Home Insurance Prices Can Vary Wildly, Survey by State Finds : Rates: Some companies might charge twice as much as others for similar coverage. Southern Californians generally have to pay more than Northern Californians.

A new state Department of Insurance survey of comparative pricing for California homeowner coverage demonstrates, once again, that if consumers shop around for insurance, it can pay off substantially.

Within the same ZIP codes, for basically the same amount of coverage, prices can easily vary more than 100% among companies, although some of the price differences may be accounted for by special discounts or credits individual companies have for particular customers and situations.

There also are considerable differences in price by geographic area, with coverage in Sacramento and other Northern California cities usually running less than the same coverage in the metropolitan areas of Southern California. But these differences are not nearly as great as in auto insurance, where premiums may be three or four times as high in the Southland as in Northern California.

Insurance Commissioner Roxani Gillespie, releasing the exhaustive statewide survey this week, said her department had surveyed 119 companies and was providing pricing charts for a selected 30 of them, representing about 80% of all the homeowners insurance sold in the state. Space limitations required a further narrowing of the range of companies and ZIP codes shown in the charts accompanying this article.

The examples provided by the Insurance Department are representative samples, but it is unlikely that a policyholder’s situation will conform precisely to any one of them. In short, the prices listed in the survey are more illustrative of prevailing patterns in certain areas than a guide to exact amounts that consumers may pay.

Khalid Al-Faris, chief of the Insurance Department’s Statistical Analysis Bureau, said a new comparative pricing survey for auto insurance will be released next month.

But Gillespie’s department has not yet complied with a provision of Proposition 103 that mandates: “Upon request, and for a reasonable fee to cover costs, the commissioner shall provide consumers with a comparison of the rate in effect for each personal line of insurance for every insurer.”

Al-Faris said the department is working on this, and plans to provide, beginning in early 1991, such information through a 900 toll-telephone service.

He said that when this starts, for a reasonable fee any consumer desiring to buy an auto, homeowner or other personal policy will be able to call the Insurance Department, give information about his or her situation, and receive quotes citing the range of prices from companies offering insurance in his or her area.

This system will be much more precise, extensive and immediately usable than the periodic surveys the department has released in recent years.

Al-Faris said the department also wishes to caution buyers of homeowners policies that the value of the policy should be pegged to the replacement value of the dwelling or contents in question, and not include the land value. A home that would sell for $250,000 might cost only about half that to replace, and the Insurance Department advises consumers not to buy $250,000 insurance on it.

One weakness revealed in the past about surveys such as the one released this week is that they do not attempt to ascertain how available the various companies’ policies might be in the specific ZIP codes listed.

Because of varying underwriting standards, companies are often far more willing to sell in some areas than others. In some areas, companies may list prices for Insurance Department surveys but do not have agents available and may even refuse all but the least-risky business.

In a statement accompanying the survey, Gillespie noted that it assumes “that the lowest applicable fire protection class applies, which means all the risks are located within a reasonable distance to a responding firefighting unit.”

The lack of such a unit would mean a sharply higher price, an illustration of how the figures should be viewed with caution.

A survey by the CalPirg consumers research organization three years ago also showed that shopping around for insurance, as Gillespie and her aides recommend, is not necessarily easy. The survey indicated that companies or agents may be unresponsive on the phone and, when they do respond, may give inaccurate quotes. Calls to different agents often elicited sharply different price quotes.

HOMEOWNER INSURANCE RATES COMPARED

The state Department of Insurance surveyed insurance companies selling homeowners coverage and the 12 companies shown in these charts are a representative sample of their comparative premiums in various areas. Four rating examples are shown here, labeled A through D, and covering policies for two differently-valued houses, as well as a condominium policy and a tenant policy. Features of the various company policies vary in some particulars, but in general coverage includes loss for fire and theft, injuries to individuals and damage to content. In homeowners policies, properties are seldom covered for their full value, since a substantial portion of that value is the land on which they are built. Generally, coverage is for the replacement value of the dweller. It is assumed that the land will still be there, even if the dwelling is destroyed. The policies cited here do not include earthquake coverage.

