House Insurance Increase???!!!!

[Mazdaj]

So I get a quote for house insurance for the upcoming year and it's up approx. $150 from last year! Same company I've been with for ten years, knock on wood...no claims for house or either vehicle. So I stop by to question it. The guy says our carrier purchased extra re-insurance and passed the cost on to us. So I asked what re-insurance is. He says that we here in the north east US we haven't had a major hurricane since Gloria which I think was in '85 or '86, and that we are due for one hence the extra cost. Really? What a bull crap reason. I see where they are coming from, but isn't that the point in having insurance? On a chance something might happen? Anyone else run into this or am I the lucky one? Guess I'll start shopping around. Thanks for letting me vent.

[civilguy]

There is no such thing as customer appreciation any more. It used to be if you had insurance for a long time with the same carrier you would see benefits. Now they try to creep the costs up on you. Geico did it to me... we enrolled in autopay and with a few payments a year a $60 annual increase was hardly noticable. I caught it after 3 years (my fault), but with NO claims and NO moving violations they had successfully raised our annual premium over $200. I've talked to a few people who said not to be stagnant with your insurance and shop around every 5 years or so for a new carrier.

[Johnboy72]

I hate seeing stuff like this as I hope to be a first time home buyer around the first of the year....in the northeast. Lucky for me I'll be using USAA. They seem to be very helpful. But sucks to hear that.

[Halgar]

I've talked to a few people who said not to be stagnant with your insurance and shop around every 5 years or so for a new carrier.

No, all insurance policies should be reviewed every 1 to 3 years to prevent the very thing you've described. Companies are always trying to wrangle more money out of the consumer, for those that don't review their policies, it's easy money. For those that do, they'll find that competitors are always running special offers and lower rates. If your current company wants to keep your business, they'll match what you can get elsewhere to keep you.

[noony]

I'm in Michigan have progressive,never had a clam and they increased mine $150 total B.S. I'm out looking right now.Same with my auto my son just turned 16 and had a drivers permit and it pumped $600 for 6 mounts