California homeowners' insurance DOUBLED

[Blueduck]

Just got our renewal for our homeowner and it doubled. Seems as there are very few companies that still offer insurance in California. Just curious who you guys use that have houses in Ca. Appreciate any info.

 

[CLCookie]

I have had AAA for the last 6 years; all my cars are there as well. I live on a Lake with a dock, so I am waiting for the cancelation, seems they are all looking for an excuse to drop anyone in Cali. One thing I did, was raise all my deductibles, cars and the house. All cars start at $1,000 now, house is $5,000. No idea if this makes a difference or not, but I am only using insurance for big claims now.

 

[Scott4593]

We have American modern on both of our places in California and each one got a 25% increase. I must have spoke with 6 different agents when shopping around I couldn’t beat it

 

[Havasu blue label]

850.00 increase this State Farm primary

 

[530RL]

It’s not just California. 25 percent increase in Arizona on my renewal.

Seems pretty consistent with the rise in construction costs lately so no real surprise.

 

[GETBOATS]

I don't view insurance like in the past, A claim works against you, even a small one. They will either drop you entirely or increase your rates. The result.......you've been trained to just pay for the small stuff with no claim submission. I've increased all the deductibles as high as allowed, 25k for homeowners, auto 5k. In the event of a big problem, I can negotiate to get the high deducible back from subs. I believe this also sends a message to the insurance company you're only interested in insuring a catastrophic event. Distrust..................YUP

 

[X Hoser]

I have family still in Lake Arrowhead. Their HO & Fire Insurance, (CFP), is north of $6000 a year and they feel lucky just to have it. Up here in Idaho ours almost doubled this year from last year. $375 to $750. I know I know! I asked my agent why and she said the insurance companies are trying to cover their loses in California!

 

[hallett3]

This is becoming a real pain in the ass. When insurance companies drop you. Home loan companies require a certain amount of coverage on your home. If you can’t get any they will charge you for insurance on their programs. ( and they are not cheap by any means) My home loan company requires I have proof of home owners insurance once a year. Of course my insurance company just raise my homeowners insurance. I guess the new thing is payoff your home and drop homeowners and roll the dice something doesn’t happen, or don’t own your home anymore lol . I pay 7 grand a year for insurance home and cars. I made one claim on a hit and run on a broken mirror which was 1700 bucks to replace. I battled them tooth and nail to get fix with OEM parts. I have made one claim in the past 17 years and give me shit. I hate insurance companies. I did finally got the OEM parts because the cars computer wouldn’t recognize off brand electrical system. So I guess it forced them to.

 

[mesquito_creek]

It’s not just California. 25 percent increase in Arizona on my renewal.

Seems pretty consistent with the rise in construction costs lately so no real surprise.

This isn’t directed of you, although I recall you suggesting self insuring on some other types of things…

One of the advantages of the pay off your mortgage vs the “you are foolish to not use leverage people” is that you can set your own rebuild construction total coverage however you want. I lowered mine to $150 a foot vs what State Farm suggested or the bank would require of ~$250 a foot…

 

[GETBOATS]

Look at your policy, mine had the contents insured a "default" of 50% of the homes insured value. Don't know about the rest of you, but that was too much insurance for the contents of mine.

 

[Havasu blue label]

This isn’t directed of you, although I recall you suggesting self insuring on some other types of things…

One of the advantages of the pay off your mortgage vs the “you are foolish to not use leverage people” is that you can set your own rebuild construction total coverage however you want. I lowered mine to $150 a foot vs what State Farm suggested or the bank would require of ~$250 a foot…

That’s great info thanks we just paid off the home

 

[lbhsbz]

Look at your policy, mine had the contents insured a "default" of 50% of the homes insured value. Don't know about the rest of you, but that was too much insurance for the contents of mine.

....and they wonder why are so many fires.

I mentioned that to my agent when he told me the "contents" were covered for $240K and I was sitting their looking at a combined value of about $1000 worth of used craigslist junk that I bought to outfit my first house.....he laughed, and said that's "standard". OK boss....sign me up....gotta go, I think I smell gas

 

[DILLIGAF]

This isn’t directed of you, although I recall you suggesting self insuring on some other types of things…

One of the advantages of the pay off your mortgage vs the “you are foolish to not use leverage people” is that you can set your own rebuild construction total coverage however you want. I lowered mine to $150 a foot vs what State Farm suggested or the bank would require of ~$250 a foot…

I am mortgage free. I am not sure I toally understand. If it costs 250. to rebuild and they only pay you 150. you have to be in a position to foot that bill with your biggest equity (for most people) gone.

 

[evantwheeler]

Just got our renewal for our homeowner and it doubled. Seems as there are very few companies that still offer insurance in California. Just curious who you guys use that have houses in Ca. Appreciate any info.

