house insurance

[happygirl]

We just bought our first home, we are shopping around for insurance the cheapest we have found in is 100.00 a month for 133,000 insurance and 112,000 for possession, we have never done this before, does this sound high or about right? The company we found it through is Liberty Mutual is this a pretty reliable company

 

[happygirl]

anyone anyone

 

[bdcp]

It sounds high to me, but it also depends on where you live (FL has much, much higher rates than say, VA due to hurricane threat) and possibly the age and shape your house is in as well as what materials it's built from. Our insurance is less than $900/yr and our structure is insured for about $450,000. Not sure on possessions. But, we're not in an area that has a real hurricane threat, although we have had tropical storms track right through and cause flooding in low lying areas, etc. Our home is 7 years old so it's newer construction and was built to current codes. Also, having a fire and burgurlar alarm system lowers our rates a little.

 

[Kimberly]

I pay 2 percent annually on the value of my home for homeowners insurance. Things are quite a bit different here, so anything lower than that is EXTREMELY low.

 

[DebbieB]

Sounds high but depends on where you live, construction of the house, alarms, etc.

 

[happygirl]

We live in Tornado alley

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

We live in Tornado alley

That might explain it then. We pay around $900 now.

If it helps, we have LM as our auto insurer and love them. If I could get them as a homeowner policy I would. We have restrictions where we are and are stuck with our current company.

 

[happygirl]

Thanks everyone

 

[kathie859]

To keep costs as low as possible, be sure to get quotes for higher deductibles.
Also, ask what kind of discounts are offered; I.e., home alarm, civil servant, etc. Also, some policies are lower if you put your auto and HOI with the same carrier...some companies..not all. Good luck

Oh one more thought...do you really have $112k worth of possessions? You do realize that if someone steals your 2 yr old $2500 tv, you don't GET $2500.
This may be another way to save. If you have jewelry, silver or other high ticket items, you may want to put a rider on your policy otherwise most policies limit jewelry losses to a few thousand dollars.

 

[happygirl]

To keep costs as low as possible, be sure to get quotes for higher deductibles.
Also, ask what kind of discounts are offered; I.e., home alarm, civil servant, etc. Also, some policies are lower if you put your auto and HOI with the same carrier...some companies..not all. Good luck

Oh one more thought...do you really have $112k worth of possessions? You do realize that if someone steals your 2 yr old $2500 tv, you don't GET $2500.
This may be another way to save. If you have jewelry, silver or other high ticket items, you may want to put a rider on your policy otherwise most policies limit jewelry losses to a few thousand dollars.

The deductible is 5,000 I mainly just care about getting the house covered in case something happens

 

[luvmy3]

To keep costs as low as possible, be sure to get quotes for higher deductibles.
Also, ask what kind of discounts are offered; I.e., home alarm, civil servant, etc. Also, some policies are lower if you put your auto and HOI with the same carrier...some companies..not all. Good luck

Oh one more thought...do you really have $112k worth of possessions? You do realize that if someone steals your 2 yr old $2500 tv, you don't GET $2500.
This may be another way to save. If you have jewelry, silver or other high ticket items, you may want to put a rider on your policy otherwise most policies limit jewelry losses to a few thousand dollars.

Isn't that $112K meant to cover all possessions. I don't think thats too high when taking into acct everything you would have to replace from furniture to your socks and everything in between.

The deductible is 5,000 I mainly just care about getting the house covered in case something happens

I pay about $1000 a year, and my deductible is much lower. I think your quote is on the high side for that deductible, but there are so many factors to take into acct its hard to say. You should compare what you were quoted to those who live in your area since thats what matters.

 

[laurie31]

To keep costs as low as possible, be sure to get quotes for higher deductibles.
Also, ask what kind of discounts are offered; I.e., home alarm, civil servant, etc. Also, some policies are lower if you put your auto and HOI with the same carrier...some companies..not all. Good luck

Oh one more thought...do you really have $112k worth of possessions? You do realize that if someone steals your 2 yr old $2500 tv, you don't GET $2500.
This may be another way to save. If you have jewelry, silver or other high ticket items, you may want to put a rider on your policy otherwise most policies limit jewelry losses to a few thousand dollars.

