Home Ins - ACV vs RCV why?
 

Our ins co is pulling out of the state, so we have to get new home ins. Our brokers have shopped around and sent us a bunch of quotes. The cheapest quote is about a third more than our current insurance, and the most expensive quote is over 260% as much as our current ins. Last year, we paid $3300. Our quotes are roughly $4200, 5000, 5500, and 8700.

What we've been told is that ins actuaries in TX were doing a lousy job, and now that has been fixed which is causing huge increases in coverage across the board.

One or two of the quotes are for actual cash value which depreciates items so that the insurance covers less. Our home is ~100 years old. Most of the plumbing, electrical, and HVAC are almost 35 years old. I don't really have any idea how old the roof is, but my guess is that it's 15-35 years old.

Getting ACV insurance seems like a great way for us to have insurance that won't really cover anything for me.

What's the point of ACV insurance other than maybe to get slightly cheaper ins?

I am in the industry. You are correct. ACV sux. Don't do it.

Last time I did anything in Texas there were some counties that had big exclusions for wind damage. Maybe even a total exclusion. I know DFW has a serious hail issue.

Let's start at the beginning. There are two parts to homeowners coverage. 1. Liability. Please make certain that you ALWAYS have this coverage. 2. Property coverage is where your heartburn is. Have your broker explain the different policies to you. The issue is that the perils have changed due to climate change (my opinion, not trying to be political) so that what made money in years past is unprofitable today. California is even more impacted than Texas. I expect my home (which is in a forest) will be burned up if I stay here long enough.

I don't really have a solution for you. The market is getting clobbered and by default, the consumer has to pay.

Good luck. Hopefully your broker can find a solution that isn't horrible.

Thanks for all of the great info and confirming my suspicions.

Yeah, any county that's on the Gulf Coast is screwed as far as windstorm and water. We used to be in one of the coastal counties (within a baseball throw of the county line) and had to have 2 policies. We were about 28 miles from the Gulf Fortunately, we're no where near the coast and are now ~90 miles from the coast, so that's no longer an issue (coastal county windstorm/water coverage).

We own a home on Mobile Bay. Like many in the area, we forego wind and hail coverage and just have liability, fire and theft for less than $2k/year. For another $10k/year you can have wind and hail coverage with a $50k deductible and 80% coverage after that. You read that right. If you go that route, double check your W&H deductible.

Note: to self insure for W&H, you have to own outright as the mortgage co will require full coverage.

Yeah, Mike hit it on the head. ACV is for folks that have a mtg and won't rebuild after a loss. They're buying cheap coverage b/c the mtg company requires loss coverage, but the mtg company doesn't care b/c you're in for a percentage and they'll likely end up whole.

Our long time insurance company, ANAPAC, pulled out of Oklahoma for home owner insurance. I got a letter and they said I had 30 days to find a new carrier. I called my agent, and he found a new company. We moved to Mercury insurance for the house and my wife's Macan.

I still have my 911 and El Camino insured with ANAPAC, as they have an agreed value policy on both of my cars, and Mercury does not. They want to bundle the policy, so my wife's Macan is on Mercury.

One of my friends lives in Santa Rosa Beach, FL. Their house is magnificent, right on the shore of Eastern Lake. His next door neighbor pays 35K per year for insurance.

We are/were also with ANPAC. Our agent is also finding us new ins. We'll stick with ANPAC for car until the current cov ends and then we'll move to someone cheaper.