Home Insurance Across the OKC Metro: Why Edmond, Norman, Moore, and Oklahoma City Aren't the Same

If you live around here, you have probably had this conversation. You find out a friend across town pays a good bit less for home insurance than you do, even though your houses look about the same size and age. So what gives?

The honest answer is that where you live in the metro matters. A lot. The Oklahoma City area is big, and the risks change as you move from one city to the next. Two houses that look identical on paper can sit in very different risk pictures depending on which side of the metro they are on.
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Here is how I actually think about it for the families I work with.

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​Oklahoma City: a little bit of everything

Oklahoma City is the anchor of the whole metro, and it is huge. That is the first thing to understand. You have got historic neighborhoods near the core with older roofs and older wiring, and you have got brand new builds out on the edges. Those two homes do not price the same way, even in the same zip code.

The constant across all of OKC is weather. Hail and straight line wind do most of the damage we see in claims, and those storms do not care what neighborhood you live in. On top of that, rebuild costs have climbed with the price of materials and labor.

​We write Oklahoma City home insurance for homeowners all over the metro, and if you want the longer breakdown on why pricing has moved, I also wrote about what actually makes it expensive.

Edmond: newer homes and higher rebuild numbers

Edmond sits on the north side of the metro, and a lot of the housing stock is newer and on the larger side. That is great for living in, but it pushes your dwelling coverage up, because it costs more to rebuild a bigger, newer home if a storm takes the roof or worse.
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Higher home values also mean you want to double check your coverage limits are actually keeping up. I see a fair number of Edmond homeowners who have not updated their policy since they bought, and replacement costs have moved since then. If you are up north, here is more on Edmond home insurance and coverage for the north metro.

Norman: really two markets in one

Norman is its own animal. You have got the older homes and rentals around campus and Campus Corner, and then you have got the newer developments out in south Norman. Those are two pretty different insurance pictures inside the same city.
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Older homes near OU can carry roof, plumbing, and electrical age that insurers care about. Newer south Norman homes price more like the suburbs. And if you own a rental near campus, that is a landlord policy, not a homeowner policy, which trips people up all the time. If you are down in Cleveland County, here is how we handle Norman home insurance for homeowners and renters.

Moore: right in the path

Moore is the one everybody thinks about, and for good reason. The city sits in the heart of the tornado corridor and has taken direct hits, including the 1999 and 2013 storms that a lot of families here lived through. When I write a policy for a Moore homeowner, wind and tornado risk is the headline, not a footnote.
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The big thing to watch in Moore is your wind and hail deductible. A lot of Oklahoma policies use a percentage deductible for wind and hail instead of a flat dollar amount, and that can be a much bigger number than people realize when a real storm hits. Roof age and roof type matter a lot here too. If you are in Moore, please read my piece on Oklahoma home insurance for tornadoes before your next renewal.

What is really driving the differences

Once you set the cities side by side, the same handful of factors keep showing up:

• Roof age and material. This is the single biggest one in Oklahoma. An older roof or the wrong material can raise your rate or get a claim treated differently.
• Rebuild cost, not market value. Insurance covers what it costs to rebuild, which is not the same as what you could sell for. Bigger and newer homes cost more to rebuild, which is a lot of the Edmond story.
• Your deductible structure. Especially that wind and hail percentage deductible. Two policies with the same premium can leave you with very different out of pocket costs after a storm.
• The claims history of your area. Insurers look at how often storms hit your part of the metro. Moore reads differently than far north Edmond.

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None of these are things you can change overnight, but knowing which ones apply to your house is half the battle.

What you can actually do about it

​A few things help no matter which city you are in. Keep your roof in good shape and keep the paperwork when you replace it. Know your wind and hail deductible before storm season, not after. Make sure your dwelling limit reflects today's rebuild costs, not what you paid years ago. And shop it with an independent agent who can compare several carriers, because the carrier that is cheapest in Edmond is not always the cheapest in Moore.

Let's look at your specific house

Every one of these cities has its own quirks, and so does every home. If you want a straight answer on whether you are paying too much or carrying the wrong coverage for where you live, that is exactly what I am here for.
Book a free consultation and we will go through your policy together, no pressure.

get the best oklahoma home insurance!

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Scott Godwin
Founder

Oklahoma Insurance Professionals LLC serves Oklahoma City and the surrounding Oklahoma communities by protecting the people we work with just like we protect our own family members. Home insurance, auto insurance, business insurance, and more. 

Whether in Moore, Edmond, Norman, Oklahoma City or surrounding areas, We can help you find the coverage you need.