Hi, this is Jeff Shropshire with Shropshire Insurance. And in the economy that we have today, being August of 2022, we get a lot of questions from people wondering Why are their insurance premiums going up, especially when they haven’t had claims or many changes on their policies?
Well, there’s two reasons. One is going to be because of the past weather claims that the State of Texas has had. Over the last three to five years have been extraordinary, billion-dollar storms. And then also, it’s the economy. The storm history has taken a lot of monies out of the insurance companies, out of claims paying. There’s been a ton of claims over the last three to five years, particularly all over the state. We’ve had anything from hail thunderstorms to major freeze events to hurricanes and floodings. It’s just been a rampant of claims. So therefore, insurance premiums are all pooled into one pool, and sometimes we have to pay more premiums because more people are using their insurance. And we might not individually be using ours, but it’s a pooled product.
Also, the economy is having a lot to do with it. We see the price of the materials of replacing roofs, the price of labor going up. That makes claims more expensive. So between materials and labor availability, due to shortages that we see in the supply chain, increased cost of fuel, that really bottom lines affects all the issues of how claims become more expensive.
And the increase in technology in our automobiles. A bumper is not a $300 replacement any more of one vehicle. It used to be when I was younger, you hit a bumper, it would be $150 to $300. Now, with all the technology that’s in our automobiles, it doesn’t take a lot, just like a bumper being crashed, for the claim dollars to go up, if we have to replace that, due to a claim.
So right now is a difficult time in insurance, with prices going up for everybody, whether you’ve had claims or not. But the good news is
Insurance is a commodity-based product. It will go down, so hang in there. Call the Shropshire Agency. Let us review all of your stuff. Maybe we can find some opportunities, to even in this market, save you and your family some money but make sure that you’re still covered.
Call Shropshire Insurance Agency in Lubbock TX at 806-763-7311