My home insurance went up: what to do

A renewal notice with a bigger number on it raises three questions, and they are worth answering in order. First, why did it go up: a higher dwelling limit, a rate increase, a lost discount or a changed deductible? Second, is the dwelling limit right, since an automatic inflation bump can push it past what a rebuild would cost, or leave it short? Third, would another insurer charge less for the same coverage? This page puts the three tools that answer those questions one after another, so you can work through them in a single sitting.

How to use it

Start with step 1 and enter last year's premium and dwelling limit, the renewal premium and the new limit, and tick anything that changed on your side. Add the renewal date if you want calendar reminders: the tool offers a small calendar file with nudges 45, 21 and 7 days before the renewal, which you save to your own calendar. Step 2 estimates rebuild cost from your living area, garage and basement and what each costs per square foot to build, to set against the new dwelling limit. Step 3 is the quote worksheet: enter your renewal as one column and the quotes you collect as the others. Each step keeps what you typed, and the worksheet remembers its entries in this browser.

How the math works

Each step is the same calculation as its stand-alone tool. The renewal step splits the increase into the share explained by a higher dwelling limit (last year's premium times the percentage increase in the limit) and everything else. The rebuild step multiplies living, garage and basement area by their costs per square foot, adds special features and any surge allowance, and compares the result with your limit. The worksheet ranks quotes by premium and flags any coverage where a cheaper quote gives you less. The details are on the pages for the home insurance renewal increase checker, the home replacement cost estimator and the homeowners quote comparison worksheet.

Say, hypothetically, the premium went from $2,200 to $2,750 and the dwelling limit from $330,000 to $350,000. About $133 of the $550 increase comes from the higher limit; the other $417 is rate, surcharges or lost discounts, which is the part worth asking about and shopping.

What it assumes

The three steps share the assumptions of the tools they come from. The rebuild figures are estimates, not an appraisal, and a quote worksheet only compares the fields you fill in. Nothing here knows your insurer's rating plan, so the reason for a rate increase has to come from the insurer or your state's rate filings (how insurers file rate increases with regulators).

Where it stops being right

If the insurer is not renewing you at all, this is the wrong path: use the nonrenewal action plan. If the increase came with a new percentage wind or hurricane deductible, run the hurricane and percentage deductible calculator as well, since a lower premium can hide a much larger out-of-pocket cost. And if every quote comes back higher, the market itself has moved; why homeowners insurance keeps going up and ways to lower your homeowners insurance without gutting coverage explain what is still within your control.