Help with Home Insurance...

My suggestion is to call around. Call at least 5 or 6 different companies. Premiums can vary widely for the same coverage.
I have had auto and homeowners insurance for about 35 years. I changed to Allstate and saved considerably. My son was recently a victim of road rage and was ran off of the road. His car was totaled. Allstate was right on it and it took 9 days to pay off the loan on his car that was totaled and send him the difference. I could not be happier with Allstate.
I had to fight with Progressive last summer for my mother in law whose pipe under her sink leaked and ruined her flooring and cabinets. It took 4 months of fighting everyday but they did finally settle. It was a real pain to fight for though. She had the policy 30 years and never had a claim. She is 78 and I think the company assumed that she would just give up --- but I didn't.
It is usual for 1 year pre paid homeowners insurance when purchasing a home. I used to be a mortgage loan officer and this is normal practice.
Remember that at closing, as long as you have the 1 year pre paid, you can always change companies after closing. It is just easier to find a company with premiums that you are comfortable with before closing.
Make sure that you have your homeowners premium included with your mortgage payment. It is so much easier that way.
Also, when comparing insurance premiums --- remember to compare the coverages with each companies. Sometimes it is worth paying a little more to get the extra coverage. You only have to insure the home for the amount of the loan. Most companies will want to insure you home for the replacement value but you just need to pay off the loan should something happen.
Hope this helps and congratulations on your new home.
chollows

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Get a great mortgage person who can work with you and provide recommendations. Ask around...there are thousands. Find someone you like, and have them explain all the ins and outs of the business. My first house buying experience was crazy...my mortgage guy was amazingly patient and pretty much held my hand and explained what was necessary and not, what to look for, what to focus on or not. Ask people you trust to find you someone to help! There are some very knowledgeable amazingly helpful people...but you have to ask. If you were in the Minnesota/Minneapolis area I would hook you up with my guy (who I now consider a friend).

My only advice is to ask people who have purchased a few times if possible...and find someone who has been doing this for a while. The market has changed drastically, and you are better off with someone who has some experience in the market when it has been up and down.

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My suggestion, as an insurance agent, would be to call around to a few different agencies in your area. I recommend Independent Insurance Agencies which can quote many different companies and give you their best rate.

I live in IA so I am not sure which companies currently are doing the best there in OH. Rates differ with each company so the best bet is just to get a few different quotes to do comparisions with.

The mortgage companies will always ask for a full year down if you are going to escrow your insurance and taxes. That amount is usually included in your closing.

Congrats on the purchase of your first house!! Such a stressful but exciting time! If you have any further questions, feel free to send me a message. Hang in there, it can be a lot of paper work but it will be worth it in the end when you have that place you call your own!! :) Best of luck to you! :)

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Go with a company that does ALL the insurance, auto, home, life....AAA has been good for us. Many years algo I had Farmer's and they were good too. The reason I decided on AAA is they have the best price....even better if you have it automatically deducted each month. I did not like The Hartford AT ALL, the number they put on their invoices for customer service, was not the customer service number, so it was very difficult to get in touch with the company for ANYTHING....even just a question. I can't imagine a claim.

Blessings....

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We have had our homeowners and our car insurance with Ameriprise since 1994 when they were IDS, and have been very happy with them. They have saved us so much money. Every so often I check out prices with other companies, but they have the best price every time. There is no agent, you deal direct with the company which has never been a problem for us with the couple of claims we have had over the years. Call 866-363-5535 if you want to check them out.

$76 for the HI seems a lot to me. We pay $42 a month for 5 months, then the 6th month there is no payment, then we repeat so we only pay 10 months out of the year. Not knowing what make of car, I can't say what kind of deal they're offering. You definitely want to shop around and also have both car & HI with the same company to save money.

I hope this helps.

S.

1 mom found this helpful

It depends on your area, where you live and your mortgage company.

We do not do escrow accounts because we prefer to earn interest ourselves on property taxes appx $12,000/yr and insurances. We are big into financial planning personally and don't have an issue with managing that ourselves. We know each Dec the taxes are due and each Feb the house insurance is due.

We are in a northern burb of Dallas. We use Farmers for all of our insurance. This way, we get a discount. We pay $2500/year for our house and we pay in full 12 months. We carry a high deductible because of course we do not want to use the insurance unless it is absolutely necessary. That $2500 includes a rider for my jewelry around $1000.

