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The challenging weather events of the past few years seem to have had a major effect on the costs that consumers in many parts of the country pay for all their different types of home insurance policies. Unfortunately for many Americans, it seems that these issues are very widespread, and few parts of the country are immune from these changes. Now, new data suggests Texas is certainly no exception to this fact, and insurance agents operating within that state may have to prepare clients for coming increases as a consequence.

A recent hail storm in one part of the Lone Star State is said to have caused as much as $500 million in damages, and the effects of that will be felt by residents state-wide for years, according to a report from the Amarillo television station KAMR. The fact of the matter is that the full extent of the damage hasn't even yet been calculated by insurers, and therefore it's difficult to project how much it's going to end up costing homeowners in the area in terms of premium increases.

""We haven't finished the hail storm yet, we really don't know what the hail storm is going to total out to be,"" James Brown, partner at Upshaw Insurance, told the station. ""So we really won't feel the effect of the hail storm until probably next year or the next year.""

What can consumers do?
The problem for many is that the kinds of incidents that cause major damage - tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, wildfires, etc. - tend to hit the same areas over and over, and thus the concern for residents in those places should be to limit what insurers would see as the risk to their properties overall, the report said. The more that can be done to reduce damage preemptively, the more flexibility such companies might have when it comes to the premiums they pay. However, those consumers will often have to be proactive, as insurers aren't likely to simply ask if they want lower rates for completing a number of home improvement tasks.

The more insurance agents can do to highlight these potential savings, though, the more likely consumers are to be satisfied with their coverage and stick with their current insurers. While the temptation may be to shop around any time a large home insurance bill comes in, better service typically leads to better loyalty overall.

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