (‘17) Fire and others, even if you can have the insurance pay-out you still have to find a contractor available to do the build and that process can take a long time. Depending upon where you are it is a consideration in your coverage as far as costs for temp housing etc. Most carriers here are forcing people into the State fire insurance program. Pretty cool work really. Capitalize the opportunity, socialize the cost.

[Jim Becker]

Ours only increased a small amount, largely due to the replacement cost escalation that is normal every year.

[Mike Henderson]

Like Patty, I have USAA (53 years, I think). Our homeowners went up, also, but not too bad. I don't remember the percentage.

Mike

[Brian Elfert]

I don't recall mine going up much at all. Mine is around $1,400 to $1,500 per year.

Housing prices don't affect insurance that much because it is mostly the land that goes up in value. Construction costs are really what matters for homeowner's insurance. Land doesn't away in a fire or other event that destroys the structure.

[Mike Henderson]

I don't recall mine going up much at all. Mine is around $1,400 to $1,500 per year.

Housing prices don't affect insurance that much because it is mostly the land that goes up in value. Construction costs are really what matters for homeowner's insurance. Land doesn't away in a fire or other event that destroys the structure.

That's exactly right. When I bought my house in California, my insurance company wanted to insure it for the full purchase price. I had to point out to them that the land was most of the cost and all I wanted to insure was the house. We finally came to a compromise.

Land here is VERY expensive.

Mike

[Mike Wilkins]

Storms, natural disasters, materials costs all contribute to premium cost increases. All companies have to adjust or risk affecting their bottom line. I live in eastern NC where Atlantic storms and local weather events contribute a lot to this. I worked in insurance claims for 25 years and saw it all. Same concern for auto policies-labor and material costs rising, cost of modern features that may or may not be needed are costing a lot to replace. And don't live in an area with a large deer population-found this out first-hand when a large buck decided to commit suicide at the front of my Silverado. Ouch.

[Brian Elfert]

Thunderstorms with wind and hail cause rates in my area to go up. Some insurance companies have started to increase rates for older asphalt roofs because hail damage is more likely on older brittle shingles. A lot of homeowners will hold off until their roof leaks until replacing it. They are hoping for hail or wind to get a "free" roof.

[Keith Pitman]

I’ve been insured with AMICA since the early 1970s, except for a period when I lived in a state where they didn’t do business. My premium for homeowners went up 90% with the recent renewal. I’m moving my coverage to another insurer this year to save about $1200. I think auto coverage will cost me more, but not enough to offset the $1200. I am in a wildfire zone and I wouldn’t be surprised if my new carrier jacked my rates next year. I attribute this to the wildfires in California in the last few years and the safety issues with PG&E.

I’ve been distressed to move away from AMICA because I’ve have great experience with them. But money is money.

[Zachary Hoyt]

I just got my homeowner's policy last August so I won't know if it's going up till then. I thought the rates were very reasonable, and I attributed that (perhaps wrongly) to my insurance carrier being a New York company based in Ithaca that may not have exposure in faraway states where there have been a lot of losses.

[Lee DeRaud]

The federal government is still waiting on something like 100 million in tax payments from California from last year. That is one reason the possible federal default date was moved forward two weeks to a month from "normal."
That number sounds low by a couple of zeros: it's only 0.02% (AKA "round-off error") of the federal tax income from California. The IRS averages about that much from California every two hours.

As Everett Dirksen used to say, "A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking real money."

[Dave Zellers]

As Everett Dirksen used to say, "A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking real money."

He was great. But given that was from the sixties, I'm pretty sure it was "million". Congress had started to treat 'million' as couch money.

[Dave Zellers]

Nope. Just looked it up. You're right- it was billion.

[Steve Demuth]

It doesnt matter how good a customer you are, how few claims you've made, or how stable your area is. The insurance companies spread their costs among all policyholders, when they have big losses anywhere due to fires, storms, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, etc. We all pay for everyone else's claims. Thats how insurance works. Ours went up 25% last year.

Where you live (how stable your area is) matters a great deal. Location is one of the key variables used in underwriting, and if you're in a a low risk area, your going to pay a lower rate per dollar of coverage. The reason insurers leave an area is typically that risk (payouts) have gotten so high, they can no longer sell insurance at rates that are profitable (often because the state's insurance regulatory agency won't permit rates to go high enough, and also because people just won't pay them).

Years ago now, I did a lot of consulting with State Farm, and got a good look at the process by which they set rates. Their rate database was huge, with different rates literally mile by mile in many areas.

[Mike Null]

I've been with State Farm for over 50 years. My homeowners and auto insurance both went up. Even though neither of us drives 5,000 miles a year.