We are also in an area at high risk for tornados (not not in a flood plain, nor at risk for hurricanes) and we pay about $1000/year.

We have an alarm system, smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, and we have car and life insurance with the same company (multi-policy discount).

We have a high deductible, but we also have replacement costs. Meaning if our TV is damaged, they have to buy us a new TV like the one we had, regardless of the current value of the old one. But it's not because of the TVs and such, it's the idea that our house was built over 20 years ago, and the cost to rebuild it, just like it is now, would be far higher than it cost back then. If a tornado levels our house, our insurance has to pay to put everything back like it was. This gives us peace of mind. If they only had to pay the current value of the house, we would not be able to rebuild.

We have a master list of things, room by room, with video documentation, btw. Just imagine the cost of replacing everything in your kitchen - dishes, silverware, pots and pans, appliances, plus all the food; everything in your bedroom - clothes, undergarments, shoes, purses, furniture, artwork; everything in your bathroom, everything in your garage, you get the idea. It comes out to way more money that you would think, especially if you had to go out and buy it all at once.

 

[mamacatnv]

I pay about 1200 a year but we have earthquake coverage and that doubled the premium. Earthquake is optional. We do not have flood, not even close to an area we would need it.

My homeowners is through American Family. I have full replacement on contents $150K, a $15K rider on jewelry, a $500 deductible for everything but Earthquake, then its 10%. Full rebuild/replacement cost on the house when the policy renewed that was at $325K.

Our house is 15 years old and we are the original owners, other than the cost to rebuild the policy has been pretty stable over the years.

 

[golfgal]

The deductible is 5,000 I mainly just care about getting the house covered in case something happens

I would say that your rate is REALLY high if you have a $5000 deductible. I am surprised your mortgage company let you get a deductible that high. For a little over $100,000 in coverage and a $5000 deductible that would be about $300/YEAR here. However, if your credit isn't very good, that can change things drastically.

 

[disneychrista]

Yeah it really depends where you live. Mine is under $800.

 

[ZachnElli]

There are many factors that go into figuring your rate. Most insurance companies have moved to credit based rating system also, so if your credit score is a little low, then your rate will be higher. Also, the age of your house is a huge factor. A house with 30 or 40 year old wiring and plumbing is a higher risk and more expensive to replace if the worst should happen. If there have been a lot of claims in the area in the past few years because of storms, there will be higher rates. You just can't go by what others pay on the Dis, your neighbors would be better to ask, unless it's your credit bringing you down.
Oh, also, personal property is built into the policy as a percentage of your home value, you can't lower it, you could raise it but not lower it. And as for how much to replace your $2500 tv depends on if you have replacement cost or actual cash value on your policy. A lot of companies will pay actual cash value until you replace the tv and then turn over your receipt and they will reimburse you the difference. They do that to make you whole again,not send you to Vegas!

 

[twinglesmome]

I am in agreement that it is dependent upon many variables. You may want to ask the mortgage company who they recommend, and find out the true values that are required. Does your automobile insurance company offer homeowners insurance as well?

 

[clh2]

I agree that you may see a savings if you have your auto and homeowner's insurance with the same company.

And...the one thing that really, really impacts our homeowners costs - we do not live in an area where there are fire hydrants. So - if there was a fire in my home, they need to "bring" water to my home. The nearest "water reservoir" is about 1.5 miles from my house.

 

[okeydokey]

I'm in FL and it seems about right for this area. Ours went up to 1850 this year, but we shopped other carriers and got it down to 1450.

You may want to poll your neighbors, friends, co-workers to see what they are paying.

 

[mrsheppo]

Ours is about $350 a year for $168,000 for the house and $122,000 for contents. We have a $500 deductible but because we are not in a flood plain, tornado or hurricane area, etc. our rates are very low. We are insured through State Farm and have several policies through them.