If you’re a Missouri resident, make sure you have the right type of insurance to match your property and needs.  There’s even an unusual additional peril specified by the Missouri Department of Insurance that’s important to consider when buying Missouri Home Insurance.

The first type of home insurance is the Homeowners Broad Form (HO-2), which covers all the basic perils, like fire and smoke, windstorm, theft, vandalism, and many others, including volcanic eruption.

Homeowners Special Form (HO-3) is the second type, which covers all buildings from almost all perils except things like flood, earthquake, neglect, or nuclear war.  Personal property is also included in this policy.

The third policy type is the Special Homeowners Policy for Renters Contents (HO-4), specifically designed for individuals renting a home or apartment.  Coverage includes household contents, loss of use, liability coverage and medical payments.

The Homeowners Condominium Policy (HO-6) is designed for condominium unit owners.  It covers everything included in HO-2, plus personal property, liability and medical payments coverage.  Here it’s important to confirm that the policy allows for items not insured by the condominium association.

Finally Homeowners Actual Cash Value (HO-8) is designed for folks owning an older home which would be too expensive to cover at replacement value.  This policy will return the property to serviceable condition.

More information on Missouri Homeowners insurance is available through Insurance-Rates-Online.

If you’re one of the 917,000 policyholders in Texas with either Allstate Texas Lloyds or Allstate Fire and Casualty, it’s time to check out rates with other Texas homeowners insurance companies.

Allstate plans to go ahead with a 5.9% rate increase, even though the Texas insurance commissioner ordered them not to implement the hike.  Allstate responded by going to court for a restraining order to permit them to proceed with the higher rates.  Currently the state’s consumer advocate has requested a $25,000 fine for each policy that is renewed under the new rate.  Originally Allstate had asked for a 6.9% increase, but withdrew that request.

After all the expenses from recent catastrophes, the company claims it needs the increase to cover rising construction and reinsurance costs. 

Texas law has standardized home owner insurance offerings, which makes it easier for consumers to compare home insurance rates between companies.  Non-standardized policies are also available, but frankly the state mandates have created excellent Texas Homeowners Insurance Policies.

Currently the Texas Department of Insurance hasn’t indicated whether they would permit any level of increase by Allstate.  Other home insurance companies are watching the situation closely to determine their next steps as well.  This will certainly get dragged through the courts for a while.

If you live in Texas and are covered by Allstate, you have nothing to lose by checking out the rates of other companies.  It’s a good idea to do this on an annual basis anyway, to insure that you have adequate coverage based on the current value of your home and property.  Now, with this looming rate increase, it’s more important than ever to make sure that the hands you are in are indeed good ones.

In a state most insurance companies avoid, Orlando-based Olympus Insurance has begun writing insurance for Florida homes.  They are the first of eight new property and casualty insurers approved by the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation to start offering homeowners, mobile home, commercial insurance and more to residents, bringing $1.2 billion in new capital investment to the state.

Many home insurance providers fled Florida after significant losses from hurricane damage.  The result was a limited number of carriers providing extremely expensive homeowners coverage; in fact it was not unusual for families to pay $5,000 or more annually and be grateful just to lock in a policy. 

Olympus plans to write up to 100,000 policies throughout the state, in part due to a loan from the Insurance Capital Build-Up Incentive Program from the Florida State Board of Administration.  The result is more choice for consumers, with companies actually beginning to compete for home insurance business for the first time in years.

The other seven carriers should begin offering policies shortly.  Four of the carriers are actually based in Florida, including American Keystone Insurance, Homeowners Choice Property & Casualty Insurance, Modern USA Insurance, and Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange. 

Florida residents can actually start getting other competitive home insurance quotes now, to have enough time to compare and choose the best deal before it’s time to renew their current policy. 

So, if you live in Florida, there’s finally hope of relief for your high home insurance premiums!  Celebrate!

When was the last time you checked-up on your home owners insurance policy?  If it’s been more than a year, it’s time!  Here are some questions to ask your insurance company about your policy.

Do I have adequate coverage on my home and contents?
If building costs have increased in your area, or you’ve added to your house, like putting on a deck or adding a room addition, your home could be underinsured.  Home insurance is usually based on “replacement cost,” so if your policy is valued at too low of an amount, you could be in trouble in case of a total loss.

Your homeowners insurance policy also covers your personal property, like clothing, furniture, appliances, and the myriad of other items inside your house.  Unless your policy has a provision to adjust for inflation, you’ll want to make sure that the coverage is sufficient to replace all that you own.  Special high-ticket items, like computers, cameras, jewelry, or valuable collections may require an additional rider and premium to be included on your policy.  So if you finally bought that 1952 Mickey Mantle card, make sure your insurance company knows about it!

Is my coverage based on Replacement Cost or Actual Cash Value?
Replacement Cost is the actually cost to completely repair or replace your house and your belongings without deducting for depreciation.  Actual Cash Value also replaces lost items, but includes depreciation as a factor, so if something were to happen, you may not receive a large enough payout to buy everything you need.  Replacement cost is slightly more expensive than Actual Cash Value, but in this case, it’s worth the extra dollars.  Either way, there usually is a limit to the total amount your insurance company will pay, so make sure it’s enough!