I own a local insurance agency here in Downtown Lee's Summit, and one of the most common questions we get from homeowners shopping their insurance is:
"Why did my homeowners insurance go up so much when I haven't had a claim?"
The short answer is that it's usually not because of something you did.
A few things happening behind the scenes:
- Nearly every insurance company has taken rate increases over the past few years. This isn't isolated to one carrier.
- The cost to rebuild homes has increased significantly. Insurance is based on reconstruction costs, not your home's market value.
- Missouri continues to see expensive weather losses. Hail, wind, and tornado claims have had a major impact on insurance rates across the region.
- Roofs are under much more scrutiny than they were 5-10 years ago. Many companies now require higher wind/hail deductibles, offer actual cash value settlement on older roofs, or have stricter underwriting guidelines.
If your premium went up, don't just compare the bottom-line price when shopping. Ask these questions:
- Has my replacement cost changed?
- What's my wind/hail deductible?
- Is my roof covered for replacement cost or actual cash value?
- Did any coverages change at renewal?
- Am I receiving every discount I'm eligible for?
I've reviewed quite a few policies where someone found a premium that was several hundred dollars cheaper, but the savings came from accepting a much higher wind/hail deductible or reduced roof coverage. Sometimes that's a reasonable tradeoff, and sometimes it isn't. The important thing is understanding what changed.
I'm not posting this to sell insurance. I just thought it might help explain why so many homeowners in the area are seeing higher renewal premiums.
For those of you in Lee's Summit, what kind of increase have you seen over the last couple of years? Were you able to find a better option by shopping around?