The Dayna Simmons Real Estate Show 09/16/23--with guest host Andy Hemmings and April Tobert

• Guest host Andy Hemmings and April Tobert talk about home and car insurance.

Episode Transcript

(00:02):
Hey, everybody, it's your board, Gary Levox of Rascal Flats Beaumont.
I made a lot of friends thereon the road. And what are my
friends that you need to meet,especially if you're selling your home is Dana
Simmons of Dana Simmons Realty. Herteam is the real deal, top shelf,
next level, and she makes itso easy, and I like easy,
and remember sell your home hold no, go on, hesitate go Dan

(00:28):
Simmons real Estate. Good morning everyone. Andy Hemmings here your guest host for
the Dana Simmons Real Estate Show.And it's a pleasure to be with you
here today. And a shout outto miss Dana Simmons and her team and
a thank you for an allowing usto be here to host her show.

(00:50):
Listen, we got some great,great information for you here today, relevant
to you as a homeowner or apotential homeowner here in the state of Texas.
And our guest sitting here with metoday is my good friend and insurance
agent, Miss April Tolbert with FarmersInsurance. Welcome, April. Thank you

(01:11):
so much for having me Andy,and thank you Dana for leaving town and
letting us come take over your show. We always enjoy I enjoyed chat with
Andy, but now we get toshare our chats with the world. Yes,
that's right. Yeah, we haveno problem chatting. That's for sure
at all. That's for sure.Yeah. April and I we we've known
each other a very long time beinghere in the real estate industry, and
I always enjoy visiting with April becauseshe is just a true professional, and

(01:34):
she's a resource. You know,I consider part of my financial team.
Insurance is always part of your considerationin your finances, on your day to
day finances, So having a goodinsurance agent in your corner is just a
resource that you have to have inApril, You've always been fantastic. You
know, I dial you up anytimeI have questions. I always appreciate you

(01:57):
being there. So tell us justa little bit about yourself. How long
you've been in the insurance industry.Sure, I made the switch into the
insurance industry almost twenty years ago now, actually right after Hurricane Rita. Whenever
I personally had an experience with myinsurance. I owned a home, I
owned cars, I had purchased insurance, but I had a terrible experience with

(02:22):
my insurance after Hurricane Rita. Andonce I navigated that, and I had
an agent that was just rude tome. I was asking questions about coverage
and what does my coverage do?And should I do this? And should
I do that? And she said, you don't need to know that.
Wow. And so it really sparkedme to start learning insurance, mainly to

(02:44):
learn about my own insurance and tolearn about what my options were because I
didn't have someone that was helpful.I didn't have someone that was there to
help me navigate that and know whatmy options were and look at what coverages
I should carry, or maybe whatI could lower to help save some money,
or what my deductibles were. Ididn't have any help with that.
And there's so many people out therethat I discovered were calling eight hundred numbers,

(03:07):
people that were calling people in otherstates and trying to navigate their insurance.
And I realized real quickly, wehave a very unique situation living along
the Gulf Coast and in Southeast Texas, and we need a local resource to
be able to help us navigate ourchallenges. Because I've got an excellent thank

(03:27):
you, thank you, And soI made the switch to insurance and actually
started my Farmer's agency in twenty twelve, and I have an amazing team where
over at sixteen forty North Major Driveat Gladys at Major the big blue roof
with the big seventy two foot Farmerssign on the top of the building there.
But most people don't know until theyget to me though, that we
actually have other carriers outside of Farmersthat we offer. So when you come

(03:53):
to my office and you say,hey, I need help with my insurance,
or I need some cheaper insurance,or whatever your reasoning is, we
are going to help you navigate thatthrough multiple carriers. Yes, we have
the big name of Farmers Insurance,but we've also got a lot of the
carriers that some of the independents have, and and we'll run options for you
and just again try to be aresource for you. As you said,

(04:15):
Andy, that that's the best termI like, and I appreciate you using
that, because that's what we tryto be a resource to help you navigate
what may be best for you,because that's not necessarily what's best for me,
or best for your neighbor or yourmother, or your brother or your
sister. We all every year,you and I sit down and look at
my policy and you give me differentoptions, and I always appreciate that.
And you're like, well, wecan do this and you get this coverage

(04:36):
or this. So I always appreciatehaving the different options. And you know
I am. I'm in the insuranceindustry also, but I'm in the title
insurance industry something totally different. Iwork with Capital Title, and our businesses
intersect when it comes time for closing, whenever you're purchasing a home. So

