Home Insurance Rating Myths

Waiting to find out your home insurance rating and subsequent premium information can be nerve-racking. The annual or monthly premium amount that you will be charged is so important, it can even mean the difference between buying the home of your dreams and settling for less.

But home insurance rates don’t have to be mysterious and mystical. You can actually get a sense of your potential premium if you know what actually does and doesn’t matter when it comes to premium rating. In order to help you get better acquainted with the rating system, let’s debunk a few myths surrounding home insurance rating.

1. Pets have nothing to do with premium: It’s true that Fluffy, Rover and Goldie may have absolutely no impact on your home insurance rating, but if those names belong to certain breeds of dog, it actually may. Some dogs, with the reputation for extreme owner protectiveness, may be viewed by your home insurance company as a greater potential liability and thus may drive your rates higher.

2. If I’ve had claims, my premiums will rise: Whether you are facing home insurance renewals, or a brand new policy on a new residence, you might automatically assume that your past claims will affect your premiums. In truth, that isn’t always the case. If your past claims indicate that you might be a higher risk due to your lifestyle or behavior, then yes, your rates may be affected. But claims that arise from natural events or incidents you could not prevent or guard against may not affect your rates at all.

3. The claims experience of other homeowners has nothing to do with my rates: Insurance companies must look at you as an individual when underwriting your home insurance policy. They will take into consideration things such as your experience, the age and location of your home and the features of your home (such as swimming pools and outside buildings). In many ways, underwriting a home is like trying to divine the future, and one way to accurately do that is to look at the claims of other homes in the area. While certain owner-specific claims experience isn’t applicable, environmentally prompted claims, as in hurricane or wind damage, can indicate the future claims experience of others in the area.

When planning your home insurance moves and working on budgeting in your premiums, remember that it’s best to deal with concrete facts than hearsay. Contact your agent and talk to him or her about your home insurance rating concerns and let them help you separate fiction from finance-impacting fact.


Let Evans, Ewan & Brady Insurance Agency get you the best rates for your Austin Home Insurance today!

Agent vs Online Quote

Agent vs. Internet—Which One Gets the Best Deal on Auto Insurance?

The internet gives consumers access to multiple insurance quoting systems that can help them save time and money when shopping for auto insurance. Often, consumers assume that these valuable quote algorithms give them access to the same service as a local agent and choose to use them instead of an insurance professional. Unfortunately, this is probably a mistake.

Discovering Opportunities for Discounts

An insurance agent can interact with you, find out about your life and driving habits, and help identify possible discounts that you are qualified to get. This one-on-one contact better allows an agent to ferret out these important discounts, something that an internet algorithm simply can’t do. Each day, insurers are developing new opportunities for discounts including for items like cell phone apps that can be employed while driving to keep a driver’s focus on the road. Online algorithms don’t stand a chance against an agent when it comes to keeping up with these developments.

Reviewing and Understanding Coverage Options

There are many different coverage options that you can choose from when shopping for auto insurance, and each will affect your quote and risk exposure differently. When sitting at home, trying to navigate online quote systems, it can be next to impossible to figure out what coverages you need, what limits to choose and what deductibles are reasonable. Agents can help you go through the coverage options and tweak limits and deductibles so you get a policy that is both affordable and helpful in the event of an accident.

Working with Various Companies

The algorithms you use online for auto insurance quotes have access to a limited and fixed number of insurance companies. This does not give you the broad range of options that your local auto insurance agent will. In addition, because agents work with these companies on a one-on-one basis every day, they know how each company handles its underwriting and this can help get you matched up with a company that is going to get you the best rates for your situation.

Auto insurance is an important and often required coverage to carry. In order to get multiple quotes and the best price for you, there’s no need to rely on websites. Instead, you can get the service of a live and thinking agent who knows how to get you the best deals on insurance and where to put your policy so you can afford the premium.


Be sure you're getting the best deal on your Austin Car Insurance from Evans Ewan & Brady Insurance today!

