Omaha agent discusses rising insurance rates

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – It’s costing many people more money to protect two of out most expensive purchases.

Home and auto insurance are on the rise, and there’s a number of reasons why people have to pay more to keep their insurance.

Experts tell First Alert 6 that higher labor cost, inflation, and more severe weather events are driving up the cost of our insurance premiums.

We’ve seen a lot of severe weather events across the country. Some of the storms and floods are hundreds of miles away, but they can still affect policy holders in the metro.

“It can just because the bottom line for the insurance company, it’s as if they’re paying out other places too. At some point they have to accommodate for all of that,” Insurance agent Kim Riha said. “Home insurance has seen more of an impact right now than auto, just due to all of the claims that have happened in the area and the amount that they paid out.”

Riha is with Accredited Insurance Group. The family-owned insurance agency has been in business since 1984.

“I’m an independent agent, so I have multiple carriers. I can look at most of our carriers, actually all of our carriers are taking rate increases whether it be auto or home,” Riha said. “I’d say it’s costing them a whole lot of money to cover all the claims. Mine are doing OK that I have. I know there are others that are struggling a little bit more depending on what areas.”

The metro area is not immune to extreme weather.

A couple of severe storms have hit the area, and those storms forced residents to repair their homes and replace roofs, and that means insurance companies have to pay out more claims.

“One of my carriers had come in and said typically the average age of roof used to be close to like 15 to 20 years,” Riha said. “Now, if they can even get eight years out of a roof with the storms, that’s pretty good.”

Riha said auto insurance is also on the rise.

A lot of vehicles were damaged in the storms, but she tells First Alert 6 that that was not the main driver in the auto insurance premium hike.

“The main thing in car insurance is you have the claims, but also with these newer cars, and the amount of technology on the cars, if you hit a newer car the cost of the claim is going to go up,” Riha said.

Riha said there are some things that people can do to help keep insurance rates somewhat affordable.

“If you’re able to increase your deductible, that’s going to help keep that price down.” Riha said. “The longer you stay with a carrier, that’s also going to be better for you in the long run. Some of mine, if you’re with them for an amount of time you’re less likely to get cancelled.”

Riha knows that everyone has a budget, but it’s a good idea to check over insurance policies, especially homeowners insurance to see if there are some features that can be cut to save money.

However, Riha also says that a less expensive policy can mean less coverage.

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