Bad Weather May Affect Insurance Rates

June 24--Oklahomans have taken more than their fair share of extreme weather this month, and insurance rates may be affected.

Those with homes damaged by Mother Nature, whether through Oklahoma's notoriously high winds and tornadoes, or this year's flooding, have likely filed insurance claims already.

Pam Sharp, owner of Tahlequah'sAllstate Insurance office, said she only had one claim due to flooding, and it was a total loss of a vehicle.

Meanwhile, Mark Hodson with State Farm said his company has not filed a single claim due to weather-related flooding from the most recent storm.

Statewide, the average cost of home insurance is $4,610, but prices vary by as much as 28 percent from that figure, according to a study from ValuePenguin.

The study looked at the cost of insurance in 55 different municipalities in Oklahoma, including Tahlequah.

The City of Firsts averaged $4,200 for the cost of insuring a home. Mannford was the least expensive at $3,465, and Edmond was the most expensive at $5,892.

Whether this is directly due to weather is up for debate.

Moore, which has been hit by two extreme tornadoes in the past five years, is one of the more expensive cities in the study with an average cost of $53,21, but it is only the 10th most-expensive municipality in Oklahoma.

Whether rates in Tahlequah will go up is also up for debate. Sharp believes rates will increase, especially due to heavy rains experienced over the past month.

"Having insurance is like being in a public pool," said Sharp. "Whatever claims are made in that pool, then it will affect everyone's policy."

She said they do look at weather history when considering rates, but with weather patterns, she believes there will be an increase in claims beyond what is anticipated.

Hodson is not as worried about an increase in the cost of insurance for homeowners.

"My understanding is Oklahoma does have a higher weather pattern of winds and hail," said Hodson. "Your coastal areas are going to have hurricanes."

He said insurance companies "set aside" a certain percentage of premiums for catastrophe losses at any given time.

"We can't tell you when we're going to have a hail storm, but an actuary can tell you you're probably going to have this many in this amount of time," said Hodson.

He did say if extreme weather over and above what is expected increases over a long period of time, Oklahoma may see an increase -- and this year appears to be "an unusual year."

Already, rates in western Oklahoma are higher than those on the eastern side of the state, and these areas do pay higher rates than Tahlequah.

For car insurance, location has an even greater affect, according to Sharp. She said just moving across town to a different zip code could lower or increase a person's rate.

"Insurance is to protect you from the sudden and unexpected occurrences," said Sharp. "It's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it."

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