This is a great year to shop for home and auto insurance, especially if you have one of the major carriers. 9 of the top 10 carriers lost money last year, and some of them lost a LOT of money. As a result, they are raising rates. Several smaller carriers and regional carriers did pretty well last year, as did the #2 auto insurer. It is worth shopping around, especially if you are getting whacked with an increase despite not having any claims, tickets, etc.

My home insurance went up 35%, and my auto went up 13%. Combined, I was going to be paying $3,585. I switched companies and will now be paying $2,194 combined, a 39% difference. This is for exactly the same amount of liability coverage, same value on my house, replacement cost coverage, same comp/collision deductibles on my cars, etc. Zero coverage changes at all.

The nine top 10 carriers that lost money last year are not going to be in a position to lower or stabilize rates for a while. Most of them aren't very good at underwriting in the first place. The exception here is Geico. Like Progressive, Geico is good at underwriting (not quite as good as Progressive, but good). Geico's being hurt by an increase in claim handling costs. Theirs have spiked significantly. This is not how much they pay out on a claim, but rather the expense involved in handling the claim. They are usually the best in the industry and controlling this cost, but they have cratered in that regard.

It's worth looking around. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.