How much should I be paying for home owners insurance?

6 Comments

1. Quixotic says:

   November 19, 2008 at 3:38 pm

   If you aren’t in a high-risk place near the coast, I’d guess less than $500. Could be 5x that if you are in a high-risk spot.
2. mbrcatz17 says:

   November 20, 2008 at 4:49 pm

   Ya know, a “basic” homeowners insurance policy covers the house and the stuff inside it, AND your liability. But not flood. You have to buy that seperately.

   It’s based on YOUR CREDIT SCORE, and how much fire protection is in your area (called “protection class”). There is a HUGE difference in rates between a protection class 3, 6, and 9. Like, it’s really hard to get a standard policy in a protection class 9 area, and the rates are through the roof.

   It’s not based on the market value of your house – but how much it costs to REBUILD. Estimate about $150 per square foot. So, figure out your square footage, and multiply by $150.

   It ALSO matters how old the house is, and how old the wiring, plumbing, furnace and roof are. Sometimes it matters so much, an insurance company won’t write you (like if you have knob & tube wiring, or a fuse box instead of a circuit breaker box).

   So, insurance for you should be somewhere between $1,000 and $5,000 per year, depending on all those factors.

   If you want to narrow it down any more, you’ll have to call some local, independent agents, and give them the details for the above, have them run a credit check and claims history on you, and give you firm quotes.
3. Maggy G says:

   November 23, 2008 at 4:35 am

   Get a quote from the below company
4. Sue says:

   November 25, 2008 at 3:03 pm

   It depends on a lot of factors, like the ones mbrcatz said but also, if you live in a rural area, you may very well be in protection class 9 which means that you do not have a fire hydrant within 1000 ft of your house, but also if you are surrounded by areas that are the same, you should have absolutely no trouble finding insurance based on this. I am in rural New England where most towns do NOT have fire hydrants and only have volunteer fire departments and the premiums are in the $500 range (for a house of your value & maybe a little higher) (of course as long as all the other issues are OK). We don’t even have an issue with protection class 10 (no hydrant and the fire station is over 5 miles away) – unless the house is over $500,000 but under $1,000,000 – we have a market gap there. The premium is only slightly higher. Anyway, you do not want a basic policy, you want a special form policy, it just covers so much more and the premium is not much different. Contents and liability are automatically included in a homeowners policy. You don’t need to purchase all the additional endorsements if you do not want to but I would have them quoted so that you can make an informed decision about what coverage best suits your needs.
   The company will also want to know if you have any animals, if dogs, what breeds, if you have a trampoline, if you have a business on premises, if the house is in good condition and well maintained, etc. Your agent will ask you all of these things before they give you a quote.
5. efreegiftsideas says:

   November 27, 2008 at 9:58 pm

   you can compare
6. Kona Kai says:

   November 28, 2008 at 6:15 pm

   with decent credit and no claims, you should pay around 350/yr, check with nationwide insurance, great rates