Just got a "policy update" from my insurance company that says when my policy renews in March, my annual car premium is going up $500 and my annual house premium is going up $300! I have never made a single claim on either policy since I joined this company.

I called my agent and his response was that most of Houston, because of Harvey and the other flooding events, is now considered an area of increased risk, and that premiums are going up as a result. I will be searching around for a new insurance provider, but he told me that all insurance companies are going to be this way for the Houston area.

Anyone else seeing their premiums go up significantly?

DavidAg02 said:

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Just got a "policy update" from my insurance company that says when my policy renews in March, my annual car premium is going up $500 and my annual house premium is going up $300! I have never made a single claim on either policy since I joined this company.

I called my agent and his response was that most of Houston, because of Harvey and the other flooding events, is now considered an area of increased risk, and that premiums are going up as a result. I will be searching around for a new insurance provider, but he told me that all insurance companies are going to be this way for the Houston area.

Anyone else seeing their premiums go up significantly?

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If there is an increase in claims in your area, everyone shares the increase, regardless if you have ever filed a claim. I would tell you to shop around, I am willing to bet you will find comparable rates to what you are paying now.

One more note, if you purchased a newer home and you are hitting a certain age of a home you can also see an increase as well, not as much as you saw, but definitely an increase.

Right after I posted this, I had a little coffee pot chat with some coworkers and they are all experiencing similar things with their insurance... so I'm a little relieved that it's not just me. For some, this is a serious cost of living increase.

I will definitely be shopping around though.

Couldn't agree more Boo...

What Big Perm said.

I also just got my bill to renew my honeowner's Policy, and it also increased by about $300 (~18%), but the coverage limits also went up a bit. Nothing extreme, but I am getting a little extra coverage that is probably merited.

A couple of years ago, my rate jumped way up, and when I looked at the policy, they had increased the coverage limits a lot. To the point where I felt like I was over-insured. I asked them to adjust it, and my rate dropped substantially. Rates aren't linear with respect to coverage, and IIRC, somewhere between $280k-$300k of insured value on the structure is where a big jump in rate occurs (at least with my insurance co). Look at your new policy (if you haven't already) and make sure they didn't over-inflate your coverage.

Don't know about auto, yet; that won't renew until April.

agree.

Insurance business is pretty good. required by law for most to buy and then they can recoup any "losses" by charging higher prices. captured market with very little risk. very nice.

Switched to Geico from Liberty Mutual for both home and auto about four months ago and cut both rates in half.

I think you have to shop for new insurance at least every year.

We had Amica and shopped every year, but Amica was very competitive. This year, they went up a huge amount. So, we shopped and USAA was actually cheaper. Even when Amica went up in the past, they were very much higher than USAA.

We called Amica and asked if they had made some sort of mistake, and they verified that their huge increase was correct.

Just goes to show that even if you think you have the best/cheapest insurance, always spend the time to shop.

Sasappis said:

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Share the cost is exactly how insurance works. The theory is not new or controversial.

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I always thought it worked that way inside of shared or similar risk groups. For instance, male teenagers with red sports cars paying much higher premiums...while 50 yr olds with mid class sedans or SUV's paying much lower. In my entire lifetime, the water has never gotten more than a few inches over our curb. This includes Allison, and all recent storms. Crazy to me that my insurance premiums go up by a significant %. if you live in Meyerland or along Buffalo Bayou or behind Addicks, then clearly your premiums should see a spike.

Admittedly, I am pretty naive when it comes to matters of insurance. But homes that have never flooded since they were build in the 40's and 50's shouldn't see spikes from Harvey imo. I'll be shopping around.

Our Auto insurance stayed the same.

Home insurance renews later but I'll keep an eye on it.

Sasappis said:

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Share the cost is exactly how insurance works. The theory is not new or controversial.

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Except when individual actions can justify an increase in rates, then it's a function of your individual determined costs.

Must be great to be in the insurance world - you get to pick and choose whatever method benefits you the most. And very, very, very few people are going to qualify to not have it, so you have a legislatively mandated business model. They've done a great job on that front.

