In this YouTube interview, Tucson realtor Tony Ray Baker talks with Rosa Quintana of American Family Insurance about the recent surge in insurance premiums for both homes and automobiles. Rosa explains that post‑COVID driving patterns, higher vehicle technology costs, rising construction material and labor expenses, and increased claim costs have driven industry‑wide rate hikes. Tony highlights how replacement cost for homes has doubled as construction prices rose from $150 to $300 per square foot, creating a gap between market value and the amount needed to rebuild. They discuss the pitfalls of low‑cost online policies that often lack essential endorsements, and stress the importance of side‑by‑side policy comparisons. Tony shares his personal experience switching to American Family, noting substantially lower premiums while gaining additional coverages such as umbrella and identity‑theft protection, and praises the agency’s personalized customer service, including assistance with cross‑border insurance. The conversation concludes with Rosa providing the Tucson office address (4319 East Broadway Blvd) and phone number (520‑323‑0017) for viewers to contact the agency.
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So Rosa, I was just talking to a friend of mine and it was a very interesting conversation because she said that her insurance, I don't remember if it was on her, I don't remember if it was a car or if it was home insurance, but she said her insurance had gone up like from $1,000 to $1,300 overnight. And she was calling me to ask what was going on because she couldn't believe that her insurance company had jumped the price, and she said nothing had changed. And I thought, you know, I'm gonna call Rosa because I've heard wind of insurance prices jumping, and I think I know why, but I know you know why. So what's happening in the industry that insurance rates are going up?
Well, you know, it's been coming for a little bit, and it was, We have to go back a little bit to when COVID happened and nobody was driving, nobody was on the road, and it slowly started picking up. So we saw a small increase after that because then there was more people on the road. But a lot more has happened than that. Vehicles, the cost of vehicles, the technology that is in the vehicles has gone up. The cost of claims has gone up. And the cost of labor. So many things have gone up. And the industry wasn't able to keep up in such a short period of time. It is a lot of increase in a very short period of time. We are seeing a lot of growth. And it is industry-wide, but it is necessary. And the important thing is that people are going to continue to be covered for all of these things.
Yeah, that's interesting that you— OK, because I'm with American Family. Darren and I have like 14 policies, as you know. And it was interesting because I remember I remember we got a check after COVID, like year 1 or 2, we got a refund check of some kind, and I was like, what the heck? So I wasn't thinking about the fact that nobody was driving cars. And also, I would— now that I— my thought was this was all around home insurance, but now I'm thinking cars as well, now that you brought that up, because the cost to build a house used to be $150 a square foot, and now it's $300 a square foot, which means that replacement cost on homeowner's policy is gonna be that much higher because many homes doubled their equity position. A $400,000 house could be worth $800,000 in just the last 3 or 4 years, right?
Absolutely. And, and with the insurance, something to think about is, is the value of the home is very different than the replacement cost of the home. Yeah. The homes in themselves, we're looking— the, the main part of it is the cost of the building materials, but also the cost of labor. There's a delay in labor and there's— that causes the prices to go up. And it goes across the board. It works for autos too. You see that in the auto shops, but definitely with homes and the cost to build a home has increased substantially.
Yeah, that's crazy. I actually ran into a friend of mine, a real estate agent in another city. They have a neighborhood where the houses didn't go up in value like all the rest. And the interesting thing is the cost to build the house is higher than the value perceived by the appraisal community and the real estate community. So if somebody has— if something happens to that property, it's actually worth less than it would cost to build. Now, that's kind of crazy.
That is.
So there's some— that's happening out there, but I'm sure all this is going to catch up. But the, I guess the takeaway from all this is, for me, is that if you have insurance and it goes up, I would highly recommend that you do what Darren and I did. And this was interesting, is many years ago when we met you, we came to American Family, it was because we did our homework. And what we had done was we had gone to 3 or 4 different insurance agencies, and we had them lay out— all of you laid out the exact same insurance coverage side by side. And because it's really easy, a lot of these insurance companies, especially these onliners, those ones, I just like online mortgages, are just, uh, no service and, and cheap prices. But those cheap prices come with a problem, and that is typically they have no coverage. They're, they're baiting somebody by low pricing, but they don't have that type of coverage that you would want or you really do need it, right?
