Ohio Property Insurance Rates Expected to Rise After Storms

Ohio’s relatively low rates for property insurance are expected to rise in 2012 due to the damaging storms of recent years.

An insurance agent in Middletown in southwest Ohio says Mother Nature has had her way with the state. Gary Grimes of Insurance Associates tells the Hamilton JournalNews he expects homeowner rates to go up 10 percent this year.

Insurers can’t raise rates to make up for past storms, but the history can be used to predict future losses to help set prices.

The Ohio Insurance Institute says insured losses from natural disasters were up 187 percent over 2007-11 compared to the previous five years.

Still, the industry group says the state ranks 6th lowest for the cost of home coverage and 11th lowest for auto insurance.

Topics Trends Windstorm Property Pricing Trends Ohio