Our front yard tree fell on the roof - will my insurance go up if we attempt a claim?

[Wendy Quezada]

Hello community, we are new to real estate investment. Have only owned this house in Texas for a year, and our tree fell (split in half, half on the roof, half in the street). Our property management company needed to get ASAP authorization from us to get someone in there to clean it up, so we gave them the thumbs up for the $3,300 clean up fee ;-(

Next comes the roof damage estimates, will get those in a few days. My question to you awesome people: Our homeowners insurance deductible is $5,000. If the room damage puts us over that threshold, should we still consider paying out of pocket to avoid them raising our rates next year? We had a very hard time getting insured this year, due to Texas being one of those states that apparently insurance companies aren't loving these days.  So I fear trying to save money by getting the insurance company to pay for this will mean we pay more in the years to come. Would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks, all.

[Chris Merchant]

Ask your agent if a claim will increase your rate.  If it is something you can cover out of pocket that is usually the better way to go especially if the damage is only slightly over the deductible.  I know there is the school of thought of why not use it if I pay for it, but insurance is best used for major catastrophies.