How much has your home insurance risen?

Leveraging, renting vs owning, making an investment or buying a home?
like_to_retire
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Re: How much has your home insurance risen?

Post by like_to_retire »

BRIAN5000 wrote:She tweaked a couple of other areas and was able to lower it to $597 and a $17 discount for the remainder of this year. So not to bad.
So you went from a 23.3% increase down to a 1.75% increase, just by making a phone call.

I'd say, not too bad at all.

Insurance companies do this all the time. They're relying on customers not making that phone call. My supplementary health insurance company makes a regular practice of it. It's just short of criminal.

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Arby
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Re: How much has your home insurance risen?

Post by Arby »

like_to_retire wrote: Insurance companies do this all the time. They're relying on customers not making that phone call. My supplementary health insurance company makes a regular practice of it.
ltr ... Were you successful in getting the insurance company to cut back on an increase in your supplementary health premiums? If so, could you share how you did it? My health premiums have been increasing way beyond normal inflation for many years.
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Re: How much has your home insurance risen?

Post by xerxes »

I asked grey power for a quote on my house.
they asked if the house was over 40 years old, yes.
had the house been rewired, no.
Grey power would not give me a quote.
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AltaRed
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Re: How much has your home insurance risen?

Post by AltaRed »

40 years old is rather abitrary. We bought a house (that was built in 1973) in 1974 in Burlington that had aluminum wiring. I don't know when aluminum ceased to be used in home wiring but I'd never buy a house again with it in it. I remember having to get into a number of receptacles over a period of 5 years to reset the screws (either loose or the AL had oxidized), sometimes breaking the wire in the process.
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Insomniac
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Re: How much has your home insurance risen?

Post by Insomniac »

Renewal quote just in. $888 in last year, now $940.

Reasons for increase:
1. Building value increased from $415K to $425K as cost of rebuilding is higher.
2. Earthquake coverage cost increased. Probably due to Christchurch disaster.
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Re: How much has your home insurance risen?

Post by kcowan »

One thing that changed for us is that theft insurance is now for break and enter, forcible hold up rather than just gone missing. We also had the premium drop ($50) by eliminating items that we did not need.
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Re: How much has your home insurance risen?

Post by Benchwarmer »

There is a one page leaflet that AMA provided me. In it, it clearly states that sewer backup coverage is included.

But I decided to read the fine print in the big 48 page policy booklet. "We do not insure loss or damage caused by the escape, backing-up or overflow of water from sewers resulting directly or indirectly from flood, surface waters, waves, tides, tidal waves, tsunamis, or ice, all whether driven by wind or not".

It seems to me that the time I would need sewer backup coverage is precisely during floods. Now I wonder what precisely am I not covered for. Am I expected to read all 48 pages, and understand all of the implicit relationships between the various paragraphs that are spread throughout?

But regardless, I think I am through with AMA.
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Re: How much has your home insurance risen?

Post by flywaysuzy »

The cost of replacing my house keeps going up...therefore the cost of insuring for that goes up.
Where is the el cheapo policy that would replace the home of us empty nesters with a smaller and cheaper dwelling?

I did score a $40 break because I do other business at the local credit union. :D
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Re: How much has your home insurance risen?

Post by Norbert Schlenker »

It might be useful but AFAIK no insurance company offers anything like it. If you insure for less than full replacement, you'll be caught by a co-insurance clause if there's a loss. If it would cost $600k to rebuild but you're only insured for $400k, then when half the house burns down, most people would say it's fair for insurance to only be on the hook for $200k, not $300k even though the larger number is still below the policy limit. I suppose it might be possible to negotiate a "pay me X if it burns completely to the ground, whether I replace it or not", even if X is well under replacement cost, but that introduces all sorts of moral hazard. Real estate market really slow and you want to move to someplace cheaper or warmer or both? Burn your house down and let insurance pay the freight.
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Re: How much has your home insurance risen?

Post by OhGreatGuru »

Up about 12.5% over last year.
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Re: How much has your home insurance risen?

Post by Benchwarmer »

How would one go about getting home insurance? Is it like buying a PC: you write out your requirements, then seek out a company that satisfies the requirements for a cost that seems reasonable, then do research on how that company behaved in previous claims?

That seems like a lot of work - do you use an insurance broker who do that research on your behalf. If yes, how do you know that broker has your best interest at heart?

I had previously just gone with AMA because it was convenient, but this time I would like to do it properly.
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Re: How much has your home insurance risen?

Post by jeremy »

Received my renewal notice from TD Meloche Monnex: up 15% from last year, and 80% higher than 2013.

Got some quotes from kanetix.ca, the best was from a company called Square One Insurance. Their initial quote on kanetix was about 30% less than TDMM, and the detailed quote on the Square One website brought my price down to 2013 levels (with somewhat less, but still adequate coverage).

Anyone have any comments about this insurance company? I had never heard of them until I got the quote today. Online reviews seem to be mostly positive, but tend to review the quoting/purchasing process rather than the claims process.

Also, if anyone's interested in getting a quote, Square One will send you a $10 Home Depot gift card if you use a referral link.
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Re: How much has your home insurance risen?

