Impacts of the COVID-19 Depression on home insurance prices?

[FrugalSaver]

Would you expect these costs to go down or maybe even way down given the depression?

[CodingHare]

More people at home = more people cooking, lighting fires in their fireplaces, leaving appliances running = more risk of fire.  If anything I'd expect insurance rates to rise.  But I am not an actuary.

[Villanelle]

What would be the rationale for them going down?  The only type of claim I can think of that would go down would be accidents by a visitor in one's home.  But everything else I can think of that constitutes a typical home insurance claim is not only as likely to occur but probably more likely. People are home more so there will be more accidents at home, more causes of fires, etc.  And weather is just as likely to flood a basement. 

Also, people who are on the fence about filing a claim typically might end up being more likely to do so if money is tight.  Perhaps they have $1200 in damage and a $1000 deductible.  I'm sure some people don't file because $200 isn't worth the trouble, especially is some of that is lost over time with higher premiums.  But now, they may not have $200 today and they have more time on their hands, so they will file when they might otherwise have not done so. 

I'd love to hear other's thoughts, but that's mine.

[Eurotexan]

I just received my renewal policy for my homeowners and it went down 15%. I was surprised at first and then I thought it makes sense since unoccupied buildings are at a greater risk of property damage.

I was pleasantly surprised and hope it’s a trend for other policyholders.

[FrugalSaver]

i received same with a 25% increase.  Not making sense to me.  Shopping

[MrsCoolCat]

Thanks to your post I actually opened our renewal for 06/01 (since receiving it a few days ago), and it's exactly the same. However, when I was originally typing this my husband said it went up. I looked and it didn't. Well, at least that's clear, so thank you for making me look at it!

[Laserjet3051]

I got a home owners insurance quote before the pandemic took off. i thought i had the rate locked in but i was wrong. when i called back 3 weeks later to execute the insurance policy they said it wasnt locked in and they had to reprice it. New price came in 30% higher, NOTHING had changed. I asked why the robbery? They didnt have an answer, just said maybe its COVID.

[terran]

I would imagine burglaries would go down as well as anything else that can be prevented if you're at home to see the beginning of a problem before it becomes catastrophic.

[Plina]

It should go down for the homes that you live in due to less burglaries and probably up for second homes. There seems to have been more burglaries in second homes now that people are told not to visit them. Also as you can't go on a vacation outside of your country as the travel insurance is not applicable also those claims should go down, which hopefully leads to a lower rate.

[Paper Chaser]

Seems like there are two basic facets of insurance costs. One's associated with risk, (miles driven, physical health, swimming pools/trampolines would fall into this category for their respective insurances) and the other is based on the cost to repair/replace the item insured. Most here seem to have focused on the risk factors when a home is occupied more frequently, but I haven't seen any mention of repair/replacement costs.

I'd think that home values would drop in a true depression, as would labor/construction costs. So the  value of the item being insured would decrease and any repairs would likely be cheaper as well. If the item being insured loses value, and repairs are cheaper, rates are likely to go down. But Id also expect it to take several quarters (probably years) for home values and associated labor rates to drop enough to impact premiums.