[rstebbins]

There have been a lot of posts recently about increases in insurance. Many companies have been mentioned, this post only refers to Travelers insurance (through the Villages Agency) which is the Company I have used for several years.

I got my bill recently and the total premium went up $349 or 20.6%. Not as much as other posts, but still seems like a lot. So, I decided to analyze the increase which is outlined below:

Home Insurance Increase

% increase from 21 to 22 ---------- 20.61
Increase in Dollars ---------- 349
Value Increase in Home --------- 66,500
Increase in Gov Assessment ---------57.00 or 16.3% of increase
Increase due to Value Increase ---------155.26 or 44.5% of increase
Increase due to Value and Rate ----------10.95 or 3.1% of increase
Increase due to rate increase ---------125.79 or 36.0% of increase

The home value increased by $66,500, hard to argue that the cost to rebuild the hasn’t gone up at least that much. Mandated government assessments added up to a $57 increase. Travelers has no control over those assessments. $155 of the increase was due to the increased value of the home. While some might disagree with that, I don’t think that is unfair and is really out of Travelers control. It just costs more. (Our resale prices have gone up more than that) Actual rate increases, which should be under Travelers control were 36% of the increase or $126. Lastly, 3% or $11 was due to the combined effect of the rate and value increases.

This may not be a perfect analysis of the increase, but it is what I could glean directly from the declarations page of the policy and a couple of internet checks on the government assessments.

So, while I am not pleased with the increase, at least I understand it better and may not go to the trouble of quoting my policy this year.