Indiana is officially the seventeenth most populated state in the country. While it isn’t home to the most expensive homeowner insurance in the United States, premiums continue to climb at an alarming rate. In 2016, claims in the state pushed up over $810 million dollars.
This figure placed Indiana in the top 20 list of the most expensive places for insurance companies to do business in, and these rising costs will obviously trickle down to homeowners sooner rather than later.
While it’s possible for some to do without home insurance, if they own their property outright, it certainly isn’t advisable in a state rife with potential threats to one’s property.
Top 5 Most Common Indiana Home Insurance Claims
1. Wind & Hail Damage
Indiana is somewhere in the top 8 – 20 list of the most tornado-prone states in the country. The mixture of highly humid continental climate throughout the majority of the state, combined with subtropical weather to the extreme south, makes up the perfect ingredients for inclement storms and the consequent damage they cause.
2. Water Damage & Freezing
Indiana is surrounded by water. Lake Michigan, along with the Illinois, Wabash, Maumee, and Ohio rivers are all dangerous to homeowners when spring and summer flooding occur. Unrelenting rain throughout the spring, summer and fall, combined with extremely frigid winters, are also responsible for the high water damage and freezing claims paid out by Indiana insurers each year.
3. Property Damage
Be it a tree falling during a storm, a car running off the road onto someone’s property, or property damage resulting from violence or attempted theft, property damage claims in Indiana are much more common here than in other states that boast much higher populations. These claims affect both home and auto insurance equally due to acts of God, accidents, and theft.
4. Theft
Theft and violence are a very real threat to insurers and their clients. Indiana residents have a 1 in 41 chance of becoming a victim of a theft-related crime resulting in damage to their home and property. With 298 crimes per square mile, the chances that someone is going to damage your property while attempting to steal from you is very real in Indiana. Compared to more highly-populated states like Pennsylvania boasting only a 1 in 55 victimization rate, with only 55 total crimes per square mile, it’s no wonder residential, commercial, and auto insurance premiums continue to climb in the state.
5. Fire & Lightning Damage
Fires happen by accident all the time. While most are avoidable, often due to neglected electrical or out-of-code heating systems, residential property owners never see this problem coming. Lightning damage can never be predicted and while most homeowners would opt to fix minimal lightning and storm damage at their own expense to avoid making a claim and thus risk raising their rates, often the damage is too extensive to keep insurance companies out of the picture.
How to Protect Your Property
Insuring your property is, in fact, the best way to protect it long-term from the rigors of life in the Hoosier State. Homeowners living here are always at the mercy of mother nature and with global warming on the rise more than ever, the weather will continue to be more and more unpredictable. Homes and other property will always be subjected to weather damage, despite taking all recommended precautions.
If you’re currently living in one of the more crime-prone areas of the state, but love the culture in Indiana too much to leave, you could choose to live in one of these 20 safest cities in Indiana to avoid the risk of crime-related homeowner’s insurance claims on your property.