(04:57):
to just one quick little message outthere, all of you listening. If
you're if you are in the middleof buying a house, or you're going
under contract with a house, shopthat insurance early on in the process,
like during your inspection period because you'realone. You know, if you're getting
alone, which most people do,it's going to be part of your mortgage
and you want to make sure thatyour debt's not going to throw off your
debt to income ratio. So it'salways a good idea to shop that insurance

(05:20):
while you're under contract and you mayhave some uh some wiggle room within the
contract. It's never been more importantthan it is right now. I've always
said, and when you go undercontract, as soon as you put that
offer in, you get your inspections, as everyone well knows, get that
house inspected. But now it isso important to shop insurance because you know

(05:42):
your lender has done a preapproval foryou, and so they have pulled a
number out of the sky and said, we think that insurance on this house
should be approximately this number. Andthat's how they came up with your closing
cost estimate, your your estimate toclose, and what your monthly payments would
be. But if you get youknow, to looking and investigating the insurance

(06:03):
and you find well, maybe therewas a claim or two on that house
that you didn't know. That insuranceon that house might be twice as expensive
as another house down the street,and that could make that house not affordable.
Yeah, there could be a bigsurprise. There could be, And
don't wait till it's too late tofind that out. Make sure you get
that done during your option. Now, y'all do what's called a clue report,

(06:25):
right, clue on a property.Well, different carriers use different services,
but yes, they're similar to acontents of loss underwriting examination something like
that. But basically, y'all,y'all look at the claim history on that
property because it may if there's beentoo many claims on the property for whatever
reason, I could definitely affect thepremium. That's right. I actually ran
into one yesterday for a real estateagent that's actually looking as under contracted by

(06:50):
a home and we found that thathome was not insurable through many carriers because
it had had two claims in theclass past three years. Another one I
looked at this week it had afire claim last year. That makes it
ineligible with a lot of your carriers. You might end up having to get

(07:12):
insurance for a period of time onthat home through like the state pool.
Everybody's familiar with Texas Windstorm Insurance Association. Well, they have a companion company,
which is Texas Fair Plan that offersthe homeowner side of that the fire
and other perils. And there's kindof the what I call the insurance of
last resort. If you see myair quotes here. I know we're on

(07:33):
the radio and you can't see it, but in other states do the same
thing they do. That's right,and that insurance of last resort. In
our case in Texas, it's theTexas Fair Plan Association may be the only
option for insurance on that home.Yeah yeah, yeah. So your first
little tip, and there's more tocome, is when you're home shopping,
I get that insurance quote early onin the process. I am Andy Hemmings,

(07:58):
guest host of the Dana Simmons Show. We're going to take a short
break and be right back with MissApril Talbert Farmer's Insurance. Would you need
to sell your home? No onemakes it easier than Dana Simmons of Danas
Simmons, Really sell your home.Hold on gone hesitated, Simmons's realist.

(08:22):
Welcome back, every one. Iam Andy Hemmings with capital title, guest
host for the Dana Simmons Show thismorning, and have our guest in the
studio today, Miss April Talbert,with Farmer's Insurance, and we were just
talking a little bit about the homebuying process and the importance of getting that
insurance quote. Another opportunity out therethat a lot of folks aren't aware of

(08:46):
is regarding flood insurance. And ifyou don't know it, you mostly y'all
probably already know it. Flood insurancehas really gone up over the really just
over the past year or so,the flood ince premiums have gone up.
Flood insurance is mandated by FEMA.Mandated, I guess that's correct the correct
word. It's set by FEMA,regulated by FEMA. So it is what

(09:09):
it is. It's not that youcan go shopping around, generally speaking,
although I have heard there are somecarriers out there. We may want to
dive into that now that I'm thinkingabout it. But if you do have
a flood policy with FEMA and you'reselling your house, or if you're purchasing
a house and you want flood insurance, you need to find out if the
current owner has a flood policy,because there's the opportunity for them to transfer

(09:31):
that existing policy to you, andthere's some definite benefits for doing so.
This is a biggie, So Apriltell us how that process works and the
benefits of doing so for that newhomeowner. Absolutely so, if the first
thing to know to find out isif the current owner has flood insurance,
if the current home is insured throughFEMA. Now this does not necessarily apply

(09:54):
to private carriers, and yes thereare private carriers out there. We have
two of them at my agency.We shop so we shop the THEEMA of
National Flood Insurance Program rates, whichare regulated, as Andy said, by
FEMA, so those are going tobe the same no matter where you go.
And then there are some private carriersas well that you can quote through.
But if that home has flood insurancealready through the National Flood Insurance Program,

(10:20):
that policy may be assumable. Butthis is where we come into some
misunderstanding even in the real estate worldin mind in Andy's world here where it's
not really understood that the new riskrate two point zero, so the new
flood risk rate for that home isnot different. It will. Let's say

(10:43):
that you went from the old dayswhere you had the preferred risk policy on
your home, which would have beenif you had the maximum amount through FEMA,
that's two hundred and fifty thousand dollarsof coverage on your building, on
your dwelling, and then one hundredthousand dollars of contents that policy. On
the old preferred risk policy, whichis no longer available, was five hundred

(11:03):
and seventy two dollars. Okay,what happened whenever FEMA re did the way
that they rate flood insurance. Theynow every home and this is every home
in the country is now rated basedon their into that home's individual risk.