Post by kcowan »

We had to switch providers for our condo insurance in PV. The existing supplier had quoted a large increase so we got a new agent and were very satisfied with what he did. We also have a good agent for snowbird medical insurance and have changed suppliers every year. In Vancouver we just have renters insurance and there is not so much leverage there. But we have gone over our tenants and the insurance we demand of them.

It seems that insurance cos are trying to improve profitability at our expense, and we have to respond by finding suppliers that still want our business.

To answer your question, our house insurance has not increased as a result of our efforts. Our health insurance has risen but less than if we had done nothing.
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Re: How much has your home insurance risen?

Post by Quebec »

Just got my home insurance renewal notice from Belair Direct, the premium was up almost 15%.

Upon comparison with last year's document, I saw they had switched me from a "broad" to a "Comprehensive" policy.

I called to complain, and they explained that all of their clients are now on the same 'form' (previously they had about 10 different forms in use depending on the level of coverage desired). The agent tried to convince me that this was not the cause of the premium increase, not even a little bit. This is nonsense, since last year, 'broad' was distinctively cheaper than comprehensive, for obvious reasons (it covers fewer potential claims, especially small claims).

Anyway, after 5 minutes on the phone, I was offered the same price as last year, as a "reward for my loyalty".

So once again, if you get sharp premium increases, don't hesitate to shop around and/or haggle a bit.
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Re: How much has your home insurance risen?

Post by Insomniac »

Insomniac wrote: 07 Apr 2014 23:56 Renewal quote just in. $888 in last year, now $940.

Reasons for increase:
1. Building value increased from $415K to $425K as cost of rebuilding is higher.
2. Earthquake coverage cost increased. Probably due to Christchurch disaster.
6 years later ...
Renewal is $1,168
Building replacement value is $504K

504÷425×940=1115
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Re: How much has your home insurance risen?

Post by westcoastfella »

Just renewed our home insurance with BCAA, we had an increase of roughly ~3% YOY.
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Re: How much has your home insurance risen?

Post by Shante »

Mine went up 1.9%.
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Re: How much has your home insurance risen?

Post by SQRT »

Alberta house up the most over past few years. Not surprising given the flooding and fire experiences, Ontario up second most. Arizona quite stable over several years. Would have to go back into some spreadsheets to get the exact increases. Not a big expense in the overall scheme of things for me.
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Re: How much has your home insurance risen?

Post by Quebec »

Quebec wrote: 13 May 2020 12:13 Just got my home insurance renewal notice from Belair Direct, the premium was up almost 15%.
(...)
Anyway, after 5 minutes on the phone, I was offered the same price as last year, as a "reward for my loyalty".

So once again, if you get sharp premium increases, don't hesitate to shop around and/or haggle a bit.
Hum, they tried rising the premium by 15% again this year. After a seven minute phone call, the increase is now 3%, for the same policy as last year. You just gotta call and ask them for a better price.
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Re: How much has your home insurance risen?

Post by Insomniac »

I was quoted $1518 this year. Received online quote from Surex website; the best they could do is $2300. This is for a single family home. Construction costs and condo insurance issues are the main reason for the increase. (Does this mean that SFD homeowners are now paying more so condo owners can get cheaper insurance?)

I'm increasing the deductible.

Insurance companies are asking for a "soft credit check" this year. Apparently, people with a good credit rating make fewer claims. I have filled out the form and given it to my broker. He thinks it will lower the premium by 10%.

Waiting for a new quote now,
Last edited by Insomniac on 12 May 2021 14:30, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: How much has your home insurance risen?

Post by Bylo Selhi »

Insomniac wrote: 12 May 2021 13:30Insurance companies are asking for a "soft credit check" this year. Apparently, people with a good credit rating make fewer claims.
A soft check doesn't affect your credit score. A so-called "hard" check can.

As for the rationale for an insurer doing a credit check, it's believed that people with a good credit record are wealthier and thus have less need to make small or frivolous claims (and probably less likely to make fraudulent claims.)

P.S. $2,000 for condo insurance? Wow! I suppose it's the price one pays for being the tsunamic breakwall for the mainland ;) Here in the middle of nowhere we pay a tenth as much.
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Re: How much has your home insurance risen?

Post by Insomniac »

My quote was for a SFD. Post edited to clarify.
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Re: How much has your home insurance risen?

Post by Marcus Aurelius »

Here are the last few years of increases. Going up a bit faster than "inflation" for us (Saanich, Greater Victoria).

2016 18.12%
2017 14.45%
2018 5.15%
2019 2.94% (changed our deductible from 1k to 2k)
2020 13.10%
2021 22.32%
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Re: How much has your home insurance risen?

Post by Quebec »

Quebec wrote: 12 May 2021 12:33 Hum, they tried rising the premium by 15% again this year. After a seven minute phone call, the increase is now 3%, for the same policy as last year. You just gotta call and ask them for a better price.
Up 15% again this year, but after a 5 mins call with a friendly lady, the increase is now 3.5% (for the same coverage as last year). Time well spent!
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Re: How much has your home insurance risen?

Post by pwm2 »

I'm with "The Personal". This year my payments went down 3.5% and they increased the coverage on the house due to increased building costs.
Nice to see.
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