Last week the tax assessor paid us a visit and bumped the value of the house by $50,000 so I am expecting another insurance increase,

[Brian Elfert]

Last week the tax assessor paid us a visit and bumped the value of the house by $50,000 so I am expecting another insurance increase,

Your homeowner's insurance shouldn't go up just because your home's value went up. A chunk of your home's value is the land. Your homeowner's insurance is based on the replacement value of the house which doesn't automatically go up just because the value increased.

[Jim Becker]

Brian, the reassessment may or may not affect it...insurance is governed by individual states and there's a wide range of things that come into play because of that. Insurance companies will use any and all avenues available to them to tweak their underwriting over time.

[roger wiegand]

I hadn't thought about it for quite a while, probably because it has been unremarkable. I checked and our homeowners policy has increased a total of 8% over the past five years, something like 1.5% per year. Not that I'm worried about the insurance company, but either they were overcharging me by a lot earlier or they aren't keeping up with inflation. Living away from the coast in an area without many extreme weather events like tornados and hurricanes seems to make a big difference in rates. Stringent building codes seem to help as well as there's a lot less damage when there is a weather event. It's sure not that our construction costs haven't gone up.

[Jim Becker]

My renewal went up a couple hundred for the year. It is what it is. The Umbrella went down although that's likely most from going to one vehicle.

[George Bokros]

I am with Erie Ins also. I experienced a 38% increase but raising the ductible from $1,000 to $2,500 brought it back down. My car insurance did not increase 1 cent.

[Brian Runau]

I hadn't thought about it for quite a while, probably because it has been unremarkable. I checked and our homeowners policy has increased a total of 8% over the past five years, something like 1.5% per year. Not that I'm worried about the insurance company, but either they were overcharging me by a lot earlier or they aren't keeping up with inflation. Living away from the coast in an area without many extreme weather events like tornados and hurricanes seems to make a big difference in rates. Stringent building codes seem to help as well as there's a lot less damage when there is a weather event. It's sure not that our construction costs haven't gone up.

Roger, may I ask who you use for insurance? thanks Brian

[roger wiegand]

Roger, may I ask who you use for insurance? thanks Brian

It's currently with Hanover. Might have been Geico at the very beginning of that period, it's been Hanover for at least the last four years. My agent shops it around for the best provider every year or two. I doubt that it is cheap in any absolute sense, nothing in MA is! Relative stability is good though.

[Curt Harms]

Ours only increased a small amount, largely due to the replacement cost escalation that is normal every year.

Same here, but my automotive coverage went down upon changing companies. Homeowner's went up less than 10%. Both vehicles are 20 years old so it wouldn't take much damage to total them. They're both still reliable so I'm not in a rush to change anything. People complain about the weather in Pennsylvania but it's really pretty benign. No tornadoes to speak of, flood insurance claims are often a result of building in a flood plain before zoning. Wet enough that any wild fires are easily contained. The last significant insurance hit was 'Superstorm' Sandy in 2012 which cost us a new roof.

[jack duren]

I called my insurance agent about my roof. After a long discussion, he informed insurance would be going up this summer and not to be alarmed Said it would be a huge increase…

[Pat Germain]

Colorado is experiencing Huge increases in home and auto insurance. My Farmers policy went up over 100% last year. I switched to Nationwide which kept it at the same rate, but expect it will go up soon.

Colorado has experienced numerous fires and hailstorms over the past several years. Many insurers completely pulled out of Colorado. We have an area near Colorado Springs called Black Forest. As you would expect, it's a heavily forested area. Getting homeowner's insurance in this area is now either impossible or extremely expensive. Insurers don't want the fire risk. I'm concerned we may soon be like Florida and California where it's often impossible to get homeowner's insurance at any price.

[Jim Becker]

Same here, but my automotive coverage went down upon changing companies. Homeowner's went up less than 10%. Both vehicles are 20 years old so it wouldn't take much damage to total them. They're both still reliable so I'm not in a rush to change anything. People complain about the weather in Pennsylvania but it's really pretty benign. No tornadoes to speak of, flood insurance claims are often a result of building in a flood plain before zoning. Wet enough that any wild fires are easily contained. The last significant insurance hit was 'Superstorm' Sandy in 2012 which cost us a new roof.
I'm bundled....CSAA via AAA. It's consistently been the best pricing for years, even with the recent increases.

[Mike Henderson]

Colorado is experiencing Huge increases in home and auto insurance. My Farmers policy went up over 100% last year. I switched to Nationwide which kept it at the same rate, but expect it will go up soon.

Colorado has experienced numerous fires and hailstorms over the past several years. Many insurers completely pulled out of Colorado. We have an area near Colorado Springs called Black Forest. As you would expect, it's a heavily forested area. Getting homeowner's insurance in this area is now either impossible or extremely expensive. Insurers don't want the fire risk. I'm concerned we may soon be like Florida and California where it's often impossible to get homeowner's insurance at any price.

