Premiums are up, underwriting is tighter, and carriers are writing less. Here is what is actually driving it and what you can do about it.
Securing home insurance can feel overwhelming right now. Rising premiums and tighter rules leave a lot of homeowners unsure what their options even are. Understanding what is driving the market makes it a much easier problem to work.
What a hard market actually means
The industry is in what we call a hard market. Insurers have tightened underwriting standards, and roughly 78% of homeowners reported a premium increase in 2022. Three things are behind it: weather, inflation, and reinsurance.
- Natural disasters. NOAA counted 22 separate billion-dollar weather events in 2022.
- Construction inflation. Building costs rose 14.7% in 2021, and a claim is settled in today's dollars, not the dollars from when you bought the policy.
- Reinsurance. The cost of the insurance that insurers buy climbed 20–40%, and that gets passed through.
Why your premium went up without a claim
Homeowners are seeing 15–25% annual increases driven by higher claims volume, economic inflation, rising reinsurance costs, and fewer carriers competing for the business. None of that is a judgment about you. It is the market repricing itself.
Tighter restrictions to expect
- Policy limitations in areas considered high risk
- Higher deductibles, particularly separate wind and hail deductibles
- Inspections required before a policy is issued or renewed
- Less flexibility to modify a policy mid-term
What you can actually do
- Shop it. This is the whole argument for an independent agent — one application, many carriers.
- Re-evaluate the coverage itself, not just the price. Make sure the dwelling limit still reflects rebuild cost.
- Bundle home and auto. That is typically worth 5–25%.
- Raise the deductible, but only to a number you could write a check for tomorrow.
- Keep your credit clean. It can be worth up to 15%.
Location matters, and so do the details
Homes in higher-risk areas can run premiums up to 30% higher. On the other side, protective installations can earn discounts up to 10%. Both of those are worth a conversation before you renew.
If your renewal came in higher than you expected, send it over. Comparing it across carriers costs you nothing.
Editor's note: this article was rebuilt from the original post during the site migration and is pending a final read from Bryan.
Written by Bryan McClean, Principal Agent & Founder of Insure Logic.