We are the country's largest
state Trade Organization that
represents the insurance industry.
So all of our Member companies are
insurance companies that do business
here in Santa or here in Texas.
And so basically, we are.
We're not a lobbying group.
We don't lobby,
but we do provide information
on behalf of the industry.
And you know, on, uh,
you know, for our Members,
we provide them with the issues
that are going on here in Texas and
and keeping them abreast of what's
going on in the state as well.
As far as regulations and things
like that go when it comes to rating
insurance or or looking at at your
insurance premium is what you pay
every month for your auto insurance.
It could be.
Your claims history your driving
record how long you've been with
the with the particular company
and then kind of overall that that
that big bubble is what's going on
in your community or your state,
or your zip code.
We'd like to look at insurance as a
team sport so it it writes risk not
only to the individual risk but what
but what's going on in the area.
So are there all of a sudden
a huge amount of you know,
an uptick in accidents?
And we're looking to the future and saying,
OK, this?
Area, uh,
you know there's a lot of people
that are speeding.
There's a lot of people that
are getting an accident.
You know,
the frequency and severity are increasing.
All of those factors go into pricing.
Auto insurance it's actually something
that we've been looking at for.
Maybe the past five or six
years to be honest.
So over the last several years we
have seen incremental increases in
car insurance and that has to do with
again looking at those risk factors.
Everything from driving but
also natural disasters is a is a
particular area prone to flooding,
prone to prone to hurricanes,
prone to hail damage.
All of those different factors
come into effect.
The that people you know as far
as pricing the other factor that.
Is the cost of vehicles not only to repair,
but to replace?
If we think about our car from from say,
the year 2000 or even 2005,
we had plastic bumpers.
We had aluminum bumpers.
We had headlights that maybe
cost $100 to replace.
Whereas now if you look at cars,
every single car as a backup camera,
every single car has has radar.
Every single car has sensors
that are in the bumpers.
Headlights could be as much
as $1000 windshields.
You know the cost of windshields
are growing up?
All of those factors come into play,
so the cost to repair cars today
as opposed to five 10-15 years ago,
is going up when you're rating
insurance and you're looking at a
car and you have a car that has,
you know,
all these sensors in this new technology,
which is great.
I mean,
we want more safety.
We want you know those backup cameras
we want the different kinds of safety
features that are put into vehicles.
But if the worst does happen
and you are in that accident,
it's it's going to cost
to repair that and so.
Therefore that's going to be reflected
in your cost to ensure that.
Particular automobile if you look
at it over the past couple of years,
you know during the pandemic there
were insurance companies and the
insurance industry gave out billions
of dollars in refunds and rebates
to to their to their customers.
So that definitely plays a factor.
But that's something that you
should actually proactively do,
and it's a good tip is contact your
insurance company and tell them you know,
change your mileage, you know, hey,
I'm not driving 20,000 miles anymore
a year because I'm not commuting.
I'm staying at home.
My car is garaged.
All of those factors
could also come into play,
so you may actually save a few dollars.
If you're if you're driving lesson so,
but that's something you gotta proactively
do with your insurance companies.
Inform them that you're not driving
as much as you were, and you may.
You may see some savings.
Some of those cost saving tips in
addition to what we already talked about
is is look for affiliation discounts,
you know,
call your call,
your insurance company and see if there's
discounts that you may qualify for.
Look for something that's like
an affiliation discount.
Is there something through your colleges
alumni association that you may qualify for?
They sometimes have discounts.
Did you take,
you know,
go ahead and spend the 75 or $100
whatever it might be to take a
defensive driving course that may
also lower your lower your rate.
If you have students.
If you have kids that are in college or
high school that are on your policy,
we all know that that's gonna
raise your rates.
Raise your premiums,
but do they have good grades you know?
Are they keeping their grades up?
Some some companies offer
good good student discounts,
so that's always something that
you can look into even if you're
not buying a new car.
If you're, you know, just it's the new year.
It's a good time to look at your policy.
Make sure you know what's in it.
Go ahead and contact your insurance
company or other insurance companies.
See if you can get a better rate.
Look at your policy and make sure
that you have the right insurance.
Do you have an older car that
maybe you don't need full collision
or full comprehensive coverage,
which is that coverage that happens
when maybe you're at fault in an accident?
If you only have a car that's
worth a few $1000,
is that something that you can
afford to pay out of pocket to
replace as opposed to paying that
insurance premium every month?
Look at your deductibles are
are you able to raise
your deductible a little bit
with your insurance company
to save a few dollars a month?
But again, make sure that you have
that that money in savings that
you can pay that deductible at a
cost should the worst happen and
another a great resource is the Texas
Department of Insurance has a website
itishelpinsure.com.
It's a really easy way and a good
resource to shop the companies
that do business here in Texas.
And and and you know you can take
a look at that. It's the diversity
of natural disasters actually.
If you look at Texas, we have hurricanes.
We have flooding. We have hail.
We have tornadoes.
You know, it's kind of a a melting
pot of natural disasters compared
to much of the other country.
Much of the other parts of the country
that maybe only have you know,
winter storms that may,
you know, may have you know,
although we don't have
earthquakes like California does,
but I think that's something
that's really unique.
Is just the different pockets of
Texas and the different kinds of
weather catastrophes that can impact
the different parts of Texas.