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You might try shopping around for a better rate, but make sure that the coverage is equal. Insurance is kind of like gambling. The insurance company gives you a rate for a given time, and is gambling that you will not make a claim, or at least that any claim would not be for the maximum values of the policy. And the insurance companies make money, because most people never make any claims. If more people made claims, the company would have to charge more to stay in business. The insurance companies base their rates on a number of things, but mostly the risk that they think there is. This depends on lots of factors, including location, construction and what is believed to be going on there. The rates also have to do with what the companies have had to pay out in the area and also as a company. Although I live about 2000 miles from the Katrina damage, my insurance has gone up this year a significant amount. I bet the people in that area will be paying through the nose for future insurance! Another problem is that you have a wood stove. I used to live in a mobile home in which I had installed a wood stove. It was a good installation, done legally, with inspection and permits, and I never had a claim that had the slightest connection with the wood stove. But I paid huge insurance premiums and eventually the first company I had insurance with cancelled me, since they had decided to not offer insurance to any mobile homes with wood stoves any more. Then I really paid high insurance rates--the last couple of years, more than 10% of the value of the mobile home. When I built my new house, I didn't put in a wood stove, partly to avoid the high insurance rates. I liked what the guy wrote about the most expensive insurance being the insurance you don't buy. You can get by without insurance, assuming you are not required to have in by a lending agency. I know lots of people who don't have any house insurance. But they are in a position to lose everything they own if somehow they are put in a serious liability position. I know a couple of families that have had to completely start over from nothing after having house fires that were not covered by insurance. If you don't have anything, it probably doesn't mean much. But I have accumulated some things that mean something to me. So I buy insurance in an amount that I hope is sufficient to take care of any eventuality. But every few years, I do some price comparison shopping, and have found better deals at times. Check around, you might be able to save some money, but make sure you continue to be adequately protected. Good luck!
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