Understanding Changes to Insurance Cost

Often times, your insurance rates are always in flux. There’s a lot out there that can increase your rates, but to help prevent you from grasping at straws, we’ve outlined a few common reasons your insurance rates may have gone up.

First and foremost – the weather. Hensley might be based in Wichita, but we all live in the state of Kansas, and if Kansas is having a bad weather spell, especially around the Wichita area, or in Garden and Dodge City, then there’s a good chance that it will affect the rates here in Wichita.

Insurance companies look at historical trends of storms and technology, allowing them to predict where serious events may occur with amazing accuracy. So there is a chance your rates can go up in anticipation of an event that hasn’t even happened yet!

But, of course, this is all for good reason. If a catastrophic event were to hit you or your neighbors, you want your insurance to be able to actually help those in need.

Certain Types of Claims May Increase Your Rates

If a tree comes crashing down onto your house during a severe storm, then there’s not much you can do to prevented that, so it’s unlikely that you would see a large increase in rates. But if your dog were to bite someone, and cause injury, an increase in premium is likely.

To put it simply – if you were somehow able to minimize the risk through your own personal efforts, such as that dog bite or if you back into your garage door, then those types of claims will cause your rates to increase.

Potential Risk Claims

If you’ve put a new underground pool in your backyard, then that has the potential danger of someone drowning or being injured. Wood stoves are also a risk as they may catch the house on fire and are a burn risk. These types of risks will potentially increase the chances of having to file a claim and cause your rates to increase.

Other things may make you ineligible, including trampolines, dogs – especially aggressive breeds – as well as simply not keeping up with maintenance or repairs.

A Note on Car Insurance

Much like homeowner’s insurance, your auto insurance can increase based on many different factors, some obvious – some not so much.

If you’ve been racking up speeding tickets, or if you’ve gotten into a few accidents, then expect your rates to rise.

But surprisingly, the #1 reason why car insurance rates may go up is the fact that cars have much more technology in them these days, and the cost to repair vehicles has risen.

A bumper used to be simply that, a bumper. It would prevent damage in the event of an accident. But now, however, bumpers are so much more. Many of them have cameras and a variety of sensors crammed into them. So when you damage your bumper, you’re not just damaging a piece of metal, you’re damaging what amounts to a computer. You can imagine how much more expensive that is.

These days, some vehicles have air bags that practically cover the entire inside of the vehicle. Replacing them in the event of an accident can be quite costly, not to mention testing equipment to bring it back to factory standards.

Hensley Insurance is your friendly West Wichita insurance agency. We do the shopping for you and customize your policy to fit your needs.

Give us a call at 316-721-1800!

The Hensley Office is just 100 feet south of the intersection of 29th St N. and N. Ridge Road. Look for the cute little house on the East side of the road. Stop by and see us!