Living here on the gulf coast aka Hurricane Ally, one has to expect high homeowners insurance due to the number of hurricanes since 2004 starting with Hurricane Ivan and the following year disasters of Katrina and company. Some people sold their homes because they could not afford the high cost of Homeowners insurance. In some cases, State Farm, Allstate and other insurers have stopped writing policies to people who live within a certain range of the gulf waters.

When I bought my home, in June of 2005, my annual insurance premium was slightly over $800.00. I got my latest declarations page a couple of weeks ago to find out my annual premium had gone up to the staggering amount of $2500. I just couldn't take anymore. I wasn't optimistic of finding anything lower in these difficult times. But, I checked around anyway. Long story short, I found a nationally respected insurance company that offered me the same level of insurance at just slightly less than half of that $2500 annual premium of my (then) homeowners insurer. I jumped on that offer with both feet.

So, then I tried to call the national toll free line to cancel my homeowners policy. I got the "all our customer representatives are busy at present. Your call is very important to us. Please hold on to the line and someone will assist you shortly." After 15 minutes of holding, I quit. So, I did the one thing I dreaded; I called my insurance agent to give her the bad news. I remembered her reaction two years ago when I canceled my car and truck insurance with her company. She took it personally. I expected her to do the same thing time. And, of course, she did not disappoint me. She said I should have let her know that I needed to get my premium down and she would work with me. I asked her just how much could she bring my annual premium down from the $2500 annual premium. She said, "Oh, I'm sure I could get it down perhaps $200, maybe $250. I told her I had gotten insurance that was almost $1200 less than the $2500 her insurance company was charging me. Then she went on about how her company offers so much more for the money, blah, blah. I then asked her one simple question; "If you had a chance to save $1200 on your homeowners insurance, wouldn't you take it?" She told me she had to go and hung up.

Well, regardless, I found out that even in these difficult economic times, you can find deals to save yourself money. You just have to be patient and keep trying. Every dollar you can save counts. I daresay even insurance agents will jump at the chance to save a couple of dollars. Or, in my cast, about $1200.