Senior News Line: Rising cost of home insurance

When I got my home insurance bill and it showed a massive payment for my policy renewal, I actually laughed.

I flipped the page over, believing I'd received someone else's mail by mistake, probably a neighbor down the street.

But when I saw my own name, I wasn't laughing anymore when I grabbed my calculator and discovered that the new amount was a 45% increase over last year.

Still, ever hopeful, I called my insurance company, wondering if someone else's home had been plugged into my account. No, it hadn't.

The amount listed was indeed for my home, as were the numbers for out buildings, personal property and temporary living expenses.

I called several neighbors: Has your insurance gone up? No, they all said.

I discovered the likely reason for that during a call to a friendly local insurance agent. They're no doubt in the middle of a policy period, he said.

Their bad surprise will come when it's time to renew that policy and all the price increases hit them.

There are several reasons why a policy can increase, such as material and labor — which is the big one right now — additions to the house, number of prior claims, your deductible, your credit score and the breed of dog you own.

After several calls to different insurance companies, it's not looking good. What I get so far is that if I decide to gamble and lower my coverage level, I run a risk that something will happen and I'll be stuck for mammoth amounts of money that insurance won't cover.

The only thing that's going to save a few dollars is to pay the whole year upfront and not have to pay the monthly budget fees with every payment.

Take a deep breath before you open your next policy renewal envelope. Good luck.