The Homeowner's Insurance Gamble

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Over 40 years of home ownership, I have no idea how many thousands of dollars I've paid in premiums. I've never had a loss large enough to file a claim given the deductibles.

I often wonder where I'd be if I had banked all those dollars.

 

[Sukhoi]

That's how insurance works

 

[BoomerD]

Over 40 years of home ownership, I have no idea how many thousands of dollars I've paid in premiums. I've never had a loss large enough to file a claim given the deductibles.

I often wonder where I'd be if I had banked all those dollars.

Presuming you didn't pay cash for your home(s)...you'd possibly be homeless. I don't know of any mortgage company/bank that would allow you to NOT have homeowner's/fire insurance to protect their investment.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Ahhh, but you see I did in fact pay cash for this one 25 years ago. I went several years without any on this place but picked it up again due to some nearby windstorm damage. I'm considering dropping it again though if the rates go up again at the next renewal.

The one in the 70s and the other one in the 90s were mortgaged and the insurance was through Escrow, but the rates were MUCH lower then than they are now.

 

[Brovane]

Apparently more and more people are deciding to go without home insurance.

Americans Are Bailing on Their Home Insurance

 

[marvdmartian]

It's like life insurance. The insurance company is betting that you won't die. You're betting that you will.

 

[Red Squirrel]

The risk is the things you have no control over like theft, vandalism, bad drivers that crash into your house, people tripping while trespassing and suing you etc. You can make sure all the other stuff is in working order like electrical, plumbing, roof etc but can't stop people from being shitty.

Only way I'd go without insurance is if I'm far away from people. People are generally the problem and the ones that cause damage. In a perfect world we wouldn't need insurance for those things, since people would be held accountable for their actions against others instead of the victim being forced to deal with it but we don't live in such world.

In general though house insurance is relatively cheap compared to all the other bills and way cheaper than car insurance so imo it's worth keeping. My insurance bill comes up to like $150/mo and most of that is the truck. I don't recall 100% how it's broken down but the house is like $40ish.

 

[Ken g6]

Ahhh, but you see I did in fact pay cash for this one 25 years ago.

If you can afford to do that again, without hardship, then you can afford to drop home insurance. If not...

 

[Greenman]

If you can afford to do that again, without hardship, then you can afford to drop home insurance. If not...

And that's pretty much the whole story right there.

 

[BoomerD]

If you can afford to do that again, without hardship, then you can afford to drop home insurance. If not...

As long as your pockets are deep enough to cover any potential liability claims filed against you for damage/injury that happens to others on your property…whether they’re there legally or not.

 

[IronWing]

As long as your pockets are deep enough to cover any potential liability claims filed against you for damage/injury that happens to others on your property…whether they’re there legally or not.

Yep, we decided to add an umbrella policy on top of our homeowners insurance when we bought our land. There are cliffs off which trespassers could fall.

 

[Greenman]

Yep, we decided to add an umbrella policy on top of our homeowners insurance when we bought our land. There are cliffs off which trespassers could fall.

Which is simply insane. I knew a fellow who cut through the wire fence of some random property to go four wheeling. He rolled the truck, got hurt, sued the property owner, and got a settlement.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

HOI is so damn cheap for the asset its protecting that IMO its bonkers not to get it. $3500 A YEAR to get assloads of coverage (plus umbrella) on my $1.5 Million house (I'm not rich, this is just California and I bought at the right time). I'd be insane to take the gamble that nothing will happen.

Another unspoken perk of HOI is legal liability coverage. If you're at fault and are sued by someone else, the general rule of thumb most lawyers will use is to sue up to the maximum insured limit of the defendant (might not start there but will likely end there).

Defense isn't going to put up as big of a fight if the insurer is on the hook for a legal settlement as opposed to the defendant losing their house and possessions and having their pay docked. The lawyers on all sides want their settlement and payday, they don't want a long, protracted court battle.

 

[JTsyo]

Over 40 years of home ownership, I have no idea how many thousands of dollars I've paid in premiums. I've never had a loss large enough to file a claim given the deductibles.

I often wonder where I'd be if I had banked all those dollars.

Much better to have insurance and never use it than to have lost your home and have insurance pay to rebuild it.

 

[bigi]

Well, it is not necessary until it is. Your call.

 

[skyking]

Which is simply insane. I knew a fellow who cut through the wire fence of some random property to go four wheeling. He rolled the truck, got hurt, sued the property owner, and got a settlement.

that's what excavators are for.
Trespass and get deep twelved. That is one deep six on top of another.

 

[Red Squirrel]

that's what excavators are for.
Trespass and get deep twelved. That is one deep six on top of another.

Bury an animal carcass on top, if someone scans the ground and starts to dig and finds it, they'll move on.

 

[JTsyo]

Put in my first claim with my home insurance. We had hail back in Spet and few of my neighbors had their roofs replaced. The company doing it offered to inspect and found some damage. We'll see what the adjuster says.

 

[skyking]

metal roofs for TMFW!

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Put in my first claim with my home insurance. We had hail back in Spet and few of my neighbors had their roofs replaced. The company doing it offered to inspect and found some damage. We'll see what the adjuster says.

Oh NO!!! Not the 'hey we're doing a driveway down the road and we have some blacktop left over so we can make you a real great deal' gig.