Located in Houston.

I just switched in Nov. I had SageSure, my policy was ~$4630 a year. Then the renewal came and was going to go up to ~$6600 a year. I contacted Goosehead and the best they could find was around $4700 but had 2% deductible and less content coverage.

Then I contacted an AllState. I was surprised, my policy is ~$4500 for 1% and more coverage then what I had with SageSure. It'll be interesting to see what the renewal will be though.

Allstate is cheap for a reason. They underpay claims. Delay, deny, defend! Sagesure isn't much better.

In The Woodlands, SageSure nearly doubled this renewal .

Will it ever come back down or is this the new floor? Property tax and insurance hikes are hitting hard.

Linking these threads so I can send one link to buyers/sellers in the future to help explain what's going on.

https://texags.com/forums/57/topics/3526390

Had two hail events in back to back years (23-24) in DFW area (both required roof replacement) - Travelers cancelled me. State Farm quoted me $19,000 for a policy. Just signed with a broker representing Safeco for $7900 - our policy with Travelers was just under $5000...so it's a bump - but I felt lucky to find anything halfway reasonable.

Two more years in this big-city sh** hole and I'm out. Will pay cash for a house somewhere rural and save a ton of money on taxes and a some on insurance.

JobSecurity said:

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For those getting recent quotes - does having a higher hail deductible allow for older roofs? Ours is 4% so essentially self insured but our roof is 12 years old and I'm wondering if they're going to make me redo it to get coverage at the next renewal

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This is something you need to discuss with the carrier prior to signing anything. I can tell you across Austin, San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas, I am definitely seeing an uptick on Retail/Out of pocket requests over the past 18 months. In fact, probably 5-10% of my calls now are for out of pocket reroofs due to insurance mandates or coverage denials. I have had a few customers tell me their roof is 10 years old, and the carrier cut off their renewal unless they reroofed it. This is nuts to me. Sometimes I can do a roof certification and that will suffice for a carrier and allow the customer to renew and keep the current roof. In other cases, the customer either replaces the roof or they find another carrier. It's definitely something that is weird to me but seems to be a trend.

Personally, self insuring and carrying a high deductible is a good idea, but even when you do that, the carriers can bail out whenever they see fit which can leave the customer in a bind.

Always read and read again your policies. It's not uncommon for customers to have no idea what their coverage is until the adjuster totals the roof. This can screw you bad. RCV, ACV, RPS,....Know what you have BEFORE signing or making a claim.

I contacted Liere Insurance, my broker, and discussed several points from this thread. They confirmed that the maximum deductible would be 5%. At that level, my annual premium would drop from $1,900 to $1,000. However, the downside is that in the event of a fire or tornado, I'd be responsible for a $25K deductible.

Is saving $800 per year really worth the risk of paying $25K if something serious happens?

Welp Mercury sent a non-renewal letter (supposedly for being over max replacement value, it didn't mention the roof age and I was at 4% hail deductible) and liere said they don't have anyone else who will write me a policy. This is Houston (ft bend county). Don't need it until mid-May

Any other suggestions in this area beyond what has already been posted? I guess I will try USAA since I have them for auto

Some companies to try:
Foremost
Logic Underwriters
American Modern
Conifer

What happens if you can't get insured? Does that mean getting lender insured?

Wellington policy set to renew in April has a 7% increase...less than I expected, but still a lot.

just got my renewal for west Austin.... not only are the moving my roof from replacement to ACV (based on the age of the roof at 8 years they said), they decided to switch the first two numbers of my premium from $3600 to $6300. In what world does this make any sense given they just basically removed most all liability for a roof by switching me to ACV? effing hate this game every year....

Texas has a state insurance program as last resort. It sucks. Or you get lender insurance which sucks worse.

Hanrahan said:

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just got my renewal for west Austin.... not only are the moving my roof from replacement to ACV (based on the age of the roof at 8 years they said), they decided to switch the first two numbers of my premium from $3600 to $6300. In what world does this make any sense given they just basically removed most all liability for a roof by switching me to ACV? effing hate this game every year....

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Because insurance premiums aren't just based on your risk.. it's based on everyone's risk. So you are paying because your neighbors still have roof coverage!

With them going from replacement cost to ACV on an 8 year old roof + increasing the premium that much, that is their way of saying they don't want you as a customer based on their risk exposure. They'll gladly keep you on at their conditions and increased premium. I'd be glad to take a look at it for you with Allstate as an agent, our roof is 15 years for replacement cost. We are heavily credit based but I can't imagine it being that much in the Austin area. My most recent Austin quotes were 2-3k. My email is ckeith@allstate.com

I have several agent contacts that I work with, I would take a look at the offer above, and if that doesn't work out, give me a shout and I can give you several agents from several carriers (several Ags, too). Surely between all of these you can find a coverage you like for a price that is suitable.

State Farm
Germania
Farmers
Liberty Mutual
USAA

Several carriers have started leaving Houston, but these are the ones my husband sees pop up most often. Of those, he prefers State Farm and USAA, as they have been less likely to deny claims and more likely to get the amount right on the first estimate.

That said- if you had a hail or wind event in the past year, it may be worth reaching out to a roofer to see if you can get a roof. Even if your insurance dropped you, if there was a storm less than a year ago while you were insured, you can still go after them to cover a new replacement (which may entail fighting them through a PA or attorney).

If anyone wants my husband's info, you can PM me, a d he can explain this a lot better than I can. (As can Jason_Roofer)