Why is homeowners insurance so expensive in St. Louis? (real estate market, crime)

[cntreras]

We are relocating from DC. The house we're buying in St. Louis (CWE) is HALF the price of our DC home, yet homeowners insurance is TWICE the cost in DC, using the same insurer. I suspect that a few contributing factors are earthquakes and old wiring, but our DC house is also over 100 years old, in a much higher crime area, and, as I said, cost twice as much. What gives?

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by cntreras

We are relocating from DC. The house we're buying in St. Louis (CWE) is HALF the price of our DC home, yet homeowners insurance is TWICE the cost in DC, using the same insurer. I suspect that a few contributing factors are earthquakes and old wiring, but our DC house is also over 100 years old, in a much higher crime area, and, as I said, cost twice as much. What gives?

Shop around. Rates vary tremendously.

Also, very few insure for earthquakes in St. Louis.

[CarrieNeno]

Type of wiring, plumbing, and roof in our local older homes are the main determinants. The main contributor, however, I would suspect from experience would be the replacement costs of the architectural goodies in a 100yr home. Though we have a lot of century old homes in St Louis... they don't represent the AVERAGE home requiring coverage in our city. SHould there be a fire and you lost the original brick and moldings, 12 ft plaster ceilings, original hardwoods, handcarvings, lead glass windows, tile roofs, etc... comparable replacement is difficult and EXPENSIVE in a city like ours. We have contractors who delve into these projects city wide, but they are considered somewhat specialists, are hard to find, and their materials are off the chart expensive. Hence, it shoots your premiums up a lot higher. A century old home is always a labor of love, but I can resist them either... =).

[Marksman84]

If you are in the CWE, you are in one of the wealthiest, most formidable real estate markets in the Midwest. However....you are also not terribly far from some of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the Midwest, either. I assume you're in one of the gated communities?

[whartonmba]

Year after year, I find that Amica (no local office) has the best rates.

[MAD_INS]

It is outrageous that to insure your century old home will cost you more per month then your actual mortgage payment in zip code 63112. I am very upset. How can we change this? You can not replace a century old home. We should be able to insure the home for the appraised value. Can we take this to court?