Farmers Insurance claims personnel, agents, District Managers and employees throughout the Dallas/Fort Worth area are providing immediate help to victims of the severe storms that struck the St. Louis area and caused damage to homes, vehicles, trees and power lines.

Farmers Missouri State Executive Director Paul Crosetti stated that Farmers' claims and catastrophe teams have been deployed and are in full operation seeking and helping customers throughout the hard hit areas. "We want all of our customers to know that our goal is to give immediate assistance to all customers who have suffered damage from these storms," Crosetti said.

In brief: As natural disasters proliferate and destroy homes and property, insurers are often dropping policies after claims.

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While controversial, these "re-evaluations" of policy coverages are common after disasters and large payouts. Many insurance companies are finding themselves with high liabilities and little incentive to continue coverage on homes and property - especially those devastated multiple times, as has happened recently.

Tornadoes are the most common culprit for these re-evaluations. Often during the process, current claims are delayed or negotiated down as insurers attempt to lower their costs.

Summing up

State legislatures are fighting back by proposing new regulations that would restrict insurers from dropping policies to only after all payouts have been made and claims settled.

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In brief: Hoping to stimulate more refinancing and lower foreclosure rates, the FHA has cut rates for refinanced homes.

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The Federal Housing Administration is lowering mortgage insurance premiums for borrowers who refinance their homes as part of the White House's plans to improve the housing market.

Up-front premiums will reduce to 0.01% of the total loan amount from its current 1% and annual fees will drop from 1.15% to 0.55% for borrowers with FHA loans made before June 1, 2009.

The fee cuts, which take effect April 9, are part of an effort to spur the economy by helping homeowners take advantage of historically low mortgage interest rates. The changes could increase the reach of FHA's streamlined refinance program by 3.4 million households paying interest rates higher than 5 percent, the agency said.

The streamlined refinance program is available to borrowers with FHA-insured loans who are current on their payments even if they owe more than their homes are worth. The program does not require verification of income and employment, and it does not mandate a new appraisal of the property.

Summing up

The changes, of course, have meant that private mortgage insurers have lost value on the stock market, with experts expecting those companies to lose business as they will be unable to compete at those rates.

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In brief: Hundreds of Louisiana residents found themselves without coverage after an earthquake hit last year. A bill seeks to remedy that issue.

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The bill, introduced in the General Assembly in Louisiana, seeks to require insurers to inform property owners as to whether or not they have coverage for earthquake damage - something that is allowed to be exempted in the state.

Those who have earthquake coverage would be informed annually of their coverage amounts while those who do not have it would be reminded that it is available.

Summing up

Lawmakers hope that this would increase the amount of coverage and decrease the number of property owners who find themselves without anything after an earthquake.

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In brief: Allstate is adding a new policy type called House & Home that covers losses due to poorly maintained roofing.

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With rising homeowner's premiums and increased denials of claims due to maintenance citations, Allstate plans to add a new policy type to cover the most common maintenance issue: roofing.

The new policy type launched in Oklahoma in October and is rolling out across the nation this year. The plan is based on the age of the roof and covers losses should a natural occurrence destroy the roof. It would also reward homeowners who voluntarily replace their roofing as part of maintenance on their home by lowering premiums for a short period after the work is completed.

Summing up

The policies can be purchased separately or as an addition to a current Allstate homeowner's policy.

_{Photo credits: Allstate Insurance / AP}

In brief: Homeowner's insurance rates are starting to rise after record claims in 2011 hurt insurer's balance sheets.

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Storms along the East Coast, tornadoes in the Southwest, and earthquakes around the world have taken a toll on insurance company finances, says Bob Skow, CEO of the Independent Insurance Agents of Iowa.

The Insurance Information Institute agrees and says that rates are likely to rise with renewals throughout 2012. Customers are starting to feel the cost of years of heavy losses to insurance companies and carriers.

The III reports four straight years of record losses for insurance companies internationally and estimates premium rises from 4 to 5% this year.

In 2009, the average homeowner's premium was about $799 and 2011 average will likely be about $840.

