Every April, it's the same old song.
I call it The Home Insurer's Blues, and I hear it when I telephone the insurance company covering our house to question the year's annual premium increase.
You probably know yourself how this tune goes: Bad weather and rising costs cut into our profits. So we're charging you more, from your foundation to your soffits .
Inflation has averaged just under 2 per cent over the past five years, but the average annual increase in our home insurance bill was 10.2 per cent. I live in a four-bedroom home in the suburbs of Ottawa with my wife, two boys, a dog and cat. We think it's a pretty nice house, but the Taj Mahal it's not.
The problem isn't just that my insurer is raising its rates. It's that all companies are doing it to one extent or another, and it's near impossible to find a better deal.
That was my experience when I used a couple of online home insurance quote websites. In each case, the quotes were higher than what I'm paying now. At least I think they were. Home insurance policies differ so widely from company to company that it's almost impossible to know if you're making apt comparisons.
So it was back to my insurer to see if anything could be done to lower my premiums.
“Let me check for any discounts that might not have been applied,” the sales rep said. It turns out that, no, my insurer has not been holding out on me. It's such a relief to know that the bloated renewal rate I've been quoted is their very best offer.
Ready to Cut Coverage Instead?
The next avenue for rate cutting is to take a lower level of coverage. With the gold package instead of platinum, we get two-thirds less coverage for jewellery and savings of $68. I'm sure there are other aspects of the coverage that are less generous, but never mind because we're soon onto the next option – raising the deductible.