(11:26):
So the home that you're looking atand the home across the street and the
home next door may have are mostlikely going to have different rates for the
cost of flood insurance to ensure thathome. So if you are purchasing that
home and the seller has insurance alreadythrough FEMA, you can do what's called
an assumption of that policy. Whatthat means is that you can take advantage

(11:50):
of the fact that their rate mayhave been going up from the old five
hundred and seventy two to eighteen percentthis year, and then take an eighteen
percent rate increase next year, andthe next year and the next year until
they hit whatever that new full riskrate is for that home. And we're
just going to ballpark it. We'regonna say, Okay, this home was
five hundred and seventy two dollars andnow it's gonna be twelve hundred dollars for

(12:13):
flood insurance. That's fairly common.We're seeing some of them fifteen hundred,
some of them eighteen hundred, twelvehundred, eight hundred, they're all over
the board, and you would beable to instead of having to purchase a
new policy at the full risk rateright off the bat. You would be
able to assume the current owner's policyand take advantage of those rate increases year

(12:37):
over year, so you don't haveto pay the higher risk right off the
bat. Okay, so it doesn'tstay at that lower rate forever. It
is going to gradually escalate into theread the new the new premium. But
it's a softer landing. That's exactlywhat you can ease into it, and
that can really make a big differenceto you as you're moving into that new

(12:58):
home or buying that new commercial property, even because that applies to commercial properties
too, so such that those increaseswill come gradually over the years. And
it's pretty simple to transfer the policybecause I've done it on two properties that
I've sold, and farmers walked methrough how to do it, and basically
it's just writing a letter and theysubmit it and it just transfers to the

(13:18):
new property of that is correct with. You know, if you're dealing with
our office, there's a piece ofpaper that you sign that says it's already
a pre filled form. We fillin your policy number and you sign the
authorization and we send it in.It's that easy, easy, easy,
Now, one of the things Ido want to point out, because it
has caught some people as well,is that that policy is paid in full

(13:39):
for the year. Because we allknow we pay our flood insurance one time
per year. There's no payment plansor anything like that through FEMA through the
flood program, So that policy ispaid in full. So if you have
paid your policy on January one,you sell your house on June first,
you are transferring ownership of that alreadyfull paid in full policy as well.

(14:01):
So there is no pro rated refundback because you're not canceling the policy as
a seller, So make sure thatyou're aware of that. That would have
to be something that would if ifyou wanted to use it as a negotiation
item the buyer and seller could youknow, the seller could say, look,
I've got six months left on this. You know, twelve hundred dollars
policy. Make the math easy.So that's basically a six hundred dollars benefit

(14:24):
to you, and so you couldnegotiate that out. But it's not going
to automatically be done. If youtransfer the policy to them, they're not
going to pro rate it for you. That is correct. The insurance company
is not doing anything that would haveto be done through title, you know,
yeah, or just between the partiesoutside outside of closing. But yeah,
personally, when I did it,I used it as a benefit to

(14:46):
the buyer, you know, whenI was negotiating selling the property, just
saying look, I'm going to transfermy policy to you. Here's how much
money it's saving you, and justmade it easier to get through the negotiations.
There anything you can do to makeit easier at this point. That
exactly all right, That's exactly right. So so keep that in mind with
with with flood insurance and make sureyou remember that because I can tell you

(15:07):
a lot of people are missing thatopportunity. Maybe their their agent is not
aware of it. I know allof Dana's team is aware of it.
But if you're out there working withpurchasing a home, just make sure to
keep that in mind. It couldreally be a big, big benefit to
you. And the seller is probablynot aware of it either. They probably
have no idea, they don't evenknow that they can offer that to you.

