The Average Homeowner Insurance Costs
Purchasing a house is the most expensive purchase most people will make in their lives. You want to make sure that you protect your home against loss, theft and damage. That means you want to purchase a homeowner's insurance policy. Your total cost will vary depending on the cost of the house, the types of coverage you want and where you live. However, you can get an idea if you are paying too much for your homeowner's insurance if you look at the average costs for other homeowners.
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2010 Trends
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The latter half of 2010 saw the average premium for homeowner insurance nationwide on the rise. The average premium in June was $639.31 and by November, it was $679.23, according to HomeInsurance.com. That's a 6.2 percent increase in six months.
State Averages
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Texas is the most-expensive state for insuring your home. The average premium was $1,238 in 2010, according to Forbes. Idaho had the least-expensive premium at $477. Utah, Washington D.C., Oklahoma, Minnesota and Idaho were the states with the greatest percentage increases. South Carolina, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Arkansas and Maine saw the greatest percentage decreases in their premiums.
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Things that Affect Rates
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Looking at a list of states that have high premiums may be surprising, but it is not necessarily the location of the state but what happens there that makes homeowner's insurance more expensive. Texas has a lot of claims due to hail and wind damage. Florida tends to see more claims from hurricane and water damage. Some people who live on the coast pay as much as $10,000 for homeowner's insurance, according to InsuranceSalesman.com. Places where there is a lot of snowfall also see higher premiums because of the increased risk of roof damage from snow.
Additional Coverages
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In some places, the risk is so great from certain types of damage that separate coverage needs to be purchased if it can be found at all. Many homeowners find it hard to get hurricane and tornado coverage in Mississippi, for example. However, this does keep the insurance premiums at a reasonable level because the additional coverage isn't considered.
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