Homeowners who buy insurance from independent insurance agents in Texas should be seeing lower premiums and better coverages, according to the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas. The claim is based on results of a survey of its 1,800-member independent insurance agencies.
“This survey confirms what we have been hearing for several months, that homeowners insurance in Texas is correcting itself,” said IIAT President Bill Harrison Jr., an independent insurance agent from San Antonio.
Survey results from the Austin-based trade group found that slightly less than half reported a drop in homeowners insurance premiums over the last year. More specifically, 34 percent of those responding reported as much as a 10 percent drop, 5 percent of respondents report up to a 20 percent drop and 2 percent of respondents said they’ve seen more than a 20 percent drop in insurance premiums prices over the last year. An additional 30 percent of independent agencies reported no significant change in homeowners premium pricing.
“This means most premium prices are at or below levels of a year ago,” Harrison said.
On the other end of the equation, homeowners insurance policies offer improved coverage. Nearly half of independent agencies responding reported better coverage than that found a year ago.
When independent agents were asked, “Do any of your standard carriers offer an HO-B or an HO-3,” both broad-coverage policies, nearly 70 percent answered “yes.”
“These survey results report a much improved market for Texas homeowners, which we can only attribute to the work of the last legislature in passing insurance reform measures,” Harrison said.
IIAT pointed out that not all companies are making the broader forms or lower premium available.
“We would advise consumers to ask independent agents to describe the coverage included for the premium being quoted. Broader coverage usually costs more, but in many situations the difference is worth the extra cost,” Harrison cautioned.
“Competition is returning to Texas and homeowners will benefit with lower prices and better coverage,” Harrison said. He added that the survey showed some 70 percent of independent agents questioned said they were optimistic about the future of the homeowners insurance market in Texas.
Topics Trends Texas Agencies Pricing Trends Homeowners
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
FBI Says Chinese Hackers Preparing to Attack US Infrastructure 
Allstate Reports $731M in Q1 Pretax Catastrophe Losses 
Coral Gables, Florida Tops Beverly Hills as Ritziest Home Market in US 
Uncertainty Keeps Prices Up; No Prior-Year Loss Development: Travelers 
