A Single Homeowner's Insurance Claim Can Raise Premium by Over 30%
Increases Cost Homeowners Hundreds of Dollars Each Year
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 16, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Filing a single homeowner's insurance claim can raise consumers' insurance premiums by hundreds of dollars each year, according to a new insuranceQuotes.com report. Nationally, one claim leads to an average premium increase of nine percent. The state with the highest increase is Wyoming (+32%), followed by Connecticut (+21%), Arizona (+20%), New Mexico (+19%) and California (+18%).
In Texas, home insurers are not allowed to increase premiums after one claim. The next-lowest increases were observed in New York (+2%), Massachusetts (+2%), Florida (+3%) and Vermont (+4%).
A second claim brings the national average increase up to 20% (the highest increase is Michigan's 71%).
"Homeowners need to be really careful when filing claims," said Laura Adams, insuranceQuotes.com's senior analyst. "Even a denied claim can cause your premium to go up. Make sure to know your policy's specific guidelines and only file a claim when absolutely necessary. Winning a small claim could actually cost you money in the long run."
The type of claim plays an important role in the increases. Nationally, the most expensive are liability claims. A single liability claim causes premiums to rise by an average of 14%. Theft, vandalism and fire are not far behind. Medical claims (+2%) are the cheapest.
According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, homeowner's insurance costs an average of $978 per year (nationally), so a single liability claim adds an average of $137 to that bill.
More information is available here:
http://www.insurancequotes.com/home
insuranceQuotes.com commissioned Quadrant Information Services to examine the average economic impacts of homeowner's insurance claims. Quadrant calculated rates using data for six large carriers in all 50 states. The policies were derived from a sample two-story, 1,800-square-foot, single-family home covered for $144,000.
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For More Information:
Caroline Farhat
Publicist
[email protected]
917-368-8638
SOURCE insuranceQuotes.com
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