Category Archives: Insurance Information

What Is a “Junk” Homeowners Insurance Policy?

Written On February 2, 2012 By Bob Kraft

I’ve written recently about the sorry state of homeowners insurance in Texas. With laws favoring the insurance companies and with an insurance department that consistently sides with the carriers, homeowners don’t get much for their money — despite the fact  we always rank number one or number two for highest homeowner rates in the country.
The [...]

Posted in Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Insurance Information

Texas Auto Insurance Rates Are Increasing

Written On January 31, 2012 By Bob Kraft

Apparently the weak regulation and poor oversight of Texas insurance companies that has kept us at number one or number two in the nation for highest homeowner insurance premiums is not enough punishment for Texas consumers. Now we may be in a race to have the highest automobile insurance premiums in the country also. The [...]

Posted in Insurance Information, Vehicle Law or News

Texas Homeowners Pay Highest Insurance Premiums (Again)

Written On January 17, 2012 By Bob Kraft

I’ve written many times about the ridiculous and unfair system in Texas where the insurance industry controls the regulatory department that sets the rules for insurance rates. The not-so-unexpected results of such a system include Texas leading the nation in homeowner insurance rates year after year. And even worse, the homeowner policies being written today [...]

Posted in Insurance Information

You Can Save Money On Auto Insurance

Written On December 13, 2011 By Bob Kraft

The business section of the Dallas Morning News recently featured an article on saving money by making changes in your automobile insurance coverage. I recommend reading the full article, but here are a few excerpts:
The ideal way to save money is to exert effort once and automatically reap savings over and over again, every month. [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Insurance Information, Vehicle Law or News

Broad Strategy Needed to Win Battle Against Uninsured Drivers

Written On October 11, 2011 By Bob Kraft

Texas has a terrible problem with uninsured drivers — about 20% to 25% of all drivers in Texas have no automobile liability coverage. That means the rest of us have to pay extra for Uninsured Motorist coverage to protect ourselves against these drivers. An editorial in the Dallas Morning News detailed this problem:
The look in [...]

Posted in Insurance Information, Vehicle Law or News

20% of Texas Drivers Lack Insurance Despite State’s Verification Program

Written On September 26, 2011 By Bob Kraft

It seems that for the entire 40 years I’ve been practicing law the uninsured driver rate in Texas has been in the 2o% to 25% range. The government has tried various measures to reduce this percentage, but to no avail. The latest data, as reported by the Dallas Morning News, show no significant change. Here [...]

Posted in Insurance Information, Vehicle Law or News

Hospital Cost Shifting Adds to Auto Injury Claim Costs

Written On June 13, 2011 By Bob Kraft

According to a recent study from the Insurance Research Council, low reimbursements from public health insurance programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, have prompted hospitals to shift costs to automobile insurance companies—raising auto injury claim costs and forcing auto insurers to more closely scrutinize and negotiate hospital bills prior to payment. The IRC estimates that for [...]

Posted in Health Insurance, Insurance Information, Medicaid, Medicare

Follow-Up on Move to Reduce Auto Insurance Limits in Wisconsin

Written On January 24, 2011 By Bob Kraft

I wrote last week about the bill to reduce automobile liability insurance limits in Wisconsin, and I said that was bizarre in these days of rapidly escalating medical costs. An article in the Green Bay Press Gazette has a little more information about the proposal. Here are excerpts:
Door County lawmakers are among the sponsors of [...]

Posted in Insurance Information, Vehicle Law or News

Texas Auto Liability Insurance Limits Increase January 1, 2011

Written On December 28, 2010 By Bob Kraft

Here’s a sliver of good news for people who may get involved in a car wreck in 2011 or after. The automobile insurance liability limits that were raised from the decades-old minimum of $20,000 to $25,000 in 2008 will increase again, to $30,000 effective January 1, 2011. This will be for policies written or renewed [...]

Posted in Insurance Information, Vehicle Law or News

Allstate Will Increase Insurance Rates Next Month for Texas Homeowners

Written On December 20, 2010 By Bob Kraft

I have written many, many times, here and elsewhere, about the ridiculous homeowners insurance system we have in Texas. For years Texas has had the highest homeowners premiums in the nation, surpassed for a brief time only by hurricane-prone Florida recently. In Texas, insurance companies can charge whatever they want, without asking permission from the [...]

