My insurance renewal is coming up in 2 months. Not looking forward to it. Insurance (mainly home but also auto) increases have been killing us the last 3 years. Plus my electrical plan is ending around the same time and looks like the best rate I can get is still going to be about a 10% increase.

My roof is also very close to being 10 years old which a lot of insurance companies will refuse to insure roofs older than 10 years so looking at replacing a non-leaking roof simply to maintain coverage or try to find a company that will insure the house excluding the roof.

Collin County - Prosper, 1% deductible. Loss would be equal to value of house and paying $8k per year. Only way we can afford it is having 3 generations (3 paychecks) going to the house.

Was paying $1600 in Tarrant county in Crowley back in 2023 for same thing. Crazy how different it is.

Only ten years old? What would be the point of paying more for metal or even 30 year shingles if the insurance company can't rely on the manufacturer's warranty?

ETA: should we expect the automotive side no longer insuring 5 year old cars as they're too costly to repair?

It may be different depending on those factors I suppose. I'm speaking mostly from what I've come across while shopping and I have standard 2 tab shingle.

Are there any legit companies that will just do a catastrophe policy (like fire, tornado destruction, etc)?

Get ready. Tariffs going to drive rates up, especially auto.

Carrier increases are capped by the government and they're still trying to play catch up from Covid rates dropping then insane increase in replacement costs.

The key is to not have a mortgage and insure how you see fit.

Banks are protecting their asset with insurance.

GenericAggie said:

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2 years ago we paid 2K, frisco, 4000 square feet.

2025 we're paying 6K with higher deductible and lower coverage.

Any brokers out there or any observations from the forum?

This is a complete scam.

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I own an Independent Agency in Austin but write all over the State.

Home insurance is way too nuanced to make generalizations on rates but here is some random notes:

DFW and Houston are the worst areas in the state by a mile. Not only are rates and deductibles higher there, most companies now wont even offer quotes in those areas anymore.

The older your house and roof are the more your insurance will be. If you have a house 20+ years old and a roof 10+ years old you will pay out the ass in DFW.

I get your sentiment but definitely not a scam, insurance companies have lost $100M's in the last couple of years. Combination of a bunch of factors but pretty obvious why companies left and the remaining ones limit what they will accept and increased rates.

All that being said all you can do is shop it around and hopefully things get better. And be prepared to share the burden even more on self-insuring the roof. Could be higher deductibles and/or depreciation but its the new reality.

All that being say more than happy to take a look and see if there is anything I can do. Matt@Dimitexas.com

Definitely Not A Cop said:

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Just went through it myself.

It's a continuous market cycle though. You have roofers playing the game constantly, so they keep jacking up the cost knowing insurance will cover it, which makes the market rate to replace a roof with cash more and more expensive, which in turn makes homeowners insurance more expensive, and it keeps repeating like that.

Eventually something will have to give. Either code requirements that everyone use more hail/wind resistant materials, or homeowners just stop covering roof replacement entirely.

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Estimates on building materials, in particular, are regulated by a third party that is universally accepted throughout the insurance carrier world.

Said another way, they have a set price, more or less, that they pay per square of shingles. Now, will roofers do it for less (illegal labor)? Sure.

But insurance sets the price. Not the roofers.

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I'm capable of replacing my own roof. I'm strongly considering dropping insurance. Only thing I worry about is a fire burning the place down.

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Yeah, same here.

For those with paid off houses and wanting to take on a little more risk, you can drop windstorm and hail off your policy and your rate will probably drop 50% if not more. You would basically be covered for fire and liability only. All depends on your risk tolerance.. insurance by definition is "transfer of risk". Would have to review the policy, but would lose windstorm, hail, tornado, and most likely sudden water damage (pipe were to break in house and cause damage)

Between property taxes and insurance home ownership in Texas is going to continue having an ever increasing hurdle.

Property taxes - no way out here without adding state income which simply spreads your tax liability across more entities. Best case it's a wash. Likely case you get screwed even more.

Insurance - doesn't Florida already lean on the state for insurance at this point? Seems like we are headed there.

You don't want Florida's model. Here (FL) we have citizens which is run by my the state and is the insurer of last resort (coastal, flood prone, etc). They are not cheap but can be the only ones willing to underwrite certain properties as more and more companies leave the state or stop underwriting. That said they get more customers each year, and I'm always reading about them being broke.
Add in a sinkhole area, old home, or a dog on the no-no list, and you're uninsurable or severely limited at best. We also have separate deductibles for hurricane damage.

Like TX, rates increase and coverage drops on the regular.

YouBet said:

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Between property taxes and insurance home ownership in Texas is going to continue having an ever increasing hurdle.

Property taxes - no way out here without adding state income which simply spreads your tax liability across more entities. Best case it's a wash. Likely case you get screwed even more.

Insurance - doesn't Florida already lean on the state for insurance at this point? Seems like we are headed there.

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This is why we need more income streams for the state. While not perfect, Colorado is a decent example of what could be done with additional funds from multiple tax streams that we currently don't allow in Texas. This isn't to say their property taxes went down, but the amount of public/community buildings & infrastructure projects that have been completed is impressive.

agnerd said:

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I'm capable of replacing my own roof. I'm strongly considering dropping insurance. Only thing I worry about is a fire burning the place down.

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I'm in the same boat, once the mortgage is paid off. I haven't worked out the math but if paying cash for a roof is actually cheaper (& we have to do it anyways, since insurance won't), contributing to a larger emergency fund instead of premiums might make sense. The risk decreases as the fund grows -- and if there are years of no major repairs, it grows faster.

The catch is that "black swan" catastrophe -- a neighbor's house a block over got hit by lightning & completely burned down recently. I bet the financial firms will eventually get into the game (if not already) & create an equivalent to "whole life insurance" where it's a hybrid of insurance & investment.

Has anyone found that buying a roof out of pocket is any cheaper than handling through insurance?

YouBet said:

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Has anyone found that buying a roof out of pocket is any cheaper than handling through insurance?

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What do you mean? Like cheaper to you or just the overall cost is less?

htxag09 said:

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YouBet said:

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Has anyone found that buying a roof out of pocket is any cheaper than handling through insurance?

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What do you mean? Like cheaper to you or just the overall cost is less?

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Cheaper to me. As in paying cash and avoiding all the middle men.