A man with a ladder and a clipboard spent 25 minutes on our roof one Monday morning in May, and Moose howled at him through the den window the entire time. I was working from home that day and apologized to three separate video calls.
The inspection was our homeowners insurance company's idea. Our renewal letter said they'd need to look at the roof before renewing, because it's eleven years old. The architectural shingles went on in 2015, two years before we bought the house.
The roof passed. No repairs, no notes beyond normal wear. Then the renewal came anyway: $2,240 a year, up from $1,690. That's $550 more for a house that had just been told it was fine.
What changed the premium
I called our agent and asked for it line by line. Three things moved:
- Rates in our area went up. The company had raised prices across the region after several years of storm claims. Nothing about our house drove that part.
- The rebuild estimate went up. Our coverage is based on what it would cost to rebuild a 1,480-square-foot brick ranch today, not what we paid in 2017. Construction costs rose, so the coverage rose automatically, about 6%, and the premium came with it.
- The roof's age. Passing the inspection kept the policy. It didn't keep the price. Past a certain age, a roof moves a house into a different pricing band whether it passes or not.
Something I learned writing job offers in HR: the biggest number on the page is rarely the only one that matters. With home insurance, the other numbers are the deductible and how the roof would be paid out if it ever had to be replaced.
What I asked, and the three quotes
I asked our agent and three other companies the same questions:
- "Is the roof covered at full replacement cost, or at a depreciated value because of its age?"
- "Is there a separate wind and hail deductible?"
- "What does the premium look like at a $2,500 deductible?"
- "Will you need another inspection next year?"
Getting the quotes took about a week. Every company wanted the same details: the year the roof was replaced, the ages of the AC unit and the water heater, the square footage and whether we had a monitored alarm. I had everything in a note on my phone except the water heater, which meant a trip to the hall closet with a flashlight to read the label.
One company would cover the roof at a depreciated value once it passed fifteen years old. That quote went to the bottom of the pile before I even looked at the price. Here's how they all compared, with the same dwelling coverage:
| Option | Per year | Deductible |
|---|---|---|
| Last year's policy | $1,690 | $1,000 |
| Renewal after the inspection | $2,240 | $1,000 |
| Same company, higher deductible | $2,060 | $2,500 |
| Quote 1 | $2,190 | $1,000 |
| Quote 2 (roof depreciated after 15 years) | $2,320 | $1,000 |
| Quote 3 | $2,170 | $1,000 |
| Quote 3, higher deductible | $1,980 | $2,500 |
We went with the last line: $1,980 a year with a $2,500 deductible, the roof covered at full replacement cost and no separate wind deductible. Our old deductible was $1,000.
Why the higher deductible, this year
Two years ago a $2,500 deductible would have been a bad idea for us. In April our emergency fund reached three months of expenses, and $2,500 is now a number it can cover without anyone losing sleep. Ben voted for the higher deductible before I finished the sentence.
The math, for the record: at a $1,000 deductible, the same policy was $2,170. The higher deductible saves us $190 a year, and it would take about eight claim-free years to make up the extra $1,500. We've never filed a claim on this house.
Switching meant sending the new declarations page to our mortgage servicer, since our insurance is paid from escrow, and making sure the old renewal never got paid. Our escrow will adjust at the next review, adding about $24 a month to a payment that has been about $1,010.
What we left alone: the dwelling coverage amount, liability and replacement cost on our belongings. Lowering the rebuild number to shave the premium was offered, and I passed.
That's what we chose for our house and our savings. Insurance fits each house a little differently, so take this as our story and not a recommendation.