(15:28):
So that's why it's so important tohave knowledgeable people to help you through
your process. And I can't sayenough about Dana's team, that whole team
at Dana Simmons real Estate. Theyare They're knowledgeable, they're friendly, they're
helpful, and they they keep themselvesup to date on the latest and the
things that can help make your processas easy as possible for you. So

(15:52):
shout out to Dana's team. Hey, hey, hey, where where is
she? Now? Do we evenknow? Okay, well, Dana,
we miss you. We hope you'reon a beach vacation somewhere. She never
is though, she's always working somewhere, just so you know. Okay,
Another little thing that I was thinkingabout is I was driving here to the

(16:14):
studio after we put in our swimmingpool. I remember I called you or
texted you one or the other,and I'm like, I'm not covered.
I don't have coverage on that,you know, And so you kind of
walked me through that. So let'stalk about that. If you have a
property with additional improvements like a swimmingpool, like an outbuilding, you know,
you make improvements to the property,they're not automatically covered. They're they're

(16:38):
not automatically covered in the policy thatyou currently have in place. I don't
think, so tell us how thatwould work. Well, they could be.
What I say is that it's importantto keep your insurance agent abreast of
anything that you're doing, whether itbe improvements inside your home, exterior of
your home. You're putting a newroof on, you're putting new windows,

(16:59):
you're a swimming pool, you're replacingyour fence. Just it doesn't hurt.
That's why it's number one important tohave a local insurance person that you can
pick up the phone and call,and you're not calling an eight hundred number,
because what we advise our customers todo is just pick up the phone
and call us, and we'll talkyou through it based on what you're doing
and your situation, because it maybe different if you live in Hardin County

(17:22):
or Orange County versus whether you livein Jefferson County as to whether you need
those improvements to be windstorm certified too. Right, So, some counties do
have requirements for a building specifically ifthey could possibly need to be windstorm certified.
So we will talk you through basedon what you're looking at doing,

(17:44):
and then we'll talk you through whetherthere needs to be any changes to your
policy. A standard homeowners policy isgoing to usually have there's no always certains
in insurance, but it generally you'regoing to have some kind of coverage for
sept structures on your policy, sothat is going to be Most of my
companies are about a ten percent extensionof what your home is insured for.

(18:07):
So if your home is insured fortwo hundred and fifty thousand dollars, you're
going to have ten percent twenty fivethousand dollars for separate structures on your policy.
That fencing outbuildings, structures that arenot attached to your home. Okay,
that also could mean your pool equipmentand things of that sort, right,
But the big thing with a pool, when we talk specifically about a

(18:30):
pool, is the liability that itcreates. I mean, we have all
heard terrible stories in the news aboutkids drowning in pools. And you know,
there was one in my insurance careerwhere that the homeowner had done everything,
they had locked gates, they hadeight foot privacy fence and locked gates,

(18:53):
and a young child got into thebackyard and drowned in the pool.
And I always hate that. I'man insurance agent talk in worst case scenarios
all the time, but that's whatwe have insurance for. You guys,
is to help financially protect us andprotect our assets and what we've worked so
hard for if the worst case scenarioever happened. And it's really easy to

(19:18):
think about. Okay, I knowI've got a two hundred and fifty thousand
dollars house. If it burns tothe ground, I've lost two hundred and
fifty thousand dollars plus all my contentsand all of that. But liability is
a big key component, and that'swhether you're talking about auto insurance, home
insurance, business insurance. Liability iswhat I call the wild card because you
never know anybody can sue you foranything, and do you want to be

(19:45):
protected? First of all, liabilityinsurance should provide your defense. Right you
get served to suit because something happenedon your property, somebody tripped and fell,
busted their head open, they're goingto sue you. You get served
with these paper what do you do? Well, If you don't have liability
insurance, you're going to go retainan attorney, You're going to be out
of pocket all those fees by thehour, all of those things. Whereas

(20:08):
if you have liability insurance in place, and most homeowners insurance provide some type
of liability check yours to make sureyou've increased your liability over the last ten
years, because you know, peopledon't sue people for one hundred thousand dollars
anymore, right A. Right,people are going to go in and there's
probably going to be a lot morezeros behind that when they sue you.

(20:30):
Now that doesn't mean that that's whatthey're going to be liable for in the
end, but that's what people suepeople for big dollars, right And the
having liability insurance, the insurance companywill take that on for you, provide
your defense, and then pay outup to whatever your liability policy limit is
if you are found liable. Verygood, Okay, So a couple more

(20:52):
tips there for you. One istoo, if you have some additional structures
or improvements that you want covered,make sure your policy is covering those.
And I think you said common inthe industry, maybe ten percent of the
coverage for your dwelling. And Iremember when we talked, I think that's
what it was, and I realized, Okay, that's going to be enough
for what I need, and sowe were we were good to go.

