Home owners insurance (Raleigh, Cary, Welcome: wood floors, sales, credit)

[Packer Fan]

Our normal provider of insurance for home and car just gave us a quote for the Raleigh area. After we picked ourselves up from the ground from the outrageous price we received, we realized that we need to look elsewhere.

Anyone have a good suggestion of a companmy that offeres decent service at a decent price?

THANKS!!

[bta]

Originally Posted by Packer Fan

Our normal provider of insurance for home and car just gave us a quote for the Raleigh area. After we picked ourselves up from the ground from the outrageous price we received, we realized that we need to look elsewhere.

Anyone have a good suggestion of a companmy that offeres decent service at a decent price?

THANKS!!

My wife and I are moving to Cary. Here's how the insurance quotes turned out for us:

Homeowners (least to most expensive)
Nationwide
Geico
State Farm
Allstate


Auto (least to most expensive)
Geico
Allstate
State Farm
Nationwide

So I'm going with a mixed approach. Nationwide for homeowners and Geico for car insurance. Also getting an umbrella policy with Geico.

[raccemup]

I use state farm for homeowners because they don't have breed restictions (I have a pit bull) and I use geico for my car insurance. My homeowners insurance is $35 a month on a 150K house. Our car insurance on two 4-door sedans is about $1300 per year for both.

[VickiR]

Believe it or not...I just sold a first time homebuyer a home. We were told by the sales agent that in the covenants (which no one reads) that they have a restriction against pit bulls. You are not allowed to own one in this particular neighborhood. First time I heard of this so beware and check your covenants. Perhaps its due to the fact that our lots are getting smaller and there is a liability attached to those type of pets?

On the homeowner's insurance...I always tell my clients to check at least 3 places. I give them an estimate of what it should cost, based on other clients, and then they can make the calls and not get overcharged.

Vicki

[steve54]

we just renewed our home/car insurance home $308K rebuild /contents $215K (I wish) = $540 2 x 2004 cars was $640 (combo deal)
Eirie insurance via Edwards Insurance Group

[raccemup]

That is so ridiculous but it happens thanks to irresponsible dog owners who get the rest of us punished. I read the covenants before I would even put an offer on the house as most people should. There could also be a limit on the number of dogs you have or any myriad of ridiculous stuff most people wouldn't even think of. Heck, anywhere in the town of Cary you can't even own more than 2 dogs regardless of the breed.

[bta]

Originally Posted by raccemup

...Heck, anywhere in the town of Cary you can't even own more than 2 dogs regardless of the breed.

Actually, see below regarding dogs. MikeJaquish already cleared this up in another post.

Originally Posted by MikeJaquish

JUST THE FACTS!
I just called Cary Animal Control, as conjecture drives me nuts.
There are no dog or cat limits in Cary.
Limits on dogs were dropped a few years ago, as the ordinance was considered unconstitutional.

YOU'RE WELCOME!

[NCMommy2-4]

We paid about $500 something annually for Home Owners and we use Progressive for Car Insurance and to be honest.. they totally beat Geico by about $500 on our quote.

Linda

[MaimounaKande]

Also, think about what you want from a homeowners policy.

You need to look at what type of homeowners you are getting/you want. You can get homeowners which will cover the cost of your home now. For example, let's say you take out homeowners for $350,000 b/c that is how much your home cost when you bought it this week. That policy will pay that amount if it burns to the ground and ends up costing $500,000 to replace. In other words, it is a flat amount they will pay out, no matter what the actual cost involved.

The other type you can get, which is slightly more expensive, is "replacement value" coverage. This insurance will pay out what the actual cost to replace the home is. They will typically ask a lot of specific questions about the home to understand how teh quality is. For example, if your home was built in 1929 and is a solid brick home, and you bought it for $350,000....it probably is going to cost more than that to replace it. Solid brick homes are expensive these days, and with wood floors throughout, or whatever, it could end up costing a lot more to build than what you paid for it. If it ends up costing $500K to replace it, that is what they will pay.

Also, if you have coverage for $350K now, and it burns down in 10 years, that $350K isn't going to go as far.

If your home actually does get destroyed, replacement cost ins. is probably the only way you will be able to afford rebuilding your home to the current quality. If you are looking for the cheapest price and figuring the chances of your home burning to the ground are not high enough to concern you, then a regular policy would be fine.

As someone else mentioned, an umbrella policy is always a cheap and EXCELLENT idea. It goes above and beyond policy limits for your auto and for your homeowner's liability. Another nice thing about it is that no-one knows you have it. That is to say, if you get in a car accident, and someone brings a lawyer into it and they check into your car insurance, they only know what your car ins. says you have. They do not know you have a $1-2million umbrella policy, which is good b/c if they did, they'd probably be more likely to sue you.

[MikeJaquish]

Originally Posted by bta

Actually, see below regarding dogs. MikeJaquish already cleared this up in another post.

Thanks for the credit!