r/HomeInsurance

I own a 2/2 condo. My current policy is getting jacked up by $100 a year at renewal so I’m shopping around. Got a letter in the mail from Allstate claiming a decent estimate so I called.

Got told they don’t insure dwelling older than 11 years old without bundling a car insurance. Absolutely insane.

I don’t have much hope for shopping around. May try to raise my deductible and hope for the best.

Any advice would be appreciated.

I have an older home in Kansas that has damage to the vinyl siding on one end. The vinyl siding is encapsulating older shingles, was done before I bought the house. For various reasons repairing it hasn’t been an option, so I keep it protected with plastic tarps. My current insurance is killing me with the latest increases, but when I shop online for quotes there is always the question of existing damage that comes up. If I work with a local agent or broker can I get a policy that excludes damage on that end of the house? Or doesn’t cover the siding? I’m mainly interested in the coverage for liability and major fire or roof, etc. I don’t expect to be in the home much longer. Thanks in advance.

My insurance company dropped me. Stating that we (husband and I) had not completed remodels to the house… yet they never said what they wanted completed other than a few rooms.
I asked them repeatedly what they wanted done with no answer as to what. They also said that the heat source was not acceptable, first time I ever heard of this was after they cancelled the policy and started calling to get answers.
The way the whole thing was handled was ridiculous but now.. I have hounded them again and again what they want and they repeat “heat source” and “remodels complete” with no detail for what they will consider acceptable!
My home is a fixer upper, which they were well aware of when they agreed to insure us. They said we would have lots of time to complete it and that they would continue to insure us as long as we completed the rooms they specified.
The only other company that will insure us is $3000 more a year, which also increased our car insurance $100 a month in order to get the discount (or else it would’ve been $6000!)
With the cost of gas, the cost of these new insurances, I fear we are going to go into foreclosure. Our monthly bills just went up $800 and I’ve reached a dead end with the cheaper insurance company for what they want to re-insure us.
I don’t know what to do and insurance won’t give me answers. I can guess they want the bathrooms complete but idk what complete to them is?
I know in need a heat source that’s controlled by a thermostat but would a Mr.cool type unit be enough? What size? What’s considered necessary rooms for heating?

Had a house fire claim. Home has been repaired. Checks have been issued by home insurance and mortgage company. All vendors have been paid. 

I want to sell this house and have a few questions: 

1. I imagine we will be replacing personal property for a while. If I move, what happens with me recovering depreciation? My adjuster has not given me a deadline and my policy doesn't name a timeline. 

2. What happens if my insurance provider decides to not renew my policy or if we switch carriers? What happens with the depreciation?

 

I’m currently in the middle of a homeowners insurance claim in Indiana for a dishwasher leak that damaged my hardwood floors. We are about to start the reconstruction phase, which involves sanding and refinishing roughly 1,200 square feet of hardwoods and replacing kitchen cabinets.

The reconstruction estimate covers the flooring and cabinet work, but there is no mention of content manipulation or furniture moving. My main floor is currently full of furniture, and since we’re refinishing such a large area, there is nowhere to "shift" things to while the floors are wet and curing.

Has anyone had luck getting their insurance company to pay for:

* Professional movers to clear the work area?

* On-site storage (like a POD) or off-site warehouse storage while the floors are being sanded and finished?

I want to make sure I’m not stuck paying for a moving crew out of pocket just to get the house ready for the floor contractors.

I lost my home in a wildfire like many others. After debris clean up there was many burnt large pine trees on my property that make it unsafe to build or even be on the property . My insurance told me that the debris cleanup which is 10% of the dwelling coverage would not cover the removal of these trees. Even though there's $23,000 of the 10% not being used. Any advice or thoughts that anyone may have on this would be very helpful.I know this is an old post but maybe somebody will read this and be able to give me their advice.

I have spent hundreds of hours cutting trees down and removing them myself in order to restore the property to a condition that it could be built on again. I would like to bill my insurance for my time but they have told me they will not cover the tree removal even though the trees had to be removed to restore the property to a condition that it could be built on and safe.Does anyone know if this is true. Any advice would be greatly appreciated thank you

Most hurricane prep articles cover the obvious (water, batteries, evacuation route). Important, but from a claims standpoint what actually determines whether your claim pays smoothly is documentation and coverage decisions you make before the storm. Here's the version I give my own clients.

1. Understand the wind vs flood problem. This is the biggest one.

A huge number of Florida hurricane claims get denied or paid less than expected because the damage is determined to be flood, not wind. Standard homeowners covers wind. It does not cover flood, including storm surge. If water entered from the ground up, that's flood. If water entered through a hole the wind put in your roof, that's typically wind. Adjusters make the call after the storm based on physical evidence, and it's where most disputes happen.

Two things to do now:

If you don't have flood insurance, get a quote. NFIP has a 30-day waiting period on most new policies, so you can't wait until a storm is in the Gulf. Some private flood policies have shorter waits, but read the fine print.

About 25% of flood claims come from properties outside high-risk zones. "I'm not in a flood zone" is not a reason to skip it.

2. Pull your declarations page and read it.

Specifically check: hurricane (or named-storm) deductible, all-other-perils deductible, dwelling limit (Coverage A), and sublimits for screened enclosures, pools, fences, or detached structures. A 5% hurricane deductible on a $400k home is $20,000 out of pocket before the policy responds. Know the number.

3. Photo and video inventory before the season.

Walk every room with your phone, open closets and cabinets, capture serial numbers on appliances. Save it to cloud storage. The single most useful claims document most people don't have.

4. Wind mitigation report.

A current report can lower your premium and helps at claim time. Most are good for 5 years.

