Virginia’s homeowners pay an additional $737 as flood insurance premiums
By: Ramu Garuda July.17, 2019
A Gavop analysis of data published by the Insurance Information Institute (iii) shows that Virginia’s residents pay an average homeowner’s insurance premium of $959, which is 22% lower than the national average.
The following graph presents the average premium rates for homeowners insurance in the largest cities of Virginia: Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Arlington, and Richmond.
Chesapeake has the highest average insurance premium of $1,708. State Farm, the largest insurance firm with a 17.9% market share, offers homeowners insurance premium of $990. USAA is the next biggest insurance provider with a 17% share of the market. Portsmouth reports the most expensive homeowners premium at $1,730 per annum.
Virginia has a history of natural disasters ranging from tropical cyclones and tornadoes to winter storms. In 2001, Virginia suffered an earthquake of 5.8 on the Richter scale. Virginia is also known for experiencing supercharged thunderstorms.
On average, about 25 tornadoes strike Virginia annually. The average cost of flood insurance coverage in Virginia is $737 per annum. In 2004, the city of Richmond was inundated by Hurricane Gaston. Damages caused by Hurricane Sandy cost $295 million in private insurance claims. Thus, homeowners in Virginia are advised to buy flood insurance along with their homeowners insurance. Standard homeowners insurance policies generally do not cover damages caused by floods. This coverage is offered by The National Flood Insurance Program.
Further, hurricane and flood insurance does not cover damages caused to automobiles from, for example, a fallen tree. Such cases warrant separate auto insurance. Another common phenomenon in Virginia is hail, which can cause severe damage to buildings. Standard homeowners insurance policies generally cover damages caused by hail, unless mentioned otherwise.
Homeowners can also reduce home insurance premiums by repairing, for example, aspects of their home that may prove risky such as a broken fence, unsafe staircase, or unsecured pool. Bundling auto and home insurance also helps considerably reduce premiums.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ramu Garuda
Ramu is a research analyst with over 9 years of analytics & research experience. Prior to joining the company, he worked with some of the prominent consulting and market research firms in India, including Pride Technology (Supporting consulting projects to PWC), RR Donnelly, and The Hackett Group. His skills include company profiling, benchmarking, data and trend analysis, industry analysis, and report writing across the industries. Ramu holds a Master’s degree in Finance and Marketing. He also has a bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology.
