Are you with an independent broker or one of the big companies? A broker can work wonders for you.

We use a broker and she has saved us thousands of dollars over the years. We also bundle home, auto, and umbrella. For the initial quote on our new home the insurance company sent an appraiser to the home to document the condition of the house and to make suggestions to make it safer. She checked for the alarm system, smoke and carbon monoxide protectors, the washing machine hoses, fire extinguisher etc.

Edited to add - if we did not pass their inspection they wouldn't insure it. This has helped to save us money on the premiums because they will only insure low risk properties.

Sometimes they look at the cost to rebuild. Perhaps building cost are rising in your area.

I used to work in this field and it used to be based on the cost to rebuild your house at the going rates and also dependent on whether your house is a standard build or a custom build. Just ask them what they're valuing your house at to rebuild it for replacement value. Tax assessment value and sale price should have nothing to do with it nor does the value of the land.

The contents valued will usually be a set percentage of the value of the house. and will often be included in the premium.

That's a huge discrepancy in how they are valuing the house so I'd be asking for the actual numbers as to how they got there and if they are using replacement cost or actual cash value.

The discounts apply to the premium not to the insured value of the house.

Are you using a broker? or have you gone to a variety of brokers. The broker should determine the value of what your house should be valued at (take pictures with you) and they will submit to the various companies to get the best deal.

Pardon me if I have misunderstood the issue.

How much would it cost to rebuild your home if it was a total loss? That’s how much coverage you need unless you’re not concerned that you’ll ever have a total loss and/or you’re willing to shoulder some of that cost if it were to occur. The kind of materials and finishes you have inside of course have a big impact on the cost of rebuilding if you want the same quality.

I also worked as a vendor and company employee in the industry.

Most homeowner claims do not involve total losses and costs to repair can be more expensive than starting over. That being said, there are companies who sell property valuation solutions and the accuracy of those vary. These services look at real estate listings, building permits and other data to determine the value of your house. There are different levels for interior trim as well. If you live in a "medium" area but you have "high" upgrades, this will not be considered unless you told your agent while they were calculating the cost to rebuild.

One of the things that's important is to reevaluate the information submitted to the app with your agent on a semi-regular basis. You've done a number of upgrades that, unless you called and told your agent about them, your current company wouldn't know. However, they do have a renewal factor they consider in the valuation of your Coverage A, otherwise known as your main home. The other coverages are a percentage of Coverage A, unless you've increased them.

But that's only part of the equation for coming up with your actual premium. Different companies can also have different rates. I know that's not what you're asking about, but I'm suggesting you look at the total picture a little differently.

You want to make sure you have enough insurance to rebuild your home (or pay off your mortgage if that's a lender requirement). Then you want to consider what's covered and what's not. This is where there can be some significant differences from one carrier to another. Then you want to compare rate relative to coverages. I would never take the low bid on coverage A just to save money.

Insurance rates are going up as we have more fires and natural disasters that cause huge losses for the industry and the cost to rebuild continues to go up as the economy and tariffs impact building materials and labor. Having known several people who endured a total loss claim, it sucks to pay the premium - but it would suck more to be under-insured.

Last month there was a knock on my door and a lady with a clip board said she was with my home owners insurance company (it was legit, I checked her paper work). She had a camera and told me she would be taking pictures of all four sides of my house, plus all four sides of the three out buildings (one of which is the old out house). And so she did. I followed her around a bit and at one point she said to me, "Your house is adorable!". ha Yeah, I suppose now my premium is going to go up.

The biggest improvement I've made in the last couple years was new paint on the house and buildings. There was a pane of glass out of the window in the barn, I have the glass just haven't got around to putting it in, and my back porch floor had a hole in it where my foot went through a rotten board! uh-oh. I had some wood over the hole. Already had talked to someone about replacing the entire floor tho. But she didn't ask any questions. Just took the photos she wanted and left.

Property inspections are super expensive, but sometimes carriers will inspect in addition to the automated solution.

In Insurance, painting your house is maintenance and not an improvement.

That hole in the porch is a big liability issue and you do need to get that fixed.

They may have been taking pictures of your house because it came up as part of a sample to check that the houses that they were insuring did in fact, exist

Our homeowners went through the roof so we switched companies...they sent an assessor out who gave an estimate of how much reconstruction would cost and they guarantee full coverage even if they underestimate. We were fine with that and they saved us a lot of money.

Another thing you want to make sure you look at is the deductible. After Hurricane Sandy, our insurance company changed their policies in our area to make the deductible 5% of the home value. In our HCOL area, that deductible would be very, very high. We looked around and found an insurer that offered a reasonable, flat rate deductible. When you are comparing quotes, there are so many things besides the premium itself to take into account.

Thanks for all of the very helpful replies. You've given me much to consider. I'm quickly learning that in shopping around, you aren't necessarily comparing apples to apples, and you really have to know what level of insurance you desire and you need to know what all of the "add-ons" that they often package together actually are. I find this all incredibly dull and tedious, but also recognize that it is of the utmost importance.

We have been with Farmers for many years, working with the same agent (not broker; I see pros and cons of using a broker). I'm old-school enough to place value on the relationship that has been established with this agent's office. It's just really nice to be able to call his office and have his long-time assistant know exactly who I am (and I know her).

After looking at a few other quotes, it appears that we will likely just stay where we are. We have excellent coverage with a company we trust, so while the premiums have risen, I do understand that there are outlying factors that are not within our control affecting these costs. We will still discuss possible ways of lowering our premium with our agent, but I have a feeling it will just mean taking away certain coverages, and I know we won't want to go there.

One way of lowering your premium is to increase your deductible. If you have a $500 deductible and don't think you would ever bother with nuisance claims and can afford it then increase it to $1000 or $1500 and see what that does premium wise.

It isn't a good idea to bother with small claims anyway as these days that will get you losing coverage with a company and then making it more difficult to get insurance. Small claims are very expensive, administratively, to settle.

Ida, I feel the same way about my insurance company. Been with them for 40yrs. and who knows how long my uncle was before me. After I bought the house I just continued with the same company he had. Plus, they are a rural family-owned company and are used to insuring older residences. In all these years I have had only several claims that they took care of, but the claims were somewhat minor, so never had to deal with serious stuff. Who knows?

I'm old-school enough to place value on the relationship that has been established with this agent's office.

Your trust is misplaced. Farmers is the one jacking up your bill, not your friendly neighborhood agent. Your premiums will continue to rise. At least talk to a good broker (get recommendations from friends and neighbors) who covers a wide group of companies and compare. It won't cost you anything, you'll learn about coverage, and who knows, you may find a new relationship with people who will know you by name.