Tennessee Homeowner Insurance Buyers See Higher Premiums
Posted by Chester Butler, CIC, CPIA on Tue, Jan 24, 2012 @ 05:00 AM
Tennessee homeowners insurance rate increases are arriving in mailboxes across the state. Although not every homeowner or renter will receive a rate increase in 2012, many will. It has been obvious to many insurance industry observers for some time that personal property insurance of all kinds were headed for a spike in premiums. The natural disasters of 2011 provided the tipping point.
The National Underwriter magazine recently published data on the natural disasters of 2011. The numbers are shocking.
- 2011 became the most expensive hurricane season since 2008. Hurricane winds and the resulting flooding in the Northeast pushed damages to $8 billion.
- In just three days last April, 336 tornados tore through U.S. communities. That’s a record. The total number of twisters was 1,559. The highest number of tornados recorded in the past 30 years!
- If storm clouds were not on the horizon, then smoke from 2011 wildfires was on the horizon for many property owners. The U.S. was scorched by 67,747 wildfires last year. The fires burned 8.6 million acres. That is not a final number. The National Interagency Fire Center is still counting acres burned in the last half of December 2011.
- It was a slow year for earthquakes in the U.S. The U.S. Geological Survey counted 4,699 quakes in 2011. The year before they recorded almost twice as many quakes.
As many Tennessee homeowners insurance buyers know, our 2011 storms were accompanied by devastating hail. Large hail trashed thousands of automobiles and damaged property across the state.
You cannot change the weather or other natural disasters but you can control your insurance costs. Check out articles on how to lower homeowner insurance costs and keep those rate increases at bay.
Do you need help with a home or renter insurance problem? Just give Stefanie a call at 615-690-8859. Or you may contact Stefanie by email at stefanie@insurancebutler.com. She’ll be happy to help you.
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