Insurance rates

[KrystalS]

Are homeowners rates typically more expensive when it's your first home? DH and I have been with USAA for 12 years, always had renters insurance and never filed a claim. We also have auto with them. We are in the process of buying our first home and the insurance rates are crazy! Even for our area they are high. I have checked with every company I can find and USAA is the cheapest. $2500 a year, most people I've talked to with a house similar and larger are paying 1/2 that price. Is it because this is our first time having homeowners insurance? None of the agents I've talked to have been able to tell me why it's so high other than the fact we are in Oklahoma and tornado season has been really bad the last 2 years. This would explain it if other people had high rates but they don't. I have 2 more calls into independent agents to see if they can get us a better rate.

[Binkandabee]

We are in Oklahoma and recently checked rates and AAA was by far the lowest for us (and for my in-laws...although my in-laws rates are better than ours and we live in the same neighborhood). It's very true that the rates in Oklahoma have gone through the roof recently. A lot goes into what your rate is including your credit rating, location of home (not just state, but location as in...near the woods, near a body of water, etc.), the features of the home (# of garages, presence of a pool). Another factor that could go into a rate difference is the policy and coverage itself. When I compared ours to my in-laws, I noticed we had some features in our policy that I think are very imporant, but my in-laws did not have.

Definitely check with AAA. I switched 5 years ago and they had the best rates and then I checked about 3 months ago.

[AngB]

We also had USAA for a long time and used them initially for our homeowner's until they were going to raise our rates by $500 for no reason. We got quotes (for everything!) and found insurance for MUCH MUCH less than we had been paying (an for better coverage!) We only use USAA for banking now and even when we get new quotes, they are usually one of the highest. I would ask who the people you know have insurance through and get some more quotes.

[KrystalS]

Thanks for the responses. I have gotten quotes from all the big name companies. I have 2 independent agents checking some lesser known companies for me. Our auto is high anyway because my teenage sister lives with us and is on our policy. We haven't been able to find anyone who can beat USAA for auto. I wish we could because I see so many people say how high they have gotten the last few years and our policy has gone up every year.

[AngB]

We use Geico for auto (which was about $300 cheaper than USAA for us), and Horace Mann for homeowner's but they have gone up so much we are looking to get new quotes soon.

[Indianamom2]

We had USAA for years, but when Dh changed jobs to working for a local bank, we switched to the bank's insurance because ultimately their rates were better for a comparable policy. We had no problems with USAA (also never made a claim) and if the rates were the same, we would have stayed. We also switched our auto insurance for the same reason. We had made a claim or two with the cars (minor accidents that weren't our fault) and they were super easy to work with, but the rates just weren't low enough so we switched. We use Safeco now for home and auto.

[nfowife]

Are you in OKC? That seems really high. I will check what our rates were in OKC tonight for you.

[KrystalS]

I'm in the Lawton area south of OKC. I went through an independent agent and she got me an awesome quote with Travelers. So relieved! I did a quote myself on the Travelers website and it was way more. I strongly suggest going with an independent agent if you aren't getting good quotes. She is saving us over $1000 a year on auto with better coverage, and the homeowners quote was $1000 less a year than USAA.

[zukeypur]

Good! We have Travelers as well. FWIW, when we were in Weatherford (TX, not OK) in a home worth $100K less, our rates were much higher than they are in the Austin area.

[kristenk]

KrystalS, how did you find the independent agent you used? I think it's time to shop around for insurance again.

[KrystalS]

A friend recommended them after I posted my frustration on Facebook! Maybe try a search in your area for independent agents?

[indigo99]

My sister had the same problem recently when she tried to insure her first home. They were quoting her twice what we pay for a house that is 3x as large as hers. Many of them are using a CLUE report along with your credit report. You can get a free copy of yours online. I checked mine, and it had claims that my husband made on his car (affects my score too apparently) including an accident that wasn't his fault. Apparently they also keep info on house addresses so that if that particular house had a claim before then it can affect your insurance now. It's really unfair, but my sister was able to find a lower rate by shopping around. Different carriers use different scores and formulas to arrive at rates.

[wendibird22]

KrystalS, how did you find the independent agent you used? I think it's time to shop around for insurance again.

There's info on the David Ramsey site for independent agents who are Ramsey approved. I used that to find the agent in my area and saved $700 with double the coverage on my home and better coverage on my auto after 15+ years with State Farm. We are now with Hanover.

[kristenk]

Thanks, wendi. I'll look into that!