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Finding a good home insurance policy at a reasonable price is the top priority for many Texas homeowners. The best way is to compare shopping. We evaluated the average rates of large Texas home insurance companies to help you find the insurance you need at a reasonable cost.

Related: Best Home Insurance Company

Texas is a difficult state for the weather. No one knows this better than the homeowner. .. And Texas home insurance company. Lone Star State suffered baseball-sized hail, huge power outages, floods caused by hurricanes in the Gulf, and tornadoes and blizzards pouring down from the narrow strip—in the other direction.

"We generally lead the country in hail claims, with 367 miles of coastline, and most of our metropolitan area is located in flash flood lanes," said Ben Gonzalez, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Insurance.

The homeowner’s repair costs are passed on to the insurance company in the form of a claim. "Our homeowner insurance rates tend to be among the top five in the country," admitted Albert Betts, executive director of the Texas Insurance Commission, "but this is due to the risk of bad weather."

2021 will be another monster year—even by Texas standards. In February, Winter Storm Uri froze power lines in the Midwest, causing nearly 10 million people to lose power and water, which is known locally as the Texas Power Crisis. As the most expensive non-hurricane event on record in the state, Uri cost Texas homeowners and their insurance companies more than $6 billion, accounting for more than half of insurance companies’ premium income last year.

The scale of the insurance claim and the expected loss have once again sparked an ongoing debate about whether homeowners can get what they deserve after calculating the damage caused by roof cracks, frozen pipes, and spare sewers. Consumer advocates claim that a 2017 law — scornfully called the "Blue Tarpaulin Act" — has distorted the possibility of benefiting insurance companies and shortening homeowners.

Ware Wendell, executive director of the consumer protection organization Texas Watch, said: “It increases the delay, cost and risk of the claims process and allows insurance companies to squeeze policyholders and force them to accept insufficient payments.” He said, in fact, This means that if the home insurance company only pays for three-quarters of the damaged roof, the homeowner will cover the rest with a "blue tarp".

The insurance company responded that the 2017 law is necessary. Even before they had a chance to respond to the homeowners’ claims, “opportunistic lawyers” had used the severe weather to file a lawsuit against them and demanded that they “exaggerate the damages”.

Bates said that in the years before the law was passed, weather-related lawsuits increased by 1,400%, and some lawyers filed 300 lawsuits at a time. Florida and other storm-hit states are also facing the same problem. The local insurance company has gone bankrupt. The state recently passed a law restricting rooftop workers from advertising.

So what does the blue tarp actually do? Most importantly, it requires homeowners who want to file a lawsuit against their insurance company due to “forces of nature” to submit a “written notice” at least 61 days before the court appearance.

The homeowner-who may have been unsuccessful in negotiations with the insurance company and now hires a lawyer-must then provide a "statement of fact" about the claim, the arrears, and the attorney's fees that have been incurred. Then, the insurance company has the right to inspect and photograph the damage.

Almost as important: the law limits the total amount of attorney fees based on the final judgment or actual settlement with complex formulas.

If the homeowner and the insurance company disagree, the law may slow down the claim process, which is not good for homeowners who want to repair and rebuild as soon as possible. The homeowner’s lawyer said that because of the limited fees they charge, it may become more difficult to hire a lawyer to handle the homeowner’s case against an insurance company.

The law also grants insurance adjusters the right to appear in court to assess damages from being prosecuted—provided that the insurance company is responsible for their actions. Lawyers claim that out-of-state insurance companies may force Texas homeowners who want to file a lawsuit in federal court to endure further settlement delays.

But the insurance company said the law actually helped most Texans. An industry position paper stated: "This will minimize the increase in homeowner insurance rates due to the recent surge in lawsuits."

"We are monitoring the impact of blue tarpaulins on insurance claims," ​​said Wendell of Texas Watch. He said that although complaints about Uri insurance claims are still emerging, there are media reports that the northern part of the state has been hit hard, and even slightly damaged homeowners seem to be unable to get what they think is a fair solution.

Some people hired their own public adjusters to refute the lower estimates made by insurance company representatives, but this did not work. "Insurance companies have set a very tough line," said a public adjuster who inspects homes in Garland, Texas for homeowners.