Posted in Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Insurance Information, Political and/or Judicial

Victory for Texas Consumers in Health Insurance Rule Change

Written On December 8, 2010 By Bob Kraft

In an important and increasingly rare victory for Texas consumers, the Insurance Commisioner, Mike Geeslin, has declared that insurance companies can no longer use “discretionary clauses” in certain policies. This new rule will apply to life, disability, and health insurance, but not to automobile liability insurance.
A discretionary clause essentially gives an insurance company the right [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Insurance Information, Political and/or Judicial

Texas Legislature Must Cut Homeowners Insurance Costs

Written On November 30, 2010 By Bob Kraft

I’ve written about the ridiculously high cost of homeowners insurance in Texas many times, most recently this November 18. Now the Beaumont Enterprise has published an editorial on this subject, and I completely agree with the newspaper. Here are excerpts:
When the Legislature convenes in January, it has to do more than agree with fed-up consumers [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Government, Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Insurance Information, Political and/or Judicial

Texas Reclaims Top Spot in Nation for Highest Homeowners Insurance Rates

Written On November 18, 2010 By Bob Kraft

I knew they couldn’t keep us in second place for long. Now “insurance company friendly” Texas is number one in the nation again for highest homeowners insurance rates. Florida edged ahead of us for a brief time, but the almost total lack of regulation in Texas let us reclaim our rightful spot at the top [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Government, Insurance Information

Texas Budget Cuts Could Gut Insurance Regulation

Written On September 8, 2010 By Bob Kraft

As if we actually had any meaningful insurance regulation in Texas now, a recent article in the Dallas Morning News says we may have even less in the near future, due to budget cuts. Insurance “regulation” in Texas has been a joke for many years, so I’m not certain that no regulation at all would [...]

Posted in Government, Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Insurance Information

Texas to Require Insurers to Justify “Unreasonable” Premium Increases

Written On August 24, 2010 By Bob Kraft

Will Texas really start to crack down on insurance company abuses, or is this just more empty talk from the Texas Department of Insurance? An article in the Dallas Morning News this week quotes state officials as saying they will now question “unreasonable” rate hikes from insurance companies. This change is being forced on the [...]

Posted in Government, Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Insurance Information

State Farm Raising Texas Auto Insurance Rates Again

Written On July 19, 2010 By Bob Kraft

State Farm is at it again — raising auto insurance rates in Texas. Of course under our “business friendly” political environment, the state can’t prevent (even if it wanted to) premium increases.
The State Farm increase is relatively small at an average of two percent. But multiply that by the 3,000,000 drivers insured by State Farm, [...]

Posted in Insurance Information, Vehicle Law or News

25% of Vehicles Uninsured in Dallas County

Written On July 19, 2010 By Bob Kraft

The Dallas area continues to have the highest percentage of uninsured drivers of all large urban areas in Texas, according to a new report from the State Department of Insurance. Statewide, more than 21% of vehicles are uninsured. In Dallas County, the figure is 25%, It is a violation of state law to not have [...]

Posted in Insurance Information, Vehicle Law or News

Featured Link – KnowYourStuff.org

Written On June 25, 2010 By Bob Kraft

The Insurance Information Institute has set up a helpful Web site called Know Your Stuff. It provides an easy way to enter information about items in your home so in case of a loss you’ll be able to prove to your insurance company what you owned, and have some idea of what it cost. The [...]

Posted in Consumer Information, Featured Link, Insurance Information

Two Texas Auto Insurers Face Investigation Over Huge Number of Consumer Complaints

Written On June 17, 2010 By Bob Kraft

Finally, someone seems to have noticed the notoriously bad behavior of two of the worst auto insurance companies in Texas. The Dallas Morning News ran a lengthy story this week detailing the volume and variety of complaints the Texas Department of Insurance has received against Fred Loya and Old American County Mutual insurance companies. The [...]

Posted in Insurance Company or Government Misconduct, Insurance Information, Vehicle Law or News

Insurers Seek to Recover Payments in Toyota Crash Claims

Written On April 28, 2010 By Bob Kraft

Insurance companies are gearing up to recoup from Toyota money they paid for claims in crashes involving sudden acceleration, the subject of major safety recalls by the Japanese automaker. It could also mean money back for some drivers who paid deductibles, according to a report by the Associated Press. Here are excerpts from the article:
At [...]

Posted in Insurance Information, Product Liability or Medical Devices, Vehicle Law or News