pro tip: I would urge you to look carefully at your insurance policy rates

Apr 25, 2025, 2:19 PM

my home and car insurance are up for renewal next month and they both went up pretty substantially for no good reason (meaning no wrecks, tickets, claims, etc). No changes at all in my living situation.

I knew my home ins would be going up because home value has skyrocketed, Helene catastrophe, etc. so was prepared for that hit (went up $300). I'm a fair man, replacement value has almost doubled the past few years, and it was reflected in the policy, so OK. But was NOT expecting auto to bump up that much also with same car, which is obviously NOT increasing in value.

Went to my local agent this morning (dad taught me to always deal with a local ins. agent, they can do tricks you can't do yourself) to see what they could do. They agreed that Helene + wildfires have had an insane effect on rate changes this year.

They did a deep lookaround and found me a new auto policy that instead of going UP $300, went DOWN $400. With better coverage. Instead of $1225, it's $510/yr. Crazy.

Kept home policy because agent said the assessors have gone nuts now when you change policies, they do intense home visits and assess unfair conditions before they will agree to insure (like make you clear trees and other "hazards" on your property). And the "package" deal discount (home+auto) is more a a ruse than anything, they don't both have to be same company.

Feeling like I conquered the world right now.

So don't just "pay the man", take some time to investigate this. Made a huge difference for me.