I've been selling insurance for almost 10 years. Insurance companies look at frequency of claims vs. actual dollar amount of the claims. Whether you put in a $1000 claim or a $100K claim, you get the same surcharge (almost always for three years).

In my previous example for the $900 annual premium, you get that rate with no incidents for the past three year period. In actuality, it's a $1500 base premium and you're getting a 40% discount for being claims free (let's assume all things equal with no other discounts being applied). However, when you place a claim and lose that 40% discount, it's jumps up to that $1500 base premium. And because you're premium was at the $900 price, that discount you're losing becomes a 67% increase! Of course, different companies have different underwriting guidelines but this is the typical hit that a homeowner will see.