Of course insurance prices are going up. When the price of virtually everything goes up it increases the cost of claims and therefore the cost of buying insurance.
In most states, premium rates are regulated by a government agency (Department of Insurance in NC but various states have all sorts of department names and structures for rate setting). That makes premium changes a lengthy political process that, at least here, often ends up in court before it’s resolved. Add to that premiums only change on renewal. Depending on the policy, renewal may be six months, one year, three years.
Using NC as an example (because that’s the one I know very well) between the politics of rate changing and timing of renewals on whatever line of business it’s on, changing the price across an entire line of business takes an insurer: 1.5 to 2 years (6 month renewal auto); 2.5 to 3 years (1 year renewal such as homeowner, business auto, dwelling policies, and a bunch of others); 7 to 8 years (some commercial and farm policies).
When there are persistent price increases in building repair cost, auto repair cost, and medical/injury claim cost rates increase to address that and a “normal” rate of inflation is expected and addressed to some degree which is why insurance of all sorts has price creep like most other things.
However, when the rate of inflation exceeds those expectations of “normal” your local gas station can change the price of fuel 3 times a day if they want. Insurers can’t. So by the time you actually see a change in premium it’s so delayed it isn’t a “gee, our auto and home insurance is up a little” it’s more of a “WTF are they doing???”
If you want to see what happens when those government regulatory agencies help the consumer by forcing rates to stay low to the point insurers are losing money with no hope of doing anything other than lose money, check out the history of property insurance in Florida. Check out what’s going on in California with both their property and casualty insurance markets.
For those of you who hate insurance, I do kind of understand. After a bit over 33 years, I’m getting a bit tired of it myself. If you truly hate insurance please don’t buy it. Self insure everything. Don’t borrow money and you won’t have to deal with banks or insurance companies. Only buy the absolute minimum insurance you have to have. Just do NOT expect to be covered for one penny beyond the bare bones insurance you were forced to buy. If you have a loss (someone sues you over some alleged civil wrong, your house burns down, etc.) just handle it yourself so you don’t waste that premium money and won’t have to deal with some hateful insurance company.
If you actually HATE something, don’t buy it. I kind of strongly dislike Pepsi (too sweet), so I don’t buy it. Beyond lender and statutory requirements, insurance is no different. It’s a business tool to reduce your risk of loss in whatever area you’re buying the insurance. Treat it that way. If you prefer to self insure part or all of something you could insure, do it. Just don’t expect Bugatti coverage when you bought a Dodge. By all means, shop rates. Check out reviews and reputation of the company for paying claims. Do your due diligence and treat it like any other investment or financial tool.
For example, you may think you have to have a full blown Homeowner policy because you have a mortgage and your lender requires it. You can protect your lender’s interest with a dwelling policy (a landlord type policy) that just covers the structure. You don’t have to have coverage for your personal property, additional living expense, liability, etc. that comes with the homeowner policy. Personally, I prefer to have liability insurance so I have it. If you don’t want it, don’t have any past whatever your state mandates (if there is a any at all required).
Edit: The rate setting described above is an over simplification of the complete process. There’s also the thing that a tsunami in Japan or a volcanic eruption in New Zealand impacts homeowner rates in Indiana, but that’s not the problem at the moment. Inflation is the problem at the moment and insurance is playing catch up on pricing as usual.
…I am not preaching or anything but just don’t check price, check payout and replacement value in the case of a total loss (meaning have to replace with a new build…if you have brick or stone you are maybe going to be shocked with what that costs in today) Currently prices of everything ridiculous inflation most of us likely not seen recently and may not realize the actual replacement value(new build)…my recommendation would consider that (new build price) and an easy comparison is what is the new price to build per square foot…that is what is looked at with replacement value and driving the rates up. We may not like the increase, but make sure of the coverage vs real replacement value. (Your replacement value will likely not be anywhere near what you paid or the tax assessment). If just shopping price you may not be happy should you need to make a claim in case of a loss if coverage doesn’t match replacement….yes that will increase your rates.
