Tag: Richardson insurance agents

Home Insurance, Property Taxes, and Escrow Accounts

I’ve received several calls from clients over the past couple of months. In each case, they’d received a notice from their mortgage company notifying them their mortgage payment was changing due to a deficit in their escrow account. They had the option of paying the escrow shortage or it could be factored into their already increased monthly home mortgage payment. The same thing happened to Sheri and me.

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Commercial Insurance and Excess Liability Coverage

I’ve been thinking a lot about ice cream lately, specifically Blue Bell ice cream. They’ve been in the news a lot since listeria bacteria was discovered in some of their ice cream products. Officials believe that Blue Bell ice cream contaminated with listeria is responsible for the deaths of 3 people in Kansas in the past year.

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Home Insurance and Lawsuit Restrictions

Larry Taylor, a Texas State Senator from Friendswood, introduced a bill to restrict homeowners’ ability to sue insurance companies over unpaid claims. The Senate passed his bill last Wednesday in a 21 to 10 vote, and it’s headed to the House to be voted on. If approved it, the bill will go to Governor Abbott to sign or veto it.

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Flood Insurance Surcharges

I’ve started receiving letters from the National Flood Insurance Program, or NFIP, for my residential clients with flood insurance policies on their homes. These letters are being sent to all flood insurance policy holders prior to their renewal as a result of the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act, or HFIAA, of 2014. The letter notifies flood insurance policyholders of a surcharge which will be added to their upcoming renewal.

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Alzheimer’s and Long Term Care Insurance

A couple of weeks ago, Sheri and I attended a dinner at a restaurant in Dallas. We were invited by a friend of mine, Michael DeGroat, a fee only financial planner with Ameriprise. Michael believed we’d enjoy the dinner, as well as hear an interesting talk from the special guest speaker. He was absolutely right!

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Texas Car Insurance and Liability Coverage

Most Texas car insurance policies may contain up to 7 sections within them. The first section forms the foundation coverage for our car insurance. In fact, it is the only section the state of Texas requires policy holders to carry, and that’s liability coverage.

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I Got Hacked

Three weeks ago, I was outlining a post for Monday’s blog when I discovered my website had been hacked. My familiar main page featuring my latest two posts along with links to pages on home, car, life, and business insurance had been replaced by someone claiming to be a jihadist and that they now held all my previous posts. There was no request for ransom, just the smug comment they’d done this to me.

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Home Insurance and Soil Movement

There are 20 homes in Carrollton, Texas on Barclay Drive which back up to Dudley Branch Creek. The retaining wall behind the homes is failing causing the lots to sink as the soil begins to move downhill toward the creek. Some of the residents have filed a lawsuit against the city of Carrollton saying it’s responsible for repairing the retaining wall while the city contends it’s the homeowners’ responsibility to repair the wall. The estimated cost to repair the wall is $3 million. Home insurance won’t help the homeowners either.

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