What Would Cause My Renters Insurance to Go Up?
What if your renters insurance went up, seemingly out of nowhere?
Sadly, this happens to renters every day; those who get used to paying a certain rate for their renter’s insurance suddenly face a hike in their premiums. And it’s enough to make them collectively ask a simple question: “Why did my home insurance premium increase?”
As it turns out, there are many different factors affecting rates. What caused the cost of your coverage to increase? Keep reading to find out.
Moving To a New Location
One of the best features of renter’s insurance is that it isn’t tied to a single location. This can be helpful to those who frequently move because they can effectively take their coverage with them wherever they go.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that the location of a residence plays a significant role in the overall cost of your coverage. If you move to an area that has higher rates of theft, a high risk of natural disasters, or a high number of insurance claims, your coverage is going to get more expensive. Fortunately, this works in reverse, too. If you move to a generally safer area, you may see the cost of your coverage decrease.
Your Credit Has Gone Down
Insurance carriers, much like landlords, view your credit score as an indicator of how financially reliable you are. In some cases, this is a good thing. A good credit score can not only help you rent better homes but also lower the coverage you pay for such a home.
However, this also works in reverse, and many other unexpected rate changes can be explained by a change in your credit score. If you suspect this is the case for your own rate increase, it’s definitely worth signing up for a free credit monitoring service. Such a service can help you verify your current credit score and discover what lowered your score, and you’ll even get recommendations on how to improve things and make your credit even better than it was before.
Changes to Your Policy Affect the Premium
Any changes that you make to your policy may affect the premium, and it’s easy to make changes that drive the cost up.
The most common changes that affect your policy are increasing your coverage limits and lowering your deductible. Higher coverage limits mean that you can get more out of your insurance and a lower deductible means that you have to pay less out of pocket before your coverage kicks in. Both of these things are very good for renters, but you’ll have to pay more if you make these changes to your policy.
Multiple Claims Can Cause the Premium to Go Up
Moving to an area with a high number of insurance claims can increase your rate. If an insurance carrier has statistical evidence that more claims are filed in a given area than is normal, they will conclude that it must be riskier to live there and will increase premiums accordingly.
That also works for individual policies. Obviously, you should feel free to file a claim when the situation calls for it, but if you have made multiple claims, you can almost certainly expect your premium to increase. Once more, the carrier is doing this because they now have compelling evidence that your home is at greater risk of qualifying events than they first thought.
Switching Carriers
Those who are most interested in managing insurance costs sometimes find that switching carriers can be a double-edged sword. That’s because each carrier has a degree of latitude in how much they charge for different kinds of coverage. When you switch to a new carrier, there is no guarantee that they will automatically charge you less than what you were paying before. In the worst-case scenario, you might end up paying more when you’re with a new carrier.
This is why it’s always important to do your homework and get multiple quotes before you switch to a new carrier. That way, you can experience savings each month without worrying that your insurance costs are suddenly going to skyrocket.
Insurance Carriers May Increase Rates on Their Own
By now, you’ve probably noticed that you have a great deal of control over the cost of your insurance. In fact, your actions as a client often have a very direct effect on the cost of your premium. But you should be aware of the fact that carriers will periodically increase rates on their own, and this will affect customers across the board.
Why does this happen? In short, carriers have a base insurance price that is affected by everything from emerging industry trends to the state of the economy. Factors such as where you live and how many claims you have filed will cause you to pay more than the base price each month, but the base price itself will also go up from time to time. If at any point you’re unhappy with how much you are paying, keep in mind that you can start shopping for a new carrier to potentially save serious money.
Get the Best Renter’s Insurance Today!
Now you know what might cause your renter’s insurance to go up. But do you know who can help you get the best possible price on your coverage?
Here at InsureOne, we’re ready to offer renters the protection they need at the price they deserve. If you’re interested, we’re always ready for you to get a quote online. Of course, you can also pick up the phone and give us a quick call at 800-836-2240. Finally, feel free to come to one of our nearby offices at your earliest convenience!