Well, you do want to be careful with that. Absolutely. There's the biggest aspect of it is we can throw out the number. Okay, we're going to insure this home for $300,000. And another company can say we're going to insure it for $300,000 too. But are you receiving service line endorsement, equipment breakdown? There's so much more to it. So you want to do— you do want to make sure that you have an agent that's going to look at all of these things for you. And you may not need equipment breakdown, and that's fine, but you should be offered the opportunity opportunity to apply it to, to your situation, right?
Absolutely. Yeah, definitely. And that was what was interesting when Darren and I were looking side by side at the policies. Uh, American Family came in substantially lower, by the way, so not just a little but substantially lower. But we kept like looking at it over and over because it was, oh my God, it's lower but it's got way more insurance coverage. Is that even possible? And what was interesting for us is by making the switch, we actually ended up with two really great insurance policies that were in the price of that, that we didn't have prior. So we got umbrella policies and identity theft, and we got all these other things, and we didn't have that before. So that was really awesome for us. And that's why I want to talk to you today, because I really think you out there that are watching right now, do your homework. If you want to save money, do your homework. So I would call Rosa and bring your insurance policy. If it's not American Family, bring your current insurance policy to you, right? Absolutely. Let you compare side by side. And if they're in a good spot, you'll tell them, hey, you're in a good— just stay where you are.
That's absolutely correct. Right now, the increases that we're seeing are industry-wide. Some might be a little higher, some might be a little lower. American Family's prices are not— they're not over the top, really. We have great pricing and great rates. What it comes down to is your— what you need. What do you need? What do you have? And just make sure that you're covered because the worst calls that I get is the call that, hey, I had this happen and that happened. And if you don't have the coverage and those are the calls that I get like, hey, I just had a claim and I submitted a claim and I didn't have the coverage that I needed. So. Right.
And I'm sure. And had I known it was an extra $10 a month, I would have taken it.
Exactly.
Hadn't someone just told me, let me, let me choose off the menu. Let me pick the things I want to eat, right?
Exactly. Exactly. You know, we all want to, we all want to go and order for ourselves. It's not, it's no fun when other people order for you. Right.
And then the, and I'll say this, the end, the crème de la crème, is that the right way? Darren's behind the camera. The icing on the cake, the strawberry on the top for me is not only were we able to move our policies and get such great insurance, But the customer service from this office specifically has been phenomenal. And we, anytime we need, even going to, we go to Mexico, we get our Mexico insurance to run down with the cars and in everything we need, you guys have just been there. I mean, it's just been amazing. And there's that exceptional service, which is that you look at stuff and say, you really don't need this or you really do need that. And that's, we really appreciate that.
Absolutely. Well, thank you for saying that, because that's what the goal is, 100%.
Yeah, right? We would hope all businesses will start taking this goal and start making it their own, because we have seen in all industries that customer service has been a dying thing. Not the word I'm looking for, but it's sadly dying. And what we need to do is start rewarding the people who give exceptional customer service and making that the norm again. And so I'm always thrilled to be around it. So I can have someone call you at American Family. What is the address here on Broadway?
The address here is 4319 East Broadway Boulevard. We are on the northeast corner of Broadway and Columbus.
Yeah, right by the gas station at Broadway Columbus. And what's the phone number to call to you?
The phone number here is 520- 323-0017.
Okay, and they should say, "Hey, we watched this video with crazy Darren and Tony Ray Baker." Absolutely.
Friends of Tony's are friends of mine. Friends of Darren's are friends of mine.
Awesome. Well, thank you so much. I really appreciate you enlightening me on this subject. I've been dying to talk to you about it.
