Every so often, homeowners find that their insurance premiums have increased for seemingly no reason at all. This situation is actually quite common and can leave homeowners confused and frustrated. Particularly if you’ve never filed a claim, you might be curious as to what factors affect your home insurance premiums.

From the age of your home to your credit score, here are a few factors that can cause an unexpected increase in your home insurance premium.

 

 

Your Home’s Age

One of the more common reasons for an increased home insurance premium is an aging home. As your home ages, it becomes more vulnerable to damage and infrastructure issues.

For example, as time passes, your roof might wear down and become vulnerable to leaks. Additionally, things like your home’s plumbing and heating systems can weaken as they age and become more likely to cause extensive damage.

For these reasons, your home insurance provider might increase your premium as your home gets older.

 

 

Potential Weather Conditions

As inclement weather is one of the most common causes of extreme home damage, home insurance companies often find themselves paying out significant amounts of money for claims related to natural disasters.

As a result, if you live in an area that is prone to flooding, tornadoes, thunderstorms, strong winds, and other weather conditions, you might see an increase in your insurance premium. In other cases, you might notice that your home insurance provider changes the weather-related incidents that it covers. 

 

 

Home Renovations

It’s not uncommon for homeowners to make minor or major renovations to their property over the year. Anything from adding a swimming pool and building a treehouse to increasing the square footage of your home and remodeling your master bedroom could potentially lead to an increase in your insurance premium.

Expanding and renovating rooms can make your home more expensive to repair while additions such as trampolines and pools can open up you and your home insurer to potential lawsuits. As such, your home insurer might increase your premium once it becomes aware of these additions.

 

 

Worsening Credit

Certain states permit insurance providers to inspect your credit report to determine the chances that an individual may file a claim. Insurers tend to consider individuals with good credit as less risk, so they charge them less.

If your credit takes an unexpected dip, you shouldn’t be surprised to see your home insurance premium increase.

 

 

Pets

Lastly, owning certain types of pets could open you up to a potential home insurance premium increase.

Certain dog breeds that are considered to be a liability along with large, exotic pets can be viewed as a risk to your home and visitors. Since insurers view certain pets as likely to cause extensive damage to your home and increase the possibility of a lawsuit, they might increase premiums for customers who own these types of pets.

If you’ve noticed a recent spike in your home insurance premium, but aren’t sure why, consider if any of these factors apply to you.