Tornadoes Raise Home Insurance Rates in Missouri

Home insurance rates in Missouri are rising after last year’s deadly tornadoes in the state.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the Missouri Department of Insurance reported that rates increased 5 percent from July of last year to early this month. That is based on an analysis of insurers covering 80 percent of homes.

The worst of the state’s tornadoes was the massive one that hit Joplin last May, killing 161 people and destroying much of the city.

But the Post-Dispatch reported that this year’s hike is actually lower than previous years’. The department says “base rates” – rates before any discounts – rose 14 percent in 2009 and 9 percent in 2010.

Those 2009 and 2010 increases were due partially to poor returns on investments.