Why did my homeowners insurance go up

If your homeowners insurance has gone up, there are multiple reasons that may have caused this. The good news is there are several ways you can save money to get your rate back down. 5 easy ways to get lower homeowners insurance.

Homeowners insurance rates are based off a few different factors. Some will be within your control and other will not be. If an insurance company suffers a record loss it could effect their bottom line and the following year may show that in your homeowners insurance rates. 

Other circumstances can effect rates as well. For example a catastrophic storm may be active in the area you live or another natural disaster that affects a lot of the homes in your neighborhood. 

Why does homeowners insurance go up

Sometimes rates can go up unexpectedly. You may have never had a claim, always pay your premium on time and your rates have always stayed the same. So why would you see an increase in your rate? 

Rate changes can happen due to multiple reasons. If something has happened to your rate unexpectedly and you aren’t sure what happened, your best choice is to contact your home insurance agent or the homeowners insurance company. If you’re in California and you want to look into a better policy than what you have, please give us a call! Our agents are really nice people and they know everything there is to know about home insurance. Call us today at 916 313 6100

Construction costs in the area have increased

When it comes to determining homeowners insurance rates a lot goes into the cost of construction of the home. How much will it be to rebuild or repair the home if the worst were to happen? If the price goes up to repair your home, more than likely your insurance rates will increase as well. 

The home needs to be upgraded

Very often after you’ve been with an insurance company for several years they will at some point want to do a home inspection. The result of your home inspection may be the discovery of upgrades needed to the home.

The home insurance inspector will more than likely take a look at the exterior of the home, with a focus on roofing and exterior walls, as well as the homes foundation. If the home inspector determines that repairs are needed you may be looking at a rate increase. 

Your personal home insurance score decreased

One of the other determining factors for homeowners insurance rates is your personal insurance score. Usually this is measured by the amount of claims you’ve filed, some states will include credit score, and your overall risk factor. Your premium will be higher if your home insurance scores are on the low end.

Usually the home insurance company will determine your insurance score during the application process. They will typically update your score when you’re up for renewal. 

People in your area are filing a lot of home insurance claims

If there just so happens to be an influx of home insurance claims from your zip code, you may see an increase in your homeowners insurance rates. The same can be said if you yourself file a claim for just about anything that comes up. Filing a lot of claims or your neighbors filing more than a normal amount of claims could see an overall increase in insurance rates for your zip code. 

Having a clean claim history can actually help your insurance premiums over time. Knowing this it may be wise to make repairs when needed and only use your insurance when you actually need to. Keeping your home up to date and protected with various security features will only help the long term price of your homeowners insurance premiums. 

Your homeowners insurance company increased premiums

There may be industry wide changes that are completely out of our control. If the area you live in is now the target of a gnarly storm, your entire area (zip code) may see an increase in rates. There could be something that happens in the insurance industry that causes a lot of homeowners to file claims all at once creating a deficit industry wide. Somethings are not within our control but if we look at all the ways we can save money we can sometimes balance out the additional costs. 

Wrapping up; your homeowners insurance rates can be effected by a lot of different reasons. If something has changed recently with your premiums and you live in California, please give us a call. Our agents are experts when it comes to home insurance and they’re really nice people! Call us today at 916 313 6100