House Insurance

[IMHIP2]

Just received the annual policy renewal with regards to the house.

Sept 2006 to Sept 2007 amount including taxes was $771. This year they want $940 or a 22% increase! Something about changing the way they are valuing houses with regards to replacement cost etc. The insurance company states the value of the house if it was rebuilt to be about $150K above what I could expect to sell it on the market now. The difference is even larger if you consider the rebuild price does not include the lot as it would not be replaced as the house would just be rebuilt in the same location. Assuming the lot is probably worth about $100K on its own they seem to be assessing me about 250K over the value of the house.

Nothing has changed in our personal situation nor have we had any claims ever.

Anyone up for renewal and find the same thing? All comments welcome





For those of you fortunate enough to own

[Caz]

Does the policy also cover the replacement value of what is in the house? (ie. furniture, clothing, electronics, appliance, etc...)

I have worked in the housing insdustry of over 10 years and the cost to rebuilt is much higher then the cost to build the first time. A few of the extra costs would include the cost of removing all debris (it has to been done a specific way if there was a fire so that it doesn't contaminate the lot or surrounding areas), they also have to assess if the foundation is good to built on again (if not the cost to remove and replace the entire thing).

Have you shopped around for a better price?
Is it with the same company as you car insurance? (You will get a discount if both are with the same company.)

[IMHIP2]

Yes the policy does also cover the replacement cost of everything in the house as well as relocation and living expenses etc.

The policy puts the house replacement cost around $662K and the personal property is $463K and additional living expenses 132K based on the new policy. (all seem high to me) Previously the replacement cost was about $450K (IIRC) with the same kind of relocation and living exp etc..

The policy is with the same company as the cars so already getting that benefit along with the smoke detector and alarm reductions. Have been with this company for content insurance and then house insurance since 1991 and cars since 1989.

Have not shopped it around yet but have about 5 weeks before the renewal so just wanted to see if others are in the same boat or if the insurance co. is way out to lunch here.

Now $170 is not a huge amount of an increase per year but when you are anticipating $40 you start to wonder.

Tim

[Caz]

My renewal is up in december, so I can't be much help with regards to the policy. I will use this as a heads up for when I renew.

That said the Ontario building code changed significantly this year, some of the changes are with regards to energy saving measures and has caused an increase in contruction costs for us. If your house was to be re-built it would have to be built to these new standards thus causing the cost to replace it to go up. I know this increase in construction is much lower than what your increase in coverage is.

Any insurance people here that can help us out?