For the past few years my renters insurance premiums have seen pretty steep increases, but this year’s 2012 bill catapulted my blood pressure to the top of the charts. The insurance company I’ve been with for years upped my annual bill by 20%! The reason? Not a single one on my end. Last year not one circumstance in my apartment, building or neighborhood changed an iota to warrant this hefty increase.
There was no way I was going to pay for the over-the-top new premium. Nor had I any intention of speaking with the company in an attempt to lower their bill. Their price hikes had been getting out of hand for awhile, but this newest increase was out of the stratosphere as far as I was concerned.
So off to the Internet I went, quickly discovering that getting quotes for comparable renters insurance wasn’t going to be a fast operation. Insurance info is spread out hither and yon in a diffuse, haphazard, even misleading fashion. (Some insurance offices don’t mention the fact they sell only one company’s insurance). And companies enjoy having prospective customers fill out pages of web forms before they’ll part with a precious price quote.
It took me quite awhile to come up with some comparisons. Two that happened to be from the same company also had the same policy that somehow cost different premiums depending on which neighborhood office was doing the quoting. Hmm…
In the end because of the short turn around time, I took to the phone. One company, through a near-by neighborhood broker, stood considerably taller than the rest. I spoke with an associate who was efficient, pleasant, fast and excellent at e-mail follow-up. After realizing I’d save money in the long run by slightly upping my deductible, I soon had myself a binder and shortly thereafter a policy. Which in the end saved me — are you ready — the sweet annual sum of $329.00. So with a little research, instead of costing me 20% more, my new renters policy cost me 64% less.
Not only that but the policy even offered better terms than my old one: $300,000 personal liability over $100,000. It also covered fungus (mold to you and me), an item that wasn’t even mentioned in my old policy. Plus pay-outs were based on the current cost of replacing items rather than their worth after depreciation (which, considering how long I can hold on to goodies, could easily put them in the zero worth range).
So in the end that sky-high bill was a good thing — just what I needed to blast out of a costly rut.
More on Living Quarters:
- 20 Lowest Property Taxes in USA
- Five highest and lowest state property taxes in the USA per capita
- Top 10 US Cities for Renters
- The Man who Built himself a House for Peanuts
- 5 Reasons I’ll Never Buy a Home
- Happily Living Dirt Cheap in New York City
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