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Yup.
USAA has always been 1.5-2x higher for me than everyone else. Last time I shopped, USAA wanted $1100 for the year.....even Progressive was only $800. Got American Family for $650.
Shopping for Insurance
- Thread starter grampi
- Start date
USAA has always been 1.5-2x higher for me than everyone else. Last time I shopped, USAA wanted $1100 for the year.....even Progressive was only $800. Got American Family for $650.
With respect to homeowners I have been doing a little shopping. Currently have Allstate. So there are 3rd party companies that the insurance companies use to determine the cost to rebuild. They use various information and sources to come up with the cost. Not sure how many companies do this kind of work.
But here is the scenario. The real rebuild cost is $400K. (But how do you know?). Company A says $400K. Company B says $500K. If you'd house burns to the ground it will get rebuilt. But if the rebuild cost is $400K you will not get a check for an extra $100K after the rebuild because you had it insured for $500K with Company B.
Company B set your premium based upon a home rebuild cost of $500K. Maybe they knew the rebuild cost was really $400K. But bumped it to $500K to get more in premiums from you with essentially no extra risk. Or maybe more conservative and always add extra to the rebuild cost to be sure. Not to get extra premiums from the policy holder.
But here is the scenario. The real rebuild cost is $400K. (But how do you know?). Company A says $400K. Company B says $500K. If you'd house burns to the ground it will get rebuilt. But if the rebuild cost is $400K you will not get a check for an extra $100K after the rebuild because you had it insured for $500K with Company B.
Company B set your premium based upon a home rebuild cost of $500K. Maybe they knew the rebuild cost was really $400K. But bumped it to $500K to get more in premiums from you with essentially no extra risk. Or maybe more conservative and always add extra to the rebuild cost to be sure. Not to get extra premiums from the policy holder.
Here's the truth: no one really knows what the rebuild cost is. It is all a guess. We can make educated guesses based on the accuracy and thoroughness of the construction information provided. As usual, garbage in = garbage out.
A lot of carriers also offer some sort of replacement cost overlimit protection.....usually 125 or 150% of the building limit.
Although most people shop auto insurance based on premium cost, you are buying insurance to promptly pay you for your losses if you have a claim. Cheap insurance that makes you jump through hoops to get paid is not a good value.
I had the misfortune of having a collision claim accident in May. My prescriptions had changed, and I blacked out while driving. Fortunately, all that was hurt in the accident was the car. They sent an adjuster out within a week, they totalled the car, and offered me a settlement that was a little more than its Kelly Blue Book value. I agreed to it orally, and they sent me a check within another week. You cannot beat that.
In my past, I had homeowners insurance from Prupac, a subsidiary of Prudential. They were terrible. I had a lightning strike that blew out a cathode ray tube television. It weighed 160 pounds. They wanted me to get an estimate for its repair. No TV repair shop would come out to see it. I had to haul this boatanchor to the shop. They attempted to repair it. The repair failed. Prupac should have just paid me to replace the TV. Electronics damaged by lightening can never be satisfactorily repaired. Prupac's premium may have been low, but the insurance proved to be worthless.
I had the misfortune of having a collision claim accident in May. My prescriptions had changed, and I blacked out while driving. Fortunately, all that was hurt in the accident was the car. They sent an adjuster out within a week, they totalled the car, and offered me a settlement that was a little more than its Kelly Blue Book value. I agreed to it orally, and they sent me a check within another week. You cannot beat that.
In my past, I had homeowners insurance from Prupac, a subsidiary of Prudential. They were terrible. I had a lightning strike that blew out a cathode ray tube television. It weighed 160 pounds. They wanted me to get an estimate for its repair. No TV repair shop would come out to see it. I had to haul this boatanchor to the shop. They attempted to repair it. The repair failed. Prupac should have just paid me to replace the TV. Electronics damaged by lightening can never be satisfactorily repaired. Prupac's premium may have been low, but the insurance proved to be worthless.
I had a conversation with an autobody shop a few years ago and it was interesting to hear his viewpoint of the good and bad auto insurance payers. I had USAA at that time and from my POV they had been great but he said they were one of the worst because of the constant nickel and diming, their adjuster took forever to show up and was very argumentative, they constantly fought about supplementals, and the adjuster constantly pressured him to use non-OEM parts. He warned me all the back and forth would make it take more time and he was correct. The adjuster took almost 2 weeks just to look at the car and another 1.5 weeks to come back after the first supplemental was submitted.
