Year over Year Homeowners and Auto insurance increases

I was hoping to get a feeler gauge or link to some info on how much more folks are expected to pay for homeowners and auto this upcoming year. I recently got my next years coverage notices, the homeowners letter said your dwelling will cost more to replace now blah blah blah, so they peanut buttered 1.6% increases in coverages A-D, E & F remained zero, but my premium is up 13.5 %.

For Auto (no traffic tickets last year, 2 uses of windshield coverage, 1 replacement and one fixed chip) it is up 7.3 % with the same 2 vehicles.

Last year was my first year with this company, did I just get a teaser rate and now they jack rates hoping I am comfortable and won't shop around? Is this common? Thanks

Last i remember, my homeowners went up 11%, auto insurance went up 1 or 2 years ago so i changed companies from Allstate to Progressive. Auto has gone up again, but they are offering a discount if you pay for 6 months in 1 payment. I'm not going to complain as of yet, my homeowners paid out a few grand because of the storm where my chicken coop and garden was smashed by some fallen trees. I was happy to see the check. A few years back my auto policy was due and the lady wanted me to stop by the office to review my coverages. She suggested some more coverages which only totaled a few dollars here and there but one she said was i can get comprehensive with a $100 deductable on my pickup truck instead of the usual $500 deductible. So i had that change made and then hit a deer a few months later, got my truck fixed with $3000 worth of damage for $100. We have 4 vehicles, 2 full coverage and 2 just basic and that is costing me about $850 per 6 months. Homeowners was over $750/year last sept for $275,000 coverage.

Yep - my auto insurance went way up (no thanks to the wifey getting mouthy with a couple staties ...), and homeowners went up as well. Then of course property taxes - my home value is in the toilet, yet my taxes increase every single damn year like clockwork. Can't get a break from any of this *censored*!

My homeowners is up to a grand per year now.

It beats the hell out of me how they keep going up up up. I don't know anyone that has gotten a raise in 2 or 3 years now, yet basic costs like food, fuel, insurance, they are going up like it's the best of times. I just don't get it.

Just thought I'd throw this out there for anyone who cares too....
http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/peterlewis.asp

Do you have a deductable ? If not, make one, or raise the one you have. I increased from $500 to $1500 and the price droped $250/year. Pays for itself in 4 years.

I do have a $1000 deductible and paid auto a yr in advance (10% savings), I will have to shop around a bit an see if I can do better.

I just received my new home policy, it said $32 increase for liability increases, but the total went up $60 from last year. And I have a $2500 deductable, not $1500 as I stated earlier. Why don't auto policies decrease annual price due to the LOSS of car replacement value ?????

Mine went up too, and I am an insurance agent! Lots of factors go into rates, but I can tell you from my small sample, which is not a scientific overview of experience, that we have lost money the last three years. Here is why. When the economy goes bad, claims go up. My losses in auto have me running 75% losses vs premium, and that does not account for commission, claims handling costs, infrastructure etc. Normal loss ratios are below 50% if we want to make a profit. I can tell you factually that the claims that of the claims being reported to me, more and more of them are pocket claims, another words, people are pocketing the money and not having the repairs done, which is why in our area of Maine repair shops are struggling as well. When things are bad fraud goes way up, not to say all claims are fraud, just that it goes way up. More claims are filed where in normal times many people choose not to put claims in so they won't loose claims free discounts. This is not an anomaly, it has always been this way history shows us.

Homeowner's cooperage is no different, although one good ice storm can skew the numbers easily in a state like Maine. In my book of business one or two total loss claims can nail my loss ratio for the year. Think about it, one $200,000 loss, and that does not count contents, is the total premium for 400 policyholders where I am, that does not count any of the roof leaks, thefts or other smaller claims. It is common for people to look at their own experience alone instead of the big picture, which is what insurance is, the spreading of the risk. If you feel insurance is a rip off, which many do, then buy a fidelity bond and cover yourself. Most people are not willing to take that risk, I wonder why if they are so sure they will not have a loss.

kootch88 wrote:Mine went up too, and I am an insurance agent! Lots of factors go into rates, but I can tell you from my small sample, which is not a scientific overview of experience, that we have lost money the last three years. Here is why. When the economy goes bad, claims go up. My losses in auto have me running 75% losses vs premium, and that does not account for commission, claims handling costs, infrastructure etc. Normal loss ratios are below 50% if we want to make a profit. I can tell you factually that the claims that of the claims being reported to me, more and more of them are pocket claims, another words, people are pocketing the money and not having the repairs done, which is why in our area of Maine repair shops are struggling as well. When things are bad fraud goes way up, not to say all claims are fraud, just that it goes way up. More claims are filed where in normal times many people choose not to put claims in so they won't loose claims free discounts. This is not an anomaly, it has always been this way history shows us.

Homeowner's cooperage is no different, although one good ice storm can skew the numbers easily in a state like Maine. In my book of business one or two total loss claims can nail my loss ratio for the year. Think about it, one $200,000 loss, and that does not count contents, is the total premium for 400 policyholders where I am, that does not count any of the roof leaks, thefts or other smaller claims. It is common for people to look at their own experience alone instead of the big picture, which is what insurance is, the spreading of the risk. If you feel insurance is a rip off, which many do, then buy a fidelity bond and cover yourself. Most people are not willing to take that risk, I wonder why if they are so sure they will not have a loss.

I think many would just assume buy a bond and cover them selves rather than pay for some % of idiot drivers, or idiot homeowners, or people making fraudulent claims, or at least share a fund with some family and friends. I personally only buy insurance the law or my mortgage requires me to, and only pay for work on my home or vehicles which I am incapable of doing myself regardless of what the economy is doing and would probably continue to do so with a 500% raise in take home pay. Sounds like to me the system is fundamentally broken, but allowed to continue on as broken because it is not a true free market, I am required to pay for these insurances. Maybe the math whizzes in the industry should alter their algorithms to make more discrete pricing structures for customers, somehow I don't feel like asking a person with no kids if they have a trampoline in their backyard is a very valuable input to my likely hood of needing to file a claim.

You can attempt to justify all the increases as much a you want, but the fact is prices rising faster than the rate of inflation or peoples salary increases is unsustainable.