The Bob Dylan song, The Times They Are A-Changing, has never been more appropriate than now when it comes to Texas home insurance. This is especially true with insurance companies and how they are grappling with home insurance rates, hail claims, and how to cover roofs.
This sparked my thinking about what advice I’d give on the insurance side of personal finances to help you confirm you’re adequately covered and hopefully pay less than you did this year! So get out your policies, flip to the declaration pages, and let’s see what we can do in 30 minutes or less!
There are two blog posts I’ve written in the past several months on car related topics. One involved the airbag recall fracas between the auto makers, the air bag manufacturer, Takata, and Congress (see http://50.87.248.161/~wiseinsu/air-bags-recalls-mysteries-driving-changes/). The other involved our privacy rights from the auto makers (see http://50.87.248.161/~wiseinsu/privacy-rights-and-your-car/). I felt it was time to revisit and update these posts due to the movement in both of these stories.
Texas home insurance rates continue to climb and remain the highest in the country. The two reasons most insurance companies give for Texas having the highest rates are weather and the cost of claims. The top four types of home insurance claims as reported in a Texas Department of Insurance study are hail, water damage, hurricane winds, and fire. The combined total insurance companies paid out in claims was over $25 billion. Individually, hail claims accounted for $7.6 billion, water damage was $7.3 billion, hurricane winds was $6.2 billion and the amount paid for fire claims was $4.3 billion.
Sheri and I were returning to Dallas after visiting family in Birmingham for Thanksgiving. A friend and client called me on my cell phone. Since it was Saturday, that usually means a couple of things such as they need help with a claim or a copy of their ID card because they’re getting their car inspected. In this case, it was neither, she was in the process of buying a new car, and before driving off the lot with her new car, the finance manager wanted to confirm she has a current and active car insurance policy.
Winter’s here, and in north Texas, that means some cool to moderate temperatures with some hard freezes thrown in, and just maybe, some snow or an ice storm. With that in mind, let’s examine what you can do to avoid a home insurance claim this winter, which will keep your rates down for years to come.
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