DIYbanter - View Single Post

KLS

On 14 Aug 2006 11:29:09 -0700, wrote:
Todd H. wrote:
writes:

Oh, the reason i was looking elsewhere was that last year i had paid
$950, this year i paid $1200. I had asked my agent why it went up and
he said the property value of my house went up this year. However, the
city appraisal for my house was like $185,300 this year as opposed to
$185,100 from last year.

Unless you have a history of a lot of claims, live somewhere
particularly subject to major disasters or high crime, etc, $1200
sounds way out of line. For a $185K house, a homeowners policy should
be less than half that.

The premium will also be affected by the age of the house, and
therefore the quality of the materials required to rebuild the house
to its "original" standards. A newer house is constructed of cheaper
materials than older 1930s houses like mine, with lots of wood trim
and plaster and lath walls. My homeowner's policy premium is $935 a
year for $319,350 replacement coverage and $1,000 deductible. The
house itself is not worth $320k in my market ($200k would be a great
price), but that's what it would cost to rebuild.