NU Online News Service, Dec. 21, 1:33 p.m.EST
|Allstate insurance companies have requested rate increases forhomeowners' insurance in Texas due to the “risks and realities ofweather patterns in Texas,” a spokeswoman says.
|Allstate Texas Lloyds has asked for a 5.7 percent averagestatewide increase. Allstate Fire & Casualty Insurance Co. isseeking approval for a 9.8 percent rate hike.
|Texas is a file-and-use state, so the rates are currently ineffect. Insurance regulators are reviewing the request.
|Allstate spokeswoman Kristen Beaman says the rate request is“driven by loss costs, which are outpacing premiums.”
|“Texas has the most severe weather in the country,” Beamanpoints out in an email. “Hail and windstorms have been increasinglysevere over the past few years and severe drought conditions haveincreased the frequency and scope of wildfires.”
|Allstate reported losses of $1.1 billion from the 2011 thirdquarter, when large wildfires burned in Austin and Houston.Wildfires were included as part of 23 catastrophic loss eventsduring the quarter, which also saw losses from Hurricane Irene andTropical Storm Lee, Beaman says.
|Due in no small part to catastrophe losses, Allstate Corp.reported third quarter net income of $165 million, a 55 percent dropcompared to the same period in 2010.
|The Insurance Council of Texas says wildfires this year couldcause insured losses of around $500 million. This year Texas wasvictimized by the costliest and second-costliest fire in statehistory.
|The costliest, the Bastrop fire, is now expected to cause $325 million in insuredlosses.
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