Hey Lauren, you may want to get your facts straight before you write a story and hey editor, do you actually proofread a story before it goes out? The average consumer can buy Obamacare cheaper than that monthly premium.
Sounds like insurance companies are getting away with murder. We need to increase the penalty – not lessen it. Lessening penalties will not lower premiums. It will only increase profits.
Living in South Texas and actually seeing the homes involved in litigation, you would be apalled! Some of the homes suing their insurance companies have severe wear and tear from lack of maintenance—not from hail. When their hail claim gets denied, there is a pack of runners working for attorneys—these runners usually position themselves at flea markets, small local grocery stores, or merely canvass neighborhoods—promising insureds a pot of gold at the end of the lawsuit rainbow. Hidalgo county is positioned as a plaintiff’s ally as jurys in South Texas are ready to hand it to the big bad wolf insurer without evaluating merits of individual claims. Take this comment for example: “If those claims don’t have underlying merit, then the courts will shake that out,” said Bryan Blevins, president of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association. What Mr. Blevins and other trial lawyers count on is that the cost of going to trial on hundreds even thousands of these claims is very costly prompting insurance companies to settle out of court–even when they have NO UNDERLYING MERIT. Ask Mr Blevins how many of the 6,700 lawsuits he and his colleagues filed were settled out of court. Guess what fellow Texans, that $1661 per year will soon go to $2000+ per year as we; yes, we the insureds, pay for the thousands paid out for each claim.
I have been to the valley on a few occasions and seen the condition of a lot of homes down there. It is amazing if any Standard carrier would take them since they have a lot of excess/surplus lines candidates. Carriers like National Lloyds takes a bunch of business on plain vanilla coverage for a higher premium.
There is a reason so many carriers won’t do business in the Rio Grande Valley and this is part of it. The article is too shallow to tell the rest of the story about these suits and the storm chasing attorneys that made their money with Hurricane Ike and are looking for another big payday. Many of these claims were paid promptly and fairly but the attorneys go looking for someone that is due a supplemental payment and go after the companies trying to charge them for legal representation of the homeowner. These suits are bogus.
I had insurance with a large company. I found shingles in my yard and noticed dark areas on the roof after the storm. I called an adjuster who came out and said my roof was perfect. Every neighbor had thier roof fixed but me. 6 months later it rained and low and behold water started leaking right on top of our bed. I called a lawyer and they came out and told me my roof was one of the worst they had seen. That is why I filed a lawsuit. If they had just fixed it the first time instead of lying to me. I’m sorry but we the people that pay for years and years and never use our insurance should be protected when their really is a need.
Pablo, I am sorry for your problem and it is inexcusable that a carrier would do this. My guess is that an Independent Adjustor was used to look at the roof and he was incompetent. Believe it or not, but large companies do not like to have bad publicity about their claims practices. It is bad for their image and bad for business.
You could have called the insurer back and had them reconsider before you called an attorney. But, my guess is your roof was extremely old and probably needed to be replaced due to wear and tear, NOT because of storm damage.
“Texas homeowners already pay an average of $1,661 per month for insurance”
…wait, we do?
Maybe that was supposed to be per year? But yeah, at $20,000 a year, that $1,661 monthly rate is juuuuust a little high I think :D
Hey Lauren, you may want to get your facts straight before you write a story and hey editor, do you actually proofread a story before it goes out? The average consumer can buy Obamacare cheaper than that monthly premium.
The article has been updated and now reads, “Texas homeowners already pay an average of $1,661 per year for insurance”
Sounds like insurance companies are getting away with murder. We need to increase the penalty – not lessen it. Lessening penalties will not lower premiums. It will only increase profits.
$1,661 per month? Someone’s editor was asleep at the wheel.
Sorry guys. Yes, I was apparently asleep at the wheel. Corrected now.
Living in South Texas and actually seeing the homes involved in litigation, you would be apalled! Some of the homes suing their insurance companies have severe wear and tear from lack of maintenance—not from hail. When their hail claim gets denied, there is a pack of runners working for attorneys—these runners usually position themselves at flea markets, small local grocery stores, or merely canvass neighborhoods—promising insureds a pot of gold at the end of the lawsuit rainbow. Hidalgo county is positioned as a plaintiff’s ally as jurys in South Texas are ready to hand it to the big bad wolf insurer without evaluating merits of individual claims. Take this comment for example: “If those claims don’t have underlying merit, then the courts will shake that out,” said Bryan Blevins, president of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association. What Mr. Blevins and other trial lawyers count on is that the cost of going to trial on hundreds even thousands of these claims is very costly prompting insurance companies to settle out of court–even when they have NO UNDERLYING MERIT. Ask Mr Blevins how many of the 6,700 lawsuits he and his colleagues filed were settled out of court. Guess what fellow Texans, that $1661 per year will soon go to $2000+ per year as we; yes, we the insureds, pay for the thousands paid out for each claim.
I have been to the valley on a few occasions and seen the condition of a lot of homes down there. It is amazing if any Standard carrier would take them since they have a lot of excess/surplus lines candidates. Carriers like National Lloyds takes a bunch of business on plain vanilla coverage for a higher premium.
There is a reason so many carriers won’t do business in the Rio Grande Valley and this is part of it. The article is too shallow to tell the rest of the story about these suits and the storm chasing attorneys that made their money with Hurricane Ike and are looking for another big payday. Many of these claims were paid promptly and fairly but the attorneys go looking for someone that is due a supplemental payment and go after the companies trying to charge them for legal representation of the homeowner. These suits are bogus.
I had insurance with a large company. I found shingles in my yard and noticed dark areas on the roof after the storm. I called an adjuster who came out and said my roof was perfect. Every neighbor had thier roof fixed but me. 6 months later it rained and low and behold water started leaking right on top of our bed. I called a lawyer and they came out and told me my roof was one of the worst they had seen. That is why I filed a lawsuit. If they had just fixed it the first time instead of lying to me. I’m sorry but we the people that pay for years and years and never use our insurance should be protected when their really is a need.
Pablo, I am sorry for your problem and it is inexcusable that a carrier would do this. My guess is that an Independent Adjustor was used to look at the roof and he was incompetent. Believe it or not, but large companies do not like to have bad publicity about their claims practices. It is bad for their image and bad for business.
You could have called the insurer back and had them reconsider before you called an attorney. But, my guess is your roof was extremely old and probably needed to be replaced due to wear and tear, NOT because of storm damage.