Im with Costco AmFam house size between his and yours and no pool not near canyon or fire danger area. Im about $1300 but was higher a year or so ago. The pool can add a lot with liability of having one.

I dont get why most home insurance companies are not 90% online already. So many times I go online to get a home insurance quote, spend 15 mins entering all my details, then instead of getting an instant quote it just says an agent will phone me to interrupt my day and bother me with more questions…
What’s so complicated about home insurance that it needs an agent every single time?

Anyways, I use hippo.com, which is a mostly online insurance provider. They allow a deductible up to $25k, which I’ve found is often the easiest way to drop your premiums. At a $10k deductible, mine costs $790/year for a 2200sqft home in a high fire risk area.

tb

Ours is $2200 and is up for renewal, 3000sf.

One of the lessons I learned from my Dad is that home insurance is not a good area to go with low bidder.

About 30 years ago he went low bidder on his houses and then a rental home of his burned. Total loss. Insurance company refused to pay. He ended up having to take them to court – and won – but it cost him a LOT of time and frustration.

From then on out, he paid more attention to reputation than price and made sure his children learned from that hard-earned lesson.

Also in this inflationary time, we have an auto-adjustment feature on ours to take into account the rise in replacement cost. Something to think about.

[quote=svelte]Ours is $2200 and is up for renewal, 3000sf.

One of the lessons I learned from my Dad is that home insurance is not a good area to go with low bidder.

About 30 years ago he went low bidder on his houses and then a rental home of his burned. Total loss. Insurance company refused to pay. He ended up having to take them to court – and won – but it cost him a LOT of time and frustration.

From then on out, he paid more attention to reputation than price and made sure his children learned from that hard-earned lesson.

Also in this inflationary time, we have an auto-adjustment feature on ours to take into account the rise in replacement cost. Something to think about.[/quote]

That’s very good advice. Don’t skimp on insurance. That said, Foremost and American Modern are highly rated insurance companies.

The biggest issue with homeowner’s insurance is being under-insured and not uping the coverage when building costs go up due to inflation.

The other thing to consider is earthquake insurance, which in SD county is still pretty cheap. You can get one with a high deductible that is only good for catastrophic events for pretty cheap.

“Don’t skimp on insurance” is one of the reasons why I would never get Geico for anything. I’ve had so many friends that tried Geico, and when it came to a claim, they were so cheap to pay out claims for auto collisions. And Geico isn’t really cheap compared to Costco’s American Family Auto Insurance or Hagerty, which also has a great reputation.

If you have a really old car, consider getting Hagerty. Hagerty use to be great insurance for classic and exotic cars that would be an arm and leg to insure normally. But the car doesn’t have to be really a classic or exotic. It just has to be old and in CA, parked in a garage. insurance bill with better coverage is very low even compared to Costco American Family Auto Insurance….I learned that from old porsche and miata owners…

Also, Hagerty does not exclude teen/minor drivers from their policies. So my plan is to insurane my kid on my beater Audi and miata.

https://www.hagerty.com/insurance/classic-car-insurance-ppc

[quote=flyer]Thanks to a family connection, we currently have USAA, and it’s fantastic for the primary, rentals and cars. Also like Amica.[/quote]

Dumb question. Are you getting some special rate above and beyond a normal USAA member? Because I’m trying to understand what you meant about “family connection” and USAA.

The only qualification needed to be able to join USAA is you or a family member or relative just needs to have served in the military, worked for the military and/or military contractor.. The terms of being a USAA or any sort special military based credit union, bank, insurance carrier is pretty loose in definition…It’s no different than my parents that worked for a Congress funded non-profit corp for the military qualifies for any credit union or insurance company setup for the military, and by virtue of being related to them, I have the same access to those banks, credit unions, and insurance companies, such as USAA and Aerospace Federal Credit Union.

By “family connection”, are you getting some special rates or treatment that normal USAA members who are somehow remotely related to the US military are not getting?

Damn, the only family connection I have is the one that allowed me onto the Miramar airbase 2 weeks ago to see the Top Gun pre-screening before the general public. I mean, I know a guy as well connected to you probably already saw the prescreening of that, but it was totally awesome seeing it at Miramar, they even had a jet right outside the theater. Best part it was free to all military and guests for the pre screening.

That was a great movie by the way. Imho better than the first one….

I would use my military connection to buy goods and services that are otherwise contraband by california, such as some types of 1 gallon paints and non-CARB exhaust systems, but I think that would be a misuse of my friendship and rather send those orders through addresses in the Presido of friends and family, lol.

So my neighbor and his brother went to the first pre-screening on the midway that all the cast was at. No military connections whatsoever. Apparently it was very easy to get into and connections not required. Speaking of connections, several years ago I applied for a HELOC at PenFed. At first they said I couldn’t get one because I was not in the military and had no connections. Then they offered me the opportunity to join some pseudo-charitable organization for military families. It cost $10 and then I was in. PenFed HELOC? Not military? No problem. Works well for us

[quote=flyer]Fantastic. You’re all set. We like USAA because they cover just about everything, including boats and planes, which usually require special policies. I remember I had to go off shore to insure some helicopters I was leasing to a flight school several years ago, and it was a pain, so with the exception of the art collection, and a few other things, it’s a great one-stop shop.[/quote]

…But USAA doesn’t cover just about everything. I can think of several exclusions they don’t cover that they specifically mentioned.

For instance, they don’t cover livestock or horses.
Also, they definitely do not cover in fully value jewelry and bullion precious metals. They cap jewelry and bullion for theft and burglary only around $5000 I think. That’s one of the things companies like Chubb insurance tout that differentiates them from places like USAA… For instance, if missy has a cocktail party leaves her ring on the bathroom sink, and an acquaintance that’s a closet klepto decides to pocket it, despite being a investment banker partner (is just a mental nutcase… Chubbs will cover the appraised value of that ring that was stolen…Not USAA.