Homeowners insurance rates spike following severe storms

Homeowners Insurance

Homeowners Insurance

Ohio weather has caused the price of coverage to climb by 40 percent in 7 years.

Residents of Ohio have been watching their homeowners insurance rates steadily climb from 2003 through 2010, and this trend is expected to continue onward following a series of severe weather events.

The 40 percent increase is only the beginning of the growing prices for that state.

The continuing increases in homeowners insurance premiums came in a time when Ohio held the ninth place position in the country for disaster damage claims. This position was based on its statistics over a full decade. Moreover, in the 2002 through 2011 span of time, there were $5.2 billion in damage claims in that state, alone, according to data from Verisk Analytics, an insurance risk research firm.

Growing severe weather lifted the average premium from 2003’s $476 to over $665 in 2012.

Equally, though, while Ohio has been watching these increases for many years, the premiums in the state are still among the lowest. In fact, the state ranked the sixth least expensive in the country in 2009, which was the most recent year with complete data.

According to the Ohio Insurance Institute’s spokesperson, Mitch Wilson, “Based on what has occurred, what they do is look to make predictions on what will happen down the road.” He added that “They make projections for the filings of rates.”

The recent wind storms have been an important homeowners insurance reminder for area residents.

Two days of high winds led to lost power for hundreds of thousands of people in the state. This was a sharp reminder of the damage experienced in 2008 from Hurricane Ike, which was worth an estimated $1.255 billion in insured losses. Last July, there was nearly $2 billion in damage caused by nine severe hailstorm and wind events, said the Institute.

According to Wilson, the storm damage seen in Ohio from 2007 through 2011 was twice what had been experienced within the five year period before it.

Approval from the Ohio Department of Insurance was required by insurers in order to increase the homeowners insurance and renters coverage rates for the state. In 2010, they collected $2.16 billion in premiums.

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