Insuring Your Jewelry

If you just look at its surface, you can see that jewelry is made up of precious gems and metals. But if you take a deeper look—into the lives behind the jewelry—you can see its additional, and staggering, significance in our lives. A ring symbolizes a husband and wife's pledge to build a life together, a gold bracelet demonstrates parents' love for their daughter as she enters adulthood, or an antique heirloom brooch represents a family's legacy, lovingly passed down through multiple generations. Losing jewelry, or having it damaged or stolen, often hurts us more than the loss of a television or a wallet because not only must we cope with the loss of an item of financial value, we also must grapple with the loss of a cherished memory and tangible representation of emotion. Fortunately, a jewelry insurance policy can go a long way toward mitigating the loss.

Homeowner's insurance policies usually cap the maximum amount paid out for jewelry.

To learn how much of your jewelry is covered by your Georgetown TX Homeowners Insurance policy, read the rest of this story from Evans, Ewan & Brady Insurance Agency.

Crews begin cleanup on Hermine damage

Flooding leads to numerous rescues, at least one death; cleanup begins for widespread damage to homes, roads

by Tony Plohetski & Caludia Grisales | September 9, 2010 | for American-Statesman

When forecasters predicted how much rain the remnants of Tropical Storm Hermine could pour onto Central Texas early Wednesday, they estimated that most of the area would see 1 to 3 more inches of rain, with isolated regions getting 12 inches or more.

As it turned out, parts of Austin and Williamson County became Hermine's prime dumping ground. At least one person died in the storms.

Much of the area is now left with the task of cleaning flooded homes, dealing with the damage of a major roadway in Northwest Austin and waiting to see whether floodwaters in the Colorado River pose a problem for cities further downstream.

Today, the cleanup and repairs begin in earnest. Crews will have to begin repaving a section of RM 2222 near Loop 360 after 50 feet of the road was destroyed by rushing water. Workers at Pearl Elementary in Georgetown will have to clean up 19 flooded classrooms. Workers who have been renovating parts of Bull Creek Park will have to start over after the creek swept away their improvements. Engineers will have to figure out what to do about the threat of more boulders tumbling onto Robert E. Lee Road near Zilker Park after one tumbled from the hill above and fell onto a car Wednesday.

State Farm, the largest insurer in Texas, said it had received more than 1,000 home and auto damage claims by 1 p.m. Wednesday and expected many more. Insurance companies — which sent teams of adjusters and other personnel to the Austin area to help handle the flood of claims — said Austin, San Antonio and Killeen were hit especially hard, although claims reports were not up to the level of a hailstorm that hit Central Texas in 2009.

By daybreak Wednesday, authorities had performed more than a dozen rescues in rushing floodwater, plucking stranded victims from homes and cars as the system delivered nearly 15 inches of rain to some spots.


Hermine remnants also caused thousands of power outages, shuttered schools and prompted the opening of several shelters. Numerous streets throughout the area were closed because of water, and Interstate 35 was closed for several hours overnight in Georgetown.

"Honestly, I don't remember a tropical storm in the Hill Country like we had," KVUE chief meteorologist Mark Murray said. "I'm sure it's happened, but it's been many years, if not decades."

Murray said the center of the storm continued moving north — instead of scooting to the east or west — which allowed trailing storms to linger over Austin and Williamson County for prolonged periods.

The storm dumped a foot of rain in some locations, with the highest totals stretching from Mansfield Dam to Georgetown, which received 14 inches. About 11 inches fell in Jollyville. The average amount of rainfall for the month of September at Austin's Camp Mabry is 2.91 inches, forecasters said.

To read the rest of this article, visit the source.


To check on your own Georgetown TX Homeowners Insurance, visit our site at www.eebins.com today.

Georgetown TX Home Insurance

We specialize in Georgetown TX home insurance as well as auto insurance in the Georgetown, Belton and surrounding areas in Texas. Homeowners insurance protects you from financial losses caused by storms, fire, theft, and other events outlined in your policy. Carrying the right amount of coverage is essential to protecting your family and belongings. Apply for homeowners coverage today.

Evans, Ewan & Brady Insurance Agency Inc has served the insurance needs of Texas Businesses and Individuals since 1928. We believe that local insurance agencies can best serve your insurance needs. Evans, Ewan & Brady Insurance Agency Inc will assist you in finding just the right combination of tailored, personalized insurance coverage at just the right price.