I have AAA California on my primary residence and they are writing me a policy on my rental as well this week at a 50% savings over my current policy. I think their rates are extremely reasonable and have not yet experienced any drastic increases in costs like others have experienced.

 

[BoatCop]

My premium went DOWN by around $20. Home/property value went up. Coverage went up. Cost went down.

Home by Homesite through Progressive.

 

[mesquito_creek]

I am mortgage free. I am not sure I toally understand. If it costs 250. to rebuild and they only pay you 150. you have to be in a position to foot that bill with your biggest equity (for most people) gone

Yep…. Should the occasion arise I will be strapping my bags back on to make up the difference.

Plus I would take the check and GC is myself and right there probably save 20% vs sitting back in a rental waiting for the insurance contractor to do the work.

$250 is what the bank requires, which includes $50 of of total BS middle man etc…

Hopefully I could call in all the favors from people who I build patios/roof/cabinets etc for free (beer/pizza)!

 

[evantwheeler]

Yep…. Should the occasion arise I will be strapping my bags back on to make up the difference.

In your scenario, are you not essentially just partially self insured? What you are saying is you have the reserves to cover the payment after a total loss without "working" and can leverage the fact you have the free time, skills, and ability to put the labor effort in to rebuild if the ins co. covers the materials.

 

[Blueduck]

Look at your policy, mine had the contents insured a "default" of 50% of the homes insured value. Don't know about the rest of you, but that was too much insurance for the contents of mine.

Yes, mine also has contents at 50%. They said they have a minimum of 40% which only changed the policy about 35 bucks a year.

 

[mesquito_creek]

In your scenario, are you not essentially just partially self insured? What you are saying is you have the reserves to cover the payment after a total loss without "working" and can leverage the fact you have the free time, skills, and ability to put the labor effort in to rebuild if the ins co. covers the materials.

Exactly…minus the “payment” unless you are talking about taxes.

 

[FROGMAN524]

 

[28Eliminator]

Safeco… mine went up a small amount, but not much.

 

[Blueduck]

My premium went DOWN by around $20. Home/property value went up. Coverage went up. Cost went down.

Home by Homesite through Progressive.

I have my home through the same and are the ones that raised it 50%

 

[charred1]

SoCal resident. Have Allstate…premium was at $1330, now $1550.

 

[DILLIGAF]

Yep…. Should the occasion arise I will be strapping my bags back on to make up the difference.

Plus I would take the check and GC is myself and right there probably save 20% vs sitting back in a rental waiting for the insurance contractor to do the work.

$250 is what the bank requires, which includes $50 of of total BS middle man etc…

Hopefully I could call in all the favors from people who I build patios/roof/cabinets etc for free (beer/pizza)!

Understood now

My son would def help to GC it all for me although he isnt a GC.

I think we could pull it off. Hmmmmmmm

My HO Ins is 2900....i have only had one claim in decades of ownership but it was a biggie

Being retired I no longer have 6D just sitting in a checking account though however my house and buildings are not remotely close to what the past houses were worth

Its def a consideration.

 

[rivermobster]

I am mortgage free. I am not sure I toally understand. If it costs 250. to rebuild and they only pay you 150. you have to be in a position to foot that bill with your biggest equity (for most people) gone.

Pretty sure you can Easily take out a construction loan, if you already own the land?

Plus, land Always has value/equity if it's paid off.

Look at the extra cost per square ft like a deductible. The higher your deductible, the less your insurance will cost...

All my policies have way high deductibles on them.

 

[DILLIGAF]

Pretty sure you can Easily take out a construction loan, if you already own the land?

Plus, land Always has value/equity if it's paid off.

Look at the extra cost per square ft like a deductible. The higher your deductible, the less your insurance will cost...

All my policies have way high deductibles on them.

I get it now. Out here I am concerned about fire more than anything else.

If fire came thru here in this hood it would burn like crazy. Lots of dry cedar trees in this area plus oaks are dying off due to drought. It would go up "bigly".

The land would diminish in value in that case due to the trees being gone amongst other considerations

 

[mesquito_creek]

I get it now. Out here I am concerned about fire more than anything else.

If fire came thru here in this hood it would burn like crazy. Lots of dry cedar trees in this area plus oaks are dying off due to drought. It would go up "bigly".

The land would diminish in value in that case due to the trees being gone amongst other considerations

I live in the city, 1 mile from a fire station. My house is slump block construction. I am pretty confident a fire would ultimately turn into a flood repair from the fire hoses.

 

[DILLIGAF]

I have always believed in max ins cov but the ins companies are out of control.

I am going to think about this and no way around it...if something dramatic happens it's going to cost ya.

 

[NicPaus]

Mine went from $600 a year to $300 a month Allstate dropped me and mortgage co took over. They dropped my commercial auto and waverunners as well no more CA.


