Currently with Geico/Homesite. Current policy $3500. Same policy up for renewal is $4200. So shopped it around again. A couple of different brokers BOTH came back with quotes thru SageSure underwritten by Auros Reciprocal Insurance.

I had never heard of Auros or reciprocal insurance so my knowledge is only what the broker is telling me (gets a commission) and what I can find on Google.

What does the OB think/know of Auros and reciprocal structured insurance groups?


A somewhat related question, Geico/Homesite still has me at $1k AOP and 1% wind/hail and 5% Hurricane. They won't go below 5% on storms.
Meanwhile Auros will only go as low as 1% on AOP but will come down to 2% on hurricane (obviously premium jumps a lot for that). I'm really thinking that $1k AOP is really nice to have and by keeping it might "grandfather" me in a bit

Here is Claude AI results. Seems to be a good company as any. It goes on to say check with your lender if they accept policies from them.

And what is AOP?

Have you shopped it thru Liere? They save me somewhere around 50% on a home/auto package deal.

When you say they won't come down below 5% on storms, you're talking about wind and hail?

Insurance companies are really tired of buying roofs, so this is getting more and more common. But just know at 5% on wind and hail, you won't get anything for your roof in a major hail storm. Gotta be prepared for that.

Liere was my go-to insurance broker for mortgage referrals for over 10 years. But the last 3 years or so they have been very average. Including my personal policy.

I've had to shop my policy every year for 3 years. Insurance companies strategy is to low ball a new policy holder hoping the next bump the customer will just pay and stay.

So the OP might be on to something using this broker. They are underwriting with a significant emphasis on local risk. Traditional underwriting is much more broad based risk management. So Houston is just Houston. But there is significant difference between Pearland and Woodlands.

Oh and I'm generalizing Houston but the basic premise is the same.

to answer a few questions from different replies at one time:

I don't have a mortgage so this is just what we want for protection. No other requirements.

AOP is all other perils. So basically you've got a deductible for wind/hail damage, a different deductible for damage from a hurricane. And then another deductible for anything else. For example, we get a freeze and pipe breaks, that falls under All Other Perils. Sage/Auros and other companies quote this at 1% of dwelling. GEICO is the only one that still has it at just $1,000 deductible.

Yes, I've tried Liere in the past. They didn't do any better than the brokers I've shopped around here (Houston).

By "storms" I meant Hurricane.

For wind/hail I'd probably never go above 2%. Any deductible higher than that I could likely use to pay for the roof entirely with cash and not have to involve insurance.

I shop Home and Auto every time they are up for renewal.

Agree with Steve Bott. I used Liere for years but my home owners insurance doubled from $4,500 to over $9K last year. They said they shopped it and were able to come off $500.

I shopped them and ended up with Rollo. They got me a policy with an insurance carrier i'd never heard of. Came out to $4,300 and was still able to keep the 1% deductible for the roof. My guess is I will have to shop it in a month or two when it comes up for renewal again.

Insurance just sucks now days.

Jason_Roofer said:

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lotsofhp said:

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When you say they won't come down below 5% on storms, you're talking about wind and hail?

Insurance companies are really tired of buying roofs, so this is getting more and more common. But just know at 5% on wind and hail, you won't get anything for your roof in a major hail storm. Gotta be prepared for that.

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I encourage higher deductibles. The 5% is based on appraised home value so insurance will still cover a small or large part of the roof depending on home value.

I still encourage higher deductibles. Get your home insured for catastrophic loss, not for a re-roof that may or MAY NOT come every 5 years.

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Actually the 5% is based on the coverage amount of the policy for the dwelling. If your home is insured for $400,000 the 5% deductible is $20,000

Jason_Roofer said:

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Get your home insured for catastrophic loss, not for a re-roof that may or MAY NOT come every 5 years.

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Exactly my line of thinking and why I like AOP at only $1,000 for near the same premium as those who's AOP would be $5k. Fire....$1,000.....water from pipe break (not flooding)....$1,000

If roof that is 2 years old is damaged from wind/hail...even at 2% I'm around $11k...which I know the new roof would cost more than that even if I was doing it on my own and not with insurance involved.

5% for hurricane....if a hurricane rips up part of the house its going to be significant damage and will easily cost more than the deductible

I used kin.com this year. Basically an AI or search engine instead of a broker. I think the lowest quote came back like $6k to $7k below what I was paying. The shocking part is that I sent it to State Farm and they made a few minor adjustments and matched/beat the quote from kin.com (don't remember who the actual provider was).

Good luck with State Farm, especially if there is a disaster.

RethinkTheWeekend said:

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I used kin.com this year. Basically an AI or search engine instead of a broker. I think the lowest quote came back like $6k to $7k below what I was paying. The shocking part is that I sent it to State Farm and they made a few minor adjustments and matched/beat the quote from kin.com (don't remember who the actual provider was).

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Did it inundate you with calls and emails?

I had a number of hurricane Harvey claims and State Farm was the first to get resolved. We sued all their others. Only experience I had making a claim with State Farm. But yes in general I hate all home insurance companies.

No. I don't recall getting one call or email. If I did it wasn't more than one or two because it doesn't stand out.

RethinkTheWeekend said:

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No. I don't recall getting one call or email. If I did it wasn't more than one or two because it doesn't stand out.

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Thanks. Will give it a try. Just have had bad luck in the past where you use a site like that and your phone blows up 30 seconds after you hit enter.

Kin is good and easy to work with from my end. I do like working with them but I am part of their managed repair program. If you get a policy, check for verbiage about 'right to repair' and decide if you want that.

For me, Kin calls me directly. They tell me I am replacing John Smith's roof. I go look at the project, measure, provide the estimate to Kin and they approve it. They have already decided the roof needs to be replaced, they have selected me to do it, and they will pay me directly and collect appropriate funds from John Smith. So, make sure that is in line with how you want to operate.

Try Kin.

Try Costco, if you are a member.

I'm going to shop them when my policy is up in February. I would imagine that their customer base is mostly upper middle class so they might offer competitive rates.

we tried costco last year and they weren't even close. then we tried them for auto when my son turned 16 and same thing

talked with another broker who quoted thru Swyfft which the policy underwritter is Hadron. It came in much cheaper and had wind/hail/storm at 1%

now looking up Swyfft/Hadron to see if they are worth a damn

trip98 said:

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we tried costco last year and they weren't even close. then we tried them for auto when my son turned 16 and same thing

talked with another broker who quoted thru Swyfft which the policy underwritter is Hadron. It came in much cheaper and had wind/hail/storm at 1%

now looking up Swyfft/Hadron to see if they are worth a damn

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Thanks for the intel!