Hurricane Dolly struck South Padre Island on July 23, 2008 with winds near 100 miles per hour, a four foot storm surge, and 12 to 15 inches of rain. Damage to structures on the Island and in Port Isabel, across the bridge on the Texas mainland, was pretty moderate and consisted of mostly damage to roofs. Power was knocked out to most residents and businesses for one to two weeks. Anything perishable, whether in a business or home spoiled.
Driverless cars are coming, and they’re coming sooner than most of us think. One only has to search “driverless car” on Google, Yahoo, or Bing and there will appear over 3,000,000 results for your reading or viewing enjoyment. Google has retrofitted Lexus and Toyota models for testing, not to mention their 100 mini commuter cars that look very similar to a Little Tykes car my youngest son had.
I received a call from a mortgage loan officer in Dallas a few weeks ago. She was working with a couple who was buying a duplex but had not yet obtained insurance. The loan officer wondered if we could help the couple as the purchase was scheduled to close in a couple of days.
The Dallas Morning News published an interesting article on long term care (LTC) insurance over the past a few days ago. It was an excellent reminder that LTC insurance should be a part of everyone’s financial planning, especially baby boomers. Boomers are retiring at a rate of 10,000 people a day and this number is projected to continue for the next 19 years. That’s over 3.6 million people a year!
Early in my insurance career, I was attending a larger party with a number of friends when a woman came up to me with tears in her eyes. Her husband, who was coming in their other car, had been involved in an accident not far from where we were gathered and she did not know what to do. We left the party together in her car and I drove us to where the accident had occurred, a southbound service road of North Central Expressway in Dallas.
Last week, I outlined the difference between the two broad types of home insurance policies; replacement cost and actual cash value (see http://bit.ly/1qLPE5W). This week, I want to build on that post and outline what goes into determining a home’s replacement cost value.
If you think Texas car insurance rates are on the rise, it’s not your imagination. Based on a report released earlier this year by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, Texas premiums now rank 11th highest in the nation. Two years ago, we were ranked 14th highest in the nation. The average Texas car insurance premium, based on the 2009 data used for the NAIC report (the most recent nationwide data available), is now $1,022 a year. The national annual average rate is $901.
Broadly speaking, there are two types of home insurance policies; actual cash value and replacement cost. There are multiple forms with various options and coverage, but they all fit into one of these two “buckets.”
There have been some interesting articles in the news related to cars over the past few months. When taken individually they do not appear to be significant, yet when combined together, they paint an interesting picture for many Americans. The pieces of this puzzle involve rising new car prices, the growing length of car loan terms, and vehicle depreciation.
People who live in the counties along the Texas coast usually have a policy that’s unfamiliar to most homeowners in north Texas. In addition to home insurance, most homeowners in the coastal counties of Texas will also have a separate wind insurance policy. This policy specifically addresses damage to a home caused by high winds normally associated with a hurricane.
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