So, I’m up for renewal with Allstate. This year’s annual bill is up 78%. To say I am shocked is an understatement. My auto insurance, while still too high has dropped a bit. I’m a senior citizen and drive less than 5k a year, usually much less (it’s 4-5 miles to HD and Lowes). Same for my wife.
Just worked through an online quote for Progressive - their car insurance saves me a good bit, but the homeowner’s quote is over $8k.
I did have a water claim, but this is ridiculous.
Wow! I don’t know if they service your area, but look into getting a quote from Erie. They have always been the cheapest for me – for both home and auto – and provide great customer service, IMHO.
You should shop it…..that’s an unreasonable increase.
Allstate is quick to leave an area when things aren’t going their way. In 1992 after Hurricane Andrew hit South Florida Allstate left FL. They love to take your money but if they have to pay they take their ball and go home.
They did pay my water claim, but the adjuster was a walking charlie foxtrot.
I am shocked but in a good way. Last year I switched back to USAA on July 15. On July 30 a large branch from an oak tree fell on my house causing $60,000 in damage. I was super impressed by USAA though, and decided that when it was up for renewal, if the increase in my premium wasn’t too significant, I’d stay. My premium was $75 LESS than it was the previous year.
I was a long time customer of USAA, but they were gouging the crap out of me (and . Going to allstate saved me $3k+ a year for homeowner’s and auto. Auto has been relatively stable, but per my op, Allstate homeowner’s has been going up for a couple of years. This year it’s gone insane. Progressive is higher.
gone insane as well as Progressive.
Not sure how my first replay got posted under yours, but I have heard nothing about goodness and Erie. Sadly, they do not operate in Georgia.
My Hurricane insurance was $1200 in 2021 and $1800 now. I don’t have homeowners policy handy at the moment.
I have hurricane insurance as a business deduction because it has full replacement. We have never had a hurricane hit my side of my island in recorded history. However, the wildfires on Maui was amplified and a major cause of the spread of the disaster. I can imagine that I am absorbing part of that increased cost for risk.
I believe electric rates here have increase some because the electric company was found partially liable for the wildfires and some of that cost is spread out to all customers, even though we are on a different island/county.
Why not see what rates will be with a multi-line broker as opposed to a captive agent? Also , bundling usually will bring down rates.
My homeowners premium went up 78% but it took 11 years. We haven’t made any claims. We’ve prevented some claims over the years, like by staying within hearing distance of the washing machine so when it malfunctioned we could stop the water before it caused any damage, and emptying the sump with a scoop into 5 gallon buckets during the pouring rain and power outage way past our bedtime to prevent it from flooding the basement. It sucks paying all that money and then feeling like you can’t make any claims, or having your premiums skyrocket when you do.
Our USAA premium (umbrella, home, 2 cars) has gone up some in the last year, which I expected, but we have no intention of switching. We have good service and the annual dividend, which we just received is a nice benefit. Before we switched to USAA several years ago we went through insurance shopping every year because rates increased unreasonable amounts each year, in our opinion. We’ll cancel or change streaming services any time, but not our insurance.
I bundle with AutoOwners. Mine went up $263 a year. I live in a rural area in Michigan with few natural hazards. From what my agent told me it’s because of rebuilding costs. I got a quote from Progessive and the home owners was about the same but my auto was double!
Well, I went to a broker, and they were able to pull back the homeowner’s premium to right around 4K - I can live with a 10% increase. Interestingly, I had them quote bundle or not, and not bundling was less expensive.
After nearly a week, my “agent” from Allstate returned my call - more on that in a bit. My huge price increase was Allstate’s attempt at recovering some of the claim I made for water damage from a beserk washing machine. So, $1,500 annually, and since the claim came in at the end of the year in 24, they are nailing me for all of 2025 and 2026. These insurance companies no longer understand how insurance works - statistically you spread the risk. If you so focus your customer base as many companies are doing, you distort your process.
Now, I went with Allstate a few years ago mainly because their initial premiums destroyed USAAs rates. I’ve had USAA since I was 19, and after 45 years it just became absurd. One reason I went with Allstate is that I had a local agent. Well that guy retired, sold his practice to another agent, and now all I get is an 800 number. No idea who is on the other end.
Many people currently find themselves in the same boat — experiencing significant increases in their homeowner’s insurance premiums, even when they haven’t submitted many claims or had claim history in several years.
Three main drivers for these increases include:
The few instances where water-damage claims have been filed will result in even higher increases because the use of water can be a significant factor in how much your premium increases for several years after you experience a water-damage claim.
A few suggestions for actions that should help mitigate some of the expected increases include:
While it can be very frustrating to be subjected to large increases in premium, this situation is not an isolated incident in today’s market. Generally, the best way to reduce the severity of the increases will be by thoroughly shopping for the best policy.
Most of what you say is good advice: shop around, bundle or not, etc. I categorically disagree with you when it comes to insurance companies paying out higher claims. All of the big players are making boatloads of money even without this behavior.
I ended up giving a call to my local State Farm agent. Yeah, I know big name brand and all that, but they came in almost 45% less on my home policy and the auto insurance was down 30+%. We’ll see what happens next year.