I have Bamboo on 1 house. Need to get quoted on this one. But the roof is old. Was trying to wait until I do a addition to put on new. They claim it's fire zone

Safe Safeco dropped my old house. Condition of roof and fire zone.



I met a adjuster yesterday for a fire claim few blocks from me. It burned over a year ago. 4th adjuster from State Farm. Poor old lady is probably around 80. She is getting put through tge ringer. Guy yesterday is starting from scratch a year in. The next step is the battle over scope of work. And rebuild costs. City wants it brought up to today's codes. Insurance says rebuild to existing unless the inspector fails it and puts it in writing that there are corrections required which would bring it up to code. My guess is I will start in 3 months and see the first check in 6 months. He was telling me what to do yesterday but hasn't approved anything. So start working now and wait on the money. Which Is not a problem. Luckily She has money to cover what they won't on the rebuild.

 

[CLdrinker]

If you have property in a HFRA you should look at selling.

I will not be surprised if insurance completely goes away in these areas thus reducing buyers and your value.

But hey my job is HFRA mitigation and my wife does insurance. What would I know.

 

[DILLIGAF]

If you have property in a HFRA you should look at selling.

I will not be surprised if insurance completely goes away in these areas this reducing buyers and your value.

But hey my job is HFRA mitigation and my wife does insurance. What would I know.

Personally not in a HFRA area.

 

[Orange Juice]

Arizona insurance is starting down the road California took.
My Phoenix home is up 400% in 20 years, and my cabin was cancelled in Flagstaff for Fire, and cost 50% more to fine another insurance company.

Try insuring a new car/truck. 🫢

 

[TPC]

Where’s Newsom stepping in to get this right?

 

[EPL]

Our house went up 20% last year and our rentals went tripled !

 

[BoatCop]

Self Insurance:

I was considering getting one of those vehicle repair services, like CarShield, Endurance, etc. I had one on a used (2006) truck I bought many years ago, and it paid for a fuel pump, and transmission, about $3,500 total. Had two vehicles, 2020 GMC Acadia & 2019 Silverado, coming out of warranty, so just looked to check rates. I went through about 4 of them and the average premium was between $90-$150 per month for one, higher if I covered both.

I decided it would be more cost efficient to just throw about $175 a month into a savings account just for major vehicle repairs. I've now got over $6k sitting there. I've also updated one of the (2020) vehicles to a 2024, so I'll have full warranty on that for at least 3 more years. I'd rather be paying that premium money to myself, than going into a corporation's profit.

Could we do the same thing with Homeowners? Not likely. I pay just under $1,900 a year, so it would take me 236 years to have enough capital to even come close to covering a total loss. In the nearly 40 years we've owned here I've had 2 claims. One with State Farm about 30 years ago when a brown-out fried my A/C unit and a couple of years ago, with the current Company, when a micro-burst ripped off some of my roof and blew down my fence.

 

[Boatymcboatface]

I have family still in Lake Arrowhead. Their HO & Fire Insurance, (CFP), is north of $6000 a year and they feel lucky just to have it. Up here in Idaho ours almost doubled this year from last year. $375 to $750. I know I know! I asked my agent why and she said the insurance companies are trying to cover their loses in California!

Thank you for paying some of our weather tax!

 

[Waterjunky]

My homeowners went up well over 50% this year alone. Remember, I live in the middle of the delta. Yet some firemap somewhere says I am a high risk. I technically live on an island, The fire department is 3.5 miles away. I have well irrigated farm crops on all sides of me. Yeah, insurance is a bit of an issue.

 

[2Driver]

I bumped up my coverage but still think Id be out 100-200k if I had to rebuild. State Farm told me they wont payout anything unless you rebuild. Im not sure Id even want the hassle.

Ive honestly considered just dropping coverage. Id sell the 7 acres and move on.

 

[DILLIGAF]

I bumped up my coverage but still think Id be out 100-200k if I had to rebuild. State Farm told me they wont payout anything unless you rebuild. Im not sure Id even want the hassle.

Ive honestly considered just dropping coverage. Id sell the 7 acres and move on.

If the area around you burned it would take a long time for it to get back to where it was. Would be like living on the moon surface.

 

[Brokeboatin221]

Where’s Newsom stepping in to get this right?

What has the idiot ever made right

 

[playdeep]

View attachment 1504450

C'mon man...the weather's great!
...that's all that matters.(rolleyes).

 

[Mr. C]

USAA here. Have only seen a few bucks a month difference in our escrow bill. Maybe 10-15 bucks a month.
Good luck.
And they were awesome with our last fire in Castaic. Came by the house when we were evacuated and moved stuff. Came bu the day after making sure we were all good.

