Texas - most expensive place to insure a home

[GalvestonDuck]

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/Ins ... P61312.asp

The distinction of being the riskiest place to own a home, and the most expensive place to insure one, fell to Texas, whose residents on average had to cough up $880 to protect their homesteads. That was more than three times the $287 paid by residents of Wisconsin, the least expensive state.

A whole host of factors can affect the prevailing homeowners rate in a given state -- including regulatory policy and the level of industry competition -- but by far the most important are the state’s propensity to be hit by a variety of natural disasters and its population density, says Alejandra Soto, spokesperson for the New York-based Insurance Information Institute.

Referring to Texas and Oklahoma, she says, “That part of the country gets hit with lots of things.” In addition to the hurricanes that occasionally menace Texas, residents of the two-state area must cope with the damage caused by snow, wind, hail and lightning, to name the most prevalent menaces. (The high Texas rate also reflects a dispute over responsibility for cleaning up household mold, and insurers' fears that they might be on the hook for substantial claims.)

[opera ghost]

Well when you have a state that's as large as the entire new england area + some you get a lot of different disasters.

:26:

Thankfully I don't have to insure my home at all *grins* (given that I don't own one...)

[Lindaloo]

They are basing those calculations on inland premiums. They are not basing it on coastline premiums. People who live near the TX Gulf Coast are paying anywhere from 1000 to 3500 a year for Homeowner's insurance.

I live South of Interstate 10 so I am paying 1500 a year for insurance. I am 2.5 miles from the beach front. People just north of the interstate only pay half of what I pay. I guess hurricane force winds and flooding does not occurr just north of the interstate. Puh-leeze

[Deenac813]

The same goes for here in Florida.. if you live in South Florida, dade, Broward or Palm Beach Counties your homeowners insurance premiums are sky high.. Texas is so high due to all the mold cases there & alot of companies are no longer writing in Texas.. Kinda like what happened to us after Hurricane Andrew

[Lindaloo]

Yes all the old mold cases due to tropical storm Allison. It is ridiculous. Insurance companies will get you one way or another.