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TDI Urges Coastal Residents
to Review Insurance Coverages
May 11, 2006
AUSTIN – As
hurricane season approaches, officials at the
Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) are
reminding all Gulf Coast home and business
owners that it is important to periodically
review your insurance policies to ensure that
coverages are adequate and up-to-date.
Hurricane season runs from June 1 through
November, with peak activity usually occurring
in August and September. Weather forecasters
have predicted a very active hurricane season
this year.
TDI offers these tips to help ensure your home
or business is adequately protected:
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Review coverage
and policy limits. Make certain your
homeowners or commercial property coverage is in
force and that it provides adequate coverage to
pay the full replacement cost of your property.
Make sure you understand what the policy does
and does not cover. If you’ve made improvements
to your home, consider increasing your policy’s
limits to cover the enhanced value of the
property. Even without recent improvements,
property values increase over time and insurance
policies should be adjusted accordingly.
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Find out
whether you need windstorm insurance. If
your property is located in one of Texas’ 14
coastal counties, or parts of southeastern
Harris County, you may be able to obtain
insurance coverage for windstorm or hail damage
from a special insurance pool called the Texas
Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA). It’s
important to note that you cannot buy or change
TWIA coverage once a hurricane is in or near the
Gulf of Mexico. If you currently have TWIA
coverage, review your policy carefully and know
your policy limits. Compare your TWIA and
homeowners policies and make sure you are
insured to an appropriate replacement value. For
more information about windstorm coverage, call
TWIA at (512) 899-4900 or visit its website at
www.twia.org.
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Consider flood
insurance. Homeowners and commercial
property policies specifically exclude coverage
for damage from flooding. To protect yourself
from losses caused by rising water, you’ll need
a separate flood insurance policy from the
National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). NFIP is
administered by the Federal Emergency Management
Agency. Flood insurance policies have a 30-day
waiting period after the purchase date before
coverage takes effect on currently owned
property, so if you don’t have a policy, you
should obtain one as soon as possible. For more
information, contact NFIP at 1-888-FLOOD 29
(356-6329).
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Contact TDI if
you need more information. Call
1-800-252-3439 or visit our website at
www.tdi.state.tx.us.
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