[Villages Kahuna]

...particularly if you use The Villages Insurance Agency as your agent. Being owned by TV, they have your plans and sales contract right on their computer. So they take the value of your house, not including land or lot premium, talk to you about your desired deductibles, and calculate a premium.

Where it gets dicey is the second and subsequent years. If you sign up for "replacement cost insurance", the insurer will increase the insured value by a fixed percentage each year. The percentage increase is supposed to represent the increase in construction costs from year-to-year. In my case the insurance company applied an 8% inflator. Someone above said Travelers jacked their replacement costs by 10%. I couldn't imagine that construction costs in TV, or anywhere else in the U.S., have increased by that amount in the last year.

When I got my renewal bill, the combination of increased replacement value and premium increase resulted in a renewal premium increase of about 22%. So before sending a check, I did a little shopping around. Much to my surprise, the same insurance company quoted a much lower rate on my house--not too much more than what I paid in year one for the same coverages--thru a different agent. I answered all the questions regarding size and construction and while the premium was a bit higher than my first year, it was no where near 22%.

When I pointed out my findings to my agent at TV Insurance Agency, she spent several hours jumping thru hoops to get the rate I had been quoted from my insurance company. In the process she found there had been coverage exclusions for wind damage to bird cages that had been made by the insurer. At the end of the day, the agent at The Villages Insurance Agency got me the same coverages as I had last year, plus coverage for wind damage to our bird cage, for only a little more than the premium I paid last year.

I can't be more complimentary of the agent from The Villages Insurance Agency. But when you get your renewal bill for next year's premium, don't just assume that it has to be paid without doing a little research. There's some real money to be saved--particularly if you have an agent willing to go a little bit out of the way in your behalf.