As for cars, it is renewable every 6 months. If we pay in full $1900/6 months we save $250. We also carry a maximum deductible on the cars. That is worth it to us. Our car insurance is higher because we have 3 high end luxury Mercedes plus a 16 yr old driver. Before our daughter was on the policy, we had 2 cars and it was $900/6 months with the discount.

Make sure to talk to your agent and get enough coverage. Many people try to save a buck here and there and they are not properly covered and don't know that until they need the insurance.

Congratulations on your new home! You'll get through it. Just think clearly and make sure you research carefully.

1 mom found this helpful

Yes, 1 yr down is standard, especially if you do not do a 20% down on the home. How much is your home if it is over 200,000 then 76 a month seem reasonable, we really need to know how much the home is in order to know if it is reasonable. Call around if you want to know in your area, We bundle and safe a lot that way. I think paying a year in advance on HO is a very smart thing cause missing a payment could cost a lot of money so why not pay ahead.

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I had to put a year down at closing too and now it is paid yearly from my escrow acct and the mortgage company takes care if it. $ 76 a month sounds fair, but not sure of what the norm is for your area, your home's size or the amount you are covered for to really give you an opinion...Best thing to do would be to call around to a few more companies to get an idea and talk to some neighbors, your realtor, and your mortgage broker who have all worked with this information before.....Good luck! We bought our 1st home 2 years ago and it was the best feeling! Enjoy!

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Yes. A year at closing is standard. You can roll your home owners insurance into an escrow payment, as well as your property taxes. It does raise your monthly outlay in mortgage payment, HOWEVER, it also saves you from having to remember to pay either of those yourself. The bank which holds the escrow account makes the payments for you... so they are always on time.

Since the first year is required up front, you can set it up so the payment is escrowed after that first year. It would be a good idea to include the insurance payment in the escrow even for the first year so there isn't a deficit in the account.

As others have said, without knowing the price of the home it is tough to say if $76 is reasonable. But, in general it does sound very reasonable. It's hard for me to compare auto insurances here in OH... I'm still getting used to the reduced rates down here. I used to live in MI where auto insurance is very high because it's a "no-fault" state.

Most companies offer discounts for multiple policies. So, if you get home owners and auto from the same company it will be cheaper then getting home from one and auto from another. And independent agent who utilizes several different insurance companies is a good way to go. You will most often get the lowest rate that way... just make sure you look at what coverage they are offering and be sure you are comfortable with the deductibles and all of that.

Congrats on your new home! BTW.... your Real Estate agent should be able to answer many questions for you regarding process etc.....

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I think the quote is way too high. But it does depend on the neighborhood, how far your house is from a fire hydrant and the fire department, etc...

I pay $130 a month for a house that is insured for $250,000 replacement AND comprehensive car coverage on TWO vehicles.

As far as closing cost, YES, if you are carrying a mortgage, it is required that you pay the full year at closing. It gives the bank piece of mind knowing it is insured.

call an insurance agent.

We have all of our insurance through USAA - so it's all covered. a portion of our mortgage payment is set aside each month and put in an escrow account and paid by them!!

good luck!

hmmm, everyone else seems to think it's okay, but I have two separate companies for car and home, I pay 50 ish a month for home insurance, on a home that I paid 89,000 for and then have two cars, one with full coverage, an 06 mountaineer and one with just liability and that as well is only about 50 a month.

Call around, compare the amount of coverage, as well as the deductible with the cost and find what works best for you.

My agent found the best prices for very comfortable coverage a couple years back, and we pay $69 in home and $93 in auto, which I feel is good for the amount of coverage we have and the fact that we've never had any claims to file on either policies and our driving records are clear. However - without knowing what coverages you have, it is hard to tell if you have a good quote. It may be best if you went to an agent and got quotes from various carriers for the coverages you need (or, for example, progressive.com gives you quotes for it and other carriers). What is more important is making sure your coverage is adequate in the event of any losses. Good luck, and congratulations on your new home.

We currently have Erie (purchased through a local rep under a different name) and we pay less than that. Every other company who quoted us, including Progressive, Allstate, etc. was twice as much or more. Erie also gave us more options, like paying about $10 more a year for an option where we would get brand new appliances if they were damaged, instead of the approximate value of our current used ones. We've had them for about 5 years now and we're very happy with the service!

Also we didn't have to pay a year's worth at our closing, but the insurance is taken out and paid through the bank as part of our mortgage. I don't know if it's any cheaper but it's much easier up front.