Info from a former insurance company employee

[srblanco7]

I use a broker. Since I have rental properties, not all insurance companies will cover all my needs and I often end up with a couple different providers. Every time my renewals come back with a significant increase, we shop around and often end up changing. Saves me the leg work of having to make a dozen calls for quotes and they just tell me which company(s) have the best rates for my needs. Its not unusual for me to switch insurance providers every 2-3 years and with a broker it doesn't feel like a hassle.

Thanks! I reached out to a broker this morning via email. It's agree that 2-3 years seems to be the "sweet spot" for shopping around. I'll let folks know if we make any progress.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

So I am shopping around because my DK1 is about to turn 16 this month. Our policy is doubling. We are going from $1650 for 6 months to $3000 for 6 months. Then our homeowners is $2000 and our umbrella is also $5m for $2500.year. So I am shopping around now because I'm hoping to get it cheaper. Ugh. I can only imagine it'll get more expensive 2 years when I get a second 16 year old driver.

[riverwed070707]

So I am shopping around because my DK1 is about to turn 16 this month. Our policy is doubling. We are going from $1650 for 6 months to $3000 for 6 months. Then our homeowners is $2000 and our umbrella is also $5m for $2500.year. So I am shopping around now because I'm hoping to get it cheaper. Ugh. I can only imagine it'll get more expensive 2 years when I get a second 16 year old driver.

That is really expensive umbrella insurance! I carry a $1M umbrella and it costs me $250 a year

[ua_guy]

Umbrellas climb steeply when more vehicles and more drivers are added; as well as increasing the liability limits. It's an exponential rate schedule.

I'm still in the middle of a policy fiasco with our current insurer and agent. It started with a bad claims experience on a cherished vehicle, so I sought to move that policy to a specialty insurer after confirming with our agent that she couldn't match the coverage or price. So I moved it, and then the agent replied and said now that makes your umbrella increase (substantially). Would have been nice to know before I did all that, yes? And in doing so she exposed a huge policy mistake that's gone undiscovered for 2 years. I keep all my emails with them as a matter of legal record so I had to prove what was requested and two years ago she had replied "yep it's all taken care of!". Thankfully we'll be getting a refund, $1600.

I'm frustrated. The review with a broker is coming up and hopefully they can suggest insurers who are more adept in handling our needs. The current rig is through State Farm. After their apparent hesitation in payout for the California fire victims for their policy coverages, which I just read about over the holidays, we're dumping them after ~20 years.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I'm skipping out and going to more. I think we need more coverage and I'm realizing we're under insured. We are covering a teen driver. I suspected as much and now i'm going to rectify our problem. We were uninsured before the DK driving and now even more so.

going from 5m to 10m and more umbrella isn't double the price though. It gets cheaper as you add more even with more drivers. And the insurance company has a vested interest to not pay out those bigger numbrs

[ua_guy]

We were told umbrella policies should cover net worth, at least.

Does it really get cheaper as the limit is increased, or does the rate start tapering off after a certain point. Our umbrella is expensive because of our motorhome. And so is the regular insurance. If we ever sell it, that will be a nice relief.

[srblanco7]

We were told umbrella policies should cover net worth, at least.

Does it really get cheaper as the limit is increased, or does the rate start tapering off after a certain point. Our umbrella is expensive because of our motorhome. And so is the regular insurance. If we ever sell it, that will be a nice relief.

I've heard a similar rule of thumb - umbrella policy to cover net worth. That being said, it's also worth noting that 401k/403b accounts, I believe, are protected under ERISA from judgement. And, in some cases (varies by state), IRAs are also exempt from civil judgements.

So it becomes a question as to whether these should be counted as part of net worth as it applies to the rule of thumb.

FWIW, AI generated feedback as follows:

"While exact statistics for individual-only judgments are not tracked as a standalone category by national reporting agencies, data from 2025 and early 2026 suggests that judgments exceeding $5 million against private individuals are extremely rare, likely occurring in less than 0.1% of all civil filings."

[kork13]

Caveat to the "umbrella should cover net worth" idea .... Retirement accounts are generally pretty safe from liability claims. Likewise, your primary residence is generally considered to be relatively safe (most judges won't make you homeless for to a civil liability lawsuit). So I'd say you can subtract those amounts from what you want your umbrella policy to cover.

[ua_guy]

FWIW, AI generated feedback as follows:

"While exact statistics for individual-only judgments are not tracked as a standalone category by national reporting agencies, data from 2025 and early 2026 suggests that judgments exceeding $5 million against private individuals are extremely rare, likely occurring in less than 0.1% of all civil filings."

I'd guess that's a pretty accurate statement. According to AI, the median net worth in the US is ~$193k. Average is ~$1M.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

i have no idea but i'm about to find out about umbrella.

[srblanco7]

Thanks! I reached out to a broker this morning via email. It's agree that 2-3 years seems to be the "sweet spot" for shopping around. I'll let folks know if we make any progress.

I didn't hear back on my email inquiry so I called the broker. Received an immediate call back ("old school" still works sometimes). I've share my insurance info and am waiting to hear back on options.

[srblanco7]

Thanks! I reached out to a broker this morning via email. It's agree that 2-3 years seems to be the "sweet spot" for shopping around. I'll let folks know if we make any progress.

Took me a few tries. First broker was (oddly) non-responsive after I answered a bunch of their underwriting questions. The second (referral from a friend) couldn't beat the price that we had for our current insurance, but provided us with a referral to a third broker that they indicated would be competitive. The third broker was able to save us about $1400/year on our insurance bundle - so we're in the process of migrating our business.