Home wasn't damaged during the hurricane? Good for you. Unfortunately though, the company is taking a statewide pool increase because other homes were.

Pipe busted in your attic requiring a claim on insurance for repairs? Sorry to hear that, but after a review of your claim history, we have determined that your individual policy will have a premium increase because you made a claim in the past.

Same with auto insurance - when it suits the insurance company and you have a perfect driving record, premiums increase due to "the pool". When you have an individual occurrence, premiums increase because you are an at risk individual.

But anybody that didn't think rates along the gulf coast were going to increase after Harvey had their head in the sand. I had a few minor roof leaks, but I put a claim in on my policy simply because I knew with 100% certainty that my rates were going to increase and I wanted to at least get something out of it.

FEMA insurance will be going up. It's so underfunded and the flood zones will be changing. That may take 4-5 years but they can increase rates now for the 100 year. Different insurance than home, but related.

hypeiv said:

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Sasappis said:

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Share the cost is exactly how insurance works. The theory is not new or controversial.

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exactly... would you be happier if your house burned down, that way you got more out of the insurance company than you paid in?

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No, and I'm not saying anything of the sort. Just sucks to make a smart, conservative and cautious investment with virtually 0% risk of flooding, unless God just decides to destroy the entire world, and get penalized significantly for it.

I'll be surprised if a competitor won't take us on for what we are currently paying though. Wouldn't that be stupid?

I use Chubb for both house and cars. Their car insurance rates are high, but they will actually insure your house a reasonable rebuild value. Farmers would not - I think they maxed out at like $100/sf which is not sufficient to rebuild. Starting discussing with most of my attorney friends - they all use Chubb because they tend to actually pay claims and not screw people (their opinion from years of defending and suing insurance companies).

Boo Weekley said:

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If I can just save $1 I am going to change providers. Not much better feeling than telling insurance company or cable provider to take a hike after rate increases. You wanted $500? F*** YOU, you're not getting it, and on top of that I'm taking thousands of dollars, that you would have received, to a competitor of yours.

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This. Find a broker you like & have them shop your situation among their companies every year or two.

OP should search around for the best rate. However, he may also want to talk to some people who have made claims recently. If you're going to have insurance, you might as well have it with a good company. I lost a car in Harvey, and Travelers used NADA value for my 12 year old minivan, which was quite a blessing.

Use an agent to do your searching. Agents (I use Goosehead) won't tend to steer you toward cut-rate companies with terrible claims records. They can help you bundle policies, even if they are with different companies.

I'm about to go through this exercise again when I add teen drivers - no way to assume that my current situation will remain the best one when I add them to my policy.

Finally, I was in Houston when Enron collapsed. I had some mutual funds that had Enron holdings. In the end I lost about $500 in those funds. It kind of stunk because most of it was in a conservative bond fund, which should have preserved principle. Anyway, when I thought about all the people who lost their jobs and their life savings (Enron employees weren't fully vested until age 50, and couldn't trade their company stock), I realized my $500 wasn't that big of a deal.

Please shop around and don't just accept it because others at work are seeing the same thing. For auto, I use Geico and no one even comes close to their rates when I shop around. For homeowners, I have an insurance agent who is a broker in Spring and he shops around and gets me the best rate.

Nm

Any recs for good brokers other than Liere? I like and use Liere...but would like to try someone else to compare.

Wow - just called Liere to find out how much next month's home insurance renewal may hurt....only going up by $25! We live in Kingwood and were surrounded by flooded homes so I expected to see a 20%+ increase based on what everyone else is saying.

ETA: We did go up by around 18% last year though (based on the Houston area's flooding in 2016) and it was cheaper to renew than go to someone else when I shopped around. Maybe last year's increase factored into minimal increase this year?

I based my statement on what the OP said their agent said. It was also what my agent said last year. If it is wrong, it is wrong. Still going to shop around a bit but pleasantly surprised not to have a big increase this year.

Out of curiosity, do you mean that you'll have someone shop around for you?