USAA Rates on Homes Going Up
San Antonio Express-News—January 9th, 2012
USAA home and condo insurance policyholders in Texas are facing another rate increase, the third announced hike in the past 12 months.
The San Antonio-based insurer on Friday announced it plans to raise rates an average of 5.7 percent, starting May 14. The increase is being implemented to offset rising noncatastrophic claims costs, USAA spokesman Paul Berry said.
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Other major carriers recently have filed for significant rate increases, [Alex Winslow of Texas Watch] said. Last month, Texas’ new insurance commissioner, Eleanor Kitzman, allowed State Farm Insurance to raise homeowners’ rates an average of 10 percent and to increase deductibles, the Dallas Morning News reported. After factoring higher discounts, State Farm said the actual increase would average 1.4 percent.
In response to USAA’s latest increase, Winslow said, “We’re going to continue to see these kind of rate increases until either the (state) Legislature does something to rein in the insurance companies or, more importantly, the insurance commissioner does her job and starts to decline some of these rate hikes.” He called Kitzman a “rubber stamp for the insurance industry.”
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