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Insurance

Why are rates increasing?

By March 1, 2023October 11th, 2023No Comments

No, its not just you.  

Yes, its across the board! 

Right now we are seeing pretty significant price increases for both home and auto insurance policies.  

The reasoning behind the auto increases is lack of parts, and lack of supply. This is just another area of life where inflation is starting to kick in. Unfortunately, inflation is not going anywhere. 

 For example, we had a client got into a fender bender, about $10,000 worth of damage. Their car was not totaled, it went into the collision shop and parts were ordered. Those parts did not come in for six weeks.  

So now your car’s sitting in the lot of the collision shop, you can’t drive it. Even if you have rental coverage, thats usually for 30 days, and you would be responsible for the remaining days you need the rental. On top of that, the parts that they are getting in are increasing in price. 

When it comes to home insurance increases, right now we have an issue on what the “Coverage A” of the policy is. “Coverage A” is the building replacement cost. It is the cost of the property based on square footage and what it costs to rebuild that exact same home, today. As the price of lumber, labor etc. is increasing, so is that Coverage A to match the current build price. 

What the carriers are doing is actually increasing the replacement costs of the home itself, when taking into consideration these factors, and that increases the price of the policy. Unfortunately, we don’t see this slowing down anytime soon. 

If you are seeing the increases, please give us a call. We can certainly shop you as an independent agent and find you the best price with the best coverage. We’re not looking to reduce your coverage. What we’re looking to do is maybe reduce the overall cost based on the carrier. This is the benefit of working with an independent agent, we have a large amount of carrier we can quote you with. 

How can you save?

  1. Defensive driving course. This isn’t just for new drivers, all drivers on your policy should take this course. Once completed it can save you around 8-10% on your policy. Course has to be taken every 3 years. 
  2. Bundle your policies! By keeping your home, auto and umbrella policies all with the same carrier you could qualify for a bundle discount.
  3. Have a student on your auto policy? Most carriers offer a good student discount. By submitting transcripts if they have a “B” or better GPA you could qualify for a discount. This is for high school and college students. 
  4. Drive safe! Accidents happen, but keeping your driving record clean plays a big part in keeping your policy premiums from rising.