Home Insurance

2,396 Views | 30 Replies | Last: 1 day ago by the most cool guy
rjhtamu
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AG
The company I've used for all of my insurance for decades is dropping coverage for home insurance.
American National, based in Galveston, cited recent hurricane devastation as a significant reason for not underwriting any longer.
(Other post on this page about California fires noted as well)

Just like most covering California will be doing imminently too I'm sure.

It's not an isolated phenomenon. I know other companies are dropping or drastically raising prices for their policies as well.

Since I'm currently in the market for a new home owner's policy, any recommendations on companies still in good shape and trustworthy?
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AggieT
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Good luck. I just shopped policies in Harris County, and couldn't find anything that beat my renewal with Homeowners of America. Most weren't even writing new policies in the county. The annual cost is outrageous, and we haven't had any claims.
fulshearAg96
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I am with Progressive.

Currently looking at Orion180 who is a new carrier in our region. Orion is owned by Mercury who has a good track record in my humble option.

I'm curious if anyone has any intelligence on Orion180... Thanks
SteveBott
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Problems with homeowners insurance renewal and pricing is a regular thread on the RE forum. The topic should be stickied at the top. It's a problem all over Texas and has been for several years. Shop it
Troglodyte
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I'm with Progressive. I just renewed at a 15% discount. My understanding is that the LA fires won't factor in until next year.
BenTheGoodAg
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I thought risk pools were broken up by state?
Troglodyte
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I'm not sure how it works but it has more to do with the number of reinsures in the market. When reinsures take losses, they back off.
The Silverback
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I own an Independent Agency in Austin but write all over Texas. Things are definitely tougher now with Home Insurance in the State but more than happy to take a look and see what I can do.

Matt@Dimitexas.com
Corps_Ag12
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Haven't had to have a claim yet but I have Texas Farm Bureau for both home and auto. They consistently beat USAA's pricing as well as other insurance providers.
jsc8116
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Here in Utah, switched last year from Amfam(through Costco) to Progressive for both auto and home since cheapest out there, just got renewal for home policy(still waiting on auto) and it went up about 40%. From $700/year to over $1k. Yes, I know, whine about Utah rates.
FTAC2011
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I just got hit with our renewal quote at $10k per year. I paid 350k for my house in 2018. Granted it has gone up in value but I cannot believe how much my premium has gone up just in the last few years. Every year it increases about 30-40%
Diggity
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geeze....that's nuts.

what's the replacement value at this point?
FTAC2011
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Dwelling coverage is 840k
Diggity
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That seems crazy on its own.

Have you done major work? I get that replacement costs have gone up, but not that much.
FTAC2011
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We got the house for a steal, remodeled (face lift nothing major), and added a pool. It's definitely worth at least that based on comps

Maybe this is just the cost of insurance of a home this price? Just hard to swallow the insane annual % increases.
Diggity
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right, but would the dwelling cost $840K to replace? You aren't insuring the land or the pool.

FTAC2011
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Not sure. Haven't had any new build quotes lately

Either way I think my price is too high.. maybe I'm wrong. But over 1% of replacement as premium seems like it
tejas_ayanem
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that seems really high
SteveBott
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2011 if your out of Houston area you should shop that policy.

In Houston? Who knows. I gave up estimating policies down there.
Diggity
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I'm at about the same ratio for premium to replacement.

I would look into the basis for replacement value and see if there's any case that can be made to lower that.

I've always thought it's silly to overpay your premium based on a high replacement cost "just in case" you have a total loss.

We're all insuring for a reason, but I would wager the percentage of "total loss" claims on homes to be quite low. Much more likely to have a windstorm claim.
tommyjohn
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just got my renewal and it is up over $1600 for the year.

Price has almost doubled since 2023.
basketball13
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I work for an Allstate agency and would be glad to take a look at it for you and anyone else that wants to shop their current home insurance. We have been much more competitive over the past 6 months.
If interested just send me an email at ckeith@allstate.com and I'd be glad to give a call after that to give a 15-20 minute consultation.
Aggie71013
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New custom builds are often $200 to $250 a foot. My guess is most people are underinsured for a total rebuild.
Aggie71013
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I'm in a very similar position. Around 9k. It was less than 3k when I bought in December of 2018.
AggieT
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Same. It's getting stupid.
the most cool guy
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FTAC2011 said:

I just got hit with our renewal quote at $10k per year. I paid 350k for my house in 2018. Granted it has gone up in value but I cannot believe how much my premium has gone up just in the last few years. Every year it increases about 30-40%

You need to switch. I'm paying slightly less than $5,000 per year on a $1.1 million house. I think have a 1.5% deductible and the minimums on most coverage, but even with higher coverage it wasn't going to be anywhere near $10,000. $10k a year for a house that I assume is worth around $500k is absolutely insane. I currently have State Farm. I switch to a different company every two years and have generally been able to keep from having any major increases.
AggieT
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State Farm would not write a new policy in my area. Not sure if it's Harris County, or just Meyerland. Several others won't either. I shopped everywhere, including several different brokers, and my current coverage with their FU increase was still the best option.

Edit: Be careful switching carriers right now. The options are limited if you need to switch again.
SteveBott
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Houston is the epicenter of the problem. You could say the gulf coast in general but since the vast majority of posters live in Houston compared to elsewhere it's not hard to just say Houston.

My referral broker, Liere insurance in BCS, is saying certain zip codes are being redlined.
Aggie71013
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Almost no one will write a policy for me because my room is 12ish years old. I'd switch if I could...
Diggity
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you're a pretty big outlier here. Keep that policy as long as you can!
the most cool guy
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AggieT said:

State Farm would not write a new policy in my area. Not sure if it's Harris County, or just Meyerland. Several others won't either. I shopped everywhere, including several different brokers, and my current coverage with their FU increase was still the best option.

Edit: Be careful switching carriers right now. The options are limited if you need to switch again.

I'm in San Antonio. I haven't heard of anyone here having problems with coverage. I have a rental house on the coast that I haven't had problems insuring yet, but I'm sure it's coming.
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