My homeowners insurance almost doubled this year. How shopping around helped me save

Like many homeowners, when my husband and I opened our home insurance renewal email recently, our jaws dropped. The annual premium to insure our home in Aurora, Colorado, was nearly doubling — from about $5,600 to almost $10,000. This would also push our monthly mortgage payment up by several hundred dollars.

Confused and reeling, we called our insurance agent for an explanation. The agent told us that claim costs were up about 60% to 80% in our area in recent years, so premiums were going up to account for it...