The Expert Podcast

Here's another article about insurance rates, this time out of Arizona, where their insurance rates for homeowners policies are going through the roof. As in a lot of places in the country, this is an area that doesn't have hurricanes or a lot of wildfires. It's just going up. You're seeing this with homeowners with automotive, any kind of personalized insurance. You're seeing rates go through the roof.

There are some things you can do to try to keep the rate increases from really destroying your budget. You'll see that on our website. You can also book an appointment with a consultant if you want to get some ideas about this. But basically, a few options you have for many people are, first of all, to raise your deductibles. If you can afford a two, three, or $4,000 insurance claim, go ahead and raise your deductible from $500 up to a couple thousand. Make sure you're financially able to absorb that kind of loss.

Also, you may want to add on an umbrella policy. You can add more coverage on the top end of your coverage. To where you maybe on your auto you have 100 200,000 limits maybe on your homeowners, you know you have your homeowner property value plus maybe 500,000 in coverage. You may be able to go up to a million for just a couple hundred dollars a year. You can add that coverage, raise your deductible, and still be in a better financial position. That way, for a catastrophic claim, you're in good shape. But for the little nickel and dime claims that really insurance companies don't like anyway, you raise up your self-insurance risk, lower your premiums, have less of an expense, but still be financially sound if something very terrible happens, which obviously is what insurance is for.

You also want to make sure you don't have overlapping coverage on more than one policy that you can get rid of. You want to look at some cheap coverages; for example, service line and utility line coverage are very inexpensive. If you have underground utilities, sewers, or water, if that line breaks between the road and your house, that can cost thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars. Your normal insurance doesn't cover it, but there are some add-on policies you can get for very cheap, sometimes less than $100 a year, that will cover that. So be aware of these coverages. Look into what availability you have for changing your premiums by altering coverages to match your financial situation so you don't have too much coverage in some areas and too little in others.