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I had a $500 deductible because I had had a policy with them for probably 20 years without claims. They were cool with it until I had a small kitchen fire. It was about a $5000 claim.
They jacked my insurance rates up for the next 3 years plus made me put my deductible at 2%. Since it was replacement cost, it was $2000+ for a house that wouldn't sell for $130,000.
The surcharge went away, but the replacement cost kept inching up, which made my deductible go higher. We are 72 and 62. As I told my agent, I could see a day when, on a fixed income, I couldn't pay 2% of my not-very-expensive house's replacement costs.
He took it back down to $2000. It was slightly more than the 2% of replacement costs. It is a number I can keep set aside to handle.
My experience, by the way, is with Alfa. I've been with them more than 40 years.
Years ago I switched from Allstate to Safeco (this is Northern California). Basically Allstate went from 550/year to 1100/year over 5 years with a $500 deductible (no claims ever). I changed the deductible to $1000 to get back to about $800/year and then priced Safeco out at 550/year with the $500 deductible. We had been with Allstate for years - they simply said they were raising rates to pay for lower investment income...They lost our cars, umbrella and house to Safeco. 10 years later we are at 650/year w/$500 deductible (replacement value with code upgrades, etc). God only knows what Allstate would be charging.
Years ago a windstorm ripped a bunch of shingles off my roof. I bought some shingles and hired a coworker's brother to fix it. Total cost for me was about $550. No hassles with adjusters, who were in high demand after that storm, and my name didn't go in that big database insurance companies maintain for claims paid out. I consider homeowner insurance as protection for a catastrophic loss. Little stuff I'll handle out of pocket.
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