Homeowner's insurance - deductible?

Janessadawn · August 2013

I'm just wondering: what is your homeowner's insurance deductible? We are shopping for a policy right now. I have a local agent whom I love and trust, and she works for an independent company so she rate shops for the best deal. She gave us an awesome quote with more than sufficient coverage. She set the deductible at $1000. I am a first-time home buyer; husband has had a house years ago, but it's been long enough where he doesn't remember much about the buying process.

Is $1000 pretty standard? Should we go for higher or lower? I realize part of the answer to that is what we could afford in an emergency ($1000 would be manageable), but I'd just like to gauge what others have done.

MrsS728 · August 2013

With our insurance company $1000 is the minimum deductible.

moonprincessd · August 2013

Ours is a little over $1000 and we have USAA (meaning we normally get better deals), so I think $1000 is pretty good.

MrsAshleyH10 · August 2013

$1,000 is pretty standard. I recently lowered mine to $500 and the premium only went up $50/year, I'm taking the chance that filling a claim is likely in the next 10 years and a $500 deductible would be easier to handle than $1,000 IMO.

mcskatcat · August 2013

We had $1000. I think that's fairly standard. Ask yourself what you can comfortably cover if something comes up, and read the policy well to know what all is covered.

G2SoccerTaz · August 2013

Also, lenders require a certain deductable. Usually it is 1% of the insurance version of the home value. Ours is a bit more due this value.

pengy16 · August 2013

standard is $500 disaster/theft/fire and $1000 for wind/hail damage in my area, but I knew for me it was better to have a lower deductible so I have $250 for both, it was an extra $60 a year for both. I knew as a first time home buyer cost wise it was easier to come up with the $250 if damage occurred then it would be $500 or $1000, and $60 a year paid through my escrow account was nothing compared to those higher amounts.

Janessadawn · August 2013

Thanks ladies! After reading this, and thinking about how I'd rather spend $500 in one go than $1000, I talked to our agent. Turns out, it will add less than $8/mo to halve our deductible. $8/mo adds up eventually, of course, but if something does happen I think the extra peace of mind is worth it.

short+sassy · September 2013

One other thing to consider, though, is that you really only want to make a claim on your home insurance for pretty major stuff. I've heard that even a minor claim can substantially raise the rate forevermore. I actually keep my deductible at $5,000 for that reason. Anything short of a total disaster, I wouldn't put a claim in anyway. But then, I also live in New Orleans which has the second highest homeowner's insurance rates in the country, so it is a whole different ball of wax out here.

chicagobride_07 · September 2013

PP is 100% correct. I wouldn't file a claim for something small. I had insurance on my condo for 10+ years with no claims. One claim and our rates have been majorly raised. My Dad has a friend with bad luck. He's had 2 claims on his home (through no fault of his own) over the past 2 years and insurance has warned him that any more and he'll be uninsurable outside of a high risk pool.

For this reason, we have our deductible set high ($5K). I wouldn't file a claim for a lesser amount knowing the implications of it.

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