A U.S. home or auto premium can rise even when that household filed no claim, because the insurer prices the expected cost of future claims rather than billing one address for a quiet year. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners makes that mechanism plain in an explainer dated November 19, 2024. As of a check on October 31, 2026, the page still has no premium index, no named 2026 renewal, and no dollar change. Location, personal risk, repairs, weather, litigation, and reinsurance can move the price while that household's own claim file stays empty.
The premium prices future claims
A premium is the money a policyholder pays for coverage, and insurers set it from the expected cost of future claims. A claim-free year does not freeze the estimate. The page also does not report a profit margin, investment return, or loss ratio, so a higher renewal cannot be read from this source as profit or as proof that the household caused a payout.
State law, in the NAIC's summary, says rates cannot be excessive, inadequate, or unfairly discriminatory. Allowed factors differ by state, so a trait named in a national explainer is not automatically used in every filing.
Place and the household can both move the price
Location is a rating fact: where a car is kept and where a house stands. Distance from a hydrant and the quality of the local fire department determine the fire-protection class.
The auto list includes the driving record, such as tickets and crashes; claims history; age or years of driving experience; gender and marital status; annual mileage; the type of car and what it costs to fix or replace; coverage limits and deductibles; and an insurance score. The NAIC describes that score as a rating of how likely someone is to file a claim, and says it includes some credit-based factors.
The home list includes claims history, replacement cost of the home and contents, insurance score, deductible, age of the home, and the age and maintenance of materials and the roof. New homes may qualify for discounts. Older homes may fall outside preferred programs, and an insurer may require updated heating, plumbing, wiring, and roofing. A ticket, more miles, an older roof, or a changed insurance score can raise the premium while claims history stays clean.
Repair costs, weather, lawsuits, and reinsurance
Major weather catastrophes can damage more homes and cars and generate more claims. Those costs can enter the expected claims of people who were not themselves claimants. The page does not identify a particular storm, a loss total, or a state.
Labor and materials tend to cost more in more populated parts of the United States and when supply is limited. If fixing a covered car or rebuilding a covered house becomes more expensive, the premium can rise even though this household made no claim. Replacement cost is not market value.
Inflation and interest rates are listed because they influence real estate values and the prices of goods. Litigation is listed as a rising cost.
Reinsurance is the insurer's own insurance. The NAIC says its cost has risen significantly and that the same weather, repair, inflation, interest-rate, and litigation pressures affect it. No percentage is supplied. Part of the premium can reflect that protection, which can become more expensive without a claim at the address.
Paying less usually means keeping more of the loss
Get quotes from several insurers and compare the same coverages. Replacement-cost policies give more protection than actual-cash-value policies, and the NAIC says their premiums will likely be higher. The gap is coverage, not a profit figure on this page.
A deductible is the amount the household pays before the insurer pays its share. Choosing a higher deductible reduces the homeowners premium, but only by leaving more of a future claim with the household. The page tells readers to ask whether the deductible is a fixed dollar amount or a percentage of the home's insured value.
The figures below are assumed, not a quote. If insured replacement cost is $400,000 and the deductible is 2 percent of that value, the household's first layer is 0.02 times $400,000, or $8,000. If the insured value later is $450,000 and the percentage is unchanged, that layer is 0.02 times $450,000, or $9,000. A percentage deductible can therefore grow with the insured value even when the household has filed nothing.
Other steps change the contract, not just the price. Dropping comprehensive or collision can cut the premium on a low-value vehicle and removes coverage for damage to that car. Bundling, a defensive-driving course, a claims-free record, safety equipment, alarms, sprinklers, or an affiliated credit-union account may help only if offered. Telematics and credit-based insurance scores depend on the program and on state law. Roof and home-upgrade grants, and any related rebate, have to be confirmed with the state insurance department.
What this explainer still cannot say in 2026
"Premiums for home and auto insurance are increasing" is the NAIC's statement on the page dated November 19, 2024, not a new October 2026 measurement. Reinsurance is described as significantly more expensive, without a table. Weather, litigation, inflation, and repair costs are named as channels, not assigned shares of any bill.
A renewal can rise for reasons that never appear as one household's claim and still fit the mechanism the NAIC describes. It can also rise because mileage, a ticket, the car, the roof, the deductible, or the insurance score changed. The page cannot separate those causes for a real household. Check the declarations and comparable quotes for replacement cost, the deductible form, applied discounts, and any state mitigation notice. Until those documents are in hand, the 2024 explainer is a pricing map, not this year's bill.