I am a regular contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Real Estate Section. In May 2025, this is how I answered their question:
Are there any ways to pay lower premiums for homeowners insurance, or reduce the risk of being dropped? #
Lower premiums? That’s unlikely. State Farm requested another rate hike just this week.
Remaining insured is the bigger challenge. As a homeowner, your best bet isn’t just shopping around—it’s going on offense. That means doing the “non-sexy” upgrades that matter: roofs, electrical, and seismic. If you work on your roof, you can do some good simultaneously, solar panels or something more grounded. Our home’s shingles, for example, supposedly help reduce smog (through science).
Upgrading electrical systems—especially if you have Federal Pacific panels or knob-and-tube wiring—can allow for LED lighting, more outlets, EV charging, and A/C. It may even let you insulate exterior walls, improving efficiency and dampening sound between neighbors. In wildfire zones, clearing vegetation and updating roofs, siding, windows, and fences to ember-resistant materials may help (but it’s still tough simply by virtue of location). Check your wood decks too.
In all cases, keep upgrade documentation—including permits (you got those, right?). Insurers may seem arbitrary and calculated (e.g., satellite imagery used to flag old roofs or ones that pond rainwater), but doing just some of the above will make your home safer, more efficient, and more likely to stay covered.