5. Contractor list.

Save names and numbers for two or three local roofers and water-mitigation companies. Post-storm demand spikes immediately and your internet connection may be very poor.

6. Renters: get a renters policy.

Your landlord's insurance covers the building, not your stuff. Renters insurance in Florida is cheap and includes additional living expense if you have to evacuate.

What's the biggest thing you wish you'd done differently before the storm? I called a local roofer the morning hurricane Helene when my home had substantial damage to my roof. This got me ahead of the long list of people needing a roof replacement and kept me from going with an out of town roofer/storm chaser.

I’ve asked people for recommendations and I’ve googled a bunch of different companies. I’ve given out my info and have been bombarded with calls and e-mails. I have no idea what to do next.

I’m 36 and grew up in foster care so I have no family to ask about things like this. And the way I’m being harassed about quotes I am very worried about being taken advantage of by these insurance companies.

I have no idea what half the words they are using mean and I don’t even know what questions to ask them or what to look out for.

I’m in Ventura County, CA and any guidance would be much appreciated!

I have my renewal approaching at the end of June. I was anticipating a 10-15% increase or whatever. I have a smaller home in a non violent weather area, the rates are around $100/mo. Last year I paid ~$1300, was expecting like $1500 this year.

My rate went to $1200 on my renewal notice, all the coverages went up marginally like normal. Idk if it is the same in other states, but in NC you have to approve any rate that is above the rate allowed by the state, it is always above the state allowable whenever I go shopping, so I don't get it, but whatever. The approved rate last year was $1100, so I was charged $200 over. This year it is around $1200, so I'm actually being charged $30 over when I do the real math.

Anyone experience this? I mean, I'm not going to ask Travelers about it, but just completely unexpected. Anything I should look at in my documents to make sure they aren't screwing me somehow? From what I can see, the covered amount is just as good or better. Is it maybe that the cost of replacement has gone up way more and now my actual coverage is lower than it should be and thus the lower price? Just trying to make sure I'm not getting screwed somehow.

Last week a huge live tree branch fell off a tree in my backyard and damaged my fence and pergola.

The branch didn't fall because of any peril or wind/hail event. It was random and unexpected.

I need to have the tree branch removed and repair the fence/pergola. I've received some quotes that are about $5500 to get the repairs done.

My insurance deductible is $2500.

Every arborist who came out to assess the limb told me that the tree should be removed altogether because it's a Water Oak at the end of life (70-80yrs old) and it would mitigate anymore damage being done.

To have the tree removed would be $6000

When I called to start the claim, I gave all the information to the desk agent and told her what the arborists said. She very quickly and adamantly said the insurance would NOT cover the removal of the tree because that is considered preventative maintenance that I should've been doing.

Well, I'm not an arborist and the tree is still producing all green leaves. It didn't look distressed to me. I have had branches trimmed here and there. The worst thing that has happened with this tree in the past is some older dead branches falling off.

Should I proceed with the claim and see if the field adjuster sees it any different than the desk agent? If I do proceed with the claim, do I have an argument here to have the tree removal covered?

Appreciate any insight y'all have!

EDIT: thanks y'all. I accept I'm stupid and fucked up this time. Got bad advice from my insurance agent to even try against my better judgment. Lesson learned. And yes, I'm having the tree removed regardless (and shopping for a new agent), so no issue there at least when it comes to renewal lol

insurance costs had been getting too high for the budget the last couple years. premiums kept rising even with a house two cars and a family plus a clean driving record. it reached almost 6000 dollars a year and it seemed like too much for the coverage we actually had.

had barger & associates do a complete policy review after we bought the house and welcomed our first child last year. they compared options from different carriers restructured the bundle to remove overlaps and spotted a couple coverage gaps we never noticed before. this gave us stronger home and auto protection while dropping the yearly cost from 5800 down to roughly 3000 dollars.

a good review like that makes a real difference compared to just renewing every year. how often do people shop around for insurance like this?

thanks

California is seeking millions of dollars in penalties from State Farm after an investigation found the insurance company was slow to investigate and underpaid claims from the 2025 Los Angeles-area wildfires, regulators announced Monday.

State Farm violated the law hundreds of times in a sampling of 220 cases, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said. The maximum penalty amount allowed by law would be around $4 million if State Farm is found to be “willful” in violating state law. Regulators may also temporarily suspend the company’s license, effectively prohibiting the state’s largest home insurer from writing new policies for a year in California.

Two California home insurance providers, Travelers Insurance and the Interinsurance Exchange of the Automobile Club, are seeking to hike rates 7% and 11%, respectively, under a new catastrophic modeling plan adopted by the state in 2025.

Developed in 2023 and offered to insurance providers last year, the rate program was created by the Department of Insurance Commissioner at a time when providers were fleeing the state over rising wildfire risks. In exchange for writing residential policies for at-risk properties equal to at least 85% of their market share, providers can adopt the catastrophic model, which includes forward-looking risk factors and reinsurance costs when justifying rate increases.

Some of the steepest increases over the past five years have hit inland and Sun Belt states like Arizona, Texas and parts of the Midwest.

Arizona experienced the highest increase in homeowners insurance cost in the country, with premiums jumping by 94 percent between 2021 and 2025. Idaho followed with an 88 percent hike, and third came Iowa and South Dakota with 83 percent each.

So my roof took a beating from the hail here in Melbourne, FL last week and I have no clue how to handle the insurance people. They keep lowballing me. A friend told me to check out American Masters Roofing & Restoration because they dealt with the adjusters for him. Has anyone worked with them before?? Or should I just keep fighting the insurance company myself? I just don't want to get scammed by some random storm chaser.