(21:12):
So just check your policy and makesure and make sure that you also have
that good liability coverage for those situationsit can happen. So good, very
good. You mentioned something in thatlittle part there about how the premiums could
be different depending on what county you'rein. I feel like most people are
aware that there is a different endthere can be a difference in insurance premiums

(21:34):
depending on the county, But Ifeel like we probably need to address that
real quick on why there is adifference, and so just walk us through
that briefly. The difference in premiumsdepending on what county you're in. Absolutely,
and this is statewide by the way. I know, we talk about
the fact that it affects us.Jefferson County a little bit different. At
Jefferson in Chambers County are one ofthe fourteen coastal counties that are affected by

(21:59):
the what we call Tier one county, which means that the insurance companies,
according to the Insurance Commissioner, canx wind or not have the wind and
hail coverage on the homeowner's insurance policy. So what it really means is that
you could have to have a separatewindstorm and hail policy if you live in

(22:23):
Jefferson Chambers or one of the othercoastal counties of Texas, but Hardin County,
Orange County, Liberty County, JasperCounty, you go further north in
Inland, they're not necessarily affected bythat. And we'll talk about that more
here in a minute, because thereare definitely some more key factors to what
county that you're in and how thataffects your insurance. Okay, very good,

(22:45):
very good, thank you, thankyou. We are here talking with
miss April Talbert with Farmers Insurance.I am Andy Hemmings with Capital Title,
and we are going to take ashort break here. Listen. If you
have any questions for April, wewelcome you to call in. If you
have any insurance questions at all,whether it be your home, auto,

(23:07):
she can help you. Now isthe time to ask. She is an
excellent professional, excellent resource. Andthe phone number to call in is four
O nine eight nine six five fiveeight four four O nine eight nine six
five five eight four. So giveus a call and let us know what
your questions are. Andy Hemmings here, We're gonna take a quick break and
we'll be right back. Would youneed to sell your home? No one

(23:30):
makes it easier than Dana Simmons ofDanas Simmons Really Sell your Home Now,
God Hesitate, go Dan Simmons RealistDay. Welcome back everyone. Andy Hemmings
here with capital title guest host ofthe Dana Simmons Show, and our special

(23:51):
guest with me here today is missApril Tolbert with Farmers Insurance and listen.
If y'all have any questions, wewelcome you to give us a call here
at the KLVII studio. And thenumber just escaped me all of a sudden
four nine eight nine six KLVII fourO nine eight six KLVII. I had

(24:14):
it pulled up and then then Ilost it. Thank you, April saved
me there. So y'all please docall in. We would love to.
I'd love to visit with you.Okay. So we've covered quite a bit
on the process of buying a home, transferring flood policy, getting additional coverage
for structures and things like that,and next I would like for us to

(24:36):
talk about Next, I'd like forus to talk about what's happening in the
insurance industry right now overall, Okay, So tell us what's happening around the
state and really around the country withregards to insurance. April absolutely, so

(24:57):
the big thing that I think isaffecting everyone. I know, we talk
a lot about buying or selling ahome, but everyone who owns a home
is being affected by their insurance rightnow. So if you have not received
your rates, then let me tellyou, you are probably going to be

(25:18):
in shock, whether it be rightnow, whether it be six months from
now or a year from now,whenever your policy renews. But there are
definitely some rate changes happening in insurance, and it is not just affecting those
of us in Southeast Texas. Iknow in the past, we've always been
able to say, you know,well, we have separate windstorm insurance,
so our insurance is so much moreexpensive than everyone else's, and that's actually

(25:41):
becoming less and less of the case. We Actually I was telling Andy off
air that we have a company thatis a big insurance carrier that is canceling
thirty five thousand homes in the DFWarea because of their history of hale claims.
And there's a lot of different reasons. That's not the only reason,

(26:03):
but they're choosing not to ensure there. So carriers are becoming more and more
picky and that is driving our ratesup. So be aware that you're not
alone when you get your insurance renewal. It's happening all over. Yeah,
so we're gonna talk a little bitmore about that, but right now we
do have a caller. Looks likewe have Charlie on the line. Charlie,
how can we help you today?Yeah, I was wondering about car

(26:25):
insurance. I've noticed for the pastyear and a half to two years,
my insurance is going up tremendously forthe three vehicles or two vehicles I have.
That went from being about six hundredand fifty bucks every six months to
now over twelve hundred dollars, Andit's been gradually going up, and the

(26:45):
letty just keeps telling me always justre increases across the state. Charlie,
I'm so glad you called today,and I'm so glad that you posed that
question because we get that question.I get it on my social media all
the time. I'm getting that question, those calls into my office. People
who have random carriers, right,not just the carriers that we represent,