His comments and not mine but interesting...
In this case the rebuild cost was close to what Zillow lists my home (including 3/4 acre lot) would sell for. And I have well and engineered septic that should be able to be reused.
Interesting note on things like tools for business use stored at home. If they are tools for use in my business then the limit would be $1500. If tools for shade tree mechanic then you get replacement value up to the total personal property limit of your policy. Good thing I am only a shade tree mechanic.
Auto insurance - cheap until renewal. Some agencies or insurance companies (not sure) will give you a low rate to get your business by not running a MVR (motor vehicle report). Then at renewal they are forced to run the MVR and your renewal may be a lot higher. Obviously depends upon what is in MVR.
JTK
$100 Site Donor 2025
I guess I've been lucky. I've never dealt directly with an insurance adjuster. I've always filed a claim, selected my collision shop while on the phone with them, then drove my vehicle to, or had it towed to a collision shop. The shop then dealt with the insurance.
Last year with my wife's 2019 Pathfinder for instance. It sustained a hard deer hit. My wife was super close to the house so she was able to get it home. It was at night. Called our insurance co the next day, filed a claim and selected a collision shop while on the phone with the insurance co. Within an hour a flatbed was at our house to get it and I had the repair estimate the next day (started at ~$7500, ended at ~$9K).
If I understood the collision guy correctly, they just submit the data and pics for the approval process. He did say that NY Central Mutual was always excellent to work with.
Last year with my wife's 2019 Pathfinder for instance. It sustained a hard deer hit. My wife was super close to the house so she was able to get it home. It was at night. Called our insurance co the next day, filed a claim and selected a collision shop while on the phone with the insurance co. Within an hour a flatbed was at our house to get it and I had the repair estimate the next day (started at ~$7500, ended at ~$9K).
If I understood the collision guy correctly, they just submit the data and pics for the approval process. He did say that NY Central Mutual was always excellent to work with.
Anyone know of a website that provides the rebuild cost of a home that isn't a come-on to get a home insurance quote?
That depends on your policy form. Every form is different. Mine caps at $5k, period, so I had to get a separate policy for my tools.
How much a square foot are they suggesting?
From about $175 to $225 a SQ FT. At $225 a SQ FT the rebuild cost would be about the same as the estimated price Zillow has for the home with land.
Market value has zero relation to the reconstruction cost of a building.
Never knew this. So even with fire insurance you are on your own for site prep and debris removal?
A lot of policies have a cap for debris removal - I've seen 5% of Coverage A limit.
Some of the higher-end policies (e.g. private client/high net worth) will cover up to 100% of the Coverage A limit.
NO Cost to rebuild is just that. Made whole again.
But if your checking up on your insurance it’s very important to take into account the demolition and removal costs of the old structure in making sure you are not underinsured.
Some people consider actual construction cost and forget about the demolition which is costly.
(I was taught this by the owner of a State Farm Franchise decades ago which we did a lot of business with) He explained some people comment the land is still there and they only need new construction costs forgetting about demolition and removal.
Of course if in doubt call one’s insurance company vs comments in a forum (including mine
) @The Critic explained it best. 5% is frequently written in and I myself have not checked my policy.
Im not big on insurance and low price always wins for me. Of course Im covered.
6+ decades on this earth and I knew one complete demolition home 15 years back in a community 1 mile from me (lighting strike)
Gulp
with some luck only 2+ more decades that I’ll be on this earth and I am sure we will not be a second home I know in my lifetime that requires a complete rebuild.Liability lawsuits scare me way more and for that I pay attention
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I just got my homeowners renewal...premium increase of 8%. I often shop around but lately reading on this forum from others getting increases this sounds minimal. I doubt I'll be able to do any better, so thinking that I'll accept that and save my time getting new quotes. Curious what you all think? In my case this equates to an increase of only about $100 for the year so not a big deal.
I have Progressive for my car and motorcycle. My annual motorcycle premium went from $686 last year to $489 this year on my 2023 BMW R1250 GSA. I didn’t change any coverage either. I did just turn 50 a few months ago, so maybe that had something to do with it?
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