 

[DarkHorseRacing]

Stuck on CA Fair Plan, which I can't imagine wont be hiking rates as they can't afford to pay out for the Eaton and Palisades fires. Insurance was 4500 last year and is going to be at least 5500 this coming renewal. I'm working hard trying to get back to traditional insurance, at this point I don't care who, ill never call them. I just want the full coverage I had that the Fair Plan does not, and be cheaper.

 

[spark2678]

We have a captive insurance program (Captive Resources) for our business GL, Auto and WC insurance. These types of programs are structured towards those companies with best in class EMR and past claims. For companies that are tired of seeing increases nearly 10-20% in yearly premiums based on industry rather than their own record. Our premiums were around $500K/yr so you can imagine it was frustrating. Basically the captive (there are a multitude of different types of captives inside Captive Resources, our group is just one of many) has a heterogeneous mix of members (around 70 members in our case) doing similar amounts of yearly revenue and there are different pots of money depending on the claim size that the captive takes care of with members premiums as it grows over the years. After a certain claim threshold there is still reinsurance through your normal traditional insurance carrier, in our case the claim must be over a $600K and then we still have umbrella over $1M. Instead of just throwing your money away, the members with good histories and low frequency of claims receive yearly dividends. What hurts a captive member is frequency, it isn’t necessarily claim size due to the reinsurance of the traditional insurance after a $600K claim. It’s the frequency of say $50-300K claims. Members with repeat issues over a certain time period can get booted out too, there are board meetings where this is voted on. Makes sense to have something like this type of program for personal auto and homeowners insurance. Wonder if it’s a viable option and it’s getting any traction out there?

 

[McKay]

We have a captive insurance program (Captive Resources) for our business GL, Auto and WC insurance. These types of programs are structured towards those companies with best in class EMR and past claims. For companies that are tired of seeing increases nearly 10-20% in yearly premiums based on industry rather than their own record. Our premiums were around $500K/yr so you can imagine it was frustrating. Basically the captive (there are a multitude of different types of captives inside Captive Resources, our group is just one of many) has a heterogeneous mix of members (around 70 members in our case) doing similar amounts of yearly revenue and there are different pots of money depending on the claim size that the captive takes care of with members premiums as it grows over the years. After a certain claim threshold there is still reinsurance through your normal traditional insurance carrier, in our case the claim must be over a $600K and then we still have umbrella over $1M. Instead of just throwing your money away, the members with good histories and low frequency of claims receive yearly dividends. What hurts a captive member is frequency, it isn’t necessarily claim size due to the reinsurance of the traditional insurance after a $600K claim. It’s the frequency of say $50-300K claims. Members with repeat issues over a certain time period can get booted out too, there are board meetings where this is voted on. Makes sense to have something like this type of program for personal auto and homeowners insurance. Wonder if it’s a viable option and it’s getting any traction out there?

About to pull the trigger on a 831b Captive plan for my buisness. Not going to go in a pool however. Seams like a good way to go.

 

[Mandelon]

How hard is it to start an insurance company?

I see it now.....
RDP Insurance Plans. Home, Boat, RV's and Vehicles. All Bundled.
All that money that goes to these companies could be paint to RD's new business. Invested as per the sage advice in the Stock Market 2025 Thread.
The company Christmas party would rock!

 

[dribble]

I have my homeowners bundled with my auto policy. Newer house with sprinklers, close to a fire station and hydrant. $610 per year.

 

[DarkJuJu]

It’s not just California. 25 percent increase in Arizona on my renewal.

Seems pretty consistent with the rise in construction costs lately so no real surprise.

Last year USAA almost doubled my HOI, I live in north Phx been claim free for 25 years, left USAA and went to American Family and got not only my home back in a reasonable insurance payment with the same coverages, but my autos too for $200 a month savings. I have no idea what happen to USAA but they used to be the greatest, inexpensive insurance you could get.

 

[Flyinbowtie]

Ours renews in June.
Got a heads up yesterday it is going up another 2k.
That'll make it an even 10,000 per year. We are going to have to make coverage changes again.

We are meeting with our RE agent tomorrow to start the process of putting it back on the market. Last yer we had 3 people come and look and were serious about it.
None of them had the sense to research their options (Cal Fair is the only one) for fire insurance before coming out.
I have to get my 94 yr old mother out to show the house. This year I want people who have their heads on straight before they show up.

We have reached the point where the insurance is driving the market in this area. ...driving it into the ground.

 

[NicPaus]

It was same way up in Paradise when I recently visited. Property values plummeted due to insurance costs. My Cousin thought about buying there until he looked into it. He ended up buying in Chico for 100k more than the house would of been pre fire. As majority took the insurance money and moved into neighboring cities.

There are tons of lots for sale for cheap. Lots of mobile homes on the lots that burned. Probably have to pay cash on the mobile and go with no insurance for it to make sense to live there.