Don't expect much help from the state insurance department. A television station in Austin, Texas found that “in most cases, the state has no right to do anything at all, so that you, the consumer, don’t have much recourse.”

In one example, a homeowner was told that because the storm damage only affected part of her roof, the insurance company would not replace the entire roof. According to the TV station’s investigation, the insurance department’s records show that the company only helped one out of about five cases. It told the remaining complainants to "hire a lawyer."

Neither the Texas Department of Insurance nor the insurance company itself said that due to the 2017 law, family insurance premiums will fall, but their growth rate has been slower in the past two years. According to departmental statistics, the loss rate of insurance companies has indeed improved, which makes the bottom line of insurance companies look better.

Your ability to find cheap home insurance in Texas depends on several cost factors, including:

Related: 10 ways to get cheap homeowners insurance

The standard home insurance policy is also called HO-3. It covers your house to solve any problems not excluded in the policy, such as flooding.

Your family insurance policy covers your personal belongings in response to a specific "hazard", which is an insurance term for problems. Vandalism, theft, fires, explosions and tornadoes are just a few examples of home insurance coverage problems.

The following are the main types of coverage in a standard family insurance policy:

Related: How much family insurance do you need?

Your family insurance policy will not cover all the problems that occur in your home. Common exclusions in standard home insurance policies include floods, sinkholes, earthquakes, nuclear hazards, power outages, wear and tear, wars, deliberate losses, and insect and pest infestations.

Make sure you read your policy carefully to understand what is covered and what is not covered.

Texas homeowners must deal with multiple disasters. Although severe storms, hurricanes, tornadoes and floods pose serious threats, fires are by far the most common declared disaster in the Lonestar state.

The worst fire in Texas history was the Bastrop County Comprehensive Fire. On September 4, 2011, after an extremely hot and dry summer, three fires broke out near Bastrop State Park. Strong winds from nearby tropical storm Li will help fan the flames that will take more than six weeks to be fully contained. More than 1,600 houses were destroyed and two people were killed in the fire.

March, April, and September have historically been the busiest months for announcing disasters in Texas.

The Bastrop County Comprehensive Fire was the most devastating fire in Texas history and the most memorable disaster in 2011. But in the same year, 57 cases were declared as fire disasters. Another notable fire that year was the Possum Kingdom Complex fire caused by lightning on April 11, 2011. The fire will burn 126,734 acres of land for 34 days and destroy 168 houses.

A standard family insurance policy will not cover you for flood damage. Considering that Texas has hundreds of floods every year, it is a good idea to purchase flood insurance.

On August 25, 2017, Hurricane Harvey made landfall in the Houston area with nearly 50 inches of rainfall. More than 150,000 houses were flooded. According to Robert Hunter, director of insurance for the American Consumer Federation, it is estimated that approximately 80% of victims do not have flood insurance

Financial assistance provided by the government after the flood may be limited or unavailable. The best way is to have your own flood insurance. Most people who purchase flood insurance get it from the National Flood Insurance Program, which is a federal program. You can also buy flood insurance on the private market.

If you are eligible, FEMA's Individual and Family Program (IHP) can provide money and direct assistance after an emergency or major disaster (such as a flood). The plan can help people find housing after a disaster directly causes problems, provided it is not covered by insurance or other sources.

Both first-time homebuyers and long-term homebuyers want the same thing: good insurance at a reasonable price. Here are some tips for buying home insurance in Texas:

The average household insurance rate is calculated using data from Quadrant Information Services. The rates are based on the policy, with residential insurance at 300,000 USD and liability insurance at 100,000 USD.

The story of award-winning investigative journalist Ed Leefeldt has changed credit card practices, voter registration, and payment for inmates with disabilities. He has written multiple cover stories, tough features and executive profiles for major media, and is the author of the novel "A Woman Riding the Wind and the Waves" about early flights.

Jason Metz is a writer and has been working in the insurance industry since 2007. As a former claims processor and fraud investigator, he has seen a lot and is willing to help others deal with the complexity and opacity of insurance. He holds a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Kutztown University and a master's degree in creative writing from the University of California, Palm Desert.