Yes, I realize that we live on the Gulf Coast and that our area has been hit with two hurricanes in 3 years. But…we have never filed a claim. Never.

Looking through our old insurance renewals, I noticed a trend:

2005 – $1,430
2006 – $1,528 (6.9% increase and this was a year after Hurricane Rita)
2007 – $1,655 (8.3% increase)
2008 – $1,725 (4.2% increase)
2009 – $2,072 (20.1% increase!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

And, that premium includes a couple of discounts. Now, along with those increases there were increases in the limits of liability, which is $228,000 for our home. We also have a 2% deductible for our dwelling.

It also didn’t help that we had the mold fiasco of the early part of this decade. People were getting their entire homes gutted and re-done and their insurance companies were footing the bill. Talk about a scam!

I put in a call to our insurance agent to see if some adjusting can be done. I’m not optimistic.

How much are you paying for homeowner’s insurance? What does it cover? What is your deductible?

My first, quick-tempered reaction was, “What the hell do I have insurance for?” I realize that’s an immature response but consider this:

I remember putting on an entire roof with architectural shingles just a few years ago for $200 less than that deductible! I’m sure that roofing materials have gone up in price since then but I’m not sure how much.

This is what stinks about insurance. We have been in our house 8 years, NEVER filed a claim, and yet our rates keep going up. Of course it doesn’t help that we live in an area that was hit particularly hard by the mold BS that happened several years ago. It also doesn’t help that we suffered a hurricane in 2005. Still, these rates seem a bit extreme especially when you consider the fact that our premium was around $850 per year not too many years ago.

My insurance agent is working on getting the limits of liability reduced, which should drop our premium and deductibles some (the deductible is a percentage of the limits of liability). I’ll let you know what the final premium is as soon as I find out.

UPDATE: I guess it could always be worse.