From New York Streets to Soaring Insurance Rates: Navigating Challenges Together
You see the oddest things walking the streets of New York City. Two weeks ago, I found myself in NYC for a few days. In theory, we were there to watch the Yankees beat up the Red Sox. My wife is a huge fan. Sure, I was there for the baseball, but also for the food and the people-watching, which is always spectacular there. Have you ever watched a dog walker untangling himself and eight dogs from a street sign on a busy sidewalk, with a doorman telling him to move along from the front of the building? It is something to behold.
After lunch, we took a walk through Central Park West while I enjoyed a nice cigar. Sitting on a bench for a while, soaking in the sunshine in the patch of nature amongst the tall buildings and traffic, we counted all the blue, red, pink, and orange hair walking by. It was fun. Watching people walking and texting on their phones added excitement, waiting for one of them to walk into another person, tree, or bench.
As we emerged from the park, I stopped to buy a Dr. Pepper from a street cart vendor. He got rather annoyed when I said, "You joking? Five bucks for a soda?" He barked, "YEAH... do ya wan' it?" I thought, "If you're going to bend me over, shouldn't I at least get a kiss?"
This got me thinking about how crazy expensive everything is these days, including insurance. I did a quick check recently and found that there were over 115 double-digit rate increases averaging 19.8% filed for 2023. There have been another 162 double-digit rate increases averaging 19.2% filed for 2024, many of which were from the same companies that filed those 2023 rate increases. That averages to an increase of 43% in two years. Ouch! That hurts! Where's the kiss for you and your customers?
I can't imagine how much frustration your customers are facing with these price increases. Sadly, I'm sure a lot of their frustration is taken out on you. You and your team are working harder than ever to help your frustrated or angry customers… searching for a lower price, a lower deductible, or coverage at all.
While you may not be feeling the love from your other carriers, we would like to send some your way. We THANK YOU very much! We really appreciate all your efforts. We've been truly lucky. Our strategy of picking our spots and sticking to it has worked well. We have NOT increased our rates in a couple of years, while we are growing nicely, thanks to our agency partners' support.
While agents in the greater DFW and Harris County areas don't appreciate our strategy of renters-only in those areas, it has allowed us to be profitable in the rest of the state, where we do write all of our products. So, we continue to stick with our plan with those agents who brought us to the dance.
We hope that we are able to help you and your team with your customers' needs. We strive to provide you with great, friendly, and prompt service. We are here to help you succeed. Please feel free to contact anyone on our team with any questions or issues that you may have. You can reach underwriting at 512-494-4161… Matt ext. 12, Ramy ext. 16, and Operations… Debra ext. 10.
Again, we thank you for all the hard work that you do. We hope that we can be of help to you and your team!