[Cajulian]

Just a little inside info for you. I recently turned ownership of an Allstate Agency over to my son.

Even as an owner of a major brand Insurance carrier, I incurred significant increases occasionally on my homes or vehicles. Insurance works on "the Law of large numbers". What that means is that all of their insurance products are priced based on the volume of people insured for a like product. This is to spread the cost over a large base of people to keep the product affordable and risks low to the company.

However, in any given year, an Insurance carrier may sustain major losses due to what they call catastrophes. That may be something like floods, hurricanes, tornados, wildfires, and even growing substantial fraud in many states.

This can happen anywhere in the country they do business and the price changes will be spread to all insured's even if you have a spotless claim record and many loyal years as a customer.

It is sad, but that is how The Law of Large Numbers work. There are good years and bad years. This year at Allstate, some pricing is actually going down.

It does pay sometimes to shop around. But if you have a very good agent that constantly watches out for you, sometimes it is worth it to ride out the increases.

I know this info doesn't make it feel any better when you get hit with a price increase, but Agents aren't out to screw you. When you are not happy they lose their livelihood and customers. A good agent will bend over backwards to find every discount you deserve and identify strategies and alternatives to make sure the most important things in your life are covered properly.