Homeowners Insurance Deductible of $10,000?

[quelinda]

Is there any reason NOT to increase our homeowners insurance deductible to $10,000? It lowers our premium quite a bit, and the only reason we would file a claim is if there was some kind of huge expense (not for anything small).

The insurance agents and brokers I'm getting quotes from are, of course, confused and alarmed that I would request a quote with that high of a deductible. Am I missing something?

[seattlecyclone]

Seems reasonable to me. You should generally only buy insurance to cover events that would create a severe financial hardship. If damage to your house up to $10,000 would be something that you could cover out of pocket without setting back your financial plans very much, don't buy insurance for it!

[Rocketman]

We factored in the payback rate with the difference- something to consider. How many months/years to cover the deductible.

[ZMonet]

We have our insurance deductible at $10,000.  I think it makes sense as there really isn't a reason to make a claim on anything less unless you need the money.  I've never filed a claim (knock on wood) and never had a situation where I would have had the deductible been much lower.

[Mrs. PoP]

Ours is almost that high.  The decrease in the premium had about a 5 year (maybe 7?) payback IIRC.  We do not expect damage on that level to occur more often than the payback, and we also have no qualms about covering smaller amounts out of pocket. 

Double check with your mortgage company if you still have one, though.  Ours had an upper limit on how high our deductible could be, so that was an additional factor we had to consider. 

[katsiki]

I would.

My insurer won't go that high.  Wish they would..

[ysette9]

I did and increased my coverage at the same time. I think our umbrella is at $2m and I can’t remember how much the homeowners is (million?)  but increasing the deductible like that effectively have me the extra coverage on the high end for nothing more. Like you said, we have it for catastrophic events, not for little things that we can cover ourselves.

[Mezzie]

I'd have to check to be sure, but I think that's our deductable amount. An emergency account is nice when it helps you get low premiums. :)