There’s likely that and I think every 3 years or so you have to shop. That’s why we are always changing.
We started with Liberty Mutual. 3 years of increases was just too much.
So we went Met Life…same price as Liberty years ago. 3 years of increases - just too much.
So we went to Donegal at a lower price than Met Life 3 years ago.
I think these insurers purposely jack up, hoping for retention because it’s easier just to pay the bill but accounting for some level of eventual breakage (people leaving).
My excess liability premium remained at the same level from 2017 through 2024, but bumped up 25% in 2024. I am still annoyed that Chubb continues to charge the premiums they do because my children are no longer covered on my car insurance policy (different carrier, but that has always been the case). Chubb insists that my premium will remain the same b/c I continue to own two cars, even though my children are not insured to drive either car.
I also have never had a claim and received the same generic increased risk across all policyholders. I tried shopping the coverage at this year’s renewal, but I cannot obtain the same level of coverage elsewhere.
Thanks for the info. I made a mental note a couple of months to look into it, but didn’t want to tackle it then. I will now move it up on my to-do list.
I had some appliances replaced on Monday, so I had to be home all day. I used the time to start my final instruction documents using some of the lists here. When finished, I will go over it with D, then print out a copy and put in my office safe ( she has the combination).
I want this to be as easy as possible when the time comes.
I already have the legal documents that have been prepared by my estate attorney. I was working on things like password list, obituary and instructions, list of recurring bills, bank and credit card accounts and financial information, etc.
I have observed something similar to @tsbna44 ‘s suggestion that if you have retained the same insurer for a while, they bump up the rates. In general, we have shopped every two or three years.
We had Chubb at our previous house. We had a big claim (a tree fell through our roof during a hurricane, which we rarely have in New England) and they were fantastic (after a little prodding as they were very busy). Premiums did not go up much but several years later my recollection is that they decided not to offer insurance for the following year for no obvious reason.
@CT1417 , we found that Hanover has a Platinum or something like that offering that tries to compete with Chubb for higher end houses but was significantly less expensive. We have found them terrific to deal with as well. They actually send someone out to look for potential risks (they suggested cutting down a few trees and offered to pay for a water cutoff valve of some kind) and required that we screw a couple of sliding doors shut. I believe there is also an insurer called Pure that plays in the same league.
Pardon my bluntness, but that is a dumb suggestion. Similar effect can be achieved by placing a wooden rod in the slider tracks to prevent the sliding door from being open. In our experience, the people insurance companies send out to assess the risks are not the sharpest tools in the shed.
To add to my previous post… MetLife sent a punk who wrote up that our roof was in need of imminent replacement - by looking at it from the ground . A licensed roofer said it was ugly looking but good for another 10 years, but MetLife wouldn’t have any of it. So we waived goodbye to our insurance of almost 15 years… Safeco had no issues with that roof! So do shop around!!
This list is so valuable. My parents had such a list. Although I’m afraid with my mom moving a couple of times, it’s been misplaced. But now I have that list of passwords and access.
The will is at my siblings , when mom moved to IL we had it revamped so that’s all up to date.
As far as me personally, I have so many passwords that it’s a little more complicated but I need to get a list for the financial accounts to be easier to find.
Talking about homeowner’s insurance, we got on USAA for our home, auto, and umbrella policies some years ago due to getting ‘dumped’ by State Farm (State Farm chose not to renew these policies, but they did retain us on our personal articles policy). We were able to get with USAA because of our Veteran dads, specifically DH’s dad – we paid for dad’s small personal article policy, and then our family was able to get USAA insurance numbers and participate with USAA insurance.
A few years ago, our state required homeowner insurance to offer IBHS fortified roof endorsement, and we paid for it (not much of a premium bump), and it paid off. We have a certificate with a ‘fortified ID’ and expiration date. We had hail damage last year. When we replaced our gutters a few years ago, the gutter company left exposed fascia which needed replacement with the new roof - thankfully the endorsement covered that cost as well (over $8,000 for new fascia all around our house).
As several have noted, insurance is getting ‘fickle’ about insuring (and paying for) roofs.
We previously had hail damage with roof and replaced in 2009 with insurance (area wide hail damage with roofs). This go-around, I would have considered metal roof if we were staying in the home - with potentially selling within the next 2 years or so and not seeing residential roofs in our neighborhoods with metal roof….
When shopping homeowner insurance, some don’t like recent homeowner claim with water damage either (5-year window).
Does that mean you can’t use those doors? (Of course maybe you were already not using them.)
Good idea about the water shutoff. Nice that insurance paid for it. Not sure if I already mentioned it here, but we are glad we were able to add an extra shutoff that enables us to turn off water to house but still allow water to the yard/sprinklers. We already had a main shutoff, which we used for winter trips. But in summer we turned off just at washer (upstairs) and dishwasher… probably should have turned off fridge water too. My husband got some kind of “sharkbite” plumbing kit, but I would have been willing to hire out the job.
I agree. The problem is that that part of the house is cantilevered off the ground and that one would need a couple of steps, which we did not have. We don’t go out of those doors and no one else does as they are in our bedroom. They wanted to make sure that no one walked out of the doors and fell (and had an insurance claim). We proposed the wooden rod but if it could easily be removed, it did not meet their needs. So we put in an L-bracket and somehow that was OK.
@Colorado_mom, yes. That makes them unusable unless you bring a Phillips head screwdriver. But, we don’t use them anyway. 10 feet away is a door with a step. Basically, they are just big glass windows looking out at the river. So, no big consequence from our standpoint (I guess ShawWife might want to open them to photograph, but she can go to the next door for that).
We saw our financial planner yesterday, and specifically asked about passwords. When the last of us dies, the executors will be able to access all of our accounts without passwords. Death certificates, and evidence of being the executor will be needed. That was the experience we had when my parents died also. We didn’t need passwords…just evidence that they died, and who the executor actually was.
Our financial planner has all the necessary account information.
We use an insurance agent for our personal and business insurance needs. They are able to shop around if any company proposes big increases. Our experience is that umbrella policies are getting more expensive and often times they won’t give you the same amount. This has been especially noted on commercial properties. I’ve been hearing from many friends and business associates that insurance companies are asking for repairs or mortifications to their property to get insurance. One friend who has a gorgeous yard was told they needed to pull out a lot of mature landscaping near the house. She wasn’t convinced they wouldn’t still cancel so she shopped around and found a different carrier who was fine for now at least with the plants. Another friend had to remove a wood shed that was in her backyard.
Is anyone concerned that their estate attorney or financial adviser who they are counting on down the road will be still around when needed. We discussed this with a friend who told us her executors were. She named several and they are both her age or older.
This reminds me of my father who had a trusted family lawyer who did all his estate planning. When my father was in his 80s I inquired about the lawyer. He said the lawyer was even older than he was. The best thing my father did was hire a young elder lawyer during the pandemic.
. A licensed roofer said it was ugly looking but good for another 10 years, but MetLife wouldn’t have any of it. So we waived goodbye to our insurance of almost 15 years… Safeco had no issues with that roof! 
, when mom moved to IL we had it revamped so that’s all up to date.