home owners insurance

I deal with insurance companies every day. I will say this. Insurance companies are not all the same. When you price shop be very mindful to look at the fine print and see what they cover or do not cover. Thinking you have a good deal may very well not be anything of the sort. I can’t tell you how many people have no idea what coverage they have and are shocked when I get to tell them they will have to pay out of pocket for things because they saved money on their premiums. A few things that I have seen that can add up to a lot of money. ACV only policies, 2% of house value deductibles. High deductible, I have seen a $25,000 deductible for a $500,000 house. There are so many things, these are just two common things that are used to drop cost. I only am writing this because until you need it you may not know what is covered and whether or not if even if covered if your insurance will in fact pay. I see some horrible companies that flat out refuse to pay for damage that should be covered but are denied.

Just an update on ours… I did cave and got quotes from 3 other agents. Our 2024 HO, Auto, Umbrella and a travel trailer will total $3934. State Farm quoted
$4218, Am Family was $4944 and Farmers $5100. Interestingly, State Farm had our two vehicles at $567/year! He told me that when he called or I’d have figured he had made a mistake. I feel the SF quote was the old “get us in the door” rate and then we’d get bent over next year. Another independent agency I solicited quotes from, carried the same carriers as who we’re with now so there was no point in them quoting. We’re with Auto Owners and we were told they are among, if not the cheapest quoting in Minnesota right now. Guess we’re staying put…

Everyone should meet with their insurance agent at least once a year. You should go over the policies and make sure you have the correct coverages for your needs. Make sure there is not any discounts being missed or any additional coverages that you no longer need. Ask them if there has been any changes to the policy in the last year or since you last met with them. All policy changes are shown on the yearly declaration pages at renewal, but unless you look close you may not even notice them. Like I said prior, there are many changes happening and you should be aware and understand them. You should have the agent explain all the different coverages to you so that you fully understand what you are paying for. I could not tell you how many people I’ve talked with that have no idea of what each coverage means. In auto policies there is not much difference between one company and the next. Homes there are often really big difference’s. If you ask a agent if something is covered and they say yes, Have them show you where in the policy it says so, or have them send you something that you can keep or print for proof just in case later that is not covered. If anyone has general insurance questions, Feel free to PM me and I’ll be more than happy to try and answer them for you.

Tlazer wrote:

Not sure why your credit rating should affect your auto insurance

Agree with it, or disagree with it, it does not matter. As far as I’m aware, all insurance companies in most states use Insurance score ( Mostly made up from Credit score ) to help determine rate’s. Insurance companies have the proof to show that people in different credit score ranges have different accident and claim %’s. With lower credit being much higher than their overall driver %. That is why they are allowed by the government to use it. If you believe that your overall credit score has improved since your policy was issued, I’d check with you agent to see if there is a possibility to have your credit re-run at your next renewal. I know of a fair amount of insurance companies that allow that. If the credit has improved the rates may be lower. Just be careful and be sure is better, If not the rates may increase by doing so as well.

Not specifically home or auto insurance related, but I just received my annual premium/policy statement for boat insurance from Progressive and it went down by $36 for 2025. I’ve been using them since 2018, without any claims submitted.

In this day and age of rising insurance costs, this is a nice, albeit small, consolation prize.