Homeowners insurance costs are on the rise and that trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down. According to S&P Global, homeowners insurance rose nearly 11% between 2021 and 2022.
That could be one reason why many homeowners are delaying home repairs.
According to the latest Nationwide Agency Forward survey, within the past year, 44% of homeowners said they have delayed performing routine maintenance tasks and 31% are delaying necessary renovations and repairs.
More than a quarter of the homeowners surveyed (26%) reported that they are unaware that delaying necessary home maintenance can have implications for their homeowners policy.
Some 78% of respondents said they have deferred necessary maintenance because of inflation and rising prices.
Among those surveyed, the most common types of home maintenance or renovations that are delayed are roof repair or replacement and kitchen and bathroom remodeling.
Baby boomers (38%) are less likely than Gen X (50%) and millennial (52%) homeowners to delay home maintenance needs.
“As a homeowner, it’s important to protect your property from further damage when there is a known issue,” said Beth Riczko, Nationwide’s president of P&C Personal Lines. “When a claim is filed, there are many factors reviewed during the investigation that may impact whether the claim is covered, including if the insured followed policy conditions. For example, when shingles are damaged on a roof and aren’t repaired causing interior damage, there could be coverage impacts.”
In addition to putting off home maintenance, 71% of agents surveyed reported policyholders are reducing their homeowners coverage to save money.
The most common homeowners claims, according to agents, resulted from weather-related damage and fire damage. Most agents reported an increase in both over the past year.
The survey found that 43% of homeowners have filed a claim in the past, with more than half (56%) related to weather, 37% for water damage and 13% for fire damage.
More than 8 in 10 homeowners believe their home is insured to the right value (87%), though many remain concerned that their policy might not cover certain types of damages or incidents (54%) or that they may not have enough coverage in case of a major loss or catastrophe (47%).
“Homeowners should assess coverage needs and determine if they have enough coverage to reflect rising repair costs due to inflation,” said Riczko.
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