nimbushopper Loc: Tampa, FL

With insurance you can't just go by price! I too have had USAA for over 50 years and when I put in a claim it is immediately approved and the money put into my checking account. Of course I haven't put in many claims . I have friends who shop for better prices yearly, and when they have to put in a claim the company does everything they can to not pay the claim!

tcthome Loc: NJ

Insurance increases about 4% a year. Did the amount of coverage go up. In theory, if the value of your property increases, the insurance coverage should be raised. Also as cost to cover replacement or repairs go up, so does the price to insure. Same with me on the auto. I don't work anymore & with no incidents of any kind, it increased about 10% on a recent auto ins. renewal in OCT. When I asked why, the agent said must be something in your area. Higher risk. Could be accidents, theft, etc. Cost of doing biz. Over the soon to bee 8 years of insuring my camera gear, it increased about $100 with no claims.

Someone online complained about the cost of a meal at McDonalds about a year ago. Of course it would be higher. Everything went up, minimum wage went from $8 something pr hr to $15 something an hour & when I drive to Sandy Hook NRA & pass the Mc D's, there is a hiring sign in the window, Hiring $18.00.

Anyway, shop around, get some quotes and read the fine print in the policy if it is cheaper.

davidv Loc: salt lake city utah

Here’s one for you. I have a 2015 and a 2018 RAV4, the 15 is a limited the 18 is an LE. The insurances used to be the same price Per year. The 2015 has been $85 a month the 18 went up to 100 and something per month recently. They said the increase was because the 18 has some safety lane switching and A couple of other safety features the 15 doesn’t have, So if the 18 gets an accident it will cost more to repair it because of the safety features to keep you from having an accident. That’s like saying if you put smoke alarms in your house and you have a fire it’ll cost more to replace the smoke alarms so we have to raise your rate. Makes perfectly good sense to me.

Red6

Similar to the systems being installed today in cars. Many newer model cars now incorporate sensors all around the car to warn of impending issues when passing, parking etc. These sensors, often radar sensors, are usually in the bumpers and are prone to damage in even simple accidents. These sensor-equipped bumpers raise the cost of repairing even simple accidents to thousands of dollars. This is one of the main reasons that car repair and thus insurance costs have risen so much in recent years. All these nice toys in cars can be nice but they are also expensive to fix or replace.

This extends to almost all of the safety devices installed. I had a nice used van a few years ago. I had a relatively minor front fender bender which deployed the airbags. The van was still driveable and could have been repaired for a few hundred dollars NOT counting the airbags. However, the law states that airbags must be reinstalled to be legally driveable. Replacing the airbags was several thousand dollars and the insurance company now considered the van as a total wreck and unrepairable. the van was considered scrapped.

Ollieboy

I have State Farm for over 30 years with no complaints. They're rates were the lowest when I signed up. I made a claim about 10 years ago. They made a generous settlement and called the next week to offer more money if I needed it. Right now I'm very happy with them.

nimbushopper Loc: Tampa, FL

You are quite right. I just had an outside mirror replaced that cost a thousand dollars because it had sensors and lights in it!

kerry12 Loc: Harrisburg, Pa.

I have Traveler's and really like them.

rcurrie Loc: Kingsport, TN

If you are a veteran check out USAA.

xt2 Loc: British Columbia, Canada

The root of the problem of high insurance rates and insurers rushing to leave states such as California are the state governments not private industry (insurance companies). State governments have ignored their duty to maintain forests and balance Mother Nature’s requirement of doing controlled burning to alleviate massive forest fires. There is so much downed & dead accelerants left on the forest floors that we are now reaping what we have sown. Forest maintenance costs money which governments of all stripes hesitate to pay since it is for maintenance not some new “shiny thing” vote pleaser. If you want change… make your voice heard.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

I’ve had great luck with USAA - couldn’t be happier.

george19

We faced this issue this past year, so phoned our agent. She did some shopping for us and got car insurance for about 65% of the previous offer. And…that included an umbrella policy that we had been tacking on. Homeowners was about the same. I think we saved about $1500 over the previous bid.

Yes…coverage was the same. Interestingly, I think we ended up with Hartford.

Manchester Brat Loc: Manchester, Connecticut

Assuming you have a homeowners vs. fire policy, check your dwelling limit amount. Companies routinely increase this amount to keep pace with increases in replacement cost. In other words, the higher premiums you are paying are a mixture of rate increases and inflation in costs. For both your homeowners policy and auto insurance, your credit score may be a factor. Yes, credit scores can be both an underwriting and pricing factor. A score of 750 and above is "good". Before you think I am out of my mind, I worked for a major insurance company for all of my post-college life, and all that time was working with personal insurance, including auto and homeowners. It was during that insurance companies began using your FICO (credit) scores in underwriting and pricing, including The Hartford. You are entitled to a free credit report every year or 3 years. Check the net for more info. I hope my reply is helpful to you.








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TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

And it’s not just the price, it’s how claims are handled (and if you’re cancelled if you make one). I had Allstate for 30 years - home, cars, liability, personal property plus 2 life policies. Cancelled after 30 years when I made my 1st and only claim after hurricane damage (and no, I don’t live in FL).

Vladimir200 Loc: Beaumont, Ca.

Totally agree..............

SteveFranz Loc: Durham, NC

Home and auto insurance companies have to file their rates with the state insurance department. If your insurance premium goes up, rest assured that thousands of other people are getting the same rate increase. You have not been singled out.

There are short term price advantages to shopping around for the best price. But in my opinion, there is equal advantage to dealing with the same company over the years. I spent my working career working for various commercial insurance companies, and in the event of a claim, especially a borderline claim the long term customers usually got better treatment.

If you are getting up in years, age can become part of the underwriting criteria. Just like teenage drivers, most insurance companies don't like insuring geezer drivers. Again, in this instance it would be much easier to get an underwriting exception for your age if you have been a long term customer of the company.

Finally, insurance policy wordings are fairly generic. Just like rates, the policy wordings must be filed and approved by the state insurance department. The policy wording has been tried & tested in numerous courts. That being said, from my experience until a claim, that policy is just a piece of paper. After the claim is when the insurance company really makes a difference. The company claims adjuster can make your loss a truly traumatic experience, or he/she can make it very tolerable.

Personally, I had a $200K house fire (mostly smoke damage) a few years ago. The adjuster worked with me, smoothed everything over and did an exemplary job. Arranged for a temporary apartment, and a top notch general contractor. I ended up a nearly new house with some nice upgrades, my out of pocket was just the deductible plus about a thousand for some specific upgrades that I wanted & ordered.

Then, the insurance company cut my premium - Instead of rating my home as a 40+ year old house, they rated it as new.