There's no problem getting home insurance in California unless you live in a fire risk area. There's been some talk about forcing insurance companies to write policies in those areas (at reduced rates), but that would mean they would have to charge more to homeowners who do not live in those areas. My attitude is that people who chose to live there need to pay for the risk.

I live in a subdivision and it would take a fire storm situation that burned an awful lot of houses before it got to us - so our fire insurance is reasonable.

Mike

[Brian Elfert]

Someone resurrected a 2023 thread. My homeowner's insurance went up 60% for 2024. You would be hard pressed to find any homeowner in the Minneapolis metro area that didn't get at least a 25% increase.

[Brian Runau]

It's currently with Hanover. Might have been Geico at the very beginning of that period, it's been Hanover for at least the last four years. My agent shops it around for the best provider every year or two. I doubt that it is cheap in any absolute sense, nothing in MA is! Relative stability is good though.

Thanks Roger. Brian

[Pat Germain]

There's no problem getting home insurance in California unless you live in a fire risk area. There's been some talk about forcing insurance companies to write policies in those areas (at reduced rates), but that would mean they would have to charge more to homeowners who do not live in those areas. My attitude is that people who chose to live there need to pay for the risk.

I live in a subdivision and it would take a fire storm situation that burned an awful lot of houses before it got to us - so our fire insurance is reasonable.

Mike

Sorry, I didn't mean to suggest ALL of California or Florida. I should have specified *some areas of California and Florida*. I'm from Orange County, CA and I have many relatives living there. Homeowner's insurance is expensive because the houses are so expensive. However, I'm not aware of any difficulty getting insurance even though a big fire did rip through residential areas of Anaheim several years ago.

[Brian Runau]

Someone resurrected a 2023 thread. My homeowner's insurance went up 60% for 2024. You would be hard pressed to find any homeowner in the Minneapolis metro area that didn't get at least a 25% increase.

I Started a new 2024 thread since it was 9 months after this thread and pricing references would be different. Brian

[Patty Hann]

Mine went up (with no claims) about 45% in July 2023. This despite having a complete new roof put on Aug 2018.
From 2018 to July 2023 there were minimal increases, maybe 10% at most.
We shall see if it again increases significantly come this July.
I'm with USAA.

[Brian Elfert]

I Started a new 2024 thread since it was 9 months after this thread and pricing references would be different. Brian

Jim Becker closed your new thread because he said it duplicated this thread.

[Brian Runau]

Jim Becker closed your new thread because he said it duplicated this thread.

I know. I felt since it was 9 months later and we were talking about 2024 pricing I thought it would keep it cleaner, since increase is a different year. Jim moderates the boards, up to him. Brian

[John Lifer]

Rates continue to go up. I had hail damage in 2022 that allowed me to have roof replaced by insurance. Roof and the COPPER gutters. (no I didn't spec these as I bought house from PO) $37K for a 2000SF house.
About 3x what I had expected, but half was the copper. Insurance went up, 15% or so. I thought probably due to claim, but probably not after reading here.

[Michael Weber]

Oddly, mine actually went down a little. It turns out the company now isn’t fully protecting roofs that are more than 8 years old. The older it is the less coverage for replacement eventually dropping to very little after 25 years. I suspect this will soon be common with all companies if it’s not already. Don’t have the numbers in front of me but my roof was replaced 16 years ago and is the last claim I have made. Between the decrease in roof coverage and my fairly high deductible it’s likely to pay very little. I am going to be looking around.

[Brian Elfert]

My insurance carrier now has a mandatory wind and hail deductible of $2,500. This is for roof, siding, gutters, fascia, windows, doors, and anything else. The trend is for less and less coverage of roofs. It doesn't help that some refuse to replace their roof with their own money and hope/pray that the roof is replaced for "free" by insurance before the leaks get too bad. My roof is 20 years old so my personal wind and hail deductible went up to $5,000. I have cash value for my roof so I would get exactly ZERO from insurance if my roof were to be damaged by a hail storm. I have replaced half of my house's roof and expect to have the other half done by the end of summer.

I use an insurance broker and they have been warning clients since last fall to expect a 25% to 50% increase in homeowner's insurance rates. They sent out multiple emails as recently as last month.

[Steve Demuth]

Oddly, mine actually went down a little. It turns out the company now isn’t fully protecting roofs that are more than 8 years old. The older it is the less coverage for replacement eventually dropping to very little after 25 years. I suspect this will soon be common with all companies if it’s not already. Don’t have the numbers in front of me but my roof was replaced 16 years ago and is the last claim I have made. Between the decrease in roof coverage and my fairly high deductible it’s likely to pay very little. I am going to be looking around.

