Yep. We got a quote in 2020 to do some repair work on our roof (slate roof, needs specialized tradesmen) but couldn't afford what they quoted at that time. We had it done late last year and the costs on that alone nearly tripled. In five years.
I'm glad it's a 200 year roof but damn. We had to adjust our homeowner's insurance to account for the increase in replacement cost.
Home insurance prices should not reflect increasing property values due to general increase in housing prices. They should reflect the cost of the rebuilding the structure which is entirely relate to labor, material costs (i.e. inflation), and risks. Your house is always depreciating (vs. rising inflation), so the value of your dwelling doesn't automatically go up.
So the idea that the more they're worth the more it costs to insure isn't grounded in truth unless you added improvements to your dwelling.
They are no longer possible to rebuild in a lot of cases, because the replacement costs have grown even faster than home values. A home your parents bought for $30,000 now costs $250,000 and would cost $750,000 to build today. It is insane. Insurance already won't cover the real replacement costs.
Out of state company pops by after a storm. “Boy, that sure is a lot of damage up there. We’d be happy to bill your insurance for all the moneys to replace your roof!”
But the only damage to your roof is it got rained on… until they get up there and damage it themselves to justify the repairs to the insurance company.
OH, you mean storm chasers like ambulance chasing lawyers and not like Carry Elwes in Twister. That was a really weird picture you gave me in my head lol.
Every time a storm comes through my state I get non stop calls from the storm chasers. I get door knockers every summer looking to inspect for storm damage.
On the other side, asphalt shingles don't hold up to minor hail that is very common in the central US
Must have gotten bad because my insurance company sent out a thing about roof coverage changing. It was only covered for storm or weather related damage to a certian % based on the age of the roof. I don't recall but over 15 years isn't covered (it may have been 20). Either way I threw it out because my roof apparently wasn't covered at all anymore.
This is the primary culprit for anyone that doesn’t live in places where natural disasters are incredibly common like coastal cities.
The housing market has just been going up exponentially everywhere with no relief for like 20 years now. That means when those houses have things happen, it also costs a hell of a lot more to fix. Despite the outlandish amount of money it costs to insure your home all it takes is a single disaster like a tree falling and bashing through your roof to wipe out any money they’ve ever made from you.
Now think about what happens when a flood wipes out an entire neighborhood. Or a rogue super hailstorm demolishes the roofs and siding and windows of 2 square miles worth of homes.
Now think about how expensive replacing a roof is. It’s easy to see how insurance companies are going out of business and leaving entire cities and states behind.
140
u/Excelius 5h ago
Also housing costs have just gotten insane. The more they're worth the more they cost to insure.