Archive for the ‘insurance news’ Category

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Thursday Filmstrip: Century 21 Superbowl Commercial

February 2nd, 2012 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in friday filmstrips, homeowners insurance, insurance news

This Sunday is the 2012 Superbowl. It’s a day of fun, family, and food, and even if you’re not particularly interested in the game itself, chances are you’re tuning in to watch the commercials.

This one is from Century 21 – we’re sharing it because we think it’s a great ad, but also because we want to remind you that when you buy a new home, you also have to shop for homeowners insurance – you can’t have one without the other.

In any case, enjoy the video, and the game.

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Alabama Still Tallying Insurance Claims from April 2011 Tornado

January 13th, 2012 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in insurance news, insurance specialists, tornado insurance

The Birmingham News, reported recently that insurers have paid out at least $2.2 billion in claims from a tornado that struck last April 27th, and said there are still over 2,500 claims pending.

Those numbers are from the Alabama Department of Insurance, and include amounts that state-regulated insurance companies have paid for damage to businesses, cars, homes, and other property, but does not include any claims that were paid by insurers such as Lloyd’s of London that have policies in Alabama but are not subject to state regulation.

State authorities say that if every claim was resolved and tallied, the total would probably be near $3 billion, which, according to State Insurance Commissioner Jim Riding, falls within estimates his department has seen.

FEMA Says: TX Fire Victims Need Flood Insurance

December 15th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in flood insurance, insurance news

This may seem counter-intuitive, but FEMA is advising the survivors of last spring and summers’ wildfires in Texas to consider flood insurance on their homes and offices.

Why flood insurance? Because when the wildfires burned away the trees, grasses and other vegetation in the scorched areas, the healthy plant roots that usually soak up a lot of rainwater were also lost. All that charred land means that even normal storm runoff has the potential to cause mudslides, flooding, and severe erosion.

The risk of wildfire-related flood damage is greatest, of course, for property that actually burned, but it houses and other buildings either below or downstream from the burned areas are at a heightened risk of flooding, as well. In fact, it is just this sort of interconnectedness that makes flooding the most common natural disaster in the United States.

Flood insurance can be obtained through the agent who sold your regular homeowners or renter’s insurance policy.

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Farmers to Raise Homeowners Rates in Texas

October 12th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in homeowners insurance, insurance news

The Dallas Morning News is reporting that Farmers Insurance is planning to raise the rates on homeowners insurance and Texas by almost ten percent in 2012. The rate increase will affect about half of the company’s policy holders in the Lone Star State.

Specifically, about 350,000 homeowners who currently have either Texas Family or Next Generation Home Policies through Farmers will see higher rates, which are set to take effect on March 16th. The last rate hike on Farmers homeowners policies was an increase of 3.9 percent in March, 2011.

Speaking on behalf of the insurance company, vice president and executive director for Farmers in North Texas explained that the higher rates are required in order to offset the fact that claims in Texas tend to be more expensive.

The rate increase was filed with the state insurance department on October 7th.

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Friday Filmstrip: French Health Care

October 7th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in alternative health plans, friday filmstrips, health care reform, health insurance, insurance news, insurance specialists

As health care remains a hot-button issue in our government and with our current crop of political candidates, it’s interesting to look at health care around the world. Here’s a video – admittedly three years old – which looks at the French health care system, which is often considered the best in the world.

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State Farm Requesting Changes on Texas Homeowners Coverage

September 16th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in homeowners insurance, insurance news, rate watch

Stae Farm Insurance filed a notice requesting a rate hike averaging 10 percent across the state in Texas homeowners insurance rates, but company officials were quick to announce that with new and larger discounts, homeowners are likely to see effective increases of only 1.4 percent.

Earlier this week, the Dallas Morning News also reported another proposal from State Farm, shifting the deductible on homeowners coverage to 1 percent of the home’s insured value rather than the current schedule of flat-rate deductibles that can be as low as $500.

Representatives of State Farm explained that the new deductibles reflect the increased cost to repair homes after claim-worthy damage.

The requested start-date for these changes is October 15th for new customers and December 1st for those who are already State Farm customers.

A recently established Texas law mandates that the state insurance commissioner completes a review of such requests within thirty days.

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Alfa Raises Homeowners Insurance Rates in Alabama

September 9th, 2011 by Iris | Comments Off | Filed in homeowners insurance, insurance news

Alabama homeowners, especially those with landlord and farm policies, will be seeing insurance rates that are about 20% higher if their coverage is through Alfa Mutual Group.

According to the Alabama state actuary, Charles Angell, this increase is not designed to account for losses caused by a spate of tornadoes which struck the state last April. In fact, he says, all insurers in Alabama will be able to offset only a fraction of such losses via upcoming rate requests.

Nevertheless, according to Alfa spokesperson Jeff Helms, the increase in the severity and frequency of such storms is putting pressure on insurance rates.

Alfa is an affiliate of the Alabama Farmers Federation, and the new, higher rates actually went into effect on September 1st.

Charles Angell insists that his calculations support the rate hike.

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