Insurance Is Becoming Extremely Expensive in My State. Here's What I'm Doing to Try to Keep Costs Down

My state of Florida is prone to hurricanes that can cause costly damage. The legal climate for insurers also isn't very favorable in the Sunshine State, as a state Supreme Court ruling in favor of plaintiffs in 2017 opened the door to lots of property claims litigation.

So, it's probably not a surprise that many insurance companies have decided they aren't very interested in providing coverage to Florida homeowners. In fact, four major insurers have pulled out of the state in recent months, others have quietly stopped writing new policies, and some local insurers have become insolvent.

With fewer insurers and substantial risks for those that remain, insurance premiums have gone through the roof, with insurance premiums up 42% from last year. An Insurance Information Institute Analysis recently found that while the U.S. average for home insurance premiums is $1,700, the typical Floridian is stuck with a $6,000 bill.

My coverage is actually a little more than that due to the price and location of my house, so I've taken some steps to try to reduce my insurance costs to avoid draining my checking account with home insurance premiums. While these steps are especially important for people like me who are coping with rising rates, anyone can implement them to lower their own home insurance costs.

Shop around for insurance coverage

Shopping around and comparing insurance quotes is a good move when you're trying to save money on policy premiums. When my insurance rates started to go up, I checked around to see what was out there. Even with the limited selection of companies continuing to offer coverage in Florida, I was still able to find a better deal with a different insurer that knocked a few hundred dollars off my premiums.

Shopping around for insurance coverage is easy. Anyone who wants to try this out can get several quotes online from different insurers to see if they can find a better deal.

Increase the policy deductible

To help bring my premiums down, I also opted to increase the deductible on my insurance policy.

We live in an area where the chances of hurricane damage exist, but aren't great since we're inland. So, I was comfortable gambling on the possibility I might have to pay more out of pocket in the event I had to make a claim -- especially given that I have a large emergency fund in case I need to cover my deductible.

Adding $1,000 to my deductible resulted in around a 10% deduction in my premium costs. This is also something anyone can do as long as they are comfortable taking on the risk of paying more out of pocket in the event of a covered loss.

Make the home safer

Another important step I took was making my home safer. We made some upgrades to our home, including replacing some older windows with new ones that had a better hurricane rating, and our premiums went down around 8%. My insurer considered this a wind protection upgrade.

Homeowners who want to reduce their premiums using this approach should ask their insurer what kinds of home upgrades would result in a premium reduction. Don't forget to take the cost of the upgrades themselves into account when considering how much this can save, as it's not likely it would be worth making major upgrades you weren't otherwise planning just to knock a few bucks off insurance premiums.

Bundle coverage

Finally, the last step I took was bundling my coverage and getting a policy from the same company for my homeowners insurance and my auto insurance. This saved me around 20% in total because I was able to reduce the cost of insuring both my house and my car.

I did make sure that the insurer I chose had a good reputation for claims handling for both home and auto policies though, as I don't want to deal with problems if I must make a claim. Anyone who needs multiple policies can look into bundling coverage as well, but it's worth confirming this won't lead to subpar customer service.

By taking these steps, I made a meaningful impact on the cost of insurance even in a very expensive state where the insurance market is not friendly for consumers. Whether you live in Florida or somewhere where the insurance market isn't such a disaster, implementing some of these techniques could work for you as well.