Getting homeowners insurance used to be a matter of filling out an application and sending in a check for the first month's premium. But today, insurance of many kinds is harder to find, less affordable and offers less protection than at any time in years. As a result, homeowners are shopping around, changing companies more often, negotiating harder, and in some cases, reducing or eliminating their insurance coverage.

Four percent of homeowners don't purchase homeowners insurance to protect their properties, according to the Insurance Information Institute (III). More than 17 percent have responded to recent price increases and other issues by reducing coverage, while nearly 31 percent have increased deductibles, says the III.

While insurers' moves to end covering such things as mold claims is an issue, cost is the major homeowners insurance complaint. It's not just affecting health coverage, either. Premiums for all types of insurance have risen broadly and steadily for years, and nearly half of all homeowners saw 10 to 20 percent increases during the first three months of 2002, according to The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers.

Affordable insurance is harder to find today because of higher damage claims, lower investment returns and industry consolidation, according to Eric Andersen, New York City national managing director for the financial services group at AON Risk Services, a retail insurance brokerage.

Haig Artan of HDA Insurance Brokerage encourages insurance-seekers to return the scrutiny by taking a careful look at the insurance companies themselves, particularly their credit ratings. If a carrier becomes insolvent, any claims you make go into receivership and may be paid years later at pennies on the dollar. Ask your broker for information on insurers' ratings for credit risk, and stick to those with stellar ratings.

So far, only a small percentage of homeowners insurance users report problems with getting claims paid. But if trends continue, the number may rise, and the response could be drastic among those who pay their premiums, then see their claims refused.

No homeowners insurance is completely indispensable, just as no insurance perfectly protects a property owner from all risks. Insurance needs vary widely by homeowner, location and other characteristics. Personal liability coverage may be important for some homeowners, while greater contents coverage is more critical to others. Perhaps most broadly valuable is insurance that allows homeowners to get good advice from a capable insurance broker who is clearly not hungry at every opportunity to attempt a sale of an additional insurance product.

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