THE RATING EXAMPLES A: $250,000 homeowners policy on a home built in 1984 B: $125,000 homeowners policy on a home built in 1969 C: $40,000 condominium policy D: $25,000 tenant policy

State Farm Fire & Casualty Allstate SANTA ANA (zip 92704) A $679 $690 B 384 390 C 144 125 D 182 141 ANAHEIM (zip 92801) A 759 690 B 406 390 C 144 125 D 182 141 HUNTINGTON BEACH (zip 92648) A 685 690 B 364 390 C 144 125 D 182 141 LOS ANGELES (zip 90001) A 1122 1046 B 668 553 C 242 193 D 294 202 SAN DIEGO (zip 92113) A 700 605 B 378 306 C 110 99 D 140 93 EL CENTRO (zip 92243) A 805 750 B 472 425 C 110 100 D 140 105 CHULA VISTA (zip 92011) A 700 625 B 378 319 C 110 100 D 140 127 SACRAMENTO (zip 95838) A 860 779 B 490 459 C 166 168 D 218 104

Safeco SANTA ANA (zip 92704) A $579 B 369 C 143 D 180 ANAHEIM (zip 92801) A 806 B 515 C 150 D 190 HUNTINGTON BEACH (zip 92648) A 631 B 403 C 143 D 180 LOS ANGELES (zip 90001) A 954 B 629 C 289 D 227 SAN DIEGO (zip 92113) A 665 B 426 C 143 D 190 EL CENTRO (zip 92243) A 867 B 561 C 152 D 192 CHULA VISTA (zip 92011) A 557 B 353 C 143 D 190 SACRAMENTO (zip 95838) A 820 B 527 C 162 D 168

USAA Twentieth Century Aetna Prudential SANTA ANA (zip 92704) A $530 $536 $709 $567 B 321 306 326 375 C 93 145 137 147 D 156 X 172 168 ANAHEIM (zip 92801) A 530 536 983 569 B 321 306 422 376 C 93 145 137 155 D 156 X 172 177 HUNTINGTON BEACH (zip 92648) A 530 490 788 569 B 321 280 373 376 C 93 137 137 155 D 156 X 172 177 LOS ANGELES (zip 90001) A 603 762 1124 945 B 367 450 533 588 C 132 209 204 303 D 156 X 275 345 SAN DIEGO (zip 92113) A 506 457 787 501 B 306 279 372 329 C 86 113 137 133 D 156 X 172 152 EL CENTRO (zip 92243) A 626 614 1037 649 B 381 368 446 431 C 86 125 185 153 D 156 X 234 173 CHULA VISTA (zip 92011) A 506 457 765 515 B 306 279 351 314 C 86 113 137 153 D 156 X 172 173 SACRAMENTO (zip 95838) A 626 630 1285 770 B 381 376 568 476 C 109 165 157 211 D 156 X 208 241

Transamerica Farmers Liberty Mutual SANTA ANA (zip 92704) A $554 $835 $861 B 341 491 458 C 131 X 179 D 191 254 202 ANAHEIM (zip 92801) A 554 964 805 B 341 531 450 C 131 X 179 D 191 254 202 HUNTINGTON BEACH (zip 92648) A 554 853 861 B 341 486 C 131 X 179 D 191 254 202 LOS ANGELES (zip 90001) A 751 1982 1189 B 464 919 675 C 193 X 261 D 282 403 317 SAN DIEGO (zip 92113) A 568 1031 750 B 351 537 428 C 131 X 139 D 191 210 153 EL CENTRO (zip 92243) A 821 1140 919 B 463 624 521 C 163 X 139 D 237 280 172 CHULA VISTA (zip 92011) A 554 948 750 B 341 515 428 C 131 X 139 D 191 210 153 SACRAMENTO (zip 95838) A 633 1408 1002 B 391 795 530 C 163 X 160 D 237 348 249

Auto Club of So. California Calfarm SANTA ANA (zip 92704) A $643 $604 B 449 360 C 139 200 D 224 255 ANAHEIM (zip 92801) A 643 676 B 449 403 C 139 200 D 224 255 HUNTINGTON BEACH (zip 92648) A 566 622 B 400 371 C 139 200 D 224 255 LOS ANGELES (zip 90001) A 918 $080 B 645 711 C 203 268 D 258 297 SAN DIEGO (zip 92113) A 570 578 B 393 370 C 119 154 D 171 193 EL CENTRO (zip 92243) A 675 672 B 461 420 C 122 183 D 174 232 CHULA VISTA (zip 92011) A 542 907 B 375 538 C 119 267 D 171 297 SACRAMENTO (zip 95838) A X 772 B X 506 C X 198 D X 250

X: Not available Source: California Department of Insurance

Compiled by Times Researcher Michael Meyers