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  1. #11
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    I don't have our policy here in front of me, but I'm pretty sure that our deductible is $3000. It had been $1000 but I bumped it higher to lower the premiums. My reasoning was that I would probably not even submit a claim that was $1500, for example, because that would only give me $500 back from the insurance company. And I'd be concerned that having a claim (we've always been claim-free) would eventually affect our insurance premiums, leading them to be increased (especially if we ended up getting another claim later). So it wouldn't make good financial sense IMO--but I'm not an insurance expert so perhaps someone might correct me here.

    But having to pay out that $3000 wouldn't be a huge burden on us, either, so that seemed to make the most sense for us. If it is worrying you, though, then you need to reconsider your own situation and the cost vs. benefit of the lowered premium with that higher deductible.

  2. #12
    kijip is offline Pink Diamond level (15,000+ posts)
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    I would only do it if you have $5000 in case of a claim.

    I wonder if the savings is that big? Our insurance costs us very little every year.
    Katie, mama to a pair of boys.

  3. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by kijip View Post
    I would only do it if you have $5000 in case of a claim.

    I wonder if the savings is that big? Our insurance costs us very little every year.
    Our homeowners insurance is not a huge chunk of our overall budget and I feel like pinching pennies in this arena is not a risk I am comfortable taking. I can't remember right now if our deductible is $500 or $1000 but I would NOT go higher than that.

    As a pp mentioned, you can have more than one claim in a short period of time. Are you prepared to pay out $5K more than once and not deplete your savings?
    Daniele
    mama to
    dd1 watching over her brothers and sister from Heaven
    ds1 13 years old
    dd2 10 years old
    ds2 6 years old
    Placenta Increta/c-hyst survivor

  4. #14
    BillK's Avatar
    BillK is offline Emerald level (3000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by notasherpa View Post
    ETA: Our premiums did not go up in the situation described above.

    Good luck!
    That's because those losses were probably tagged as CAT (catastrophic) Losses. There's no surcharging/strikes against you for a CAT loss.

    Contrary to popular belief - insurers really are not looking for a reason to drop you or raise your rates. They'd be perfectly happy to collect your premium payment and not have any claims. For years and years - insurers did not surcharge homeowners insurance for claims - and it finally caught up to them. Auto insurance has always done it. Sadly homeowners insurance in most parts of the country is one of the most horribly underpriced insurances there is given the amount of coverage it provides - that's why they've instituted loss surcharging and become more strict on the number of claims you're allowed over a time period. If they wouldn't have done these things - our rates would be skyrocketing even more than we currently see.

    In my experience - unless your home is insured for well over $500k the savings for going from a $1000 deductible to a $5000 is not big enough to get overly excited about imo. At least here in PA with the companies I have.
    ~Bill

  5. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by KrisM View Post
    Ours is $1000. How much, %tage wise, did the premium go down with the increase in deductible? Our insurances are up in August and I plan to call around this summer for quotes.
    Just wanted to mention that last month, we changed our auto/home from State Farm to Erie and are saving $200 a year. I was with State Farm since I started driving at 16 and got a home policy with them when we bought our first home. I've only made one auto claim when i got in an accident on my 17th b-day. Our home policy had a $500 deductible and we made one claim back in 2001 when we were in LA for our 1 year anniversary. People tailed us from the rental agency and broke into the car and stole everything. a couple years later, they told us they were raising our deductible to $1000 and if we made anoither claim, they might not offer us insurance anymore. this "tightiening of the belt" was apparently due to 9/11 and katrina.

    this really ticked me of but when i did shopping initially i couldn't find anything cheaper, even employee discounts. then i finally went to erie and they were much better and they forgive you on your first accident.

    sorry to get OT but just wanted to mention this and that you don't have to wait til your current policy ends to switch.
    Vivian
    Sydney (4/03)
    Avery (2/09)

  6. #16
    BillK's Avatar
    BillK is offline Emerald level (3000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by hellokitty1 View Post
    Just wanted to mention that last month, we changed our auto/home from State Farm to Erie and are saving $200 a year.
    I sure wish there were more people like you around here. I regularly quote folks that are with the "big" companies like State Farm, Erie, Nationwide etc and my savings are well over $500/year for 2 cars and a house (sometimes as much as $1000/year in savings) most times yet the people STILL don't want to leave the company they're currently with. It is frustrating beyond description.
    ~Bill

  7. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by BillK View Post
    I sure wish there were more people like you around here. I regularly quote folks that are with the "big" companies like State Farm, Erie, Nationwide etc and my savings are well over $500/year for 2 cars and a house (sometimes as much as $1000/year in savings) most times yet the people STILL don't want to leave the company they're currently with. It is frustrating beyond description.
    i think people get comfy with who they have. i know that i would be apprehensive about a company i had not heard of simply bc of the nature of insurance. you don't know how good/bad they are til you have an accident and by then it is too late. however, on the flip side, it is so easy to take your current policy and tell another insurance company to quote the exact same coverage.
    Vivian
    Sydney (4/03)
    Avery (2/09)

  8. #18
    hbridge is offline Emerald level (3000+ posts)
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    Be Careful. Insurance is wonderful, but most companies don't cover everything. For example, tree removal is only covered if the tree hits a structure! So if you have extensive tree damage along with home damage it can cost you quite a bit. For us that's one reason to keep the deductible low. Also, if you have extensive damage to your home, the last thing you want to worry about is having to come up with a lot of money quickly. There are so many unknown expenses already in the mix...

  9. #19
    doberbrat is offline Diamond level (5000+ posts)
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    I called last year to find out the price diference between a $500 ded vs a $1000. I think the difference was less than $100. it was right around there.

    just not worth the hassle so we left it as is.

    as doberman owners, I woudlnt file a claim unless it was catastrophic anyways b/c I'm too afraid of a cancellation. finding new ins w/a dobe can be very difficult.

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