Homeowners Insurance Advice

RedTaco4x4

Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
Durham, NC
Our new house is almost finished and we are at the point where we need to get homeowners insurance. I've gotten a quote from USAA (who i have my auto insurance with) and they seem a little pricy. For those that have done some insurance shopping already, do you have advice to give a first time house buying noob? Where would you recommend and if you don't mind saying, could you PM Me an idea of the rate (versus house value) if you don't feel comfortable posting here. Do you have an agent that you work with that you'd recommend? Our house will be in Durham County with a Durham Address (Raleigh City limits though! figure that one out!!). Thanks in advance!
 
Ins.

I have all my stuff with Erie Ins. Co. Cheapest good ins I have found.
 
my buyers/customers seem to like allstate. i hear state farm alot too.
 
I just bought a house and have both my car insurance and homeowners insurance with USAA. I was lazy and did not shop around, but I figured I would get a decent deal since I had both car and house with them. USAA has treated me well with car insurance my whole life too. I did get a discount on my car insurance when I signed up for homeowners. Not sure if it was because of the location of the home (out of the city) or the fact that I now have both home and car with them. Either way, I think my car insurance dropped a little over $100/yr.

I'll try and check tonight and pm you my amounts.
 
I went with USAA, they are one of the cheapest ones in my area near the coast. I checked with Allstate, Statefarm, and a few others, and USAA was the cheapest. They also had higher coverage amounts, and a lower deductable.

Talking to just about everyone else in my office they have went with USAA also for the same reason.
 
I'll pass this on to you and do with it what you want. Buying the cheapest isn't always the best, as with a lot of things in life you get what you pay for. I must admitt on most every house I've owned (or still own) I thought much like you are , "what's the cheapest?". Insurance is always an afterthought when homebuying and that's ok if you never need to use it. I recently had a house burn pretty good, $110k in damage. Luckly I had been dealing with a knowledgable agent who suggested that I up the coverage on this particular house because it had appreciated a great deal in the last several years, she also recommended upping it because it was located in a historical district and could not be rebuilt to the nieghborhood standards for the amount of coverage that the bank forced me to carry on it. Thank god I did or I would be in a world of shit now trying to rebuild it. I also never really read my policies very carefully on any of my houses, me being a typical dumbass just looked at insurance as a hassel the bank put me through and I would probably never need it. After this has happened I've gone through all my policies for properties, read carefully , and upped coverage or modified coverage on all of them in one way or another.
With all that said, please compare coverage and not only price, if you live there for several years and the property increases in value a signifcant amount, do yourself a favor and up the coverage, adding additional coverage is really quite cheap, mine went up $100 a year(and its tax deductable) for an additional 80k in coverage, as an example.Insurance is not something to be taken lightly or bought without a good amount of research and comparing. There's my .02...good luck with your new house.
I wanted to add also, to those who read this that rent, BUY RENTERS INSURANCE. The guys renting the house from me (that burned) lost everythig. They had no insurance and nowhere to go, the freaking Red Cross showed up there to help them. It was sad to watch , they were in their mid 20's , kinda just getting started in life( you know , making all the dumbass uneeded purchases with cash from their fist "real" job) and poof..all gone. The stuff is cheap buy it if your renting ,cause your landlords insurance doesn't cover anything of yours period, even if the fire wasn't your fault.
 
i use state farm, they are not even close to the cheapest, but someone always picks up the phone and helps you right away. that was worth the difference in price all by itself. when i added the homeowners to the car insurance stuff, my rates were reasonable b/c of multiple insurace discounts.

also, when my wife totaled 3 cars in one wreck, they never hasseled us or tried to have us pick up a part of the tab. they honored the policy and worked with us very fast. can't say enough good things about them, and greg is certainly right, you get what you pay for with insurance.
 
Thanks for the advice! It all sounds really good. I'm going to be calling around to a bunch of different place and comparing everything detail for detail. I"m definately not looking for the cheapest, but I don't want to pay way more than I have to
 
BIGWOODY said:
I wanted to add also, to those who read this that rent, BUY RENTERS INSURANCE.
Click to expand...


X2 - I'd skip eating lunch to save up for it if necessary. A $100/year (or less) renters policy is worth it... For exactly the reasons BW said !!

I filed a claim when my old apartments 18 year old water tank blew and put 1" of water in my upstairs apartment, ruining a laptop and damaged some antique wood furnature... Granted I would have been 'ok' had I not had it... But what about a fire or different circumstances.. ? The apartment place is NOT responsible for your crap..

I used and still use Nationwide, Im sure they arnt the cheepest but as mentioned there are many aspects to consider..
 
Don't forget to pick a fairly high deductable. That should save you some money. My deductable sits at $500. I'd say even go higher to $1000 if you can save the $500 difference in the premiums over a 5 year period. Over a period of 20 years you will save a lot, and typically you don't need the house insurance unless a disaster happens. But when it happens you really need it.
 
BigWoody is right. I used to sell insurance in NC and I cringe every time I see people shop around where price is the only object. You're money is well spent with a company that has a good claims department (will get your house fixed as quick as possible) and who won't drop you after you file a claim. Not all companies are the same in that respect.

I worked for a company that could usually beat any price on a homeowners/auto package, but God forbid you ever have a claim. If a company does drop you, good luck getting any kind of decent price. Not matter what your story, when you're being dropped by one company, it usually means a high risk (very expensive) policy.

In my experience USAA, State Farm and Nationwide were some of the most loyal to thier customers. Allstate and Liberty Mutual were some of the worst for dropping you for any claim. Talk to people who've carried the companies you're considering and make sure you talk to people who have had claims. Ask them how the claim process went and how things went with the company at their next renewal.

Think you'll never have a claim? I'd think again. While it's very possible you'll never have an issue, you are paying to keep your a$$ out of a sling, should the worst case happen. Don't just think fire, think hurricane/wind, water damage from leakage. Also remember if your dog ever bites a neighbor or some one falls off your deck at a party, that's your homeowner's coverage. A good agent will explain your coverages and help you make the right decisions.

When it comes to deductable, you have to decide how much you could pay in a pinch. Don't just go high deductable to save a few bucks. If you can afford to drop $500 or $1000 at any time, without a problem, by all means carry a higher deductable. If money is more tight for you, think about a lower deductable. Either way, I'd encourage you to have your agent quote you at $250, $500 and $1000. In most cases, I think you'll be surprised how little difference it will make.

Good luck with your new house, you've made a big investment there. I suspect you didn't pinch pennies in the building process. I wouldn't pinch pennies on protecting that investment either.

Jeff
 
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