By Ron Devers
CIC, CPIA, director of operations, PSI Insurance Agency
If you’ve opened your insurance bill recently, you’ve noticed it’s significantly higher and you’re not alone. Homeowners across the nation are facing higher insurance bills regardless of insurance company.
Why are home insurance bills so high? The short answer is that it’s more expensive to rebuild houses because of rising construction costs. Since 2020, the cost of construction materials has increased dramatically. Home insurance is estimated on several factors, including costs of construction materials, labor and even debris removal. With the costs of construction increasing, dwelling coverage has been increased to keep up with these costs, thus protecting homeowners from being underinsured at the time of a loss.
There is not a fixed percentage or amount of increase one can expect. Other factors affecting home insurance include:
- Where you live
- How long ago you purchased your policy
- Remodeling projects
- Large home improvement projects
- Other physical changes that may affect the value
The best thing you can do is verify the information used to calculate your dwelling amount. You will want to look at the size and construction materials used in the calculations. The best way to do this is to talk to your agent, making sure you have enough coverage. Other things you can do is keep up maintenance of your home, update your agent on any improvements to your home and look at switching insurance billing plans.
The same holds true for auto insurance, where rates seem to change constantly. Work with your agent to see how you can manage these increases. Insurance companies across the country are paying out way more claims than they budgeted for and as a result, all insurance is on the rise.
We’re here to help you understand these details. Give Ellen Rodriguez, Dave Spoelman or myself a call to see how we can assist. PSI Insurance Agency wants to be your insurance source.