When seeking out Texas Home Insurance it is a good idea to consider all of the different options that are available to you when it comes to securing a policy that best serves your needs.
Texas is the second biggest state in the Union both in terms of its size and its population, and so as you might expect it has a massive insurance industry that is dominated by a number of key companies.
Here is a list of the Top Ten Largest Home Insurance Companies in Texas based on premiums written in 2010:
1/ State Farm Lloyds - $1.68 Billion of premiums written – 29% Market Share
2/ Allstate Texas Lloyds - $483.27 Million – 8.32%
3/ Texas Farmers Insurance Company - $319.06 Million – 5.49%
4/ United Services Automobile Association - $230.11 Million – 3.96%
5/ USAA Texas Lloyds Company - $219.41 Million – 3.78%
6/ Farmers Insurance Exchange - $218.74 Million – 3.77%
7/ Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company - $204.79 Million – 3.53%
8/ Travelers Lloyds of Texas Insurance Company - $194.56 Million – 3.35%
9/ Nationwide Property and Casualty Insurance Company - $129.19 Million – 2.22%
10/ Safeco Insurance Company of Indiana - $126.20 Million – 2.17%
So, cumulatively the top ten largest homeowners insurance companies in Texas make up around 2/3rds (65.59% to be exact) of the Texas Homeowners Insurance Market, or around $3.8 Billion worth of premiums.
What is the Average Cost of Texas Home Insurance?
It is useful to get some grasp of the average cost of home insurance in Texas based on official figures, because then at least you have some benchmark against which to judge whether or not the premium that you are being asked to pay is excessive or relatively cheap.
The US Government publishes statistics for the cost of home insurance across the whole of the United States and overall the average cost of home insurance in the United States is $791.
Texas actually compares pretty poorly to this figure and is the most expensive state in the United States in which to purchase homeowners insurance.
The average cost of Texas Home Insurance is $1,460 a year, and is one of only five states where the average cost exceeds $1,000.
The reasons for this can be put down to a number of different factors.
The first is that the insurance companies in Texas have a consistent history of raising premiums well above the cost of inflation, with double digit percentage increases year on year being very common.
State Farm who control almost a third of the homeowners insurance market in Texas submitted plans to the regulators in 2010 for premium rises of 13%, and in many areas in Texas the rises have actually been considerably higher than this.
The justifications for these rises are because of rising costs in the building sector both in terms of materials and the labor market, as well as the consistent risk in Texas of catastrophic storm events.
The history of storms in Texas does back up these claims to a large extent, because storms like Hurricane Ike which hit Texas in 2008 caused in the region of $29.6 Billion worth of damage.
And it seems clear that in regions like Texas which often have adverse storm and weather conditions that the insurance companies are increasingly trying to get back the money that they have already paid out by raising Texas Home Insurance Premiums.
Nevertheless, the fact remains that even where premiums are very high, such as in Texas, it still makes sense to get comprehensive Texas Home Insurance cover, because otherwise what is an uncomfortable, but affordable cost today (the insurance premium), if avoided can turn into a financial nightmare if your home is damaged in a storm or gets burned down.
This also doesn’t account for crimes against property of which there are around a million cases every year in Texas, which means that the chances of being a victim of property crime in Texas are around 1 in 24.
So, whilst the high costs of Texas Home Insurance are certainly off-putting, it is nevertheless essential to bite the bullet and sort out some level of cover so that you don’t end up as just another statistic.
The good news is that there are a lot of companies offering home insurance in Texas and so you do have a lot of choice when it comes to the final policy you choose, even if the price of that policy may not always be to your liking.
Compare several different companies and get a variety of Texas Home Insurance Quotes and you will then be better served to save money and get the best possible deal.