(27:07):
but random carriers, carriers everywhere.Why is my car insurance getting so expensive?
It just are we're being told again, just like you just said,
Charlie, it's a rate increase.It's a statewide rate increase. They are
not being dishonest with you. Theyare telling you what they know, and
that is the carriers are taking rateincreases and they do not tell us specifically

(27:32):
this is why your insurance is goingup. I mean, obviously, if
you had had a claim or aticket that in the old days we could
say, okay, well that wasdue to this accident you had here or
the tickets, and that is everybody. Everybody's saying, I've had no tickets,
I've had no accidents. Why ismine going up? Well, what
we are being told is that thethe expense that is associated with a repairing

(27:57):
vehicles, the cause of vehicles,the inva ability to be able to get
parts, the cost of those parts, all of those things is driving rate
significantly. I was actually told astory by actually the gem at one of
the repair facilities here locally that wedo a lot of business with, or

(28:18):
refer a lot of business to,And he was telling me a story here
a couple of weeks ago about avehicle that he had in his repair shop.
It was a claim from one ofthe big three insurance companies, and
they had paid out. They wereabout nineteen thousand dollars into the repair of
this vehicle. They had all thebody work done, they had everything ready
to go, and they couldn't geta chip. The chip for something that

(28:44):
had to do with the safety featurewas coming in from overseas somewhere and they
were being told it was going tobe three more months before they could get
this chip for this vehicle. Well, the rental car coverage had run out
the person still they could not returnthe vehicle to the person obviously without this
one chip. And then they calledthe manufacturer. They called where they ordered

(29:07):
the chip from. They said,now it's delayed. It's going to be
twelve months before we can get thechip. So he called another buddy down
the road that had a repair shop. He said, can you see how
long it would take you to getthis chip? He called it was going
to be eighteen months before they couldget this chip. So I say all
those words to say, guess whatthe insurance company had to do? Then
the insurance company had to total lossthat vehicle for the insured. Wow,

(29:30):
they had already put nineteen thousand dollarsinto repairing the vehicle. The vehicle looks
great, it's ready to go,except for this chip and that they couldn't
get so then they had to payout the value of that vehicle and total
loss the vehicle. So crazy thingsare happening, right, all of those
words. I just love that theinsurance races go up so much to where,

(29:53):
like myself, I can afford topay for my insurance, but not
everybody can. That's right, you'retalking about my insurance doubled nearly. So
if you have somebody who's got tomake a choice between you know, paying
their car insurance, are putting foodon the table for the kids, which
do you think is gonna get picked? That's exactly right. Now you're gonna
have people. You're gonna have peopledriving around without car insurance because they can't

(30:17):
afford it. And then if theyget in a wreck with me, so
then it's gonna be like, well, they have no insurance, so now
my insurance has to pick it up, which is gonna make my insurance to
go up more. And everybody elseis across the boards and from because well
somebody didn't have insurance. So they'recreating a monster by raising these rates so
high because people are not going tobe able to afford to pay for it,
and they're gonna have to make toughchoices or whether or not they can

(30:38):
have it or not. Absolutely,I could not agree with you more.
That is, you just summarized exactlywhat's happening now, what it is that
is going to happen in the future, what we can do about that.
Your guess is as good as mine, but you are one percent. These
are the conversations that I'm having withpeople every day, people on fixed incomes,

(30:59):
people who I mean, my personalhomeowners insurance has doubled over the last
three years, so you know,I know that's we're talking about auto insurance
right now, but it's happening everywhere. It's happening with your home insurance too,
and your auto insurance, you know. And the only thing I can
compare it to is go to thego to the supermarket and buy a gallon
of milk. I mean, isthat more than what it was a few
years ago too? Right? Well, so it is, but it's not

(31:22):
doubled, you know. I can. I can tell you my grocery bill
is only going about tim but mycar insurance is nearly doubled. Absolutely.
I think the rates are getting alittle too crazy for probably the average person.
Lawyer. Yes, and and Iagree with you in what you're saying,
and that the effect of that isgoing to snowball at some point.

(31:45):
So we appreciate your call in yourinput that's very very relevant. The quick
Yeah, Charlie, we appreciate yourcall. Thank you, We thank you
for calling in. And quick littlestory for you here before we go to
break My son Drew. I don'tknow if you're listening, Hey, Drew.
He was in the military in Spainfor the last three years. He
just got out of the Navy.And when he came back and when he

(32:07):
was there, he had a carand a motorcycle and he had an insurance
on him. When he came back, he bought another car here and got
an insurance policy for him and uhand I told him how much it was
and he's like, ah, Lee, you know that's that's a lot higher
than than Spain. Well, andI said, and that's just for six
months, and he's like what,So he was he was really blown away.

