What's UP with State Farm Homeowner's Insurance??? (Atlanta, Sandy Springs: house, earthquake)

[oldhousegirl]

Hi everyone! So, yesterday got our new statement and instead of the regular deductible their new thing is 1/2 % of the home's replacement value!!!! In essence, the rate would go up and the deductible is not fixed.

We can "do nothing" and have the "percentage" deductible or pay more and keep the fixed $1000 deductible; a 15% and 20% increase respectively.

Whaaaat????

We are in suburban Atlanta.

[Fubarbundy]

Guess it's time to shop around? (my mama told me...)

Anyway, just looked at my State Farm homeowners policy and there was no change like you're describing from last year to this year.

I do have to say though, when a large pine decided to, uh, let's say abruptly lay down on my carport (with devastating effect) a couple years ago, State Farm was very quick and fair with getting things squared away with my claim.

[oldhousegirl]

Originally Posted by Fubarbundy

Guess it's time to shop around? (my mama told me...)

Anyway, just looked at my State Farm homeowners policy and there was no change like you're describing from last year to this year.

I do have to say though, when a large pine decided to, uh, let's say abruptly lay down on my carport (with devastating effect) a couple years ago, State Farm was very quick and fair with getting things squared away with my claim.

Thanks for responding. I wonder what their story is? I have NEVER heard of anything like the percentage as a deductible. This would be our 1st renewal with them. Just switched last year after having had Allstate for 20+ years. So weird, even with their increase they are still less money than Allstate - checked out their rate today.

[No2Monsanto]

Don't know nothing about the homeowner's insurance rates, but State Farm has raise my auto insurance premium THREE TIMES in less than a year!! I'm now shopping around for a cheaper deal...

[Atl Reb]

Mine hasnt changed from the fixed amount, but a few of my neighbors did after they filed hail damage claims and had their roof's replaced. From what I understand, only wind and hail damage was subject to this % deductible (2% was about standard). The insurance companies were losing too much $ on repairing entire roof's for just a small bit of damage. I know that a few were USAA and one was State Farm.

Apparently this comes from earthquake policies in California and I have also heard of it on policies on the Gulf Coast due to hurricanes.

If you think about it logically, there are more homes in smaller geographical tracts now, so any type of unpredictable natural occurrence (hail, tornado, hurricane) now costs the insurance companies much more than it did before. This is how they limit their exposure.

I got a new roof for just a few hail dings on a few shingles. I knew this was a losing proposition for my insurance company and was not sustainable. In fact, my neighbor two doors down had the same damage and was rejected by the same insurance company as they filed a claim around 6 months later.

[flamadiddle]

As mentioned, shop around! I do this every couple years to keep them honest. Currently with Farmers, but will switch in a minute if I find a lower comparable rate.

[oldhousegirl]

Originally Posted by Atl Reb

Mine hasnt changed from the fixed amount, but a few of my neighbors did after they filed hail damage claims and had their roof's replaced. From what I understand, only wind and hail damage was subject to this % deductible (2% was about standard). The insurance companies were losing too much $ on repairing entire roof's for just a small bit of damage. I know that a few were USAA and one was State Farm.

Apparently this comes from earthquake policies in California and I have also heard of it on policies on the Gulf Coast due to hurricanes.

If you think about it logically, there are more homes in smaller geographical tracts now, so any type of unpredictable natural occurrence (hail, tornado, hurricane) now costs the insurance companies much more than it did before. This is how they limit their exposure.

I got a new roof for just a few hail dings on a few shingles. I knew this was a losing proposition for my insurance company and was not sustainable. In fact, my neighbor two doors down had the same damage and was rejected by the same insurance company as they filed a claim around 6 months later.

Thanks for that info. We haven't had a claim with State Farm. I will be shopping around. We have been in this house for 10 years, the rate went from roughly $500 per yr when we first bought the home to now about $1100. I do understand how unpredictable the Ga. Weather can be but...

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by oldhousegirl

Thanks for that info. We haven't had a claim with State Farm. I will be shopping around. We have been in this house for 10 years, the rate went from roughly $500 per yr when we first bought the home to now about $1100. I do understand how unpredictable the Ga. Weather can be but...

You can contact an independent insurance agency who will do the shopping for you. Bundling is almost always a good idea. Here are the folks we used for about a decade in Sandy Springs...excellent!
Auto Insurance Atlanta GA | Roswell GA Home Insurance | Alpharetta GA Business Insurance | Atlanta GA Commercial Auto Insurance | Roswell GA Life Insurance | Alpharetta GA Insurance Quotes | King and Brim Inc - Home

Out in Texas, the deductible is 1% of the value of the home. Not much fun paying $4500 for our new roof a few years ago...but compared to the total cost(over $25K !!!), we came out alright.

We shop every couple of years(many carriers use lower rates to draw new customers). We saved $1100 on our combined HO, auto and umbrella policies! Just with an email. Our new carrier is (another) highly rated century-old company, so I think we are in good shape!

Miss that pine pollen!

[kamarsh1]

I just found out that State Farm raised my homeowner's deductible from $2000 to $10,000! We have NEVER filed a homeowner's claim. They just changed it to the percentage, and for some reason they chose ours to be 3%. That's $10,000! From $2000. Unbelievable!!

[rselah25]

Time for a new insurer. Im using Allstate and have had no issues - actually pleasant experiences with them