Author Topic: 10k Homeowner Deductible ... what?  (Read 6380 times)

SyZ

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10k Homeowner Deductible ... what?
« on: June 30, 2016, 09:42:03 AM »
Researching some insurance options for the future, and I'm seeing things like 2k, 3k, 5k, even 10k deductibles for some home policies. Is this real? All these stats about how half the country can't afford a $200 emergency, make it to the next paycheck, are house poor, etc., but standard options for deductibles go this high?

What do most people on here have?

dandarc

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Re: 10k Homeowner Deductible ... what?
« Reply #1 on: June 30, 2016, 09:56:29 AM »
I'm at $1000 regular / 2% ($3200) hurricane.

dandarc

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Re: 10k Homeowner Deductible ... what?
« Reply #2 on: June 30, 2016, 09:57:50 AM »
And my premium's up to $1010 annually, just paid via escrow.  Time to shop again.  Thanks for the reminder.

patchyfacialhair

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Re: 10k Homeowner Deductible ... what?
« Reply #3 on: June 30, 2016, 10:06:02 AM »
It's just an option. Most people choose a flat $1,000 deductible. Some folks opt for a 1% deductible (of the estimated replacement cost).

And if you're in a high risk area, your insurance company might not offer a deductible that low. As always with insurance, shop around, and read the dang contract.

KBecks

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Re: 10k Homeowner Deductible ... what?
« Reply #4 on: June 30, 2016, 10:06:29 AM »
I have a 10k deductible because I have 10k available for emergencies.  This is called, not being average.

JoJo

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Re: 10k Homeowner Deductible ... what?
« Reply #5 on: June 30, 2016, 10:40:16 AM »
Live in an earthquake zone and pay 15% deductible!  Hope that doesn't happen... would probably be in the $30,000+ range.

GizmoTX

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Re: 10k Homeowner Deductible ... what?
« Reply #6 on: June 30, 2016, 10:43:14 AM »
I have a 10k deductible because I have 10k available for emergencies.  This is called, not being average.

So do we. You don't want to submit a home insurance claim unless it's for a lot of damage.

ditheca

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Re: 10k Homeowner Deductible ... what?
« Reply #7 on: June 30, 2016, 10:47:53 AM »
I also went with the 10k deductible.  Glad it was an option!

If I understand insurance (and I probably don't), making a claim for a $2k-5k problem will increase my premiums by far more than the momentary benefit.

Frankies Girl

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Re: 10k Homeowner Deductible ... what?
« Reply #8 on: June 30, 2016, 10:51:31 AM »
I raised ours up to $5K a while back, but I wasn't sure it was allowed to go higher. The agent seemed to be very concerned when I did that and very discouraging at the time. I probably should look into raising it up to 10K and see how that effects the cost as we can now easily afford that.


ZMonet

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Re: 10k Homeowner Deductible ... what?
« Reply #9 on: June 30, 2016, 01:00:38 PM »
Set mine at $10k and on 85% of replacement value to get lowest rate (USAA).  Insurance company grossly overestimates replacement value though.

southern granny

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Re: 10k Homeowner Deductible ... what?
« Reply #10 on: June 30, 2016, 06:51:49 PM »
we only have a 500 dollar deductible, but we have a small house so our annual premium is only 600 a year.  We had a hail storm last month with golf ball size hail, so we are getting roof and gutters replaced on house and garage.  The insurance adjuster allowed everything that the contractor wanted to replace.  The roof was at least 15 years old, so I am thrilled to pay 500 dollars for a new roof.

Choices

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Re: 10k Homeowner Deductible ... what?
« Reply #11 on: June 30, 2016, 09:58:17 PM »
I think ours is at $1000. We asked about higher deductibles but they didn't lower our premiums much at all. Paying $5-10 less per year to have a $5000 deductible didn't seem like a good risk/benefit ratio.

Slee_stack

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Re: 10k Homeowner Deductible ... what?
« Reply #12 on: July 01, 2016, 09:12:56 AM »
'Half the country' are financial morons.  Don't be like them.

onlykelsey

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Re: 10k Homeowner Deductible ... what?
« Reply #13 on: July 01, 2016, 09:23:01 AM »
I don't think it makes sense to make a claim on your homeowner's insurance until it's in the 20K range, honestly, because your rates jump so much.  So a higher deductible makes sense, as you're just going to pay 2/5/10K claims out of pocket anyway, ideally.

Rural

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Re: 10k Homeowner Deductible ... what?
« Reply #14 on: July 01, 2016, 09:58:28 AM »
Ours is at $5k because $10k wasn't available. Thanks for the reminder- we renew at the end of August, and I need to see if we can get $10k now and get the premium down. Insurance is for the catastrophic loss you can't handle yourself. We have ours for liability and on the off-chance that all the combustible parts of the house burn to ashes.

BTDretire

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Re: 10k Homeowner Deductible ... what?
« Reply #15 on: July 01, 2016, 03:26:32 PM »
I'll be checking my homeowners, but several years ago I raised my health insurance deductible
from $2,500 to $10,000. The premium dropped fron $9,900 to $4,300.
I saved $5,600 the first year.
Then Obamacare started, and I had 18%, 19% and 22% increases :-(
I've been PO'ed ever since.
 Soon as I got it figured out, the government stepped in to help, and really F'ed it up.

Metric Mouse

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Re: 10k Homeowner Deductible ... what?
« Reply #16 on: July 02, 2016, 12:49:03 AM »
I think ours is at $1000. We asked about higher deductibles but they didn't lower our premiums much at all. Paying $5-10 less per year to have a $5000 deductible didn't seem like a good risk/benefit ratio.

That's what I found. Same with my motorcycle insurance. Kinda sucked; just not worth it to have double the deductible for such a small amount of money saved in premiums. But on the flip side I could lower my emergency fund and have more to invest, I guess...

Dicey

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Re: 10k Homeowner Deductible ... what?
« Reply #17 on: July 02, 2016, 01:38:52 AM »
Hey, just chiming in with a heads up. If you're new to the homeowners insurance game, make sure you don't overinsure. That is, pay attention to the allocation of Land vs. Improvements (aka the structure). Often, agents will sell newbs a policy that matches their purchase price. Um, no. Even if the sucker burns clear to the ground, you will still have the land to rebuild on. Flooding might be different, but that's also different insurance.

Once you've had your home for a good long while, you will have to make sure you're not underinsured, but at the beginning it's the other way around.

And +1 on the warning to watch out for small claims. Those companies keep very long records and small claims can cause inflated premiums for a very long time, even if you change companies.

Metric Mouse

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Re: 10k Homeowner Deductible ... what?
« Reply #18 on: July 02, 2016, 01:42:18 AM »
Hey, just chiming in with a heads up. If you're new to the homeowners insurance game, make sure you don't overinsure. That is, pay attention to the allocation of Land vs. Improvements (aka the structure). Often, agents will sell newbs a policy that matches their purchase price. Um, no. Even if the sucker burns clear to the ground, you will still have the land to rebuild on. Flooding might be different, but that's also different insurance.

Once you've had your home for a good long while, you will have to make sure you're not underinsured, but at the beginning it's the other way around.

And +1 on the warning to watch out for small claims. Those companies keep very long records and small claims can cause inflated premiums for a very long time, even if you change companies.

Good point. I insured for price minus land and foundation replacement. If the sucker burns to the ground or blows away, the basement/foundation will probably not need to be replaced.