The renewal notice arrived in May, and I found the number before I'd finished scrolling: $1,259. Last July, when we switched to Auto-Owners through our independent agent, the same policy cost $1,148. That's up $111, or 9.7 percent, with no claims filed. After last year's 18 percent jump at State Farm, 9.7 percent almost felt polite. Almost.
The new policy year started yesterday, July 1. Here's what went up, what the re-shop turned up and why we're staying put.
What went up
The biggest change was dwelling coverage, which went from $281,000 to $295,000. That's the amount the policy would pay to rebuild the house, and it gets adjusted at renewal as construction costs move. A higher limit means a higher premium, so part of our increase is simply insuring a more expensive rebuild. A 1952 Cape doesn't get cheaper to rebuild with age, it turns out. The rest, as our agent explained it, is rates rising across Michigan, which lines up with what the State Farm agent told us a year ago.
Everything else stayed where we set it last summer: the $2,500 deductible and the $10,000 water backup endorsement. The auto policy in the same bundle went from $1,968 to $2,052, which I mention only because it arrived in the same email.
We did talk about the deductible. Last year, the $1,000 version of this policy was $1,321, and we chose the $2,500 one to save the difference. February was the first real test of that choice, and it held up: the stain repair was under either deductible, so the lower one wouldn't have changed anything. We have an emergency fund that can absorb $2,500 on a bad day, and that's the condition I'd want to be true before keeping a deductible that high. For now, it is.
When I called, I also told our agent about the new garage roof and the sump pump with a battery backup and water alarm we put in this spring. Both got noted in the file. Whether either one moves a number, now or at the next renewal, I honestly don't know, and I didn't want to guess.
The re-shop
Part of why we went through an independent agent last year is that re-shopping takes one phone call. I asked in early June, and within about a week we had two comparisons on the same coverage: Frankenmuth at $1,301 and Citizens at $1,338. Both higher than renewing. The closest alternative was $42 a year more than staying.
So there was no version of this where switching saved us money. That made the decision easy, but I still wrote down why we'd stay even if the numbers had been close, because I suspect next year they will be.
Why we stayed
- Price. Staying was the cheapest option, which makes the rest of the list easy.
- How the near-claim went. In February, when we found the ice dam stain on the upstairs ceiling, I called our agent first with a hypothetical: if we filed, how would it work, and what would it mean for us? The answer was clear, and nobody pushed us either way. A drywall pro quoted $640, well under our $2,500 deductible, so we fixed it ourselves for $186 and didn't file. That phone call is what I want from an agent.
- Escrow simplicity. Our insurance is paid out of escrow. Switching last year meant State Farm refunding about $1,180 to our servicer and the servicer catching up on the new policy. It worked, but I'd rather not repeat that to save nothing.
- The water backup coverage. We added it last July for about $68 of the premium, and then upgraded the sump in March. Having both means I sleep through spring rain now.
Tessa's summary, from the couch: "So we're paying more to stay with the people who were already the cheapest." Yes. That's insurance, apparently.
None of this is a recommendation for anyone else. Coverage needs and prices vary a lot from house to house, and the person to ask is a licensed agent who can see your whole picture.
The $1,259 will show up in August, when the escrow analysis spreads it across our monthly payment. I've already made a row in the house sheet for the new number. I'm leaving it blank until the letter comes.