Our house has been covered by the same (little, regional) insurer for 40 years. They have always reduced coverage on the roof, year by year, according to a set depreciation schedule based on the roofing type. 30 year shingles depreciate to essentially no coverage after, I think, 20 years.

In 40 years I've never filed a claim. Had a tornado come through the place, picked up a sheep shed and deposited in the neighbor's field, and took down some 200+ year old red oak trees around the place, and literally twisted the top off a 2' diameter walnut 25' from the house, but remarkably only removed about five shingles from the house . Fingers crossed, we'll manage to close out our sojourn here without having a major claim - I'm gettin' too old to deal with crap like that.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Not only did our insurance go way up, our home values increased 34% - giving us a double whammy.

Our house hurts - the rentals, we'll just raise the rent to cover it.

[Lee DeRaud]

Not only did our insurance go way up, our home values increased 34% - giving us a double whammy.

Our house hurts - the rentals, we'll just raise the rent to cover it.

Thus perpetuating the cycle.

[Warren Lake]

this below is on firefox just now.

My accountants place has flooded twice both times over 40k and taken care of. I had half inch in one place and then just left basement insurance off from then on and didnt redo the basement and wont. Not having that cut my policy around 25 percent

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240311-why-climate-change-is-making-the-us-uninsurable?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us

[Lee DeRaud]

My various "house" policies (homeowner's, earthquake, and umbrella liability) were fairly stable, small changes over the years. E.g. homeowner's went from $680 in 2007 to $925 in 2020, earthquake went from $240 in 2012 to $220 in 2018 (with a dip down to $170 or so in the middle, no clue why).

Then stuff started to happen. Earthquake went from $220 to $640 in 2019, due to redrawn fault maps IIRC. Homeowner's went from $925 to $1320 in 2021 for no obvious reason, but possibly due to the wildfires elsewhere in the state*. They've resumed their steady creep upward to $1460/$885 in 2023, but no dramatic jumps lately.

*The regs for insurance rates in California are...odd. Sometimes stuff elsewhere in the state has an effect, sometimes not. I'm with State Farm, which is still continuing existing policies, just not writing new ones. We'll see how it goes.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Thus perpetuating the cycle.Meaning?
We own income property - just like any other business.
If one of our fixed costs of doing business goes up in price, we have to pass that along.

[Lee DeRaud]

Meaning?
We own income property - just like any other business.
If one of our fixed costs of doing business goes up in price, we have to pass that along.

Higher rents -> higher real-estate prices -> higher insurance -> higher rents -> lather, rinse, repeat.
It's a classic feedback cycle.

[Rich Engelhardt]

That's the same as any other commodity.

Once one part increases in cost, the others follow.

[Pat Germain]

This is pretty scary:

https://fortune.com/2024/03/22/state-farm-drop-72000-home-insurance-policies-wildfire-ravaged-california-9-months-after-saying-no-new-ones-in-state/

Starting this summer, State Farm will drop 72,000 homeowner policies in California.

[Steve Demuth]

This is pretty scary:

https://fortune.com/2024/03/22/state-farm-drop-72000-home-insurance-policies-wildfire-ravaged-california-9-months-after-saying-no-new-ones-in-state/

Starting this summer, State Farm will drop 72,000 homeowner policies in California.

The thing with property and casualty insurance (other than flood insurance) is that the carriers are not willing, and in many cases not legally allowed, to cross subsidize risk pools. So when faced with a heightened risk situation (wild fires in the urban-wildland interface in California, storm damage (other than flooding) in Florida) that is beyond the underwriters control and looks to be sustained long term, they have only two choices: raise rates through the roof, or get out. When regulators limit their ability to price risk where the underwriting says it needs to be, getting out is the only realistic option. Regulators can force the underwriters through some hoops on their way out the door, or maybe deny them access to any P & C underwriting in their state, but in the end, they can't force a company to be in a market they consistently lose tons of money in.

[Brian Runau]

Anyone have insurance with Acuity? Ever had claims? Brian

[Dave Fritz]

We've had Acuity but never had a claim. Now we have American Family and got a notice our hail and roof damage deductible is going up to $4300. The only claim we've ever had on homeowners was for hail damage and that was with West Bend in 2014. Roofing job now would be about $12,000 but it's still a big deductible just for that.

[Brian Elfert]

Large wind and hail deductibles are starting to be the norm. A hail claim in 2014 is unlikely to have any impact.

[Jim Becker]

Anyone have insurance with Acuity? Ever had claims? Brian
I had my business insurance with them when the business was open. No claims, however. I was unaware they catered to the private home market.