A Plague of Property Insurance on our Houses!
Below is a letter I sent to the Houston Chronicle today, about property insurance. Enjoy--if you dare:
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To Whom it May Concern,
There is an issue that is plaguing my residential community--however, we are not the only group affected. No, it's not the supersaturated, boiling air above the city--it's our property insurance rates.
My condo community (for which I am on the Board) has experienced a dramatic increase in our insurance rates this year--quoted to us just days before our old insurance was to expire. Whereas our 6/2005-5/2006 coverage was in the $47,000 range, our 6/2006-5/2007 coverage is in the $127,000 range. In addition, our deductible for any damage has increased to 5% of the total insured value of the property. Obviously, this has required us to significantly increase our maintenance fees in order to cover our premium (and listen to some very angry homeowners berate us), and has presented vastly increased liability to our homeowners.
I've done some research into the issue, and it seems we are not alone. I have been told that some properties in town experienced a 500% increase in their premiums this year. This is ridiculous! The reason we buy insurance is not to pre-pay our damages; it is to spread risk. It appears, however, that no Texas Department of Insurance-approved insurance companies want to risk insuring in our area (just south of I-10 on Shepherd Drive). The only insurance we can get is "Surplus Lines" Insurance, which is astronomical in cost and appears to be designed for things like priceless artifacts and Elvis Presley's nose hair.
What I'd like to know, if possible, is why--and how we can change this. The State of Texas doesn't appear to classify our area as a Tier 1 disaster zone. Hurricane Rita didn't dignify us with so much as a sideways glance, and our property was merely sneezed at by Allison in 2001. Is this not sufficient to encourage insurance companies to do business with us? Or is the State's classification of our area misguided, such that we should be supported by its fund for Tier 1 disaster areas? Moreover, if all of Harris County is so patently dangerous, should we really be living here? As far as I know, we're not in nearly as much danger as those poor folks in Miami, whose houses are flattened every other summer.
I'd also like to know: have other readers had these issues? I know you (the Chronicle) ran a story on this a few weeks ago--but what are other readers' experiences in terms of insurance increases this year? I encourage people to write to their State Representatives, US Representatives, Presidents, Secretary-Generals, whatever--to get this issue recognized as a problem, and as something that should be addressed LONG before we address the apparently pressing issue of whether to invade Syria or Iran first.
Thanks,
(my information removed for the safety of the author)
----------------------
To Whom it May Concern,
There is an issue that is plaguing my residential community--however, we are not the only group affected. No, it's not the supersaturated, boiling air above the city--it's our property insurance rates.
My condo community (for which I am on the Board) has experienced a dramatic increase in our insurance rates this year--quoted to us just days before our old insurance was to expire. Whereas our 6/2005-5/2006 coverage was in the $47,000 range, our 6/2006-5/2007 coverage is in the $127,000 range. In addition, our deductible for any damage has increased to 5% of the total insured value of the property. Obviously, this has required us to significantly increase our maintenance fees in order to cover our premium (and listen to some very angry homeowners berate us), and has presented vastly increased liability to our homeowners.
I've done some research into the issue, and it seems we are not alone. I have been told that some properties in town experienced a 500% increase in their premiums this year. This is ridiculous! The reason we buy insurance is not to pre-pay our damages; it is to spread risk. It appears, however, that no Texas Department of Insurance-approved insurance companies want to risk insuring in our area (just south of I-10 on Shepherd Drive). The only insurance we can get is "Surplus Lines" Insurance, which is astronomical in cost and appears to be designed for things like priceless artifacts and Elvis Presley's nose hair.
What I'd like to know, if possible, is why--and how we can change this. The State of Texas doesn't appear to classify our area as a Tier 1 disaster zone. Hurricane Rita didn't dignify us with so much as a sideways glance, and our property was merely sneezed at by Allison in 2001. Is this not sufficient to encourage insurance companies to do business with us? Or is the State's classification of our area misguided, such that we should be supported by its fund for Tier 1 disaster areas? Moreover, if all of Harris County is so patently dangerous, should we really be living here? As far as I know, we're not in nearly as much danger as those poor folks in Miami, whose houses are flattened every other summer.
I'd also like to know: have other readers had these issues? I know you (the Chronicle) ran a story on this a few weeks ago--but what are other readers' experiences in terms of insurance increases this year? I encourage people to write to their State Representatives, US Representatives, Presidents, Secretary-Generals, whatever--to get this issue recognized as a problem, and as something that should be addressed LONG before we address the apparently pressing issue of whether to invade Syria or Iran first.
Thanks,
(my information removed for the safety of the author)
posted by Sameer | 3:57 PM
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