Summing up

Insurance losses in the U.S. in the first half of 2011 were $17.8 billion compared to the $13.6 billion paid in all of 2010.

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In brief: Fitch Ratings says the U.S. title insurance industry will remain stable in 2012.

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Despite economic woes and a lot of top-line pressure, the ratings outlook Fitch gives the title insurance industry went from negative to stable for 2012. The change reflects Fitch's view that continued weak market conditions will dampen near-term profibility, but will not diminish them compared to 2011.

Most of the change is thanks to the industry's cost restructuring and reductions, paring down expenses and retaining profitability in a leaner market. Improvements in title insurers' capital positions have also set them up to withstand future market volatility.

Summing up

Although Fitch does not anticipate a Rating Outlook revision to Positive from Stable near term, notable top-line growth spurring consistent double-digit returns along with a return in industry capitalization to historical levels could prompt a review.

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In brief: October's snowstorm and Tropical Storm Irene in Connecticut have hit $160 million in claims so far, but the number will continue to rise say experts.

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Insurance claims for Irene and for October's early onrush snowstorm, which hit Connecticut back-to-back, have surpassed the $160 million mark and continue to rise. Claims paid so far have matched that number with thousands more still being processed and with new claims from October's onslaught of snow adding to the pile.

The state's insurance commissioner told a legislative committee that the claims are growing and insurance companies are struggling to keep up with them. Processing, he says, is happening as fast as can be expected given the heavy losses and piles of claims made.

In addition, the commissioner says that a new guidelines is being put in place before the end of the year changing how insurance companies are allowed to handle storm downgrades. Irene showed regulators that the current system of allowing 24 hours to change how deductibles are assessed according to storm status was causing confusion and had many homeowners in an uproar when their deductibles for the storm went from standard rates to percentages of home value, which could be tens of thousands in costs.

Summing up

New changes will be in place by the end of the year, though most insurers changed how they dealt with the hurricane-cum-tropical storm to the satisfaction of clients without the change.

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In brief: Many in California do not have earthquake insurance on home or business, according to the IINC.

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The Insurance Information Network of California says that less than 12% of the state's homeowners and fewer than 10% of businesses have earthquake coverage. Earthquake coverage is not included in most conventional or standard insurance policies in California and is not required by law. Many are either unaware that they are not covered or do not want to pay the high premiums for the coverage.

A 2007 study by Risk Management Solutions looked at what today's costs would be were the 7.9 magnitude Fort Tejon earthquake in 1857 to replay. They found that it would cause about $150 billion in damage to structure (home, business, industry) and only about $15-25 billion of that would be covered by insurance.

High deductible insurance for earthquakes (10-15% of insured value) runs about $800 a year on average in California. The average homeowner would be responsible for more than $30,000 of the damage incurred if an earthquake damaged their home and they had a policy.

No coverage at all, however, means paying all of the damages.

Summing up

Earthquake insurance is available in almost every part of the country and with about 80% of the landscape being considered seismically active...

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In brief: Although extremely unlikely, the legitimate question of who pays if a NASA satellite falling to earth hits someone's home or business is being asked.

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Sometime today or tomorrow, NASA expects their Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite to re-enter the earth's atmosphere, break into several hundred pieces, and fall to earth. Some of those pieces could weigh hundreds of pounds.

Although the chances of a piece of the UARS hitting a home, business, or even populated area are slim, many in the southwest are asking what the scenario would be.

NASA has not given any official word, but most likely, the federal government would pay compensation, though it is not necessarily obligated to do so as there is no precedent or policy in place. The closest policy is that of the Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects which obligates the government to pay for damages caused by space agency objects falling to earth in other nations.

The other good news is that most building owners and homeowners are double-covered through their existing property insurance coverages - which are likely obligated to pay, depending on the policy. The insurance company would be the one who would have to pursue recompense from the U.S. government rather than the property owner.

Summing up

In short, while the possibility of space debris hitting someone's home, business, or other property is extremely slim, if it does happen, it's likely covered.

_{Photo credits: NASA}