Does it feel like your home insurance rates keep going up and up and up? If so, you’re not imagining it! Texas has the highest home insurance rates in the country. It’s been that way 7 out of the last 8 years. The Texas Department of Insurance presented a report to a state Senate committee on Tuesday, July 10th showing home rates have increased 21% since 2009 in the Lone Star State.
The report identified several factors contributing to this increase including,
- Insurance industry models are projecting greater property losses in the State due to hurricanes, hail storms, wildfires & other weather-related events
- Insurance company expenses have risen over the past 3 years
- Recent interest rate declines have slashed the returns on insurance company investments (a backstop to the reserves maintained for claims)
- Texas has exposure to large claim events like hurricanes, large hail storms and tornados. Throw in wildfires and the sheer scope of these events mushrooms quickly
- The average cost of an individual claim keeps rising
If everything is big in Texas, then the high average cost per loss coupled with the high exposure to large catastrophes, provides the biggest reason for our high rates.
What does this mean for each of us? It’s more important than ever to keep an eye on the cost of your insurance and evaluate it every 2 to 3 years. Knowing a good independent agent also helps.