(32:29):
Uh. So yeah, it's somethingthat we all just have to share
and bear right now. Absolutely,And and please don't don't ever downplay the
fact that these liability suits that yousee when you talked about liability earlier on
homes, people being sued over autoaccidents and injuries and all of that.
The lawsuits a huge reason yeah upsubstantially, which also means your insurance companies

(32:54):
are having to pay out higher liabilityclaims and their insurance companies are not in
the business to lose money. Theyare in they are in. Nobody is
in business to lose money, soyou know, they've got to capture enough
premium to be able to pay theclaims. Winkling time comes. Yep,
you are listening to the Dana SimmonsShow here on k LVII and we will

(33:16):
be right back after this break.Would you need to sell your home?
No one makes it easier than DanaSimmons of Danas Simmons, Really sell your
home? Gone hesitated to Simmons's prestate. Welcome back everyone. This is Andy

(33:37):
Hemmings, guest host of the DanisSimmons Show, and we have in our
studio with us today. I missApril Tolbert with Farmers Insurance, talking all
things insurance with you today. SoDana, before we took the excuse me,
April, before we took that lastcall was a compliment, yes,
And before we took that last call, you were talking about how you know

(33:59):
premium are going up, you know, not only across the state but all
across the country for various reasons.You know, natural weather events, hail,
fire, hurricanes, lawsuits out there, you know driving prices up,
the costs of materials, you know, inflation driving costs up. So there's
a lot of things happening out therein the market that's causing not only home

(34:21):
rates, but automobile rates as well. And some people are in some areas
they are there are insurance carriers thatare non renewing policies, which is kind
of scary. You can so,by the way, if you get a
letter in the mail from your insurancecarrier, you need to open it because
there may be something in there thatyou need to be aware of. And

(34:42):
one of these things can be calleda non renewal letter, where the carrier
is no longer going to ensure yourproperty. So tell us why that's happening,
April, and what folks can doabout it. Absolutely, so again,
having a I know I sound likea broken record, but have a
local insurance person that you trust,you can pick up the phone and call,
and that'll give you an honest answerand walk you through what your options

(35:05):
are. Because what's happening, andthis is happening in the industry, okay,
and we only have an hour totalk about this, and we only
have these short segments to talk aboutthis. So you're just getting kind of
a brief overview from a local insuranceagent in Beaumont, Texas. So they
don't expect this to be all comprehensive, but really just kind of in a
nutshell in my layman's terms. Here, the way I explain it is is

(35:31):
that insurance carriers are leaving the marketsleft and right. Example, we had
one of the big insurance carriers herewithin the last couple of months that completely
pulled out of Florida. They're cancelingall of their policies in the Florida market.
We have carriers very consistently in Texasthat will come in. They will

(35:54):
come ensure a bunch of homes.A matter of fact, they might even
offer a really great rate. Youmight leave your big insurance company you've been
with for a long time and gowith this other carrier, yep, And
because it was a great rate,right, Well then what happens what happens
after that, Well, they comein and they collect the premium for two
or three or four years. There'sno storms. They've taken all your money,

(36:15):
and then they say, okay,well we think the risk is too
high here, so we're going toleave the area. We're not going to
insure in these counties anymore, orwe're not going to insure in Texas anymore,
and so they cancel you are morecommonly, as Andy said, they
non renew you. They'll send youa letter says we're not going to offer
your insurance. So a couple ofdifferent things is happening. Either you're getting
a non renewal due to the carrierthat's just leaving the market and they're no

(36:38):
longer going to offer insurance here.Or you get a letter that maybe you've
had some kind of inspection done onyour property and you may not may've even
been aware of that. They're usingGoogle imagery, they're using drones, they're
taking imagery of homes which they havethe right, per the contract to do

(36:59):
to make sure that that home isstill in an acceptable insurable condition to that
company, and we are seeing alot of people that are getting these letters
of non renewal because of the ageof their roof. That's a biggie because
when did we all most have theroofs on our homes here after Hurricane Rita
or Hurricane Ike. Those roofs arenearing twenty years old. They are over

(37:21):
fifteen years old. Now that's that'sexactly right, because they're going to be
a lot of roofs that need tobe replaced in Southeast Texas. So with
the fact that mode that the commonmisconception is, oh, but I put
a thirty year roof on my house, Well, we had, We had
a roof for here with us lasttime I did the Dana Simmons Show,
and we were talking specifically about thefact that there is no such thing as

(37:45):
a thirty year roof in Southeast Texas. That is what's considered a manufacturer warranty
for defects to the product, rightthat they're putting on your roof, But
that doesn't tell you that that roofis going to last thirty years. We
have as many hailstorms and windstorms andin torrential rains as we have, it
wears the shingle faster than it doesin other parts of the world. So

