Home insurance is a changeable business, in large part because real estate is a dynamic market. Actuarial experts crunch the numbers as neighborhood values rise and fall and construction costs ebb and flow in order to develop models that help insurance companies manage their risk.
Since your homeowners insurance rate naturally flows from these models, it follows that rates can change as well -- sometimes in your favor. In some cases, new models are used to establish lower rates to attract new customers.
"Many insurance companies have tiered rating now, and if you don't quite fit into the perfect mold because of something that might have been on your credit report, you could be paying more than necessary because you haven't cleared that up," says Flannagan.
"Even your address can have an impact on it, because when you bought that policy, CLUE, or Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange, reports might not have been part of the underwriting, but now they are."
New ratings credit: Call your agent. Sometimes, you can even save money by applying for a new policy with the same company.