I've owned 4 homes between 1980 and the one I bought May 11. I've never had a company quote a price for a certain coverage, I pay, and then 5 weeks later I get a bill for a lot more, based on what the underwriters decided. This just happened to me twice! First Travelers (which I canceled) and now State Farm.

The house is in good condition, so it's not that. It's not my credit history and I've never filed a claim on house or car. Travelers decided that I owed more based on some hugely inflated value (almost 200K more than I paid, and a lot more than the town appraisal). State Farm I can't get an answer from, even though I have a local agent who just says he's 'sorry, he estimated wrong.' The discounts section of the bill (for combining car, etc) is totally blank, despite clearly getting them according to the agent.

Is this some new racket, quotes are only estimates, we pay, we find out at least a month later that it's going to be a lot higher??

When I've purchsed home owners insurance the company has always sent someone out to see the property before they would finalize the policy and price. All conversations on the phone prior to that were only estimates of the policy coverage amount, obviously based on what I had paid for the property. But remember that the purchase price includes both land and buildings, whereas the insurance covers buildings and liability, so the purchase price can only be used as an estimate for coverage.

The inspection by the insurance company typcially takes place within a day or two of requesting coverage, prior to closing on the purchase of the property. It seems in your case that they didn't send an inspector for several weeks? And you closed on the property before having insurance lined up?

I paid cash and didn't buy insurance for a week or two.
Nothing about this made sense.
Paid 262K
Town appraisal (not assessment) land and house 362K
Travelers wanted to insure just the house for 429K some weeks after I paid, said the premium would be higher but didn't say what, just to sign a form if I accepted - so I didn't.
Then the State Farm agent quoted with a bunch of discounts, but they don't show on the bill, and the agent just says 'sorry.' The quote went from $514 to $691 without explanation.