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Published Monday, June 15, 2009 in Opinion

Storms, stock market will make us pay more in insurance premiums

Editorial

As Georgians continue to cope with the ongoing recession, along comes word we can expect increases in our home and auto insurance rates. Expect your homeowners insurance to increase from 5-11 percent, and auto insurance rates by about 2.5 percent.

Here in Coweta County hundreds and hundreds of homeowners filed insurance claims this spring after storms raked the area. Particularly hard hit was the north Coweta area where baseball size hail damaged roofs, broke windows and dented autos. Parts of south Coweta received damage when a tornado roared through the area.

It may be a little early for these spring claims to impact our rates, but the current increases are blamed on the fact insurance companies have been hit hard by storms in recent years -- plus companies have taken considerable losses on Wall Street.

While our rates in Georgia are increasing, Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine tries to paint a positive picture. He says Georgians are doing better than some other states where rates are rising faster. Also, homeowners insurance rates in Georgia reportedly have been below the national average. We could be feeling some catch-up pains.

Auto insurance rates in Georgia are rising at a lower level at least partly because we have been paying higher than the national average for auto insurance.

While our rates are going up this year, it's unclear about rates in future years. One analyst says things could get worse if another major hurricane -- like Katrina or Ike -- hits the U.S.

We need Mother Nature to be kind to us.