Texas
Department of Insurance
Summaries
of the News Releases for 2005
TDI Urges Coastal
Residents to Review Insurance Coverages
News Release Date:
7/21/2005
Category: Disaster/Storms
AUSTIN – During
this already active hurricane season, officials
at the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) are
reminding all Gulf Coast home and business
owners that is important to periodically review
your insurance policies to ensure that coverages
are adequate and up-to-date.
Ideally this kind of review should be done
before the June 1 start of hurricane season, but
it’s not too late. Hurricane season runs through
November, with peak activity usually occurring
in August and September. Weather forecasters
have predicted a very active hurricane season
with an above-average likelihood of a major
hurricane striking the Texas Gulf Coast this
year.
TDI offers these tips to help ensure your home
or business is adequately protected:
• Call your insurance agent to 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 overtime and insurance
policies have to be adjusted accordingly.
• 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 will likely only be able to
obtain insurance coverage for windstorm or hail
damage from a special insurance pool called the
Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA). To
qualify for TWIA coverage, your property must
pass a windstorm inspection and meet
windstorm-resistant building standards. 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.
• 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, 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).
• Contact TDI if you need more information. Call
1-800-252-3439 or visit our website at
|