(38:09):
roof's over fifteen years old. Asfar as an insurance company goes, that's
nearing the end of its life.So you may have gotten a non renewal
due to an inspection for some reason. If that's the case, then it's
important to have an insurance agent therethat you pick up the phone and you
call and you say, what's goingon and what can I do about it.
Sometimes that might mean that, hey, we just need to get some

(38:30):
better pictures, or we need tohave a roofing company come out and look
at it and inspect it and say, no, this roof still is in
decent shape. It's got three tofive years of life left in it.
So there are some things that youcan do to protest that right. Or
you can find another carrier that won'tbe so strict and move your insurance policy

(38:54):
to a different carrier. So youshould have options. But don't be surprised
if that happens to you, becausethey're not just picking on you. This
is happening to a lot of peoplein Southeast Texas right now. Yeah,
yeah, I saw it. Igot the letters in from it, and
I did just add with some investmentproperty I had and went with a carrier.
I had them for a few years, and then they pulled out of

(39:15):
the whole state of Texas. They'regone, and so I had to I
was left scrambling trying to find anothercarrier. That's right, that's right,
and that does happen where you knowthese insurance carriers. And we talked about
rates, and this all kind ofties together. Guys, think about the
fact that when the market is saturatedwith insurance carriers that want to come in
and be competitive and ensure us,we're going to have more competitive rates.

(39:38):
It's going to drive our rates down. But what's been happening is is insurance
carriers are pulling out of the marketsleft and right. They don't want to
ensure in Texas, or they don'twant to ensure along the Tier one coastal
risks in Texas. So the fewerchoices that we have, what's going to
happen to the rate. It's goingto drive the rate up. April,
you have given us some fantastic informtoday and we really really appreciate you being

(40:01):
here. How can people get intouch with you? Absolutely, you can
stop by my office at sixteen fortyNorth Major Drive. My team and I
would love to talk insurance with you. Call us at four O nine eight
six six one two three three,or find us anywhere on social media.
Just Google or search April Tulbert Insuranceand you'll find us, or you may

(40:22):
see us out and about around townas well. We've got some events coming
up and some things were the nextthing I wanted to ask you about because
you're telling me about a women's conferencecoming up that you're participating in through the
Better Business Oh, that's exactly right. I am truly honored to serve on
the board of the Better Business Bureauand the Consumer Education Foundation here in Southeast

(40:43):
Texas. And we have a BBBProfessional Women's Conference coming up at the end
of the month September twenty eighth.It's only what a couple of weeks away
now, that's Thursday, September twentyeighth at Ford Park. We will be
recognizing women of integrity. We willhave breakout sessions. We're going to have
some excellent speakers. So go tothe BBB website, go on and search

(41:07):
for BBB Southeast Texas and there's abanner at the top of the BBB Southeast
Texas website that you can click onto get more information and purchase your tickets
for the BBB Professional Women's Conference comingup on September the twenty eighth. We'd
love to see there. And where'sit going to be held again, It's
at Ford Park. There's also abig vendor section as well, and so
all kinds of professional women tools tohelp you be better both in personal and

(41:32):
professional life. And we're just thereto uplift each other and inspire each other,
So make plans to join us.I am not actually haven't been asked
to speak, but I am goingto be a vendor, and I am
just really excited about taking advantage ofthe breakout sessions and listening to some of
these women that I know will bespeaking, and they are truly inspirational and

(41:57):
I can't wait to walk away fromfrom that day, just inspired by other
women around this in Southeast Texas.Well. Thank you for helping put that
together. Thank you for your serviceto our community through the through the Better
Business Bureau. You had mentioned there'sanother event or another something else, something
else. I'm involved in Crime Stoppersof Southeast Texas. If you ever see
me out and about it. Youprobably see me talking about Crime Stoppers of

(42:20):
Southeast Texas. I'm a huge advocate. I serve on that board as well,
and we are doing a fifty gunsin fifty day giveaway right now to
raise funds for Crime Stoppers is afive O one C three nonprofit organization that
we partner with citizens, law enforcement, in the media to help solve crime
in Southeast Texas and we serve Jefferson, Harden, Orange and now Jasper Counties

(42:46):
to give people an anonymous way toreport. So if you see something,
say something eight three three tips dotcom. But we're fifty guns in fifty
days. Go to our website toget more information at eight three three tips
dot com. April thank you forbeing here today. You enjoy your weekend.
Everybody else enjoy your weekend. Thishas been the Dana Simmons show.

(43:07):
Y'all, take care and talk toyou again soon. Andy Hemmings with capital title